"Hōkaku, once the Ninja Academy is established, you'll teach there."
Madara Uchiha spoke casually, but to Hōkaku, his words struck like a bolt from the blue. His vision went dark at the dreadful news. Just imagining himself as an Academy teacher, forced to spend every day in the same room as Senju brats and teach them everything he had learned fighting for his life on the battlefield, made him want to hack every last member of the Senju Clan to pieces!
I have to nip that horrible future in the bud!
"What, you don't want to?"
Raising an eyebrow, Madara Uchiha turned his cold gaze on Hōkaku, whose reluctance was written all over his face. The instant their eyes met, Uchiha Hōkaku felt as though an electric shock had run through his entire body. He immediately swore against his conscience:
"No, absolutely not! Clan leader, I, Uchiha Hōkaku, will never let you down! I'll become an excellent teacher and turn all those bra-children into powerful shinobi!"
Could you suck up any harder? You're a clan elder, Uchiha Hōkaku. And should you really be saying all this in front of me?
Also, you were about to say brats, weren't you?
Watching Hōkaku, Shingetsu felt her mouth twitch as embarrassment welled up inside her. She silently turned away, pretending she had seen nothing.
"...Then it's settled. The Uchiha Clan must be involved in the Ninja Academy."
Madara Uchiha immediately shifted his gaze away from Hōkaku, as though avoiding something filthy. He turned to Shingetsu instead, visibly conflicted.
"Shingetsu, as for you..."
Shingetsu could more or less guess what Madara was thinking. He was debating whether to send her to the Academy too.
Compared with ordinary children, her circumstances were far too unusual. Exposing her to public attention too early would only put her in unnecessary danger. Besides, in this world where bloodlines and connections ruled everything, she happened to possess the finest bloodline and the most powerful teacher. She had no need for the Academy's resources.
Taking everything into account, keeping her out of the Academy was clearly the wiser choice.
"Master, I want to see the Academy."
But Shingetsu thought otherwise.
Konoha was the center of the Shinobi World, and the same was true of its Academy.
The story of Naruto began at Konoha's Ninja Academy, a place that had witnessed countless shinobi grow up. From the central protagonists, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, and the future Konoha 12, to the older generation, such as Kakashi, Might Guy, and Kurenai Yuhi-even antagonists like Obito and Itachi had been part of it.
Countless shinobi had spent their childhoods there before growing into powerful figures capable of standing on their own.
The founding of the Ninja Academy was a major turning point in the history of the Shinobi World. There might be danger, but no matter what, Shingetsu wanted to witness history firsthand.
Only when the moon had risen high into the night sky did Uchiha Shingetsu leave Madara's house with Hōkaku. A cold wind stirred in the night. In the deserted clan compound, only the lanterns beneath the eaves gave off a bright yellow glow. In that faint light, Uchiha Hōkaku held Shingetsu's little hand firmly as they headed home.
As clan leader, Madara Uchiha lived at the very center of the compound. Hōkaku's house was quite close, so their walk home was only a few steps, but Shingetsu was already too sleepy to keep her eyes open.
Children naturally needed plenty of sleep, and so much had happened that day that it had left her mentally exhausted. After only a few steps, heavy drowsiness threatened to knock her out.
No, it wasn't threatening to-it already had. Like an old drunk who had had one too many, Shingetsu swayed and bobbed her head, stumbling along on unsteady feet as though she might collapse at any moment.
Just as Shingetsu swayed and was about to fall, a large, warm hand caught her arm, keeping her from crumpling to the ground. Hōkaku bent down, reached out with both arms, and gathered her securely into his embrace.
"Father, I'm sleepy..."
With her face buried against Hōkaku's chest, Shingetsu breathed slowly and softly. Enveloped in a sense of safety, she soon could no longer keep her eyes open.
Under the gentle moonlight, Uchiha Hōkaku carried Shingetsu through the empty streets. Everything around them was so quiet that even the moonlight seemed to make a sound. In her father's arms, Shingetsu dreamed sweet dreams of stars and flower buds.
Half asleep, she heard Hōkaku calling her name.
"Shingetsu."
"Father?"
Shingetsu opened her eyes a crack and answered him drowsily.
"As Lord Madara's only disciple, you must support him properly. Don't disappoint him."
She could not tell whether this was real or merely a dream. Hōkaku's voice, almost a sigh, passed through the drifting moonlight and slowly sank into the depths of her heart.
"Lord Madara has lost all his family. Shingetsu, you're his only disciple, and the last family he has."
"Mmm..."
Shingetsu rubbed her cheek against his neck. Hōkaku could not make out her mumbled words at all. With its soft, trailing note, her voice sounded less like an answer than an affectionate murmur. Then she nestled into the crook of his neck and slept soundly.
Is this child even listening to me?
Feeling helpless, Hōkaku held the deeply sleeping Shingetsu closer and continued home.
When she woke again, Shingetsu found herself lying in her familiar bedroom, tucked beneath a soft blanket. Even her favorite black cat plush was resting obediently in her arms.
Yawning, Shingetsu struggled free of her warm bedding. Her muddled mind was clearly still ruled by drowsiness. Only one thought gave her the strength to defeat sleep-
"Brush my teeth... and take a bath."
Drifting into the bathroom like a ghost, Shingetsu picked up her toothbrush and laboriously scrubbed away. Her right hand still clutched the black cat plush. It was still deep into the night, so once she finished washing up, she could get some more sleep.
Technology in the Naruto world was utterly bizarre. Shingetsu did not understand how Konoha could develop such advanced running-water and sewer systems when people could barely get enough to eat, but she had to admit she could not live without them. She was a transmigrator. If she really had to live like someone from ancient times, without running water, flush toilets, or showers, she might as well die!
Thank you, Sensei Kishimoto. You're so merciful.
Spitting out all the water she had rinsed her mouth with, Shingetsu listlessly examined herself in the mirror. She really wanted to go back to sleep, but for some reason, she kept feeling that something was wrong.
The mirror faithfully reflected her appearance: black hair, snowy skin, and bright, starry eyes. Whether it was her large black eyes with their upturned corners or her unruly black hair sticking out every which way, she looked like a textbook Uchiha from every angle.
In the battle between Senju genes and Uchiha genes, the Uchiha genes had clearly gained the absolute upper hand. Shingetsu stared into the mirror for a long while before finally remarking:
"Wow, I really am pretty. Hehe~"
Nothing looks wrong.
After her bath, Shingetsu put down her towel, picked up the black cat plush, and headed back to her room. With her washing-up mission complete, sleepiness came surging back. Only the faint patter of her footsteps echoed softly against the wooden floor of the empty house.
Even after she lay back down, Shingetsu still had not noticed anything amiss. She decided she was simply overthinking it, happily hugged her little black cat, and sank completely into the soft, warm embrace of her bedding. Thick, heavy drowsiness carried her consciousness away, plunging it into sweet sleep. Surrounded by silent darkness, she kept falling.
Once again, she sank into the consciousness space deep within her soul.
Time in the consciousness space was frozen like amber, and everything seemed just as it always had. The God Tree stood quietly in the soil, growing in silence as usual. Its branches were slender and delicate, its leaves green and glossy. Nothing seemed to have changed. But when Shingetsu sensed something amiss and approached, she looked as though she had seen a ghost, her expression filled with utter shock.
She finally knew what was wrong!
At the top of the God Tree, still only a small sapling, hung two silver fruits of identical size. In the completely dark, motionless consciousness space, they resembled two tiny gemstones, giving off a brilliant glow impossible to ignore.
The God Tree bore fruit?! And two at once?!
Oh, heavens above, has my golden finger finally arrived?
Shingetsu was beside herself with excitement. Her consciousness swept rapidly over the God Tree and its fruits. Then her jaw successfully detached from her body and slammed straight into the ground.
What the God Tree had grown were not fruits. They were two eyeballs.
"These are... eyes?!"
Shingetsu's eyes widened in shock. Up on the God Tree, two blue eyeballs shimmering with a diamond-like rainbow sheen stared coldly back at her. The silver glow she had seen earlier had actually come from the whites of those eyes.
Although they were as exquisite as works of art, there was no denying that these were human eyeballs!
Shingetsu looked utterly frantic. If she could, she would have thrown back her head and screamed.
What the hell? Why is the God Tree growing eyeballs?! Are even trees getting into performance art these days?
"W-what am I supposed to do?"
Shingetsu's mind was in chaos. This troublesome "golden finger" before her had dealt her another crushing blow. What exactly was she supposed to do? Could someone please tell her whether she should eat them outright, or dig out her own eyes first and put these eyeballs in, like they did in the anime?
On reflection, the latter did make more sense, but... that would hurt way too much! There was no way she could do it!
While Shingetsu agonized over the dilemma, the fruits at the top of the God Tree suddenly detached and floated slowly into her palms. Up close, these eyes, with their blue pupils and rainbow radiance, resembled gemstones painstakingly carved by the heavens, exuding a flawless, natural allure. She examined the strangely familiar eyes, feeling certain she had seen them somewhere before.
Just then, the eyes in Shingetsu's palms suddenly shot toward her eye sockets! She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, but the eyeballs seemed to have no physical substance. They passed through her skin into her sockets, overlapping with her original eyes.
An indescribable ache and pain surged from Shingetsu's eye sockets into her head. She collapsed to the ground, trembling all over from the pain. She could clearly feel the two pairs of eyes merging perfectly into one new pair.
And that was not all. Endless power surged through the process, and she felt stronger than ever before!
In the real world, the sleeping Shingetsu suddenly opened her eyes. All the black faded from her irises, replaced by a red as thick as blood. A single ink-black tomoe slowly rotated within each crimson iris, while bright, gemstone-like colors shimmered amid the red.
These eyes were eerie and evil, yet their unparalleled beauty was undeniable.
In that instant, everything reflected in Shingetsu's eyes became covered in dark, crack-like lines, like crackle-glazed porcelain. The walls, the desk, her soft kitten plush, even her own arms and body-everything was covered in those crimson lines.
Those crimson markings were the lines of death that could bring all things to an end. Mystic Eyes of Death Perception had once been the name of these eyes. But now, they had become one with the Sharingan.
"Shingetsu! Are you all right... the Sharingan?!"
The sudden surge in ocular power alarmed Hōkaku in the room next door. Realizing the disturbance had come from Shingetsu's room, he rushed in immediately. But what greeted him was not an enemy attack. It was Shingetsu's Sharingan, bewitching as fresh blood and brilliant as gemstones.
He stared at the newly awakened Sharingan in disbelief for a long moment. The kunai in his hand fell to the floor with a clang.
Before you continue