"…What the…?"
A translucent panel flickered into existence in Uchiha Izuna's mind, leaving him stunned for two whole seconds.
At the very top, a title stood out clearly: [Player].
That single word jolted Izuna's memory.
Player?
Before all this, he had been playing an online Naruto RPG. At some point he'd dozed off at his keyboard, only to awaken here—in the flesh, inside the Warring States Era.
Could this strange golden-fingered ability be connected to the game he had been playing?
[Wind Release: Pressure Damage (Learned, B-Rank)] →
Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane (A-Rank, requires 54 Skill Points)
Wind Release: Wind Cutter Formation (A-Rank, requires 50 Skill Points)
Wind Release: Rasengan (A-Rank, requires 66 Skill Points)
[Lightning Release: Ground Walk (Learned, C-Rank)] →
Lightning Release: Ground Surge (B-Rank, requires 26 Skill Points)
Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave (B-Rank, requires 22 Skill Points)
Lightning Release: Furious Thunder Tiger (B-Rank, requires 26 Skill Points)
Izuna blinked in disbelief. He quickly examined further and realized that in his mind there now existed something akin to a skill tree from a game.
Every jutsu he had already mastered was listed:
Wind Release: Pressure Damage (Learned)
Lightning Release: Ground Walk (Learned)
Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame (Learned)
Behind each mastered ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu appeared locked, higher-ranked techniques—waiting to be unlocked with skill points.
Just like in the game.
Of course, in the Warring States Period, ninjutsu was not as abundant as in the later era of Konohagakure, where an entire Scroll of Seals could be filled to bursting.
Back now, every ninja clan's arsenal had strict limits.
The Uchiha, Senju, and Sarutobi were large clans, yes—but even the Uchiha truly had only a handful of S-rank techniques, all of them Fire Release. Their other elemental affinities rarely reached even A-rank.
A thought struck Izuna, and he immediately shifted the interface to another tab: Bloodline Limits.
Sure enough, it read:
[Sharingan (Learned)] → [Mangekyō Sharingan (Learned)] → [Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan (Locked, requires 300 Skill Points; Condition: Blood of a Close Relative)] → Evolvable: [Rinnegan (Locked, ??? Skill Points, ??? Conditions)]
Izuna exhaled slowly, relief loosening the tight knot in his chest.
"So this… this means the curse of the Mangekyō can be overcome…"
Though strictly speaking, he and Madara had only "just met," Izuna could feel from this body's memories the deep, unshakable bond of brotherhood that tied them.
The last thing he wanted was to repeat the tragic fate of this clan's history—fighting his own brother to the death over failing eyes.
For now, he set aside the Mangekyō's drawbacks.
Izuna turned his focus back to the jutsu lists.
Besides the common Uchiha Fire Release, he also carried both Lightning and Wind attributes.
His Water and Earth skill trees, however, were dark and dormant—locked away. Unless he awakened the Rinnegan and gained all seven elemental affinities, they would likely remain so.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was tempting, but the requirements were brutal—300 skill points and the blood of kin. Compared to that, the meager 80 points he had available now seemed laughable.
Eighty points… most likely the leftover premium currency from his gaming account in his previous life.
If this were an era of peace, Izuna wouldn't mind slowly accumulating skill points.
But right now, war was raging. The Senju could descend on their camp at any moment.
After weighing his options, Izuna made his choice:
Wind Release: Rasengan (A-Rank).
It was the most cost-effective technique he could currently unlock.
At once, a warm current surged through his body. Knowledge and muscle memory that had never existed before instantly etched themselves into his mind.
In this moment, Izuna had mastered a technique that no one else in the Uchiha clan—and indeed, in the entire era—had ever even conceived.
No sooner had he learned it than the tree updated again:
[Wind Release: Rasengan (Learned)] → [Wind Release: Rasenshuriken (Locked, S-Rank, requires 100 Skill Points; Condition: Sage Chakra, throwable)]
Izuna's eyes lit with realization.
If I can unlock these jutsu, then surely I can inscribe them into scrolls for the rest of the clan to learn.
Madara, for example—his chakra nature was Fire, Lightning, and Water. A Lightning technique might suit him better than it did Izuna himself.
But for now, with the Uchiha and Senju locked in stalemate—and the Uchiha clearly at a disadvantage—such plans could wait. Survival came first.
He spent the entire night testing the Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities and practicing the new Rasengan.
By dawn, Izuna entered the main command tent, where more than a dozen Uchiha elites, including Madara, were already gathered.
"Today," a senior jonin spoke gravely, "we must decide who will cover the rear."
"I believe the wounded should take the role," one man suggested. "Our clan has already been weakened. We must protect the uninjured."
"How can you say that?" another shouted. "Those wounded are brothers who fought and bled for our clan. To send them out is to send them to certain death!"
"If the survival of the clan is at stake, then sacrifices must be made."
"…Or," another offered darkly, "we could employ Izanagi. It might just turn the tide. But if we do that…"
The room splintered.
One faction argued to send the wounded as rear-guards—even to the point of using the forbidden Izanagi technique, their very lives as currency.
The other demanded that the elite forces handle the retreat, while the injured were evacuated.
The tension in the tent rose with every passing word.
Then Izuna spoke:
"If we make the wounded our rear guard, what message does that send to the next generation? That the Uchiha abandon their own?"
The tent fell silent.
A middle-aged jonin, one of those who had argued to sacrifice the injured, scowled. "But if we lose our elite fighters, the Uchiha will have no strength left to stand against the Senju!"
It was true. Already, the Uchiha lagged behind. In the original history, not only had Madara's personal power been eclipsed by Hashirama's, but the entire clan had steadily fallen behind the Senju.
Izuna's point was correct—but so was this grim counterargument. The clan had little left to spare.
"Then let me go."
Izuna stepped forward, arms crossed, his posture radiating an undeniable pride.