Playing Cute Is Shameful, but Useful

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

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

Izuna plopped down on the bed and patted Uchiha Yuan on the shoulder, a smile never leaving his face.

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

As expected of his actual brother—even this tiny flaw had caught his attention.

"What's the big deal? You have no idea, we didn't just beat up Kaguya this time. We also dealt with the neighboring Shimura and Sarutobi while we were at it..."

Izuna went on and on, bragging about his performance on the battlefield and occasionally praising how impressive his big brother had been. Uchiha Yuan could only nod along.

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

"...Haha, a little. But my head still hasn't fully healed, and it aches 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 voice. His second brother really did let anything slip out.

"Uh... it's all that damn Tobirama's fault. Once we're ready this time, I'll make sure he learns his lesson."

Uchiha Yuan's head felt a little stiff, because Madara had been studying him the whole time.

"Um... Big Brother, Second Brother, I want to learn a few more ninjutsu these days, but I can't get into the scroll archive."

Uchiha Yuan widened his eyes and met Madara's gaze, a faint embarrassed blush flashing across his face.

The embarrassment was real, but inwardly, Uchiha Yuan was cursing. This body actually instinctively felt fondness toward Madara!!

Madara rubbed Uchiha Yuan's head and said, "Focus on recovering. Once your head is better, we'll train together again. I'll have someone bring you the ninjutsu scrolls later. What kind do you want to read?"

Uchiha Yuan's eyes drifted as Madara rubbed his head. He had not expected acting cute to work so well.

"Bring one or two of every kind. I want to try learning chakra nature transformations too."

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

Seeing the doting look on Madara's face, Izuna quickly added, "And mine. Send mine to Third Brother too."

Uchiha Yuan hurriedly thanked them, and for a while, the air was filled with joy.

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

His little hand hurriedly patted his chest. Thankfully, 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 seem perfectly natural. Even if they think something is off, they'll only assume their little brother has grown up."

With the hidden danger of being a transmigrator resolved, he was in a wonderful mood and ate an extra portion at lunch.

Come to think of it, people in Naruto really could eat. Although food could be digested with chakra, eating over ten kilograms of food in a single meal was still absurd.

The midday sun hung high in the sky. It was not a good time for training, so Uchiha Yuan lay on the bed, letting his thoughts drift.

"There was nothing in the real world worth missing. Being fortunate enough to come here could be called a blessing in disguise. It's just that this period of growing stronger is a little hard to endure."

He thought again of Madara and Izuna, who had just come to visit him, and wondered whether he should change their fates.

"I can't interfere at all. If I really do what those fanfics I read before did, I'll probably end up buried in trouble too."

There had been countless kinds of fanfiction in his previous life, including many that tried to change Izuna and Madara's fates, but they had treated it far too lightly.

"If I spoil the plot, Hagoromo Otsutsuki will probably be the first one to step forward and slap me to death."

"If Izuna doesn't die, Madara won't obtain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Without the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Black Zetsu won't alter the stone tablet in Uchiha Shrine. Then the whole plot will be completely thrown into chaos."

Black Zetsu alone, lurking everywhere, was enough of a headache. That was also why Uchiha Yuan did not want to get too involved with Madara. He had no desire to attract Black Zetsu's attention.

"Ah, this is hard... so hard..."

Looking across Naruto from beginning to end, conspiracies ran throughout it all. Either you fooled me, or I deceived you, layer upon layer 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 to back me up."

But a system was something he could only dream about. If Uchiha Yuan had not been born, the Naruto world would have been an eternal night!

The next few days passed peacefully. The Warring States Period truly was chaotic, yet truly peaceful moments were also few and far between.

They only needed to ensure the clan's safety and normal development. After all, conflicts and wars that escalated into fights to the death were ultimately rare.

Every day, Uchiha Yuan 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 at an especially rapid pace.

He learned the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet Izuna taught him in a single day and could cast it proficiently after three. As for Uchiha Madara's notes, he finished reading all of them 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 a month learning every ninjutsu within them. But although he had learned them, he had not truly mastered them.

"Chakra nature transformations really are difficult. I only have Wind and Fire to begin with. Making up the remaining chakra natures will really take time."

Chakra nature transformations and chakra shape transformations were the threshold for advancing to jonin.

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

Uchiha Yuan remembered that Naruto seemed to have learned nature transformations at around his age in the anime, right? Sasuke's S-rank Kirin should also have been developed when he was in his teens.

"Then my title as a genius is actually a little undeserved."

That made sense. Over all these days, nearly half a month had passed, and he had not heard anyone call him a genius.

Instead, most of the praise was directed at Madara and Izuna. Especially Madara, who was said to be the Uchiha clan's greatest genius in centuries.

That day, Uchiha Yuan had just returned from the training ground and greeted 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?"

The moment Izuna opened his mouth, he wanted to drag him onto the battlefield. Uchiha Yuan hesitated, just about to find an excuse to refuse, when Izuna continued.

"Some clansmen have been saying these past few days that Third Brother was frightened senseless by the Senju. Father has suppressed the rumors, but you need a battle to wash away that disgrace."

"Uh..."

Seeing that Uchiha Yuan was still hesitating, Izuna frowned, his usually rare harshness entering his voice.

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

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

Uchiha Yuan furrowed his brows, sat down on the bed, and sighed, making Izuna furious.

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