His mind was filled with thoughts of the Third Shinobi World War looming a few years ahead.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from Kirigakure, the Uchiha Clan being used as cannon fodder, Obito "dying" at Kannabi Bridge, Kakashi losing his left eye, Rin having the Three-Tails sealed inside her...
And then there was his own fate.
As someone who had transmigrated, he had initially been brimming with confidence when he found himself in the Naruto world, reborn as an Uchiha. He would become the wild card that changed the balance of power in the Shinobi World.
But after training for a while, he discovered that his actual talent was mediocre. His ceiling in this life might be Jonin-or perhaps only Chunin.
Reality had quickly slapped him in the face.
Not every Uchiha was a Madara, and not every transmigrator could defy the heavens and rewrite his fate.
Still, fate smiled on all transmigrators.
A few days ago, his system had finally awakened.
A system for turning lies into reality.
A system that could manifest his lies as long as he made someone believe them.
If the system hadn't suddenly awakened, he might really have given up.
He was going to die either way: in the Third Shinobi World War, or a few years later on the night that traitor Itachi slaughtered the clan.
"But things are different now." Cheng stared at his hands.
Sure, he could only use it once a day on the same person, and its effects depended on their trust in him and their narrative importance.
But at least he now had a basis for believing he could become a peerless strongman.
I need to hurry, Cheng calculated. Five years... no, maybe less. Once war breaks out, who cares whether you've graduated?
He lifted his head and swept his gaze around the classroom.
Guy was sitting ramrod straight, his eyes wide as saucers, afraid of missing a single word from the teacher.
Diagonally ahead of him, Obito secretly turned around and waggled his eyebrows, mouthing, "Don't forget we're training together after school!"
Asuma and Kurenai were talking quietly, occasionally sharing a laugh.
Rin sat properly, diligently taking notes.
Obito, Guy... Cheng silently repeated their names.
Why choose those two?
Obviously, because they were easy to fool!
Obito's brain was basically a single-threaded processor.
Get fired up → act → regret it → get fired up again.
Guy went without saying. His head contained nothing but youth, and trusting people came as naturally to him as drinking water.
Most importantly, those two had high "narrative importance."
The system's notification had spelled it out clearly: the degree of manifestation depended on the character's importance.
Obito was the future big bad who would unleash the Fourth Shinobi World War, and Guy was the beast who almost kicked the story straight to its finale. How could their narrative importance possibly be low?
"Too bad Kakashi hasn't transferred in yet." Cheng Uchiha felt a little disappointed.
If Kakashi Hatake were already in their class, conning him would be even more rewarding. After all, Kakashi would become a major player too.
But there was no rush.
Kakashi graduated at five and became a Chunin at six. He was probably still undergoing Anbu training now.
They would cross paths sooner or later.
At the front of the classroom, the teacher had finished explaining the theory.
"Now, everyone, try to sense the chakra inside your bodies using the method I just explained."
The classroom fell silent.
One by one, the little brats closed their eyes and furrowed their brows, trying hard to "sense" it.
Cheng also made a show of closing his eyes, but he wasn't sensing chakra. He was planning.
Step one: establish his persona.
Standing up to Aoki today had been a good start.
He had already put himself out there as someone who "stood up for the dead last" and boasted that he could "take on three with one hand." Now he needed to firmly establish his persona as an "Uchiha genius."
How would he do that?
Simple. He just needed to make Obito and Guy believe he was a genius.
One was hot-blooded and the other was simple-minded. Fooling them wouldn't be hard.
Step two: build trust.
The system could only be used once a day on the same person, so he had to make every use count.
At 50% trust, only 25% of the strength increase had manifested.
Still, that was enough. At least he could handle Aoki now.
His current goal was to reach at least Kage Level before the Third Shinobi World War, even if Super-Kage Level was out of reach.
Otherwise, going to the battlefield would be walking straight to his death.
That was the most important thing.
The Uchiha Clan was already in an awkward position in Konoha, with the higher-ups watching them. That scheming old bastard Danzo would like nothing better than to wipe out every last Uchiha.
If a "super genius" suddenly emerged from the Uchiha...
Cheng could practically feel Danzo adding him to a "must eliminate" list.
And Cheng Uchiha also knew that a certain dying old man and his white turncoat were constantly keeping an eye on the Uchiha.
If that old man took an interest in him, he might become a pawn too.
I need to keep a low profile.
Cheng reminded himself.
I can establish a persona, but I can't take it too far. Step by step. Take it slowly.
And a lot of the time, I'll need to hide my true strength!
At that thought, he turned his attention to what the teacher had taught.
The chakra extraction method... He sighed inwardly.
He had memorized this stuff back when he watched the anime in his previous life, but knowing the theory and actually doing it were two different things.
It was like knowing how to drive a car. Without the key, you were still stuck.
Right now, he lacked that "key."
Talent.
The gap in talent among members of the Uchiha Clan was absurdly vast.
Madara was a walking cheat, Itachi and Shisui were geniuses, and then there were late bloomers like Obito.
And him?
He was so ordinary that he hardly seemed like an Uchiha.
If it weren't for the system... Cheng shook his head, clearing away those distracting thoughts.
Obito, Guy, he repeated silently.
I'm counting on you two to get me to the Six Paths level!
Before you continue