A searing pain, an intense headache. Akira Uchiha's eyes snapped open. Clasping his head, he took in ragged breaths, his forehead slick with cold sweat. Above him, a strange ceiling. Around him, a simple Japanese-style room. He was in a frail, unfamiliar body.
"I... Did I... transmigrate?"
Confusion and disbelief clouded his eyes. Just a moment ago, he was a miserable office worker who had pulled all-nighters for a week to finish a project. He had blacked out and collapsed in front of his computer. And now, he was here.
A flood of fragmented memories surged through his mind, impacting his nerves. The body's original owner was twelve-year-old Akira Uchiha, a member of the Uchiha Clan in Konoha Village. His grades at the Ninja Academy were mediocre, and his peers called him a "waste" due to his scarce chakra and weak Taijutsu.
As Akira was still in a daze, the door was violently kicked open with a loud "bang!" Dazzling sunlight streamed in, instantly dispelling the room's dimness. Three teenagers in Uchiha attire stood in the doorway, their faces twisted into mocking smiles and their eyes filled with disdain.
The leader, Uchiha Shigeru, was slightly taller than the other two. "Yo, waste Akira, still playing dead?" he taunted with contempt. "I heard you missed the target in shuriken practice again yesterday. You're a real embarrassment to our Uchiha Clan!"
Akira subconsciously wanted to retort, but the deep-seated inferiority and cowardice from the original owner's memories held his tongue. The body was simply too weak. Although the original owner had managed to graduate as a Genin, his skills were astonishingly poor. His meager chakra and struggle with even the most basic Three Body Technique were proof of that.
He had only graduated from the Academy because of the recent Nine-Tails Attack. The disaster had caused Konoha to lose a massive number of shinobi, including the Fourth Hokage and his wife, the Yellow Flash. To replenish the ranks, village officials relaxed the graduation requirements, allowing many students to become Genin early.
With this level of strength, the original body was a laughingstock among the Uchiha, a clan that valued power above all else. Because of his weakness, he was constantly bullied by the clan's rogue teenagers.
"What's wrong? The waste can't speak?" Uchiha Shigeru's impatience grew. He stepped forward, looking down at Akira on the bed. "It's time to pay the 'protection fee' today. If you can't, don't blame us for getting rough!"
"Protection fee?" Akira's brows furrowed instantly. He remembered from the original owner's memories that this was just an excuse for extortion. "I don't have any."
He was no longer the original Akira Uchiha. He wouldn't obediently hand over money.
"Huh? Nothing?" Uchiha Shigeru sneered as if he had heard a huge joke. He grabbed Akira's shirt and roughly pulled him off the bed. Akira's frail body hit the cold wooden floor with a thud. His bones felt like they were falling apart as a wave of intense pain surged through him.
"It looks like you need a lesson to learn the meaning of 'rules'!" Uchiha Shigeru raised his foot, preparing to kick Akira in the abdomen.
Humiliation! Anger! Despair! A torrent of emotions churned in Akira's heart. "Why me?! Why do I have to suffer this?" he roared in his mind. "Damn it! I've only just transmigrated, and I'm already in a bullying plot. Where's my system? Come out now!"
Just as Uchiha Shigeru's foot was about to land, a voice echoed in Akira's mind.
[Ding! Detecting the host's strong will to survive and desire to change fate...]
[Family Growth System successfully bound!]
[Detecting the host's current predicament. Beginner's gift package being issued...]
A cold, mechanical voice that sounded like heavenly music filled his mind. System?! A cheat?! Akira's pupils contracted as a wave of ecstasy welled up in his heart. The system had arrived just in time.
The beginner's gift package opened. An indescribable surge of powerful warmth appeared from thin air, nourishing his dry meridians like timely rain after a long drought. His once meager chakra surged at a visible speed! Every muscle and cell cheered with joy, greedily absorbing the sudden power.
Chunin-level chakra! Akira could clearly feel his chakra had reached the level of an ordinary Chunin. And that wasn't all! A burning sensation erupted from deep within his eye sockets—the unique bloodline limit of the Uchiha Clan. The world became incredibly clear. He could see the dust floating in the air, the texture of the wooden floor, and even the grimacing twitches on Uchiha Shigeru's face.
"Ugh—!" Akira cried out, covering his eyes. Uchiha Shigeru's movement paused, startled by the sudden change. "Playing tricks!" he spat, but an inexplicable unease rose in his heart.
After a few breaths, Akira slowly lowered his hands. He looked up, and his dull black pupils were now crimson. "From now on, I am no longer the office worker, Zhang Akira. I am Uchiha Akira! The Uchiha Clan will be great because of me!"
In his blood-colored eyes, a single, pitch-black tomoe slowly rotated. The Sharingan, the Uchiha Clan's bloodline limit, had awakened!
The air seemed to solidify. The sneers on Uchiha Shigeru and his two followers' faces froze, replaced by an expression of incredible shock. "Sha... Sharingan?!" one of them stammered, his voice trembling. "How could this waste Akira activate the Sharingan?!"
Ignoring their shock, Akira slowly stood up. He stretched his limbs, feeling the unprecedented surge of power within him. Chakra flowed smoothly through his meridians as if it were innate. Under the Sharingan's vision, everything was different.
He looked at Uchiha Shigeru, a cold smirk forming on his lips. "What... did you just say?"