The battle space opens

Of course, as a transmigrator, Uchiha Yi had a cheat of his own. When he learned that Kagami Uchiha had died and awakened his Sharingan under the emotional shock, his cheat activated as well.

His cheat was nothing fancy: a battle space. Every month, it would randomly refresh five virtual opponents. As long as Uchiha Yi defeated one, he would randomly receive one of their abilities, which could be a ninjutsu, a bloodline, or a talent in some particular area.

If the battle space had allowed him to choose his opponents, Uchiha Yi would have farmed newborn Kaguya Ōtsutsuki relentlessly. Even if he failed to obtain her bloodline on the first attempt, surely it would drop sooner or later after enough tries.

Uchiha Yi had an excellent bloodline, and with the battle space on top of that, he was confident that he could reach his full potential given enough time. By then, neither the Uchiha Clan nor the Hokage Lineage would pose much of a threat to him.

Uchiha Yi was no Sasuke Uchiha. Plenty of people criticized Sasuke for being bad at this or that, but did they ever consider how he had been treated between the massacre and meeting Kakashi?

He had not even received the Uchiha's legacy, let alone proper instruction in using the Sharingan. When wielding his eye power, Sasuke mostly relied on brute force to get results.

Sasuke had inherited little of the Uchiha Clan's ninjutsu legacy, either. It was pretty tragic when you thought about it.

But Uchiha Yi was different from Sasuke. As Kagami Uchiha's son, he had access to some of the Uchiha Clan's teachings from childhood. Even after Kagami's death, he still had someone to teach him. Uchiha Mikoto's grandfather was a ninja who had lived through the Warring States Period, and teaching him was well within the old man's abilities.

Failing that, Uchiha Yi only needed to put on a convincing act in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, and the benefits would keep coming.

The Hokage Lineage needed a divided Uchiha Clan. After Kagami Uchiha's death, who was the best candidate?

Naturally, it was Kagami Uchiha's son. He had inherited the "Will of Fire" from childhood and got along well with his classmates at the Ninja Academy, making him a born future leader of the Uchiha Dove Faction. As long as Uchiha Yi performed reasonably well in the future, Hiruzen Sarutobi's side would naturally push him forward, even if he wanted to do nothing at all.

Uchiha Yi had no intention of becoming anyone's tool, but until he truly came into his own, he chose to pocket those benefits.

"One tomoe is already amazing. I haven't even awakened my Sharingan yet." As Uchiha Mikoto brought up awakening the eyes, envy flickered in her gaze.

"Awakening the Sharingan comes with pain and loss. If possible, I'd rather you never awakened these eyes." Uchiha Yi deactivated his Sharingan as he spoke, addressing Uchiha Mikoto with a serious expression.

Uchiha Mikoto pressed her lips together. Uchiha Yi's words were completely different from what other Uchiha said.

Even her own grandfather was probably looking forward to her awakening her eyes.

"Mikoto, I'm a little hungry. Could you make me something to eat?" Uchiha Yi asked her next.

Despite her young age, Uchiha Mikoto was already a skilled cook. She made all the lunches Uchiha Yi usually ate at school.

"Wait here! I'll go make something right away." Uchiha Mikoto hurried off. Watching her retreating figure, Uchiha Yi felt a flicker of conflicting emotions.

In this shinobi world, Uchiha Mikoto was undoubtedly a model wife and mother. In the original story, she had married Uchiha Fugaku and ultimately died at Uchiha Itachi's hands.

After his birth, he had been entrusted to the Second Elder's care. In other words, Uchiha Yi and Uchiha Mikoto were childhood sweethearts who had grown up together.

Could I stand by and let Uchiha Mikoto marry Uchiha Fugaku?

Obviously not!

For now, though, he needed to examine the battle space.

Uchiha Yi focused his mind on the battle space, and this month's five candidates quickly appeared in his mind.

Night of the Uchiha Massacre—Sasuke Uchiha

Akatsuki's last stand—Yahiko

Fourth Shinobi World War—Tsume Inuzuka

Third Shinobi World War—Stone Shinobi Sumashi

Konoha gatekeeper—Kotetsu Hagane

Uchiha Yi fell silent at the sight of those five options.

Honestly, aside from Sasuke Uchiha, he did not seem capable of beating any of them.

Yahiko during Akatsuki's last stand was presumably the version from when Danzo and Hanzō had nearly wiped out the organization. Yahiko must have been at least a jonin then; otherwise, Hanzō would never have taken such a small organization as Akatsuki seriously.

Uchiha Yi had little idea how strong Tsume Inuzuka had been during the Fourth Shinobi World War, but she was presumably a special jōnin or jonin.

Kotetsu Hagane seemed to have been a chunin when he first appeared, becoming a special jōnin later on.

As a gatekeeper, Kotetsu Hagane should have been a chunin—at least a fairly strong one...

As for Sumashi, the Stone Shinobi from the Third Shinobi World War, Uchiha Yi had never heard of him. Still, he was presumably stronger than someone like him, who had only just entered the Ninja Academy.

That meant Sasuke Uchiha was the only one of the five refreshed candidates he could fight.

And Sasuke Uchiha was also the opponent most worth challenging!

Both of them had only recently entered the Ninja Academy, and both were called geniuses of the Uchiha Clan.

Unlike Sasuke, however, Uchiha Yi had been unusually sensible from a young age. He knew that in this dangerous shinobi world, his own strength was what mattered.

This body's natural talent was already quite good, and the influence of Uchiha Yi's soul made him especially gifted in Yin Release.

Although he could not compare with the Indra's chakra within Sasuke, Uchiha Yi had begun training from an early age. If he had not wanted to keep a low profile and conceal his abilities, he could have graduated from the Ninja Academy long ago. He had always held back his true strength.

He had previously shown his "genius" side by displaying strength comparable to Uchiha Mikoto's. She was now considered a gifted girl within the Uchiha Clan, and Uchiha Yi was two years younger than her. Possessing such strength already made him remarkably outstanding.

With a thought, Uchiha Yi's consciousness was transported into the battle space.

Looking at Sasuke opposite him, whose features bore a strong resemblance to Uchiha Mikoto's, Uchiha Yi felt rather strange.

But before Uchiha Yi could say anything, Sasuke Uchiha's expression twisted into utter madness. "Uchiha Itachi, I'll kill you!"

As he spoke, Sasuke pulled out two shuriken and hurled them at Uchiha Yi.