He hadn't even finished speaking.
On Uchiha Motomu's right cheek, which was turned away, the pupil of the eye half-hidden in shadow suddenly constricted and shifted!
A dash of absolute crimson, like thick ink dropped into clear water, instantly dyed the entire iris!
Within that bloody hue, a single pitch-black tomoe spun slowly, radiating a cold and eerie aura.
"Uh..."
Uchiha Koji's words were swallowed back down. He stared at the flash of crimson on the child's youthful face amidst the pitch-black forest.
He opened his mouth and asked subconsciously.
"Y-you awakened the Sharingan?"
Motomu didn't respond. He closed his eyes, turned around, and slowly walked away.
Until his silhouette vanished.
Koji, who had been staring intently at that departing figure, finally lowered his head in a daze.
He was in his thirties and still hadn't awakened his eyes!
That kid... he was only six, right?
Just because I said a couple of things about his parents, he actually awakened them!
In Uchiha Koji's mind, he attributed the reason for Motomu's awakening entirely to his own words.
"The Sharingan!"
"That was definitely the Sharingan!"
"Oh my god, he's the same age as us and he already awakened it!"
"I wish I could awaken mine too!"
In the evening forest, only the excited shouts of the young children remained.
*Step, step-step!*
Motomu ran quickly toward his home.
After that encounter with Koji, he suddenly realized something very serious.
The matter of his tuition!
'Crap, I was so focused on training that I think I've spent all the pension money from my "cheap" parents!'
At that thought, Motomu flipped on the light and dashed under his bed to pull out a large storage crate.
Opening the heavy, old wooden box with both hands, Motomu began rummaging through it.
His parents' Chunin vests, a few scrolls, and a set of ninja tools he had bought for daily training.
*Clatter, bang!*
After tossing these items onto his bed covered in a beige quilt, Motomu looked down at an envelope hidden at the very bottom of the box.
He reached in and took it out.
He gave it a squeeze.
It felt thin. This wasn't right.
A drop of cold sweat rolled down Motomu's forehead.
'Let's just check. It should be enough!'
Motomu reassured himself and pulled out the bills hidden inside the envelope.
"Three hundred ryo, one thousand ryo, fifty ryo..."
"I'm short... I'm still short by one thousand six hundred ryo!"
Motomu's face stiffened with nerves as he counted them once more.
Exactly four thousand four hundred ryo. He was precisely sixteen hundred ryo away from the six thousand ryo tuition for the Ninja Academy.
"I'm screwed!"
"Just a little bit more."
'Maybe I should borrow some from Uchiha Obito's place?'
Motomu stuffed the money back into the envelope and immediately dismissed the thought.
Uchiha Obito's grandmother earned that money by doing laundry for others. Anyone with a shred of conscience would never touch it!
"Dammit! I spent too much too fast."
"I even bought a mat just to practice chakra control through tree climbing!"
"If I'd known how tough kids are in the ninja world, I would've just saved the money and practiced hard landings."
There was no medicine for regret. Uchiha Motomu's mind raced, trying to figure out how to scrape together 1,600 ryo in cash before the Academy registration deadline tomorrow morning.
1,600 ryo was equivalent to about 800 yuan in his past life. Although not much, it was by no means easy for a six-year-old brat to obtain.
"Go to the casino and look for Tsunade?"
Hmmm... for some reason, people in the ninja world were exceptionally attentive toward children.
If a kid tried to drink or gamble, some random adult would appear out of nowhere to stop them.
"Should I go to the 'Little Sun,' Namikaze Minato, and play the pity card?"
Motomu's face flushed with embarrassment, and he shook his head.
Although Minato's personality in the original story meant he would definitely help an orphan of a village martyr who came begging...
...that was just bullying a nice guy! As an Uchiha, Motomu still had some of the clan's characteristic pride.
And the system wasn't exactly designed for making money.
At the moment, aside from selling his dignity, Motomu seemed to have no other options.
After putting his things away and taking a bath, he threw himself onto the soft bed.
If he didn't attend the Ninja Academy, he wouldn't be able to learn ninjutsu.
He had already looked through the Fire Style and Genjutsu scrolls left behind by his parents.
But without systematic training in ninjutsu fundamentals, he couldn't understand the descriptions of meridian pathways at all.
Let alone learning them!
And without ninjutsu, how could he ever stand a chance against Uchiha Kemono!
Staring at the ceiling, Motomu decided to figure something out tomorrow.
If the sun didn't rise tomorrow because Uchiha Kemono killed him in his sleep...
...then worrying now would have been for nothing.
The night passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye.
The sun rising over the horizon illuminated the main road running through the clan compound.
"The light of the righteous path shines upon the earth..."
*Gurgle, gurgle, ptui!*
He hadn't been murdered in the night by the evil furry-lover Uchiha Kemono.
Motomu, having survived, spat out his mouthwash.
He picked up a corner of his towel to wipe his mouth and then looked out the wooden window facing the sink.
In the compound, a group of boys and girls around his age were being led by their parents and elders in a certain direction.
Motomu knew they were likely heading to the village's Ninja Academy to register.
He wondered when Obito would be heading out.
Just as he was thinking about it, a knock sounded from outside his courtyard.
Obito's up this early?
"Coming!"
Motomu called out and walked quickly toward the door with a puzzled expression.
*Creak—*
To Motomu's surprise.
Standing at his doorstep was an unfamiliar ninja from the same clan.
Upon seeing Motomu, the man sized him up first.
Once he confirmed the target matched his information, he spoke.
"Uchiha Motomu, the Clan Head requests your presence."
...
Inside a dimly lit room, an older man sat kneeling behind a wooden table.
*Thud!*
The door behind him was closed from the outside.
"Uchiha Motomu, are you satisfied with your life within the clan?"
Taking in the faint scent of parchment in the room, a cautious Uchiha Motomu looked up at the man.
Information about this person surfaced in his mind.
This man was Uchiha Tetsuya—Uchiha Fugaku's father and the current head of the clan.
There was very little information; there was no record of him in Motomu's memories of the original series.
'I wonder why he's looking for me?'
'Don't tell me... he's being controlled by that evil furry-lover, Kemono!'
'I really can't escape the fate of dying, can I?!'
Adhering to the principle that one can't be too careful, Motomu, who was currently imagining the worst-case scenario, chose to say exactly what the other person wanted to hear.
"The clansmen are all very kind, and everyone speaks so nicely. I like it here very much."
Tetsuya froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting such an answer.
"I see. I heard you've awakened your eyes."
Oh! Whoa!
It looks like Kemono isn't trying to nip me in the bud after all!
Since he's asking about my awakening, could it be that the Clan Head is going to give me some money?!
While Uchiha Motomu felt a sense of relief, he also felt a spark of excitement in his heart.
"That's correct! Lord Clan Head, I awakened them just yesterday."
After speaking, Motomu's Right Eye instantly turned crimson, activating the Sharingan in a split second.
"A single-eye, one-tomoe?"
Clan Head Tetsuya, with his square face and serious expression, seemed to ponder deeply for a moment before nodding.
"There are almost no precedents in the clan for someone awakening their eyes at your age."
He looked at the nervous expression on the brat's face.
The square-faced Clan Head thought for a moment and continued.
"Awakening only one eye might be a developmental issue due to your young age."
"There's no need to worry about that."
"Currently, the clan has a mission. The pay isn't much, but you..."
"Lord Clan Head! I will complete the mission even if it costs me my life!"