Darkness.
And then — breath.
A single gasp filled my tiny lungs, sharp and painful, breaking the silence around me.Cold air burned my throat as a soft light flooded my vision.
I didn't know where I was.I didn't remember where I was supposed to be.
All I knew was that I was alive again.
There were voices around me — muffled, distant, yet familiar in their warmth.
"He's strong," a man said gently, his tone trembling with exhaustion. "Just like Shisui."
"Our second son…" a woman whispered through tears. "Welcome to the world, Ryuken."
The name echoed faintly in my mind. Ryuken…A name I hadn't chosen, but somehow accepted.
I couldn't speak, I couldn't move properly, but I understood enough.I was reborn — not as Richard anymore, but as someone new.
And then, I saw it.
The red and white fan embroidered on a cloth nearby.The Uchiha Clan's crest.
So that was it.I was in that world.The world I used to dream about — and now, I was part of it.
Konoha Year 37
The Second Shinobi War did maybe end but the but the danger still existed. Even newborns could feel its weight in the air.
My father and mother were both jonin shinobi of the Uchiha clan, called to the front lines to help the Police out only days after I was born. They had no choice — duty came before family.
My brother, Shisui, was only a year older than me — curious, bright-eyed, full of energy. He would often crawl close to my cradle, poking my cheeks and giggling, while our grandmother watched us with tired eyes.
I never cried much. Even as a baby, something in me had already accepted everything. Maybe it was the memories of my past life, or maybe it was just how I was born.
Either way, I didn't care for bonds. They never lasted long.
Weeks passed.
One rainy night, I woke to the sound of soft sobbing. Grandmother sat near the window, holding two folded hitai-ate in her hands. The Uchiha fan gleamed faintly in the moonlight.
Her voice broke as she whispered,
"They're gone… both of them."
I didn't need to ask who.Even without understanding the words fully, I knew.
Our parents had died .
The air in the room felt heavy. I couldn't breathe. My small hands clenched around the blanket as a strange heat burned behind my eyes.
The world around me changed — just for a heartbeat.
The darkness deepened. The candlelight bent.And then… everything turned red.
The reflection in the window showed my tiny face — eyes glowing with a single spinning tomoe.
A one-tomoe Sharingan.
It felt alive, pulsing with grief and confusion, with everything I didn't understand.And then, as quickly as it came, the light vanished.
My eyes faded back to their dull black color.
I blinked slowly, dazed.
"…Just my imagination," I thought.
But deep inside, I knew it wasn't.Something inside me had awakened — born not from rage, but from emptiness.
That night, as the rain continued to fall, Shisui crawled into my bed and slept beside me, unaware of everything.I stared up at the ceiling, silent, the faint echo of power still burning behind my eyes.
I didn't cry.I didn't mourn.
Bonds, love, family — they all end the same way.So I decided, even as an infant, that I would never depend on them again.
I was Ryuken Uchiha — the one who would live without ties, without illusions, and without mercy for a world that thrived on both.