Chapter 1

The gentle spring breeze swayed the branches of cherry blossoms, causing pink and white petals to fall like rain, attracting the attention of passersby in Konohagakure.

Children, watching the pink petals fall, smiled as they tried to catch them before they touched the ground; it was like a game.

For adults, this was indeed the best time to appreciate the flowers.

However, not everyone had the luxury to take the time to stroll and enjoy the blossoms. This was because the Ninja Academy had opened its annual enrollment season. The countless applications that were pouring in were a true exhaustion for all the teachers and staff. The older students would graduate soon, and the new students would soon begin their studies... This period was considered the most exhausting for these people.

"Hey, did you hear? That demon is also enrolling this year."

"Are you serious? Are they really going to allow such a despicable creature into the honored Ninja Academy? Damn... my son is starting this year, I don't want him to mix with that kind of being, what are the higher-ups thinking?!"

"Shhh!"

"Don't speak too loudly. The Hokage must have his reasons for doing this. Just take care of your son and try to keep him away from that demon fox."

At the entrance of the Ninja Academy, parents and friends who had brought their children for enrollment gathered in small groups. The main topic of their conversation was the boy who was the incarnation of a demon fox. Their conversation became even more intense when a boy with blond hair appeared in front of the school, making the atmosphere even stranger.

The blond boy felt the disdainful looks of these people, and of course, the audible murmuring that told him to go somewhere else because he was tainting this place with his presence.

The boy lowered his head and hurriedly made his way toward the school.

"Brother, hurry up, we're going to end up being late!"

"How could we be late? Look, that boy over there just arrived too. Ayame, stop pulling, you'll end up tearing the sleeve of my shirt!"

At the end of the street, a girl was tugging at her brother's sleeve, running ahead like a rocket.

The blond boy up ahead, immersed in his gloomy reality, didn't notice the attack from behind and was suddenly knocked down by the girl, falling face-down on the ground with his backside in an embarrassing position.

"See, Ayame? I told you not to run. And now, if we have hurt him, what are we going to do?"

"How could I hurt someone? Brother, stop scaring people."

The girl, clearly dissatisfied, began kicking her brother's legs.

"Stop, stop! Ayame, I was wrong, stop kicking. You're going to break my leg." Kazuya raised his hands in surrender, jumping and dodging his sister's furious attacks, who had become a leg destroyer.

"Are you okay?"

Ayame, realizing that she couldn't land any kicks on her brother, turned away and ignored her brother's antics, redirecting her attention to the blond boy she had knocked down.

"It's nothing."

The boy got up, with no intention to blame Ayame. As he got up, he began to dust off his clothes and turned to leave.

"Why are you running? Are you a new student too?"

Ayame called the boy back.

"Huh? Aren't you afraid of me?"

The boy turned while running his disheveled blond hair, looking surprised at the girl in front of him.

"Who would be afraid of you? You're clearly a boy and not even taller than me; you seem easy to intimidate... So, as an apology for knocking you down, I'll protect you at the Ninja Academy. If someone bothers you, let me know, and I'll beat them up for you."

"Eh?"

The boy stood there, dumbfounded, not fully understanding what was happening.

"Why are you just standing there? If you don't hurry, you'll be late."

Ayame sighed and held her forehead, thinking that her first 'follower' at school seemed a bit silly and not very smart.

"It looks like you've already started gathering your followers, haven't you, Ayame?"

Kazuya looked the boy up and down.

Messy blond hair, blue eyes, and three distinct marks on each side of his face, wearing a black t-shirt and white shorts... looking closer, the powerful seal on the boy's body was visible.

Uzumaki Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of the Leaf Village.

"Brother, you're so boring! Go away! We don't need you here." Ayame, irritated, pushed her brother. "Hurry up! Didn't you have a mission to do? Go to work, and don't forget the gift you promised me when I enrolled in the Ninja Academy."

"So, you still remember that? I was just joking, and besides, why would a five-year-old need a saber? I'll just make a wooden sword for you to play with."

"I don't care! You promised me, so you have to keep your word. If you lie to me, I'll tell mom that you're bothering me."

"Ayame."

Suddenly, Kazuya's voice became serious as he placed his hand on his sister's shoulder, speaking earnestly, "Remember, telling others is a privilege of children, but now that you're in the Ninja Academy, you're a ninja in training. If your classmates find out that you do childish things, they will laugh at you."

Ayame's smile widened as she looked at her brother, who was trying to be serious with her. "You still need to keep your promise; it was grandpa who said that. Besides, stop lying; I won't fall for your tricks, and if someone laughs at me at school, I'll just beat them up."

After being tricked by her brother several times, the girl had learned to be more resilient and no longer fell for her brother's tricks so easily.

Ayame grimaced and, holding onto her new 'follower,' ran inside the school.

"Don't run so fast, or you might bump into people... you really don't learn!" Kazuya stood at the school entrance, watching his sister and the blond boy disappear into the main building's hallway, slowly retracting his stretched neck.

Today is the first day of school, and to help students adapt to school life as quickly as possible, parents who brought their children could no longer enter the school, only dropping them off at the entrance.

"Kazuya."

"Kazuya!"

A familiar greeting came from behind him.

Kazuya turned and saw two figures, one tall and one short. "Itachi, it's you! Are you... taking Sasuke to school?" Before him stood Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke, the brothers of the Uchiha clan leader.

"Yes, that's right, Kazuya. Are you also here for..."

Itachi was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

"Ayame and Sasuke are the same age! Right, Sasuke, are you also in Class A?"

"Yes, I'm in Class A."

"That's great, I have a mission for you. Do you dare to accept it?" Kazuya crouched down to speak directly to young Sasuke.

"What mission? Please give it to me; I promise I'll complete it."

Sasuke, still in his child form, became excited. Girls his age loved to play ninja, especially when it was a mission given by the famous Kazuya of the Uchiha clan... Sasuke didn't even need to think and accepted immediately, without even asking for the details of the mission.

"Good boy!"

At this age, Sasuke was still a genuine good boy from the Uchiha clan, not corrupted by verbal tricks, much more adorable than his brother, who always thought about sacrificing the individual for the greater good!

"Very well, this is a long-term mission."

Clearing his throat, Kazuya waved for Sasuke to come closer. "This year, only you and Ayame from our Uchiha clan have entered the Ninja Academy. You and Ayame carry the honor of our clan at school. Since Ayame is a girl... Sasuke, do not hesitate, use your strength to show everyone in school that the Uchiha are the strongest in Konoha."

"YES!!!"

Sasuke, with a flushed face of excitement, nodded vigorously, proudly promising, "Brother Kazuya, don't worry, I won't dishonor the name of our Uchiha clan."

However, Itachi, who was standing nearby, frowned slightly.

"Hehe! That's the spirit!"

Kazuya patted Sasuke on the shoulder, encouraging him. "Sasuke, if you manage to come in first place in all the exams at the Ninja Academy this year, I'll give you a chakra weapon!"

"Are you serious?"

"I never lie."

Chakra weapons are weapons made of special metals that have the ability to absorb, conduct, extend, enhance, and conserve chakra. Due to the high difficulty of manufacturing and the high demand in the market, a good chakra weapon is extremely valuable, and even an experienced ninja often can't afford a proper one.

Sasuke, although only five years old, understood the value of a chakra weapon thanks to the knowledge passed down by his family.

Isn't it just about being the top of the Ninja Academy?

He wouldn't lose to those idiotic classmates.

Sasuke, as if he couldn't wait any longer, ran into the campus.

Leaving only Kazuya and Itachi behind at the school entrance.

"Kazuya."

"What is it?"

"The identity of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is sensitive, our clan... it would be better to avoid excessive contact."

"Hmm... Itachi, you've grown up, huh! You're already starting to give me advice!"

"Kazuya, that's not what I meant, I was just trying to..."

"Haha! I'm just joking." Kazuya laughed. "Don't worry, I have no interest in the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, but I also won't stop Ayame from making friends. Since the Hokage allowed the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to enter the Ninja Academy, I think children's interactions should be harmless, right?"

"Kazuya... I said... too much."

"No problem, you're also thinking of the family's well-being!"

Kazuya maintained his forced smile and waved his hand.

"Itachi, if you have things to do, then go take care of them! No need to waste time here with me."

"In that case... excuse me." Itachi bid farewell politely and headed towards the Hokage's building... Watching that still small figure disappear from view, the smile on Kazuya's face gradually faded, leaving only a chilling coldness in his eyes and expression.

Uchiha Itachi!

In his memories, Itachi was a cold-blooded monster who didn't hesitate to exterminate his own clan for his younger brother and the village.

It's worth remembering that not everyone in the Uchiha clan was arrogant and unpleasant; there were many elderly and children in the clan. There were also many ordinary people who never awakened their special eyes and were not ninja. But regardless of being men, women, elderly, or children, from sixty or seventy-year-old men to babies learning to speak, all were ruthlessly murdered.

Regarding this cold-blooded relative, Uchiha Kazuya could feel nothing but disgust and caution...

It would be different if Kazuya were an orphan mistreated by the clan, with some special ability to fake his own death and elude Uchiha Obito and Itachi, the cold-blooded killers of teachers and parents. In that case, he could hide somewhere else, grow up in secret, and one day avenge his clan's death.

But his problem was that his parents were alive, he had many friends, and a loving and harmonious family, not to mention an adorable little sister...

Even though he had tried his best to avoid developing feelings for his family, he ultimately failed in that goal and decided to accept them wholeheartedly. For this reason, he couldn't run away, and there would be no place where he could hide with them.

And the time to resist the tragic fate of his clan was running out.

The children of the Leaf Village had already begun attending school, and the night of the Uchiha clan massacre was not far off. The story had changed slightly with Uchiha Kazuya, but not by much. Uchiha Obito still died in the battle at Kannabi Bridge, Minato and Kushina also died on the night Naruto was born...

During the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, when Kazuya was only nine years old, he was just a young ninja fighting against the Mist ninja on the western front, with no influence over events on the northern front.

On the night of the Nine-Tails attack on the village, not only Kazuya, who was only ten years old, but no Uchiha clan ninja could go out to help the Fourth Hokage. That's because ANBU and Root ninjas had surrounded the Uchiha clan area.

Five years had passed since that night.

In those five years, due to his tireless effort and the aid of his special abilities, he had become one of the strongest ninjas in the clan, alongside Uchiha Shisui.

Oh, right!

Uchiha Kazuya had two special abilities.

His first special ability was 'Zenkai,' a passive ability that allowed him to become stronger every time he recovered from a life-threatening or near-death situation. His power increased proportionally to the severity of the injuries and pains he had recovered from. If he suffered only minor injuries, his strength would have a negligible increase, but if he recovered from near-death injuries, then the boost in his strength would be maximized.

This was an incredible ability, but at the same time extremely dangerous, as it basically required Kazuya to put himself in near-death situations to become stronger. Zenkai not only made him stronger after recovering from injuries but also allowed his body to adapt to battles, making this ability perfect for ninjas.

For his second special ability, Kazuya didn't know how to feel about it. That's because his second special ability was precisely a sword that was very famous in a world where Shinigami walked among humans.

Senbonzakura!

A medium-sized sword with a large silver blade. If you only looked at its normal form, it seemed to be just an ordinary sword, but the truth was that this sword was anything but ordinary.

Although these two abilities might seem a bit strange and maybe even weak compared to the omnipotent systems many transmigrators possess, Kazuya feels that it's better than receiving nothing. After all, he recognizes that he's only alive so far because of these two abilities, more precisely Zenkai.

Since the age of seven, he had fought on battlefields and survived countless bloody battles, and in doing so, he had significantly improved his strength. Unfortunately, there was no system screen for him to assess himself, so it was difficult to determine his level compared to his peers.

Of course, even with these two abilities and his Sharingan, Kazuya felt it was not enough. In fact, he felt that it was still far from enough!

No matter how much others praised him for his strength, Kazuya, who still only possessed the three-tomoe Sharingan, didn't have much confidence in dealing with future Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Obito, two cold-blooded monsters with their unique Mangekyō Sharingan techniques and the divine power of Susanoo...

Both were not opponents he could easily defeat with just his two special abilities.

He needed more power!