The glaring sunlight filtered through the dense leaves of the tall trees, casting patches of light onto the faces of the students inside the classroom.
A short boy with black hair, wearing a shirt marked with the Uchiha clan's fan symbol, was answering the teacher's recent question—
A question about the inheritance of the Will of Fire.
"I think the premise of the Will of Fire is that fire first ignites the leaves, because—"
"Oh my god! Uchiha Yujin, what are you saying?"
The teacher on stage, wearing a Konoha forehead protector, waved his hand as if he had just heard blasphemy.
"You! Run three hundred laps for me! No leaving until you finish!"
Uchiha Yujin stepped out of the classroom, faintly still hearing the teacher's grumbling behind him:
"The Second Hokage was right, Uchiha kids are really evil! How dare you question the Will of Fire! None of you are allowed to follow him! Got it?!"
Uchiha Yujin smiled bitterly.
It seemed like the Uchiha clan was born with original sin.
He stepped out of the school building, sighed, and started running.
He had only run a few steps when a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Bro! Bro! Are you there? Where have you gone?"
"Huh?" Uchiha Yujin was a little stunned, thinking maybe he had lost his mind. He shook his head and kept running.
"Oh right! I haven't synced with you yet!"
As the voice finished, Uchiha Yujin suddenly stumbled.
The scene before his eyes was no longer the Konoha training ground—
But a pitch-black prison cell!
"Hey! I'm Pirate Yujin!"
"W-What?"
"I'm Pirate Yujin! What's with your style? Ninja school building? Bro, are you in the Naruto world? Can you do ninjutsu?"
The voice grew more excited, almost pleading:
"Please sync your abilities with me! I'm tortured every day beyond human limits! I want to die; I don't think I can hold on much longer!"
Uchiha Yujin didn't know why the voice in his ear sounded exactly like his own. He also didn't know why hearing the other's crying made him feel sad inside.
"Speak up. Why are you ignoring me?"
"Ah!" Pirate Yujin suddenly shouted. "I got it! You haven't recovered your memories yet, have you?"
"W-what memories?"
"Don't say anything. I'll sync the memories to you right now!"
Before Uchiha Yujin could react—
Buzz!
His world spun wildly.
He fell hard to the ground!
A mud truck!
A time travel!
A rebirth!
Was my past life named Yujin?
After death, the soul split into countless pieces.
This part of the soul had arrived in the world of Naruto?
This body still belonged to the Uchiha clan.
A member of the Uchiha clan with the most ordinary talent, unable to awaken the "Sharingan"—a useless ninja.
"No wonder my thoughts always feel strange. I'm different from those brainwashed by the Will of Fire."
"This year is Konoha's 55th year. Sasuke just entered the academy in September."
"That means… the Uchiha clan will be wiped out in just ten months?!"
"What kind of hellish start is this?"
Just as Naruto's Yujin realized his time was short, Pirate Yujin's voice echoed in his mind.
"Brother! Sync your memories to me too! Just silently chant 'sync memories'!"
"Hmm, sync memories!"
About three minutes later, the voice of Pirate Yujin echoed again in his mind.
"Clone jutsu, substitution jutsu, shuriken throwing—oh my god! How could you possibly survive a clan extermination like that?"
Pirate Yujin was silent for a moment, then added, "But brother, it's okay. We are all one. As long as not all of us from other worlds die, Yujin won't truly be killed. We're all cursed people! Life is too hard!"
Uchiha Yujin shook his head sadly. "No, you have it much worse than me. You're amazing. If it were me, I probably wouldn't have survived."
Because of the memory synchronization, Uchiha Yujin also saw the whole life of Pirate Yujin.
Pirate Yujin gained his past life memories relatively early.
The tragic part was, just after he learned he had traveled through worlds, his village was ransacked by a group of pirates.
All the adult men were slaughtered. The women fared no better.
As for the children without fighting abilities, they were forced by the pirates to become laborers, working tirelessly on the ship day and night.
Yujin thought this life was all he had left.
One day, while scrubbing the deck, he suddenly saw a fleet of navy warships ahead!
He didn't know what unforgivable crime the pirates had committed, but he saw a muscular man jump up on the enemy ship and throw a cannonball.
After a booming explosion, he found himself locked up in the Impel Down.
No matter how much he explained that he was only captured as a laborer, the jailers refused to listen.
One of them shoved him into a bath of 100-degree water as a "baptism."
Then, his endless nightmare in prison began.
Sword Trees!
Needle Grass!
Poisonous Spiders!
This was LEVEL 1 — The Crimson Hell!
In these seven years, he endured inhuman treatment.
Naruto Yujin didn't even dare to recall what the Pirate Yujin had gone through.
In their synchronized memories,
Pirate Yujin had already witnessed the deaths of Demon Slayer Yujin, Resident Evil Yujin, Conan Yujin, Lord God Space Yujin, Shrouding the Heavens Yujin, and Outcast Yujin.
He was hoping that the recently contacted Naruto Yujin could be a turning point to change something.
But he found out the other was also near death.
Pirate Yujin wiped his tears away.
"Our fates are just too miserable! Resident Evil Yujin was bitten by zombies right from the start. Conan Yujin thought he was in ordinary Neon City and hadn't even recovered his memories before becoming a victim in a case."
"Lord God Space Yujin's fate was even worse! He was the most likely among us to break free from this."
He blew his nose and continued crying, "Unfortunately, he was turned into a human pig by the breeding team just after opening his eyes. I didn't even have time to sync memories with him before contact was cut off!"
Pirate Yujin punched the ground hard.
"Those damn dogs! If only Lord God Space Yujin had a chance to develop his powers and convert them, I would have definitely gotten out by now! Damn it!"
Naruto Yujin wanted to comfort him but didn't know what to say — after all, he was also close to death.
Pirate Yujin sighed, "I don't know if I can hold on until the day Luffy causes chaos in the Impel Down."
"Hold on, brother!" Uchiha Yujin clenched his fists.
"Ten months left! If I can awaken my eyes in these ten months, maybe you can use the Sharingan to break out early!"
"Sharingan, huh..." Pirate Yujin thought for a moment and smiled bitterly, shaking his head.
"Different power systems mean the effect after syncing abilities is different."
"There's no chakra in the Pirate world, so the effect would definitely weaken. Even if you sync the Sharingan, it might only be a drop in the bucket for me, unless it reaches the three tomoe level."
"Then let it be the three tomoe! Then the Great Fireball! Phoenix Fire! Water Wall Formation! These ninjutsu! If all else fails, the Eight Gates! At least the taijutsu should work, right!" Uchiha Yujin shouted.
"That's our spirit — never bow to fate."
Pirate Yujin said this as he synced his ability to Uchiha Yujin.
[Pirate Physique (Level 3): The most basic body type in the pirate world. With relentless training, one can develop a superhuman physique. Currently, resistance to hits, mental toughness, and endurance have all improved.]
"I can't do much to help you, but I hope you can get through this tough time."
At the same time, Uchiha Yujin also synchronized his abilities with Pirate Yujin.
"I hope things go better for you too."
Clone Technique: Using chakra to create a duplicate that looks just like yourself.
Substitute Technique: At the moment of being attacked, replace your body with a wooden log.
Shuriken Throwing: Your power and accuracy in throwing objects have been enhanced.
"Thanks, brother. Let's work hard and survive together."
At this crucial moment, the same identical voice suddenly appeared!
"Damn! Where is this place? I still have to deliver food! If I'm late, the boss will fire me!"