Chapter 3: Three Sentences to Make the Uchiha Awaken the Sharingan!
Clang!
Steel Heart — a powerful item from a certain game.
Its effect was straightforward: smash into someone head-on, and you'd grow stronger.
Uchiha Ci was no stranger to that thing. He was an old player with over ten thousand battles and a level-seven ranked veteran of "Steel Gate Sion."
His specialty was all about charging in and dying first — You hit me once? Fine, this head's yours, big bro!
The more he died, the stronger he got — and the tankier too!
And now, at a time when all he wanted was to die, this "talent" suddenly appeared.
Surely… surely this wouldn't interfere with his grand plan to die and collect insurance money, right…?
Expressionless, Uchiha Ci already felt a creeping sense of dread deep inside.
But for now, he knew nothing about this so-called talent — and heaven's will hadn't sent him any kind of cheat manual or user guide.
The most urgent thing now was to take a mission from the great elder, Uchiha Setsuna.
Before this cheat could react, he needed to rush onto the battlefield, let Iwagakure or someone else chop him down, and complete his insurance fraud plan.
That was the real priority!
Still… he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling gnawing at his heart.
He turned around — and realized that the source of that unease was standing right beside him.
That little devil disguised as a kind boy, Uchiha Shisui, was smiling softly, his lips curling gently as he whispered with a gentle tone:
"Uchiha Ci, don't worry. I'll take the elder's mission."
"You should stay in the clan and train yourself."
Uchiha Ci's hair stood on end, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. Brother, why aren't you bothering the Fugaku family's heir? Why are you targeting me instead?!
Without hesitation, he leapt out of the crowd, took advantage of Shisui's stunned silence, and raised three fingers to the sky, shouting passionately:
"Elder!"
"To rebuild the glory of the Uchiha Clan — that is my duty!"
"I'm not afraid of danger! Please, let me go to the battlefield!"
Uchiha Ci's voice rang out clear and powerful, echoing beautifully through the hall.
He raised his arm, face full of solemn determination.
"Be it the pouring rain of the Land of Rain or the fragrant hot springs of the Land of Hot Water — nothing can shake my will to offer everything for the Uchiha Clan!"
"If someone must be sacrificed, then I hope that person—"
"—will be me!"
The moment his words fell, everyone turned their heads, eyes filled with faint respect.
Whose subordinate is this kid? He's got guts!
"Ci-kun! You—"
Shisui wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.
He stood there in stunned disbelief, his tone filled with sorrow.
Though they hadn't known each other long, Shisui had already believed that Uchiha Ci shared the same will — a comrade he could entrust his back to.
But… how did he suddenly just sacrifice himself like that…?
Ah… so this is what losing a comrade feels like?
Shisui's face flushed red with emotion. For a moment, he even felt the urge to drag Ci home and whip him a few times.
His eyes — already honed to the brink — suddenly turned scarlet.
A single tomoe spun rapidly within his Sharingan, radiating a sorrowful aura.
The catalyst for his awakening: the loss of a comrade.
It was as if destiny itself had brought it upon him — earlier than expected.
However——
"You're not qualified. Too weak."
The great elder, Uchiha Setsuna, frowned slightly and glanced down at Ci. Where the hell did this idiot crawl out from?
A genin without even an awakened Sharingan — how was that any different from trash?
As his words fell, Uchiha Ci's face froze stiff with embarrassment.
The edges of his expression could cut glass!
The humiliation echoed in his heart like thunder.
Did you hear that? Uchiha Ci's soul screamed silently.
[Uchiha Setsuna has despised you.]
At that moment, in Ci's vision, Setsuna's face suddenly lit up with a massive red dot — so bright it almost obscured his expression.
But those cold, disdain-filled eyes still pierced through, engraving themselves deep into Ci's heart.
Anger flared within him.
Sure, he was kind of useless right now… but tearing open that wound so blatantly — wasn't that too cruel?
If you clip my wings, old man, I'll burn down your heaven!
"Elder!" Uchiha Ci straightened his posture, stepping forward boldly.
"This isn't a matter of being weak or not!"
"I know my abilities are limited, and I haven't awakened my Sharingan yet," he said loudly, voice ringing through the hall.
"But genin in war aren't meant to fight on the frontlines!"
"They mostly operate on the edges of the battlefield, doing support work!"
"And besides— other clans have already sent their genin to the Land of Rain's front! If the Uchiha don't send anyone, won't the others start looking down on us?"
The room fell silent.
Everyone stared at Ci in shock.
His logic… actually wasn't wrong.
But damn — the person he was arguing with had once attempted to assassinate the Second Hokage!
And not just that — he was the hawkish leader of the Uchiha Clan!
Within the clan, his power could be summed up in four words:
Authority. Prestige. Influence. Terror.
Kid, you really just talked back to him? Where'd you get that kind of courage?!
Uchiha Setsuna's face darkened instantly. Did I give this brat too much face?
A genin — one without even a Sharingan — daring to argue with him?
This was… a pig climbing a tree kind of audacity!
But then, Setsuna paused to think.
Wasn't this… exactly the kind of person he needed?
He narrowed his eyes in thought.
As the hawk faction's leader, recruiting members wasn't just about talent — temperament was even more important.
Especially those stubborn, hot-blooded types who'd throw their lives away "for the Uchiha's future" before hitting twenty!
And this brat — the more stubborn he was, the more loyal he'd be!
When the coup happened someday, wouldn't he be screaming "Glory to the Uchiha!" while chopping Sarutobi's head clean off?
As an expert in political coups, Setsuna could proudly declare:
No one — no one — understood coups better than him.
A guy like Uchiha Ci was a premium-quality revolutionary cannon fodder!
So, naturally, he couldn't let such a "talent" die in some meaningless Konoha mission!
Thinking that, Setsuna's expression darkened — then brightened again.
He even gave a chilling little smile.
Everyone who saw that grin instinctively shivered, their spines turning cold.
Even Uchiha Ci's heart skipped a beat.
Not because he feared the old man — but because he was wondering:
If this geezer killed me in anger, would that count as insurance coverage?
[It counts.]
Heaven's will immediately replied inside his mind.
Uchiha Ci's eyes lit up.
In an instant, the anxiety vanished. He straightened his back and stared right back at the elder.
Uchiha Setsuna nearly burst out laughing at that audacious look.
Holding back the urge to beat the brat within an inch of his life, he took a deep breath, thinking of his grand vision.
He decided to give this kid one last chance to back down…
With a cold glare, Setsuna snapped,
"Naive. Ridiculous!"
"If war were as simple as you think, the Uchiha wouldn't mind sending genin to train."
"But reality is far crueler— those sent to the frontlines aren't soldiers. They're cannon fodder."
He fixed his icy stare on Ci.
"Boy, do you even understand human language?"
But Uchiha Ci just grinned wide, baring his teeth.
He tilted his head, tapped his neck, looking like a slab of meat at the butcher's stall.
"What, old man? If you've got the guts — then cut me down!"
"If you can't kill me, then let me go to war!"
And at that moment, as if he'd triggered some unseen threshold, Uchiha Ci heard a sharp, echoing—
[Clang!]