Pain!
The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a fist.
Behind that fist stood a white-haired boy wearing a mask.
Why am I on some unfamiliar training ground?
What's with the Hokage Rock in the distance?
And why does that building have "Konoha Village Ninja Academy" written across it?
Why does this white-haired boy look so much like the young Kakashi from the Naruto manga?
His forehead itched. He raised a hand to touch it and discovered that blood had run down his forehead and into his eyebrows.
Have I transmigrated into Konoha?
Why did Kakashi hit so hard during a sparring class?
In Konoha, sanity was a rare trait. As a child, Kakashi had no sense of restraint.
"Kakashi Hatake! Why did you bust my head open?"
Just then, the other students around them began voicing their condemnation.
"Uchiha Ling! How could you say something like that!"
My name is Uchiha Ling?
His predecessor's memories flooded into him, and he remembered a great many things.
"How could you call White Fang trash for abandoning a mission?"
"How could you say that the son of trash was even worse than trash!"
His predecessor's tongue had practically been dipped in poison.
His name was Uchiha Ling, a nobody who had never even been named in the original story.
He was five years old, in his second year at the Ninja Academy.
It was now the eve of the Third Shinobi World War. Even if he survived the war, he would probably die on the night Obito Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha joined forces to massacre the clan.
This world was far too dangerous.
A little while ago, the White Fang of the Leaf had abandoned his mission to take an injured teammate to a medical ninja, giving up his pursuit of the targeted Stone Ninja Battalion.
But that Stone Ninja Battalion had unexpectedly doubled back and wiped out two entire battalions from the Hidden Leaf Village on the Land of Fire's border. One hundred and nineteen Konoha ninjas had died.
That was 119 families...
Rumors ran rampant through the Hidden Leaf Village, all attacking the White Fang of the Leaf.
The Third Shinobi World War was imminent, and everyone in the Hidden Leaf Village was under immense pressure. Between missions and comrades, the prevailing standards naturally placed missions first.
Uchiha Ling and Kakashi Hatake were classmates. During their practical training class, his predecessor had relentlessly mocked Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi had retaliated, beating his predecessor viciously, and amid a dizzying haze, he had transmigrated into this body.
Seeing that Kakashi looked on the verge of a breakdown, Uchiha Ling offered some words of comfort:
"Kakashi Hatake, your dad is already trash, and people despise him. That's a fact. But you can't give up on yourself. You have to pull yourself together. The Hatake name can't produce two consecutive generations of despised trash..."
The moment those words left his mouth, Kakashi sent Uchiha Ling flying with a spinning back kick.
Damn it!
I really did mean to comfort Kakashi! I really did mean to encourage him! But the moment I opened my mouth, my bloodline awakened, and Madara Uchiha's venomous-tongue bloodline limit seized the high ground.
[A ninja near the host has suffered a defense break. Defense-Breaking System activating...]
As he flew backward through the air, Uchiha Ling heard the system's voice!
Wonderful!
How could I possibly get by without a system in this ninja world, where I might not live to see tomorrow?
Flying through the air on his back, he found the sky a little brighter and the air he breathed a little sweeter.
[Defense break detected in Kakashi Hatake. Drawing abilities associated with Kakashi Hatake. The host may choose one of three options. Option one: lightning release chakra; Option two: 0.5 Kā of chakra; Option three: Hatake Sakumo's secret taijutsu techniques.]
Option one was lightning release chakra, which was of little use to Uchiha Ling right now.
Having chakra of every nature sounded cool, but for most ninjas, mastering two or three go-to ninjutsu was enough.
As an adult, Kakashi, the Hidden Leaf Village's master technician, knew over a thousand ninjutsu. Yet when his life was truly on the line, he used Earth-Style Wall to defend and Lightning Cutter to attack, without much flashy variety.
Option two was 0.5 Kā of chakra.
In the original story, the adult Kakashi had a stamina stat of six. His Sharingan could not be deactivated and constantly drained his chakra, leaving him with the chakra reserves of an ordinary jonin.
Kakashi was currently five years old and already had 0.5 Kā of chakra. That was outrageous.
Uchiha Ling only had around 0.2 Kā of chakra.
Option three was Hatake Sakumo's secret taijutsu techniques.
One major reason Kakashi was nicknamed Fifty-Fifty was his formidable taijutsu. From ordinary genin to the Six Paths of Pain, anyone who wanted to defeat him needed five or six moves.
That taijutsu prowess came partly from his later hard training and partly from Hatake Sakumo's instruction during his childhood.
Hatake Sakumo excelled at swordsmanship and the Body Flicker Technique, and his taijutsu ranked among the best in the shinobi world.
Option two or option three-which should I choose?
After hitting the ground, Uchiha Ling saw Obito Uchiha and Might Guy charge forward one after the other, intent on venting Kakashi's anger and standing up for him.
Just because Kakashi and Might Guy are good guys doesn't mean they won't beat up a villain...
He did not want to end up with a bruised face. He was a sharp-tongued villain, not a clown.
Forget it. I can farm option two's chakra from anyone. But if I pass up Hatake Sakumo's secret taijutsu techniques, I might never get another chance.
He chose option three, and insights instantly appeared in Uchiha Ling's mind.
These were Hatake Sakumo's exclusive taijutsu tricks.
Ninjas had chakra pathways and points within their bodies. Hatake Sakumo had discovered that gathering chakra at certain points, then sending it surging explosively into the pathways, could instantly increase the speed of a movement.
In taijutsu combat, this manifested as an exceptionally swift individual movement, or as an exceptionally fast Body Flicker Technique before battle.
Uchiha Ling tried gathering chakra at a point in his arm, then sending it surging explosively into the arm's chakra pathways.
Smack!
Under his fellow students' astonished gazes, Uchiha Ling raised his hand and caught Obito Uchiha's fist.
So fast!
Why does that style look a little like Kakashi's?
During taijutsu combat, Kakashi could often catch his opponent's wrist or fist.
In the original story, when the Six Paths of Pain invaded the Hidden Leaf Village, Iruka had collapsed in despair, waiting to die. Kakashi had appeared with the Body Flicker Technique and caught Deva Path Pain's black rod in one hand.
Hatake Sakumo and Kakashi had both kept this explosive style of taijutsu to themselves, never teaching it to outsiders. Uchiha Ling named it the White Fang Flow Body Technique.
Now that Uchiha Ling was no longer under pressure, it was time to put pressure on others.
My dream isn't to become Hokage. My dream is to become Konoha's number one pressure king-a master of venom with a tongue as sharp as his heart, the Uchiha king of trash talk!
"You two think you can suck up to Kakashi? If Kakashi is trash, neither of you even deserves to go in the trash can!"
After he spat out those words, everyone else in the class glared at Uchiha Ling.
Uchiha Ling had no desire to be beaten up by the whole class. He hurriedly looked toward Yamano, their sparring instructor.
His predecessor's relentless targeting of Kakashi during this lesson had been at Teacher Yamano's instruction!
A faction was secretly fanning the flames, determined to deal the White Fang of the Leaf a crushing blow. Even White Fang's son faced organized harassment at school.
Teacher Yamano glanced at Kakashi, whose shoulders sagged as he radiated anguish and dejection, then called out:
"Stop! All of you, make the Reconciliation Seal!"
Before you continue