Chapter 22 – Charles's Doubts
Outside the manor, the sun was shining brightly. Charles saw a large group of children playing mischievously on the open ground in front of the estate, a scene full of harmony and peace.
"A bunch of lucky little fellows… it's just a pity that the clan head is too ambitious."
In Charles's eyes, Uchiha Akira's earlier words were proof of his ambition.
At that moment, Charles looked up and noticed a child standing on the edge of the roof of a three-story house, swaying as if he were about to fall. Yet the people around only watched casually—no one made any move to help.
The next second, Charles saw the child lose his footing and tumble straight down from the third floor.
"Careful! Hank, quick, help him!" Charles shouted. He and Hank had been watching all along, but it was already too late to intervene.
Hank leapt forward, transforming mid-air into the "Beast," but even so, he felt it was impossible to make it in time.
"No!" Hank roared.
Yet, just as he cried out, the boy twisted in mid-air like a kite doing a somersault and landed steadily on the ground.
"Uncle, why are you making such a fuss? And why is your skin blue? And why do you have so much fur?"
The boy looked at Beast-form Hank in puzzlement, curious at seeing a mutant for the first time.
"You're… fine?" Hank was stunned. Falling from the third floor hadn't hurt him at all?
Before Hank could gather himself, several more children poked their heads out from the third floor and nimbly jumped down.
"Uncle, you're weird. From this height of course it's fine." One of the boys looked at the blue-furred Hank as if he were the strange one.
What was this uncle getting so nervous about from such a short distance?
Even Charles, watching from afar, was dumbfounded. What was going on with these children? Were they all mutants?
The children ignored the frozen Hank and resumed their roughhousing—leaping, climbing, and tumbling about. Some of the more agile ones even bounded back up to the third floor in a single jump, leaving Hank utterly speechless.
As Hank and Charles looked around, they realized that nearly every child could run and jump at speeds and heights far beyond those of normal adults. Yes—almost all of them seemed as if they had awakened mutant abilities.
The two instantly understood: their easy defeat yesterday hadn't been an accident at all. The Uchihas really had the strength—and even their children looked like little superhumans.
After some thought, Charles and Hank returned to speak with Uchiha Akira.
"You're back again?" Akira asked, puzzled. Everything had already been settled, even the property transferred. Surely they weren't here with a new commission so soon?
"Mr. Uchiha, is your entire clan… mutants?" Charles finally voiced the question in his heart.
"Uh, Charles, maybe there's a misunderstanding. I know you're mutants, but we definitely are not."
Hearing Akira's denial, Charles felt a pang of disappointment, though he had half-expected it.
After all, mutant inheritance was anything but stable—let alone forming an entire bloodline. So far, most mutant awakenings seemed like coincidences, and the vast majority of mutants had ordinary human parents.
But here, everyone seemed like a mutant. Even Charles himself found it hard to believe.
"Mr. Uchiha, then… is your whole clan a group of superpowered people?" Charles asked again, suddenly feeling that Akira hadn't been trying to deceive him earlier.
"You can think of it that way. But as for specifics, I can't say more for now. After all, we don't really have a cooperative relationship yet. If I told you everything freely, wouldn't you begin to doubt my motives?"
Akira wasn't going to treat others like fools. Even though this young Charles was far less mature and powerful than the older one Akira remembered, he wouldn't underestimate him.
"Then I'll look forward to a more detailed exchange in the future. And I also welcome you to visit the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. I believe you already know where it is."
Of course he did. Within dozens of kilometers, the only populated places were Charles's school and the Uchiha estate.
"Not right now—we're still settling in. You know, we just moved here, there's a lot to put in order. Once things are stable, maybe in a few days."
Akira didn't refuse. Since they intended to live long-term in this world, necessary communication and tempering were unavoidable. The Uchihas hadn't truly been active since the Third Ninja War—it was time they saw some real action again.
After all, the Marvel world was anything but peaceful.
Charles and Hank left with more questions than answers, while the Uchiha clan began their new migration.
The neighboring manor was now also Uchiha territory, instantly making the area much more spacious.
The clan launched into full-scale construction. With the terrifying efficiency of ninja, the estate was more or less reorganized within three days.
Of course, plenty of funny incidents happened with modern devices in the meantime, but everyone learned quickly. The Naruto world only looked less advanced—in fact, fridges, televisions, and other modern conveniences already existed there, just in slightly older designs than those of the year 2000.
Next came the setup of protective barriers—a much harder task that only a few clan members could assist with. Akira also followed the elders to learn the basics of sealing techniques.
While the clan threw themselves into large-scale construction, Akira practically became a hands-off overseer. He wasn't skilled in these matters—truthfully, he didn't understand them at all. More importantly, during these days, Akira began to notice changes within himself.
He felt what it truly meant to have endless energy. At first, he thought it was simply due to chakra—after all, in his past life he had been just an ordinary person.
But then he realized it wasn't that. Even the Uchiha elite jōnin sometimes ran low on stamina—but he never did.
Extracting chakra felt as natural to him as eating or drinking.
At his age, growth of body and spirit was already at a peak—but his rate of development was far beyond normal. Then he checked his system panel:
System: Ashura Cells successfully fused. Evolution in progress…
So it really was the fusion of Ashura's cells?
When he first saw the system message, Akira had imagined scenes of "Susanoo wielding a giant Buddha" and destroying four nations single-handedly. But in the days since, no obvious changes had appeared.
No searing pain like in novels, no explosive growth spurts—nothing dramatic. For a moment, Akira even doubted whether his knock-off system was worth anything…
Alright, system, I misjudged you. You really are a good system.
At least he didn't have to live in constant fear of turning into a tree, like Danzō…