Chapter 1

Year 29 of Konoha.

In a spacious courtyard within the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Huu—

Six-year-old Uchiha Xunjing suddenly opened his eyes and sat up from the tatami mat.

His small, thin body was still trembling, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

Just moments ago, he had finally refined his first strand of chakra.

Yet immediately afterward, his mind felt as though it had exploded, flooding with a jumble of bizarre images.

Those scenes were both familiar and unfamiliar.

There were towering skyscrapers, cars and airplanes, along with various fragments of memories.

"This is..."

The little fellow stared blankly at his own chubby little hands, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

Had he time-traveled?

And he was only remembering his past life just now?

Even more absurdly, he had actually transmigrated into the Naruto World?

As he sorted through all the memories from his previous life, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind:

[Host contact with extraordinary power detected, past-life wisdom successfully awakened.]
[Talent awakened: Space-Time Gate, Heaven Rewards Hard Work.]

Right after that, two streams of information poured directly into his brain.

Two objects simultaneously appeared in his mind.

One resembled a gate, exuding a profound and mysterious light.

The other resembled a crystal with twelve facets, hovering steadily.

"Hiss—"

Xunjing drew a sharp breath.

His eyes shone with a frightening intensity.

"A golden finger?"

He pinched his thigh hard.

It hurt.

It was real.

He could use the [Space-Time Gate] right now.

It initially came with a transit pocket world ten kilometers in radius.

Most importantly—it could lead to the Pirate World!

He couldn't help grinning from ear to ear.

This time, he was going to make it big.

Uchiha Xunjing quickly calculated in his heart—if anyone managed to reach eighty favorability toward him, they would be automatically bound by the Space-Time Gate talent, granting them the freedom to shuttle between the two worlds from then on.

Of course, the ultimate control still remained firmly in his own hands.

Moreover, once bound, that person's favorability toward him would never drop below eighty. More importantly, without his nod of approval, no one could ever leak a word about the Space-Time Gate.

This effectively completely blocked off any path of betrayal.

If anyone truly dared to rebel against him, the outcome would be very simple—all memories and benefits related to the Space-Time Gate would be completely wiped away.

(Favorability breakdown: 0 to 9 is stranger, 10 to 29 is friendly, 30 to 59 is friend, 60 to 79 is confidant, 80 to 89 is close friend, 90 to 99 is sworn companion, and one hundred means following even unto death.)

Now for the other talent—Heaven Rewards Hard Work.

The meaning was very straightforward: no matter what he did, as long as it involved training, there would be gains. Training to the peak could even trigger an epiphany, suddenly spawning even stronger techniques, skills, ninjutsu, and similar things.

The more thorough the preparation before an epiphany and the more related knowledge he mastered, the more formidable the resulting creation would be.

"Fine, with these two talents in hand, there's finally some hope for the future."

"Otherwise, with this congenitally deficient, sickly body of mine, coupled with the status of the Uchiha Clan, I wouldn't even know how I died when my time comes."

After figuring out the details of both talents, Uchiha Xunjing finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With a thought, a status panel visible only to him popped up—this was an interface automatically generated by the Heaven Rewards Hard Work talent according to his habits.

To put it bluntly, the panel itself was simply a manifestation form of the talent.

[Uchiha Xunjing]
[Talent]: Space-Time Gate, Heaven Rewards Hard Work
[Lifespan]: 6 months

[Chakra Attributes]: Water, Wind, Fire, Earth, Yin

[Skills]: Uchiha Chakra Refinement Technique (1/100, Novice), Traditional Chinese Medicine (2314/10,000, Proficient), Life-Nourishing Art (1/5000, Minor Accomplishment)

[Skill Proficiency Levels]: Novice, Skilled, Proficient, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, Perfection...

"Half a year?"

Seeing the remaining lifespan entry, the joy on Xunjing's face froze instantly, his brows knitting into a tight knot.

"I already knew this body was in bad shape, but I didn't expect it to have deteriorated to this extent."

"It seems the most pressing matter is to find a way to recuperate and extend my life. Otherwise, no matter how good my talent is, I won't have the life to use it."

Thinking of this, his gaze fell upon the options in the skill column.

Aside from the Chakra Refinement Technique, Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Life-Nourishing Art were clearly memories brought over from his past life.

Speaking of which, in his previous life he was a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and had even suffered from a terminal illness. Relying on his own medical skills and the Life-Nourishing Art, he had managed to hold on, yet still failed to make it past thirty.

Xunjing sat cross-legged on the tatami mat, knowing full well that being able to live this long was already a massive favor from the heavens.

In his past life, he hadn't even made it to twenty.

Those bits and pieces of the Life-Nourishing Art had come in extremely handy. After awakening the memories of his past life, a bundle of insights regarding the minor accomplishment stage of the Life-Nourishing Art had appeared out of thin air in his mind; although it was merely experience and comprehension, actual cultivation still required him to put in the physical work.

I wonder if this ** is any use in this world.

He flipped over and stood up, following the movements in his memory as he slowly assumed his stance.

After running through a set of the Life-Nourishing Art, a thin layer of sweat beaded on his forehead, and his breathing grew slightly heavier. Yet that oppressive, heavy feeling throughout his body seemed to have lightened just a fraction.

Was it an illusion?

[Practiced the Life-Nourishing Art once, proficiency +1, lifespan +1 day.]

A prompt popped up directly on the panel.

"It actually works?"

Xunjing's eyes lit up. Staring at the extra day of lifespan in the attribute column, he couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth from curling upward.

Practicing it once added a day, and if he practiced it a few more times every day, wouldn't this lifespan shoot straight up?

Even if it only added one day a day, he temporarily wouldn't have to worry about running out of life.

Exhaling a long breath, he stretched his sore shoulders, his mind beginning to turn—he would put the lifespan issue aside for the moment, and next he needed to utilize his medical skills, integrating the medical resources of the two worlds to thoroughly condition this foundational body of his.

If this congenital deficiency wasn't resolved, wanting to grow stronger was pure daydreaming.

Thinking of this, he recalled his mother in this body—Uchiha Chisato.

The great elder of the Uchiha Clan.

That's right, she was the woman who had created the forbidden technique Izanami.

In his past life, people on the internet argued endlessly; some said she was born in the Warring States Era, while others said she only appeared after the establishment of Konoha. Now it seemed that, at the very least in this world, she had lived past the founding of the village.

Yet her physical condition wasn't too great either.

It had been deteriorating year by year, and over the past half-year it had become especially obvious.

According to Xunjing's judgment, if he didn't make a move in time, this cheap mother of his probably wouldn't last much longer.

That simply wouldn't do.

If he wanted to change the fate of the Uchiha Clan, he couldn't do without Chisato's support.

What's more, if he wanted to carve out a situation for himself in the Pirate World, he would need this heavyweight to cover him in the early stages.

With his current sickly appearance, rushing off to the Pirate World to snatch resources? He'd likely lose his life before he even started.

Uchiha Chisato's heart softened, and her gaze looked at Xunjing with tenderness. An affinity of eighty points was already rare enough, but with his own mother, there was no need to worry at all.

Jiri was probably steady as well.

Xunjing pondered quietly; he could teach things like the Life-Nourishing Art to his mother later, though he didn't know if it could condition her body. If it truly didn't work, at worst he would take her to the Pirate World to find a famous doctor—that old hag named Dr. Kureha should have some genuine skills.

However, the most urgent matter right now was to speak openly with his mother.

He took a deep breath, pushed open the bedroom door, and walked into the living room.

Uchiha Chisato was sitting right there, as if she had been waiting the whole time. Seeing her son emerge, a smile bloomed instantly on her face, her voice as soft as melted sugar: "Out so soon? Well done, the chakra extraction was successful."

With her strength, she could see right through the faint chakra fluctuations within Xunjing at a single glance.

She was genuinely happy for her son.