His conversation with the clan leader, Kagami Uchiha, at Naka Shrine had been like a boulder cast into a still lake, stirring ripples in Shinji Uchiha's heart that refused to fade.
The path of absolute protection upheld by absolute power was magnificent in its ambition. Merely thinking about it set his blood stirring.
Yet once that passion subsided, a deeper calm took its place.
"Over a hundred Three-Tomoe Sharingan... ten Mangekyo..." Sitting alone atop a tall wooden post at the edge of the training ground, Shinji watched the sun sink toward the horizon. A self-mocking smile touched his lips. "My own power is still nowhere near its peak. What right do I have to guide the entire clan?"
Ideals needed strength as their foundation. And what he possessed was not merely the fruit of his own efforts, but also the system-granted fusion of this world's two greatest bloodlines: Uchiha and Uzumaki!
Through the relentless bloodshed of the Second Shinobi World War, from his defeat at Wind Howling Gorge to his redemption at Sandstone Fortress, then his confrontation with a Tailed Beast during the Great Avalanche battle, he had amassed immense combat experience and insight. His foundation was solid; he simply had not had the chance to properly absorb it all.
Now was the perfect time to turn those "combat reserves" into strength he could use!
"It's time." Shinji's gaze sharpened like a blade. "Let everything I've accumulated become the steps that take me to the summit!"
He requested an extended leave from the Konoha Military Police Force, citing his need to "digest the gains from the war and consolidate his strength." Then he headed to a remote, barren valley on the outskirts of the village and began an intensive period of secluded training, combining system enhancements with his own rigorous