Being Cute Is Shameful, but Useful

"Hello, Second Brother. Hello, Big Brother."

"Haha, Third Brother, why do you seem so restrained?"

Izuna plopped down on the bed, patted Uchiha Gen's shoulder, and kept smiling.

"It's... it's nothing. We just hadn't seen each other for several days, and I was a little worried..."

As expected of his real brother—he had noticed even such a tiny flaw.

"What's there to worry about? You have no idea, not only did we give Kaguya a beating this time, we also took care of those Shimura and Sarutobi next door..."

Izuna proceeded to boast endlessly about his performance on the battlefield, occasionally praising how formidable his big brother was. Uchiha Gen could only nod along.

"So? Do you regret not coming with us?"

"...Haha, a little. But my head still hadn't fully recovered, and it still throbbed from time to time."

"What's a little pain or itch? Back when the five of us brothers..."

"Izuna!"

Madara stopped him with a stern shout. This second brother of his really let anything slip from his mouth.

"Uh... it's all that damned Tobirama's fault. Once we're ready this time, I'll make sure he learns what we're capable of."

Uchiha Gen's head felt a little stiff, because Madara's gaze had been assessing him the whole time.

"Um... Big Brother, Second Brother, I wanted to learn a few more ninjutsu these past few days, but I can't enter the scroll archive."

Uchiha Gen widened his eyes as he met Madara's gaze, a faint embarrassed blush flashing across his face.

The embarrassment was real, but inwardly, Uchiha Gen felt completely screwed. This body actually instinctively felt affection for Madara!

Madara rubbed Uchiha Gen's head and said,

"Focus on recovering. Once your head is better, we'll train together again. I'll have someone bring you some ninjutsu scrolls later. What types do you want to read?"

Uchiha Gen's gaze wandered as his head was rubbed. He hadn't expected acting cute to work so well.

"One or two of every kind. I want to try learning Chakra nature transformation too."

"Alright. I'll send you my cultivation notes as well."

Seeing the indulgent look on Madara's face, Izuna quickly added,

"And mine. I'll send my notes to Third Brother too."

Uchiha Gen hurriedly thanked them. For a while, the air was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

After a long while, once he had seen off his two adoptive brothers, Uchiha Gen let out a breath.

His small hand hurriedly patted his chest. Luckily, this body had instinctive reactions, or he definitely would have exposed some flaw.

"As long as enough time passes, any gradual changes in me will become perfectly natural. Even if they think something is off, they'll only assume their little brother has grown up."

With the danger of being a transmigrator exposed now gone, he was in a great mood and ate an extra serving at noon.

Strangely enough, people in the Naruto world could really eat. Though food could be digested with Chakra, it was still absurd that he could eat over ten pounds of food in a single meal.

The midday sun blazed overhead, making it unsuitable for training. Lying on his bed, Uchiha Gen let his thoughts drift.

"There was nothing in reality worth missing. Being fortunate enough to come here could be called a blessing in disguise. It was just that the time before becoming stronger would be hard to endure."

He thought again of Madara and Izuna, who had come to visit him earlier, and considered whether he should alter their fates.

"I can't interfere. If I really did what those fanfics I read before did, I'd probably end up covered in trouble too."

In his previous life, there had been countless kinds of fanfiction, including plenty that tried to change Izuna and Madara's fates, but their portrayals were far too frivolous.

"If I spoiled the future, Hagoromo Otsutsuki would probably be the first to step forward and slap me to death."

"If Izuna didn't die, Madara wouldn't obtain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Without the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Black Zetsu wouldn't alter the stone tablet in Uchiha Shrine. Then the entire plot would be thrown into chaos."

Black Zetsu alone, lurking everywhere, was enough of a headache. That was also why Uchiha Gen was unwilling to get too close to Madara—he had no desire to be watched by Black Zetsu.

"Ugh... this is hard, so hard..."

Looking over the entirety of Naruto, conspiracies ran from beginning to end. Either you fooled me or I deceived you, layers upon layers of schemes without end.

"I'll take it one step at a time. There's no point thinking so much when I can't do anything about it. It would be nice if I had a system backing me up."

But a system was something he could only dream about. Had heaven not given birth to Uchiha Gen, the Naruto world would have been an eternal night!

The following days passed peacefully. The Warring States era really was chaotic, but peaceful times were not exactly rare either.

They only needed to ensure the clan's safety and normal development. Conflicts that escalated into life-and-death wars were ultimately few.

Every day, Uchiha Gen studied the ninjutsu scrolls and notes Madara had sent him, and his Chakra reserves continued to grow.

Perhaps because his body was still developing, he felt that his strength was improving particularly quickly.

He learned the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet Izuna taught him in one day and could cast it proficiently after three. He finished reading all of Uchiha Madara's notes in less than two days.

"My memory is way too good. If I'd had a brain like this in my previous life, wouldn't I have been able to get into any university I wanted?"

After finishing the ninjutsu scrolls, he spent less than another week learning every ninjutsu within them. Though he had learned them, he had not mastered them.

"Chakra nature transformation really is difficult. I only have Wind and Fire to begin with, and filling in the remaining Chakra attributes will really take time."

Chakra nature transformation and Chakra attribute transformation were the thresholds for advancing to Jōnin.

Most A-rank ninjutsu required nature transformation, and creating one's own techniques was an even more unavoidable hurdle.

Uchiha Gen remembered that in the anime, Naruto had learned nature transformation at roughly the same age as him, hadn't he? Sasuke's S-rank Kirin had probably also been developed during his teenage years.

"By that logic, my title as a genius is a little undeserved."

That made sense. Over all these days, he had not heard anyone call him a genius, not even over the past half month.

Instead, most praise went to Madara and Izuna. Madara in particular was said to be the Uchiha clan's greatest genius in centuries.

That day, Uchiha Gen had just returned from the Training Ground, greeting several familiar clansmen along the way.

When he returned to his room, he found Izuna already waiting inside.

"We're going to fight again this time. So? Are you coming?"

Hearing Izuna immediately try to drag him onto the battlefield, Uchiha Gen hesitated. Just as he was thinking of an excuse to refuse, Izuna continued,

"These past few days, some clansmen have been saying that Third Brother was frightened out of his wits by the Senju. Father suppressed the rumors, but you need a battle to wash away that humiliation."

"Uh..."

Seeing Uchiha Gen still hesitate, Izuna frowned, his tone unusually sharp.

"What are you hesitating for? When have we Uchiha ever retreated? If you have concerns, tell me!"

"It's not that... I... sigh."

Uchiha Gen furrowed his brows, sat down on the bed, and sighed, making Izuna so angry he could barely stand it.

"What are you sighing for? Say something already!"