In the Land of Fire, within Konoha Village.
Minamoto Takuya sat in Ichiraku Ramen, his face pale as he savored the Hokage's favorite dish while listening to the surrounding chatter.
Beneath his unperturbed expression, a hint of emotion slowly surfaced.
The discussions in the ramen shop were chaotic, but the primary topic recently revolved around Hatake Kakashi, the village's youngest Jonin.
While his promotion to Jonin had happened some time ago, such a young prodigy still sparked countless discussions and exclamations of awe.
However, the current rumors about Hatake Kakashi went beyond that; he had returned from the war against the Stone Ninjas with a Sharingan that couldn't be deactivated!
It was said that Kakashi's left eye had been injured, and he had inherited the power of the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai from Uchiha Obito, who had died in battle.
The Sharingan was the hallmark of the Uchiha Clan, and even within the clan, those who awakened it were not numerous. Moreover, most who did only achieved a single tomoe, yet Kakashi's was a two-tomoe Sharingan!
The chemical reaction caused by combining the Sharingan with a genius like Kakashi was the subject of heated debate among the villagers.
Sitting nearby, Minamoto Takuya couldn't help but scoff. At this moment, who could have imagined that this Sharingan would actually become a burden for the incredibly talented Kakashi?
It wasn't that the Sharingan lacked power, but rather that it was ill-suited for Kakashi in his current state.
Even though Kakashi was already a Jonin, it didn't change the fact that he was only twelve years old. At this age, Kakashi's body was far from fully developed, and his Chakra reserves were comparatively low.
Since he did not possess Uchiha blood, his Sharingan remained constantly active. With his limited reserves, an eye that continuously drained Chakra would undoubtedly hamper his growth.
Of course, the Sharingan was undeniably a powerful Kekkei Genkai that provided a significant boost to combat ability; that much was certain.
Therefore, the best option for Kakashi would have been to seal the Sharingan and only unseal it once his Chakra reserves had increased. This way, he could avoid stalling his natural growth without losing the Sharingan's power, perhaps suffering only a slight decrease in proficiency.
Given Kakashi's talent, that minor loss of proficiency would not have been a major issue.
This point shouldn't have been hard to consider, yet Kakashi didn't choose that path. He had Uzumaki Kushina, a master of Sealing Jutsu, as his sensei's wife, and Namikaze Minato who had mastered barrier-type sealing techniques under Kushina as his sensei.
He certainly had the means to complete the sealing. Most likely, he refused because the eye was a memento left to him by Uchiha Obito.
"Uchiha Obito's Sharingan, huh…"
Takuya muttered, a hint of envy in his eyes. He truly wanted that Sharingan and its Kamui abilities.
Unfortunately, considering Uchiha Madara lurking behind Obito and Namikaze Minato standing behind Kakashi, he had to abandon that idea.
He was currently a Special Jonin of Konoha, an identity that provided convenience for many things, and he had no intention of abandoning it just yet.
After shaking his head helplessly, a fervent glint appeared in Takuya's eyes. It wasn't because he had found another way to obtain Kamui, but because… "Finally… is it time?"
Takuya looked at his pale reflection in the clear soup of his bowl, his gaze becoming distant. He had waited a long time for this day.
As a Special Jonin of Konoha, Minamoto Takuya was now twenty-seven years old. Reaching such a rank at his age essentially indicated that his strength had peaked. Any further improvement would merely involve learning a few niche Ninjutsu or gaining negligible enhancements.
It wasn't for a lack of effort; his diligence was no less than that of Might Guy.
Of course, that didn't apply to Taijutsu. He had tried to grow stronger through physical combat, but his talent in that area was purely ordinary. He simply couldn't train like Might Guy; forcing himself to do so would only break his body.
After realizing his mediocre Chakra levels, average Taijutsu talent, and the total lack of a "System" or "Golden Finger" essentials for any transmigrator Takuya had been stunned.
The world of Naruto was far from peaceful.
In his twenty-seven years, he had lived through both the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars. Though he had survived, he attributed it entirely to luck.
In such wars, ordinary Genin were cannon fodder, and Chunin were only slightly better. As for a Special Jonin?
That was just a fancy title; in reality, they were just elite Chunin, and elite Chunin were… elite cannon fodder.
Takuya wasn't afraid of death; he just didn't want to die pointlessly.
In fact, he didn't even know how he had arrived in this world. One moment he closed his eyes, and the next he was a member of Konoha with memories of a previous life, despite never having been hit by the proverbial "Isekai Truck."
Thinking about it now, perhaps the truck's function wasn't just to kill the protagonist, but to act as a delivery service for Systems.
Takuya shook his head. It was useless to dwell on it now. If a System hadn't arrived by this point, it never would. At most, he could hope it might trigger when the main plot began.
Did he have any outstanding qualities? Yes.
He possessed incredibly precise Chakra control, but no matter how perfect his control was, it couldn't compensate for his abysmal Chakra reserves.
Even now, his reserves were only at the level of an ordinary Chunin. At twenty-seven, having the Chakra of a common Chunin with the threat of it decreasing as he aged was absurd.
If it weren't for his decent talent in Ninjutsu, he might not have even qualified as a Special Jonin.
Thinking of this, Takuya felt depressed. It was bad enough to lack a System, but to lack talent as well was truly cruel.
Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining; his memories of the future served as his only advantage.
For instance, a technique he had been eyeing the Chimera Jutsu finally had a path to acquisition.
Takuya had been watching a Jonin named Hiruko for a long time. He hadn't acted yet because he wasn't sure if the Chimera Jutsu was fully developed.
This was the point in time when Hiruko would begin coveting Kakashi's Sharingan, even moving secretly to cast a Puppet Curse on him. This confirmed that the Chimera Jutsu was complete, or nearly so.
Soon, Hiruko would be exposed during his experiments and hunted by the Sannin, leading him to flee the village to collect bloodline limit corpses. According to his memories, it should be happening right about now.
Takuya just needed to wait for Hiruko to abandon his hidden laboratory.
He took a deep breath, and his free hand quietly formed a seal beneath the table.
"Summoning Jutsu: Clairvoyance."
In the next moment, his vision seemed to pierce through the walls of Ichiraku Ramen, manifesting above a secluded experimental base.
Perched on a large tree near the base, a crow was preening its black feathers with its beak, its red eyes watching the movements below.
The crow was Takuya's summoned beast. Originally just an ordinary bird, Takuya had carefully nurtured it with Chakra until it awakened enough intelligence to serve as a summon.
"Still no movement?"
Watching the base through the crow's eyes, Takuya wasn't surprised. Even if Hiruko had heard the news, he wouldn't act in broad daylight.
After observing the laboratory for a while longer, Takuya released the jutsu.
Now, he simply had to wait for his summon to notify him. His crow couldn't perform the Reverse Summoning of the Great Sage regions, but it could pulse its Chakra to alert him within a certain range.
After a moment's thought, Takuya signaled other crows to gather, scattering them around the perimeter of the base to observe from a distance.
With his preparations made, Takuya picked up the large bowl, finished the remaining soup, and sighed.
As expected of the ramen the protagonist never tired of, the taste was truly first-class.
"Old man, check, please!"