Itachi Uchiha's deductions

Inside a house far from the beaten path.

Luo Mang put down his pen and stopped writing in his diary. It had been many, many years since he had transmigrated into the world of Naruto. Ever since awakening his cheat, he had kept drawing prizes, but everything he got had been mediocre.

They were all stored in the space within the diary he carried with him. Today, his luck had finally gone through the roof for once.

"Finally, something I can use."

He stretched, and his eyes abruptly transformed into the two-tomoe Sharingan. After showing them off, he deactivated them.

As an ordinary person without any special bloodline, getting by here was practically impossible. Even if he had trained from childhood, the absolute limit would have been someone like Kakashi. Surviving the tree-planting contest later on without getting strung up on a tree would still have been far too difficult.

The diary was the only thing he could rely on now. Otherwise, he would never have kept writing in it day after day since it awakened.

"It's not as powerful as I fantasized about, like the Rinnegan, Tenseigan, or an Ōtsutsuki bloodline, but at least it's a first step toward getting stronger. Things will definitely get better."

He propped his legs up on the table and gently swung them. This house had belonged to his adoptive parents, but they had died on a mission some time ago, leaving it as his property.

Fortunately, the house was too remote for anyone to covet, so those flunkies hadn't snatched it away.

But because he was adopted, they hadn't paid him any survivor benefits. He still had to do low-level missions every day to get by. The flattering explanation was that they were testing this outsider's character to see whether he had the spirit to dedicate himself to Konoha. The uglier truth was that they simply didn't want to pay and had pocketed the money.

He hadn't thought well of them in the first place, but he hadn't expected them to be quite so heartless.

Still, Konoha was at least safer than the smaller villages. After all, the savior was right here. As long as he kept his head down and found an excuse to take a mission before Orochimaru or Pain invaded, he could avoid the whole thing.

The savior only needed to save the world, but Luo Mang had far more to consider.

That might not sound good, but it was the truth. After all, he wanted to stay alive.

The savior could indeed save most people, but there was no guarantee he wouldn't be one of the unlucky few. He really did have to consider whether he could survive.

Still, all that seemed a little distant. He stopped letting his thoughts wander and focused on the present.

He closed his eyes and thought. It was July now, and graduation would be in April. That was the first major event: someone would goad Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals.

The forbidden techniques inside were tempting, but whether he could actually learn them was another matter. Forget it. He would just rely on his diary and keep his head down. If he really showed his face in front of Naruto, the Anbu or Root might haul him away the next day.

It looked like he couldn't even get involved. He had better keep writing his diary rather than attract their attention. He would have to hide his Sharingan too.

Or perhaps he could simply avoid graduating. He was usually just an unnoticed nobody in the corner anyway. No one paid attention to him. He could just fail to graduate because he wasn't strong enough and live as an ordinary person...

Still thinking, Luo Mang returned to bed, lay down, and slowly closed his eyes.

If he ended up assigned to some jonin he didn't know, he might even get sold out.

He slowly drifted off to sleep?

Meanwhile.

Someone else couldn't sleep.

Hidden Rain Village.

Itachi Uchiha, who had also received a copy of the diary, had been recovering from his injuries when the diary copy suddenly smacked him in the face and woke him up.

Its sudden appearance made him cautiously rise to his feet and quickly check his surroundings.

Only after confirming that no one was nearby did he examine the diary that had hit him, opening it to read.

When he saw the nickname given to Sasuke inside, Itachi Uchiha wasn't angry. Instead, the corners of his mouth slowly lifted. If they could give each other nicknames, their relationship surely wasn't bad. Perhaps this person could become the key to Sasuke awakening his Sharingan.

But when he reached the passage written that day, he was stunned. The diary's owner had actually awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan.

Puzzled, the first thought that popped into his head was:

"Did I miss someone when I killed them?"

After muttering that under his breath, Itachi Uchiha shook his head.

Impossible. The masked man who had acted alongside him that day deeply hated the Uchiha. Apart from Sasuke Uchiha, whom they had agreed to spare, he couldn't possibly have let anyone else go.

That left only one possibility: a clan member with Uchiha blood living outside the clan.

After a little thought, Itachi Uchiha's brow relaxed. Still, he would have to devise a new plan. Whatever else, this person was a clan member and had already awakened his Sharingan. Two tomoe at twelve meant that three tomoe, or even the Mangekyo, were possible.

"A little prodigy, then. He can help Sasuke in the future."

The two of them could protect Konoha together.

Yes, exactly. Protect Konoha.

As for restoring the Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha had never even considered it. In his heart, Konoha mattered most.

As for why he believed it so readily, Itachi Uchiha recalled the sight of the diary glowing white and words appearing out of thin air. He had no choice but to believe it.

There hadn't been the slightest fluctuation of chakra. But what was the purpose behind this?

Itachi Uchiha had more or less sorted things out, but he still hadn't figured out why this diary had appeared here.

"That's all?"

There wasn't much to analyze. It hadn't even given a name.

Still, judging by the nickname, the writer probably wasn't very old. He might be a Konoha genin or one of Sasuke's classmates. Itachi Uchiha's guesses weren't much different from Sasuke Uchiha's.

But there were so many genin and students. How could he possibly guess who it was?

This sudden development had disrupted his plans somewhat. Unable to sleep, Itachi Uchiha had to revise them. After all, even a small change could easily alter how things unfolded.

At daybreak the next morning, Sasuke Uchiha woke abruptly. As he sat up in bed, his hand landed on the book beside him.

"No way, it wasn't a dream! There really are other Uchiha clan members!"

He immediately felt happy. At least he wasn't alone. He picked up the notebook, and the moment he touched it, the words "put away" appeared in his mind.

Put away.

He thought it instinctively. Just as he was about to fiddle with the diary, it vanished from where it had been with a swish!

"Oh!"

At the sight, he sucked in a breath. It hadn't been a dream. This thing was actually that incredible. Information about the diary also appeared in Sasuke's mind.

(Silently think of the diary, and it will appear before you. Other people cannot see it. Do not deliberately reveal it, or you will receive an electric shock. If you are not interested and do not touch the diary for fifteen days, it will disappear automatically, but your memories will be erased.)

(Silently think "put away" to store the diary in a special space. Call for it again when needed.)

How strange. If it won't let anyone else know, why let me see it? What an uncanny trick. Still, at least I know there's another clan member. It won't let me tell anyone, but I can figure things out myself.

A hint of curiosity appeared on Sasuke Uchiha's face. He decided to start with the Ninja Academy and look for this clan member living in hiding outside the clan. At least he now had someone to rely on. Perhaps this person could even help him take revenge on that man in the future.