Chapter 2: I Wanted to Desert

Chapter 2: I Wanted to Desert

Boom!

A wave of heat struck Tobio Uchiha directly in the back. He stopped and turned to look in the direction it came from.

The sky above Naka Shrine was dyed a deep red by the flames, and every now and then, a fireball exploded in the air like fireworks, creating a spectacular scene viewed from a distance.

It seems those elders couldn't convince anyone with their words.

"Eh…"

At that moment, Tobio Uchiha heard a child's voice coming from the nearby bushes. Looking in that direction, he saw three children with cameras in their hands, looking terrified at the Naka Shrine. One of them asked in a trembling voice:

"Big brother, have the enemies entered?"

Tobio Uchiha approached the three children, patted their heads, and smiled, shaking his head.

"No, that's the Uchiha clan shrine. They're just discussing some matters."

"Really?"

The three children looked at Tobio Uchiha doubtfully, watching the fireballs explode in the sky. It didn't seem like a normal discussion; it was too terrifying.

However, the kind big brother shouldn't lie to us.

"Oh, right!"

Tobio Uchiha looked at the three children and their cameras, and asked curiously:

"You're not from the Uchiha clan, are you? What are you doing here?"

"Eh…"

One of the children holding a camera stepped forward, replacing his fear with excitement, and answered, "The Hokage's wedding day is approaching. We wanted to find a place with a spectacular view to record a congratulatory video for the Hokage. Big brother, would you like to participate?"

"Hmm? A congratulatory video?"

Tobio Uchiha had never had any contact with Namikaze Minato, so he didn't know what to wish him. But seeing the expectant looks on the children's faces, he fixed his hair and said:

"Alright."

When they turned on the camera, Tobio Uchiha made a peace sign towards the camera and said the congratulatory message he had thought of.

"Fourth Hokage, Kushina-sama, congratulations on your wedding."

"All done!"

After saying this, he waved to the children and left.

He was going to prepare his things to desert during the Fourth Hokage's wedding, as security would be less strict at that time.

The simple life, beautiful landscapes, and combination of technology and tradition in Konoha made it hard to want to leave.

Tobio Uchiha didn't want to leave either, but without special abilities and with natural talent inferior to the great ninjas who could destroy Konoha at eight years old, he didn't have many options. Additionally, he wasn't good with words; in eighteen years, he hadn't convinced anyone of anything important.

On the battlefield, when he tried to use his wit, he only got stabbed with a kunai.

Furthermore, even if he managed to avoid an Uchiha Itachi, another one could always appear. There's no way to foresee everything, and the problem lies with the elders of Konoha.

After 18 years of hard training, he still didn't know if he could defeat Danzo, and he certainly couldn't beat Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Kushina-sama."

While Tobio Uchiha was lost in thought, he heard several villagers respectfully greet. Looking up, he saw Kushina, with her long red hair, standing in the middle of the street, greeting the villagers with a small basket full of baby items.

Looking at the maternal glow emanating from Kushina, Tobio Uchiha felt a sense of urgency inside.

"Is she already expecting Naruto?"

Passing by Kushina, he greeted her and then bought some food before heading home.

If Kushina was already pregnant, that meant there were less than ten months until the night of the Nine-Tails attack.

A month later, on the morning of the wedding day.

Bang!

He dropped his pack heavily on the table. Tobio Uchiha looked around the empty room and sighed.

In the past month, he had sold everything he could and exchanged the money for kunai, explosive tags, and other weapons from the old cat granny.

Rogue ninjas have to pay more for everything compared to regular ninjas, and those heartless merchants know you don't dare cause trouble because if you do, they'll report you.

Unfortunately, he couldn't sell the house; otherwise, he'd have more money to buy what he needed.

During that month, he watched Kushina's belly grow day by day, which filled him with anxiety, restlessness, fear, melancholy, and sadness.

Although he had never touched Kushina, and the baby wasn't his… he was an Uchiha.

After the night of the Nine-Tails attack, the Uchiha clan's situation would worsen drastically. Without divine foresight, there would be no way to explain why Sharingan eyes appeared in the Nine-Tails.

And in the entire ninja world, even children knew that the Sharingan belonged to the Uchiha.

Moreover, in a few years, Itachi, the great filial son, would raise his sword against the clan.

Looking out the window towards the clan's territory, he memorized the scenery well before taking the Konoha headband from his pocket and murmuring:

"Don't worry, at every festival, I'll send offerings."

Saying this, he began to examine the headband.

After all, it was his first time as a rogue ninja and he had no experience. Should it be cut horizontally or vertically?

[Ding]

[Detecting host information, system activation initiated]

[Name: Uchiha Tobio]

[Age: 18 years]

[Identity: Ninja of the Uchiha clan]

[Power: Jonin]

A mechanical voice sounded next to Tobio Uchiha.

Instinctively, he took out a kunai and looked around cautiously, but upon clearly hearing the voice in his mind, he was stunned and thought with a mix of excitement and resignation, "Does this system only activate when I decide to desert?"

No matter what the conditions for activating the system were, the important thing was to use it.

[This is the counterattack system, helping the host surpass Naruto Uzumaki and become the strongest in the ninja world]

[Accept the welcome package?]

Seeing the brief introduction of the system, Tobio Uchiha's eyes shone. Just with that brief description, he already realized it had great potential.

This system could make him the strongest in the ninja world.

With his heart full of excitement, Tobio Uchiha opened the welcome package.

"Accept!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several items appeared on the empty table.

After taking several deep breaths, he took one of the newly appeared items, a kind of coupon, and read aloud the large letters printed on it.

"Family combo of honey mustard flavored fried chicken that children love.

Quantity: Unlimited.

Usage: Break to summon."

After reading, Tobio Uchiha was silent, not knowing what to say.

What did this have to do with becoming stronger?

If he remembered correctly, eating a lot of fried chicken makes you fat, right?

Then he took another item and read the description.

"Three-day learning acceleration card for the ninja academy books, 1 day equals 1 month, saving training time."

"Detailed explanation of the Will of Fire course from the ninja academy, with annotations and reflections from the teachers. Memorize it to avoid Danzo's surveillance."

"Habits and hobbies of the ninja academy teachers, memorize them and use them wisely. Even if you sneak off to train, the teachers will turn a blind eye."

"A microcamera with unlimited battery and capacity. You can use it to record every moment in the ninja academy."

???

Tobio Uchiha looked at the items on the table with a puzzled expression and asked:

"System, I recognize that your welcome package is good, but don't you think this is more useful for a ninja academy student?"

"System, what's my power level?"

[Jonin]

"Isn't your welcome package for a ninja academy student?"

[Correct]

"Is it delivered incorrectly?"

[No error]

"Ha, ha!"

Tobio Uchiha, speechless, looked at the items on the table. He put his backpack away and headed to the village park.

Desertion could wait. There was a banquet for the Fourth Hokage's wedding, so he'd first take advantage of a free meal.

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