Chapter 4: The Only Way Out
Newbie Reward: One Special Mangekyō Sharingan.
A flash of green light burst out. Uchiha Ming let out a scream as if his left eye had exploded in an instant. The searing pain pierced straight into his soul.
"Damn it, can this broken system even hurt people?!"
But the sharp agony came as quickly as it went. Soon, the soreness in his left eye vanished. A refreshing, cool sensation spread from the eye throughout his body.
Looking back at the system panel, the original mission—
Escape from Konoha and survive until tomorrow.
(Mission failed = your end will be miserable. Take a guess: could Shimura Danzō mount your eye on his wall?)
—faded away until it disappeared completely.
New words appeared instead:
Mission: Seize Shimura Danzō's Hashirama Cells.
(He's planning to dig out your eyes anyway. You gonna just let that old coin get away with it? Even I can't stand watching this!)
"Damn, this dog system is like a sow wearing a bra—always pulling out one trick after another! It even outdoes me at spouting sarcasm!"
"Why was the mission to escape Konoha automatically cleared? Damn it, this trash system never does anything useful besides trolling me!"
"Wait—the eye, the eye!" Ming suddenly remembered the unbearable pain in his left eye. He scrambled up and looked into a mirror. Sure enough, his eye had taken on a brand-new form—
A Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Hey, hey, system! What the hell, you useless mutt! Why only one eye?!"
Still, Ming knew perfectly well that this single eye was now his greatest hope. He could feel the immense power dwelling inside it, as if it could tear open the fabric of space itself.
"Open!"
At his command, a portal appeared where his left eye gazed. On the other side lay a bright, sunlit world. Ming could even smell the fragrance of flowers drifting through.
"I knew it—heaven never seals off every path! Just when I needed it, the pillow appears!"
The shadow of death that had loomed since his transmigration was instantly gone. With reckless boldness, Ming stepped forward. Though he wasn't yet sure what kind of place it was, it almost certainly wasn't the ninja world.
Kamar-Taj.
The Ancient One suddenly opened her eyes during meditation.
"An aura of another world… is it human?"
She lightly stirred the Eye of Agamotto in her hand. In a heartbeat, she peered into 389,624 branching possibilities of fate. Each branch collapsed instantly, merging into a single trunk. Yet no matter how she looked, she could not discern where that river of destiny flowed.
"Interesting. Even the Eye of Agamotto can't glimpse a shred of it."
A calm smile appeared on her face. The last time she felt this way was when she inherited the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme.
"This world has just become far more interesting."
She closed her eyes again.
"Wong, tidy up the library. We may soon have a guest."
"Yes, Sorcerer Supreme."
Meanwhile, back in the Naruto world, Uchiha Ming had no idea that in just the briefest moment, he had already caught the attention of one of the planet's most powerful beings. Not that it mattered much—for now, he was simply overjoyed to have escaped death.
"If I'm not going to die, then I'll take my clan with me and run."
Though Ming had taken over another's body, the memories of how his clansmen had cared for him were real.
The Uchiha were notoriously arrogant—aloof toward outsiders, the Konoha Police Force lording their authority with their noses in the air. But within their own, the Uchiha treated each other warmly.
The original Ming had received no small amount of kindness from the clan. Before, he had no ability to repay them. But now that he did, he couldn't possibly abandon them.
I came, I saw, I ran.
"No time left—straight to the point."
Ming hurried directly to the home of Uchiha Fugaku. If nothing went wrong, tonight would be the night of the clan massacre.
When he arrived at the patriarch's residence, even the usual guards were gone. Ming rushed inside, finding Fugaku and Mikoto sitting quietly in the living room. Three cups of steaming tea rested on the low table.
"Ming? Why are you here all of a sudden?" Fugaku looked up in surprise, his face showing a bitter smile.
Yes—what smile could suit a father waiting for his own child to kill him?
"Clan Leader, why are you sitting here waiting for death? Is this what you think the leader of the Uchiha should be doing?!" Ming's heart ached, recalling the times Fugaku and Mikoto had visited him.
"Ming, so you already know… Then there's no point hiding it. Today, only one can survive—either Konoha, or the Uchiha. I'm no Uchiha Madara. I have no way to ensure the clan's survival. To resist would only mean death."
Worse still—his son was a traitor, a boy who turned against his clan and family in the name of the so-called Will of Fire.
"Even if Itachi betrayed the clan, you can't just collapse like this, Clan Leader!"
Fugaku raised his head, startled. Ming, usually so quiet, was suddenly outspoken. Not only did he know about Itachi's betrayal, but his eyes revealed a fully awakened three-tomoe Sharingan. Another young genius indeed… though tragically, far too late.
"You know Itachi has the Sharingan. But what you don't know is that he has already awakened the Uchiha's supreme eye— the Mangekyō Sharingan. Against it, ordinary three-tomoe are helpless." Fugaku's fleeting hope crumbled into another sigh.
"Then watch closely, Clan Leader."
Ming opened his left Mangekyō. A portal tore open before Fugaku's eyes, spilling dazzling sunlight into the room.
"This… a Mangekyō?!" Fugaku swore this was the most desperate—and the most shocking—moment of his entire life.
"The other side is safe. I've already been there. It's not part of the shinobi world. The entire Uchiha clan can escape Konoha's cage. Give the order, Clan Leader—summon everyone. We're leaving this cursed place."
Later, when the time was right, they could return for revenge. Ming silently set his own goal: a cowardly escape was only temporary—whoever tried to kill him, he would kill in return. Such ruthless resolve was carved into his very bones.
At last, Fugaku's face broke into a relieved smile.
"It seems fortune still stands with us. Ming, I'll entrust the Uchiha's future to you. I'll summon the clan at once."
Though many Uchiha resented Fugaku, when their patriarch called, they obeyed. Soon, everyone gathered at the old ancestral site—the Naka Shrine.