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Chapter 3 - Lie Flat for Rewards, Prepare an Escape Route

Uchiha district.

On the edge stood a shabby two-story house. That was Uchiha Jin's home in this world.

The place was worn, but the location was decent, close to Konoha's commercial street.

The Nine Tails incident had not happened yet, so the Uchiha had not been relocated.

As a founding clan of Konoha, their land was not half bad.

On his way back, Jin received plenty of clanmates' eye rolls, taunts, and sneers.

He was long used to it. Face slack, he yawned and started talking his way through.

"Yeah, right."

"You are absolutely right. I am a coward. I am trash."

"You are amazing, you are unbeatable, you are eternal."

He might have been angry and stifled when he first arrived in this world.

Now he was numb and thick-skinned.

He even found them laughable and pitiful.

Clutching that cracked signboard of the so-called Number One Noble Clan of Konoha, they did not realize they were already a dish on someone else's table.

No might like Uchiha Madara's to dominate the world, no literacy for high-level political struggle, and only a meager, brittle pride.

If you do not die, who will.

He could not be bothered to run with fools.

With a faint sigh, he pushed open the door and stepped into the silent house.

After a quick dusting, he lay straight down on the bed.

His whole body loosened.

Before today, he would have squeezed in extra training.

Now things were different.

With the Lie Flat and Slack Off System, what was there to grind.

Lying down was sweet.

[Chakra +13]

[Fire Style +16]

[Lightning Style +11]

[Taijutsu +13]

[Yin Style +19]

[…]

Listening to the prompts chime in his head, Jin's lips curved.

So good.

No sweat, no strain, and his power kept climbing.

System, truly unbeatable.

After basking a moment, he opened the system panel.

Name: Uchiha Jin

Level: 12 -> 13 ✦

HP: 550 / 700

Skill Unlocked: "Phoenix Feather Rebirth"

Nice.

He was satisfied with what he saw.

Compared to the whole shinobi world, he was only middling.

It did not matter.

At the very least, making it through the war ahead should not be a problem.

In school he had kept his head down, so everyone assumed he was useless.

That meant no one would invest in him, the clan would not pay attention, and his lot would be cannon fodder.

It was easy to guess his squadmates would be cannon fodder too.

The jonin instructor, at best a chunin.

A jonin leader?

Forget it.

Those were reserved for elite students.

As for their missions, the enemies would likely be small fry.

Even if his luck soured and Orochimaru or Shimura Danzo forced him into a decoy op, trying to send him to die, it would not matter.

Cannon fodder only drew cannon fodder.

Even if Danzo wanted him dead for being an Uchiha, he would not waste a jonin on a supposed nobody.

Honestly, that was all bluster.

On the surface he did not even have the Sharingan. A lofty figure like Danzo would not bother.

Why?

A waste of time.

Even if they caught him, so what. No Sharingan to harvest.

"Good."

"I can probably ride out this war."

"Next up is pure slacking."

"Never show off. Even in a crisis, do not lift a finger until every so-called teammate has dropped."

"Once the danger passes, I will toss out a reason, say the enemy got struck by lightning."

"Believe it or not, I do."

"If I really cannot spin it, I can go missing in action."

"After the war I will come back to the Leaf and say I was gravely wounded and saved by civilians. The Yamanaka can probe memories, but I am at least three tomoe. Washing a civilian's mind and planting memories is easy."

"Perfect."

He muttered to himself.

His eyes gleamed while his brain raced, and in a blink he had mapped everything out.

A grin spread across his face.

A man of the way of survival had no desire to bleed for Konoha.

If there were a safe haven anywhere, he would have already defected. But in this world, there was nowhere truly safe. Even if you defected, you would be hunted.

Yes, he had considered following Orochimaru or Uchiha Itachi.

He gave up.

Orochimaru's clean getaway happened because Sarutobi Hiruzen let him go, unwilling to kill his cherished student.

Jiraiya pursued, but half-heartedly.

As for Uchiha Itachi, he ran to Akatsuki as a spy.

And him?

Unless he joined Akatsuki, defecting was suicide.

Plenty of people in Konoha could crush him.

He had no powerful backers. Running was asking to die.

Even if he managed to hide, he could not hide forever.

Never mind the hardships. Living with nerves strung tight would burn him out.

Join Akatsuki?

No thanks.

A doomed organization, a nesting doll of schemes with Nagato, Black and White Zetsu, Obito, and Madara.

What a stew.

Invite that mess and you would not even know how you died.

So he chose to hunker down in Konoha.

When the night of the massacre arrived, he would slip away. At worst he would hide for a few years, then return when Tsunade became the Fifth Hokage and the Six Paths of Pain attacked, leaving the Leaf weakened.

First, Tsunade was not Sarutobi Hiruzen.

By then, Shimura Danzo would likely be dead.

He had never truly harmed the village. If he had fled, it was to escape the massacre.

More importantly, the Leaf would lack top fighters.

As an Uchiha, he would probably be accepted by Tsunade's temperament.

And there was Sasuke.

With the clan wiped out, how could the Leaf turn away a rare surviving clansman. If Sasuke spoke up, would Naruto not help.

Once he returned, he could keep living quietly.

Perfect, no notes.

Having settled his path, he drifted into a peaceful sleep.

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