A Handsome Face Can Really Put Food on the Table

By the time Retsuo had muddleheadedly followed everyone else to some shelter, he had already fused two sets of memories. It turned out he hadn't just transmigrated. Nine years ago, he had crossed into the Shinobi World as a soul, then been reborn.

Uchiha Obito had gained a little brother, someone who had never existed in the Original Timeline.

That had happened in Year 39 of Konoha. Both their parents had died the year they were born.

Most of the ninjas around his age would later turn out to be people of mediocre strength, but one person was impossible to ignore: another dazzling genius of the Uchiha Clan, Shisui.

Unlike Shisui, who had been born with an aura of glory, Retsuo had never awakened his past-life memories because of the mystery in the womb. He seemed utterly ordinary. Like a normal Uchiha, he grew up in Konohagakure, received the clan's training, and was passively immersed in the Will of Fire.

The Will of Fire was everywhere in Konoha and had plenty of supporters even within the Uchiha Clan. Obito himself was one of them, dreaming of becoming Hokage someday.

Retsuo's daily entertainment consisted of helping Obito escort old ladies across the street and watching Kakashi brutally pummel Obito in every possible way.

Their everyday conversation went like this:

"Big brother, you're kissing Rin Nohara's picture again. And you're holding it upside down."

"I am not! I didn't! I wasn't holding the picture upside down!"

As expected of Uchiha's second fool...

In short, Retsuo and Obito lived under the same roof for eight years. Aside from mourning twice—once when their grandmother passed away years ago and once last year when his brother was carved onto the Memorial Monument as Konoha's little hero—their life was peaceful and happy.

Perhaps because the mystery in the womb had left his soul incomplete, Retsuo had seemed a little dull during the nine years before his awakening. He had few friends and was completely invisible within the Uchiha Clan.

People like him were only remembered when cannon fodder was needed. So not long after Obito became a name on the Memorial Monument, Clan Head Fugaku conscripted Retsuo into the clan forces. He went to the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War and took a walk in front of Iwagakure.

Fortunately, the Uchiha Clan enjoyed the greatest autonomy in all of Konoha when contributing to the village's efforts. They didn't have to be sacrificed by the likes of Orochimaru. Besides, the entire clan acted together, so even as cannon fodder, their survival conditions were far better than those of Konoha's civilian ninjas. Otherwise, a rookie like Retsuo might not have lived to see the war's end.

Once the Third Shinobi World War ended, his life immediately returned to obscurity.

And because Retsuo wasn't a genin mass-produced by the village for wartime, he still had to continue attending the Ninja Academy.

Ironically, the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, displayed astonishing strength during the Third Shinobi World War and became the Fourth Hokage after the war.

And because of Obito's "death," Minato paid special attention to Retsuo. In a sense, Retsuo inherited Obito's place in Minato's heart, along with his affection. Before taking office as Hokage, Minato had even jokingly mentioned taking Retsuo as his disciple. As a result, Clan Head Fugaku immediately increased his investment in Retsuo from the day the new Hokage took office, and his living conditions and training resources suddenly improved.

Obito had never enjoyed treatment like this while he was "alive."

Before awakening, Retsuo had even looked forward to becoming the Fourth Hokage's disciple someday.

In fact, back when he was Obito's tagalong, he often met Minato and his wife. Minato was approachable and never put on airs. Even after becoming Hokage, he hadn't changed, and he would sometimes teach Retsuo a thing or two.

As for Kushina Uzumaki, that violent woman was both gentle and violent toward Obito and Retsuo, just as she would be toward her own children.

At one point, he had even asked Obito why Aunt Kushina's crimson hair split into nine branches whenever she got angry and beat someone up.

It wasn't until tonight, when he witnessed the Nine-Tails rampaging and saw nine completely identical tails, that he finally received enough fright and stimulation to awaken his Sharingan...

The Sharingan was known as the eye that reflected the heart. Although he had only awakened a Single Tomoe, it melted the layer of frost covering his past-life memories, allowing Uchiha Retsuo's past-life soul to instantly take control. After absorbing his memories from the past nine years, it became complete, with his more mature past-life personality taking the lead.

No wonder when he awakened just now, he had only been excited about "transmigration" and felt nothing strange in his body. He had already spent years adapting to it...

Retsuo deliberately didn't enter the shelter. Instead, he lagged behind. It was quieter outside, and he needed to calm down. Besides, quite a few people in the shelter knew him, but in his current state, he wasn't suited to meeting familiar faces.

Perhaps because he and Obito were brothers, his aptitude was just as terrible as Obito's, if not worse. He hadn't learned the Uchiha Clan's signature Great Fireball Technique until the ripe old age of six. The "great fireball" he spat out could barely light someone a cigarette.

The brains and physical bodies of people in the Shinobi World developed incredibly early. They were fundamentally a different species from Earth humans. Uchiha Itachi went to war at three, Kakashi became a chūnin at six and then killed countless people, and Kimimaro had already completed a glorious life with Kage-level strength by the age of fifteen.

As a member of the greatest clan in the entire Shinobi World, Retsuo's talent in ninjutsu was so abysmal compared with those geniuses that it would take an astronomical telescope to find it. Aside from the good looks inherited from the Uchiha Clan, he had no noteworthy qualities at all.

He was only a little stronger than a civilian ninja.

He had often felt inferior because of that in the past, but now he was thrilled.

There was only one reason: Obito's talent was impossible to detect with the naked eye. It was called an "Easy-Eye Awakening Constitution," or a Yin Release Chakra Affinity Constitution!

The essence of the Sharingan was a bloodline talent originating from the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. Yin Release Chakra, combined with the Uchiha's exceptional genes, formed a Dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai.

The Uchiha Clan awakened their eyes by witnessing the deaths of relatives and friends. In reality, it was the process of intense emotional stimulation causing Yin Release Chakra to combine with their bloodline genes.

Obito had awakened with Two Tomoe right away, and when he broke through, he jumped straight to the Mangekyo, skipping the most difficult barrier from Three Tomoe to Mangekyo. His bloodline-combination ability was simply off the charts. For the Uchiha Clan, he was the strongest talent without question!

Otherwise, Uchiha Madara wouldn't have chosen him.

Retsuo made a quick analysis and felt that he was set. His freshly awakened Sharingan was proof that his constitution was on par with Obito's. As expected of real brothers.

Otherwise, the Uchiha Clan was cursed. To reach the emotional threshold for awakening, wouldn't they have to watch several relatives and friends die? How could he awaken from just a little fright and stimulation?

For comparison, even Uchiha Itachi, the son of Kishimoto himself, had to witness a comrade being killed before his eyes to awaken a Single Tomoe.

And Obito was precisely the only Uchiha besides Madara to awaken the Sharingan without witnessing a death. His archrival Kakashi had saved his life, yet as a result, Kakashi had lost his left eye. That was simply too painful!

Having spent eight years together day and night, Retsuo could say that he knew Obito very well before his fall. Obito was weak, but he was proud. His mouth had stayed hard until the day he died. After going through something like that, he would never be able to hold his head up in front of Kakashi for the rest of his life. It would surely hurt worse than killing him!

A fate worse than death! Awaken, then!

In other words, with an Easy-Eye Awakening Constitution, all it took was an intense emotional change to stimulate Yin Release Chakra.

At that moment, Retsuo's memories gradually refreshed, bringing back thoughts of his past life.

In his previous life, he had been a third-year university student and a Naruto fan slightly above the average level.

Most boys his age had grown up watching the three great long-running shōnen series, and his three roommates were no exception. Before transmigrating, they had been binge-watching the Uchiha Crazy-Laughing F4 parody video on Bilibili.

The parody video, reworked by countless creators, had an earworm-like sound and an incredibly strong rhythm that made people want to imitate it. That had set off a toad pit in the dormitory. There happened to be four idiots in the room, and anything good had naturally already been shared among them. In an instant, the room erupted in wails and howls—a grand ensemble of maniacal laughter.

He couldn't remember much of what happened afterward. In any case, he transmigrated. If he counted from the moment of transmigration, nine years had already passed. But if he counted from the moment he recovered his memories, it felt as if he had only just arrived. The two sensations intertwined, leaving Retsuo bewildered.

As he was lost in thought, a chakra that made his heart tremble suddenly appeared within his perception.

Retsuo looked up in astonishment. He saw the Nine-Tails standing atop a sea of flames, its eyes opened unnaturally wide as it arrogantly opened its massive jaws—

Clusters of red-and-blue light appeared in the sky, one after another, then converged into its great mouth.

A bubbling purple-black sphere rapidly expanded into shape.

"Not good! A Tailed Beast Bomb!"

Fear spread through his heart. Retsuo's mind went completely blank, and he turned and sprinted toward the shelter!

The Nine-Tails rampaged through Konoha, demolishing everything in its path, but the Konoha ninjas never stopped their suicidal attacks. The battlefield kept shifting.

At that moment, Retsuo and the shelter beside him happened to lie on the deadly line stretching from the Nine-Tails to Hokage Rock.

There was no need to ask. The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was surely standing atop Hokage Rock, already prepared to catch the Tailed Beast Bomb with the Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder Technique.

He really was handsome, but could handsomeness put food on the table?

At that moment, Retsuo's mind was unusually clear. He could vividly recall the anime he'd watched in his past life. The Tailed Beast Bomb the Nine-Tails was about to spit out would skim across the ground, crushing everything in its path and creating a vast domain of absolute death wherever it passed.

The reason a shelter was called a shelter was because it led underground, was sturdy, and was protected by a barrier. At that moment, it was the only hope of survival!

Nine-Tails, charge it up a little more. Give Minato a really big one later. Don't rush into a fit of anger and fire it right away!

Every second counted. Retsuo desperately threw himself toward the shelter, but the Nine-Tails didn't listen to him. In the blink of an eye, waves of air churned, and the Tailed Beast Bomb came roaring over!

Retsuo couldn't even see the Nine-Tails' face. All he saw was the gale splitting to either side, countless buildings exploding, rocks crashing to the ground, and the earth itself being thrown into the sky—a scene straight out of the apocalypse.

There was no time! Even reaching the shelter's entrance would be useless. The entrance was still some distance from the passage leading underground, and the aboveground section would be wiped away all the same!

What's more, he couldn't even make it inside. Was he really going to die here?

Just as Retsuo fell into despair, a flash of golden light appeared at the shelter entrance. In that fleeting glimpse, a dazzling head of golden hair and five scarlet characters on a white-bottomed Kage Robe entered his view—

Fourth

Hokage

!

The next moment, the Tailed Beast Bomb roared past, flattening vast stretches of ground, but two figures had already teleported onto Hokage Rock.

Handsome! Truly handsome! Handsome really could put food on the table!

Across from them, the Tailed Beast Bomb was still roaring forward. The Nine-Tails' target had been Hokage Rock all along—more precisely, Minato Namikaze atop Hokage Rock.

But it probably never could have imagined, even if it racked its brain, that Minato Namikaze would go down for a quick detour and return to his original position at that critical instant...

Minato gently set Retsuo down to one side, his gaze firm and confident. He extended both hands and began forming hand seals. The gale whined, and his Kage Robe billowed dramatically in the wind.

In an instant, the enormous Tailed Beast Bomb drew infinitely close to Hokage Rock, only to be severed by a Sealing Technique formed through Space-Time Ninjutsu.

The next moment, Minato thrust out both palms, flipped his wrists, and revealed the "Ninja Love Sword" held between his fingers, his bearing extraordinary.

A glint flashed across the sharp Kunai. A surge of confident Chakra erupted with a boom, and the Tailed Beast Bomb vanished perfectly into the Space-Time Sealing Technique—Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder!

In the distant forest, the Tailed Beast Bomb that had been moved away at the last possible instant exploded like a nuclear bomb. The thunderous blast lit half the sky as bright as day, and a mushroom cloud rose into the air.

The sight triggered a tremendous cheer throughout Konoha. The survivors, having escaped death, could no longer contain their emotions.

But lingering fear remained in Minato's eyes. He murmured, "The explosion was that large? We have to choose the location carefully... I need to report this to Third Lord as soon as possible—"

At that moment, Retsuo, who had just wiped away his sweat, suddenly shouted, "Watch out behind you! This person is—"