His head throbbed as if his soul had been forcibly stuffed into a vessel that didn't fit.
Shien Uchiha abruptly opened his eyes.
The surroundings left him bewildered.
This isn't my room!
He turned his gaze until he spotted a fan-shaped symbol on the wall that looked like a ping-pong paddle.
"Uchiha..." he murmured.
In an instant, memories that didn't belong to him surged in like a tide, merging with his own consciousness.
Shien Uchiha, twenty years old, an elite of the Uchiha Clan with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"I... transmigrated? And became an Uchiha Clan elite?"
He instinctively clenched his fist. The Chakra surging through his body and the crystal-clear world visible through his eyes told him this wasn't a dream.
An indescribable excitement welled up inside him.
The Naruto World, power, the Sharingan...
He had arrived in the dazzling world he had once only dreamed of from in front of a screen!
I'm a true Uchiha Clan elite! I'm only twenty, and I already have the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. My future is bright!
But his excitement lasted only an instant before the cold reality of his situation swiftly returned.
He looked around. Night lay heavy, and all was silent. An ominous premonition, like a venomous snake, quietly coiled around his heart.
"Wait... this silence that makes my heart pound... Something's wrong."
Forcing himself to calm down from the joy of transmigrating, he rapidly sifted through the memories he had merged with.
"Yesterday... the clan held a meeting at the highest level. They called it a celebration, at least publicly."
"But in reality, it was the final meeting to decide whether to launch a coup. Clan Leader Fugaku had already issued preliminary mobilization orders..."
A crucial piece of information flashed through his mind like lightning!
Itachi Uchiha! He didn't attend!
As the clan leader's eldest son, his absence from such a crucial meeting sent an extremely dangerous signal in itself.
The clan's recent, vague unease, combined with the increasingly blatant oppression of the Uchiha by Konoha's High Command...
A term of the utmost importance to the Uchiha, carrying a bloodcurdling chill, crashed into his mind:
The Uchiha Massacre Night!
"Could it... be tonight?!"
Once the thought surfaced, it spread like weeds, bringing an icy chill that seeped into his bones.
He could no longer sit still. He nearly stumbled as he leapt out of bed.
Without even having time to properly adjust to his new body, he shoved open the door and rushed outside.
The moonlight outside was like water, yet it was ice-cold.
"It's too quiet..."
His heart sank.
Even on an ordinary night, it shouldn't have been this quiet.
There wasn't just a lack of voices; even the summer insects and the rustle of wind through the leaves had vanished completely.
"Is anyone there?!"
He called out tentatively, but his voice barely traveled two meters before an invisible sponge seemed to absorb it, making it quickly fade away.
This wasn't normal!
Memories raced through his mind!
"A large-scale Sound-Dampening Barrier! And a high-level one, at that!"
Shien's heart began to pound.
The need to use a barrier on this scale could only mean one thing!
Driven by fear, he instantly gathered Chakra in the soles of his feet and leapt lightly onto the courtyard wall.
His soul and body were still slightly out of sync, and he stumbled a little on landing, but he quickly steadied himself.
After a few more jumps, he reached the rooftop.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated instinctively, and his sharp gaze swept toward the far end of the street.
The pale moonlight cast the Uchiha Clan's prosperous compound in the light of a haunted realm.
In the streets, beneath the eaves, by the gates... familiar figures lay sprawled wherever he looked.
Men, women, and children in Uchiha robes lay twisted across the cold ground, surrounded by pools of blood spreading beneath them, dark and dull in the moonlight.
The overwhelming stench of blood, impossible to disperse, stubbornly crept into his nostrils even through the barrier.
There were no screams, no sounds of fighting—only suffocating silence, sealed inside the barrier.
It was an efficient, ruthless slaughter!
"It's real... This really is the Uchiha Massacre Night..."
His last shred of hope was utterly crushed. Overwhelming panic poured down on him like ice water, numbing his limbs.
With his memories fully merged, he knew all too well what it meant for someone to have carried out such a massacre in complete silence: the enemy possessed overwhelming power.
How long until Itachi came for him? Could he escape?
Even if he escaped Itachi, could he evade Obito?
And even if he escaped Obito, could he evade Root?
Shien swallowed, his heart pounding like a drum!
As if his fears had been answered, at that very moment—
A figure appeared without warning in the shadows beneath the eaves behind him, like a ghost.
Short black hair, a stern face, ANBU attire, and... a pair of scarlet Sharingan.
Itachi Uchiha!
Every hair on Shien's body stood on end, and his Three-Tomoe Sharingan sounded a frantic warning.
The countless battle experiences and instincts that belonged to "Shien Uchiha" screamed inside his mind: dodge! block! counterattack!
But although his thoughts were fast as lightning, his body moved as slowly as if trapped in a deep, muddy bog!
He tried to draw his blade, but his fingers were stiff. He tried to retreat, but his legs were unsteady. He tried to form Hand Seals, but his Chakra moved sluggishly.
All his elite abilities existed only in his memories, like a view through frosted glass. He couldn't properly make this unfamiliar body respond to them!
"Too... too slow..."
All he could do was watch as that cold blade, moving faster than his reflexes could keep up with, effortlessly pierced through the Kunai he had hurriedly raised to block it and plunged precisely into his chest.
"Ugh..."
Pain shot through him, and warm liquid gushed out.
Shien clutched his chest as his body fell backward, limp.
He stared in disbelief at the indifferent figure in front of him as his vision slowly darkened.
I don't want to die! I just arrived in this world. There are so many people I want to meet and things I want to do. How can I die here like an ant?!
An intense, unprecedented will to survive erupted from the depths of his soul like a volcano, almost tearing his chest apart!
[ Ding—The host's will to survive beyond its limits has been detected. Ultimate binding conditions met...]
A cold, emotionless mechanical voice rang out abruptly in the depths of his mind, like a final lifeline.
Itachi Uchiha looked expressionlessly at Shien Uchiha, who lay lifeless in a pool of blood. His gaze didn't waver in the slightest.
Many clan members had been like this: they possessed Sharingan and strength, but died before they could use either when caught off guard.
He put away his short blade and melted into the shadows once more. As calmly as if crossing a name off a mission list, he silently made his way toward his next target: Fugaku Uchiha's residence.
["Fate Savior" is activating... 1%... 50%... 100%... Binding successful!]