Konoha: Preparing to Defect, the System Arrives

Land of Fire, Valley of the End.

Asuka led the three kids back toward the Uchiha clan's district, leaving behind the two Root ninjas who had started fighting each other out of personal grudges.

Not every Uchiha child could be as calm and sharp as Itachi had been when he was young. Most of them were just regular kids.

One of the kids, holding his bucket of fried chicken tightly, looked up at Asuka with admiration and called out loudly.

"Big bro!"

Even though he didn't fully understand what Asuka had said earlier, he could tell one thing for sure—the fried chicken was delicious! And the best part? He could get refills!

That was even better than his grandpa!

"Sigh."

Asuka let out a deep sigh, folding his hands behind his head as he looked up at the clouds in the sky. He gave the kids a reminder.

"When you get home, don't tell anyone what happened today.

If someone asks why your clothes are wet, just say you fell into the river while fishing. Stick to the story, alright?

And definitely don't mention that I kicked you down the cliff.

I just got chewed out by the elder for an entire afternoon, and that old man's been looking for excuses to nitpick me lately."

"Yes, big bro!"

"Big bro, um… can we get more of this later?

My grandpa's teeth aren't great, but the meat's really soft. I was thinking I'd eat the skin and save the meat for him."

Wow, what a "filial grandson."

Asuka glanced at the kid who was pretending to be thoughtful, but the drool dripping from his mouth told a different story.

"By the way!"

After refilling the kids' buckets, Asuka patted their heads and smiled.

"I'm guessing you guys came to the Valley of the End today to admire Uchiha Madara's legacy, huh?

Tomorrow night, why don't you come by the Naka Shrine? You can bring your friends too.

I'll tell you the story of how Uchiha Madara used the Will of Fire to convince the First Hokage to join forces and conquer the world together."

"???"

The three kids tilted their heads, completely confused.

The Will of Fire? From Uchiha Madara? Wasn't he a rogue ninja?

Seeing their puzzled faces, Asuka didn't explain further. Instead, he gave them a mysterious smile and added.

"There'll be more fried chicken, and I'll even throw in some drinks.

Tomorrow night, let's enjoy a story and learn about Uchiha Madara's true Will of Fire!"

"Whoa!"

"Awesome!"

Even though they didn't understand what Asuka was talking about, the mention of more fried chicken had them jumping with excitement.

Their eyes sparkled—fried chicken that never ran out? What could be better?

Tsk, tsk.

Watching the three cheerful kids, Asuka turned toward the village with a thoughtful look.

Now that he'd decided not to run away, it was time to take action to protect the clan's future.

At the very least, the next generation shouldn't turn out clueless. He didn't mind if they were crazy—as long as they weren't idiots.

The Will of Fire? Hmph. I'll "fix" it for you.

"System!"

Asuka had just pushed open the door to his home when he called out in his mind.

He'd felt the system tremble during his earlier fight but had been too busy dealing with the Root ninjas to pay attention.

Now, looking at the floating system interface and the bold words "Task Completed," Asuka raised an eyebrow in surprise.

He stared at the white walls, mumbling to himself.

"That's it? Task completed?"

Congratulations! After hard training and intense battles, you have defeated Uchiha Naoki and gained his loyalty as your follower. Would you like to claim your reward?

Oh.

Asuka nodded as the pieces fell into place.

Uchiha Naoki… was probably one of the three kids he'd kicked down the cliff earlier.

Wait, that counted as "defeating" him?

His mouth twitched at the thought. Sitting down in his chair, he straightened up and said seriously, "Claim reward."

Boom!

Suddenly, Asuka felt a warm sensation flow into his eyes, but it vanished in an instant.

"…Huh?"

Resting his chin in his hand, Asuka frowned and muttered.

"The pain Uchiha Mikoto felt during childbirth must've been dozens of times worse than this."

The Sharingan evolved in response to emotional stimuli. Once the stress or emotions reached a certain level, the eyes would awaken or evolve further.

Based on Asuka's rough calculation, his progress from a three-tomoe Sharingan to the Mangekyō Sharingan probably looked something like this:

Before: 3000/10000

After: 3000.5/10000

"…?"

It would take about 14,000 tasks to unlock Mangekyō.

Even at a pace of five tasks per day, it would still take 2,800 days—roughly 7.67 years.

But the Uchiha clan had only about 6.5 years left in the original timeline.

"Good system!"

Asuka sarcastically praised the system before getting up to pack his things.

No way was he going to fight a Mangekyō user without unlocking his own Mangekyō first.

Thunk!

As he stood up, a scroll suddenly dropped onto the table.

Picking it up, Asuka scanned the contents—and fell silent again.

Good system.

"Chidori Senbon!"

A-rank ninjutsu. Transforms Chidori into countless sharp senbon (needles) to target enemies. The number of senbon depends on chakra reserves. Can be used with Sharingan to aim for enemy weak points."

After reading through the details, Asuka leaned back and stared at the ceiling, looking utterly speechless.

Before talking about whether he had Lightning Release chakra or not, even if he did, he still wouldn't be able to use Chidori.

What's this? Does the system think he'll definitely master Chidori in the future and is just giving him a jutsu ahead of time?

"Sigh."

After letting out a long sigh, Asuka casually tossed the scroll into the cabinet, deciding he'd find a Lightning Release ninja to trade techniques with later—or maybe owe someone a favor.

After all… he didn't have Lightning Release chakra.

Great. The first mission from the so-called "Ultimate Comeback System," and all it did was leave him feeling empty.

New Mission Released: The path to growth is always full of challenges, but the challenges in front of you seem a bit too much. The reason why you lost so badly to Naruto in the future wasn't just because his cheat abilities were better or because the Sage of Six Paths favored him—it was also because the friends you made dragged down your level.

While Naruto is still being disliked by the villagers, make friends with Nara Shikamaru. His brilliant mind will perfectly complement your powerful combat skills.

Make friends with Shikamaru now so that when you and Naruto face off in the future, Shikamaru won't use his brains to completely outwit you.

Mission Reward: Progress toward unlocking Sharingan, one Mystery Exchange Ticket, and a letter from an unknown sender.

This mission can be skipped.

Looking at the new task, Asuka turned his gaze toward the Nara clan's compound.

Nara Shikamaru?

Of course, he knew who that was.

He even had a drink with Shikamaru's dad before.

If he remembered correctly, wasn't Shikamaru still in his mom's belly?

Skip the mission?

Seeing the rewards listed, Asuka shook his head immediately and said, "Accept!"