Pain.
Blinding, tearing pain.
Haru jolted awake, gasping for breath, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.
A strange ceiling, a shabby tatami-floored room… and this frail, skinny body…
"Did I… transmigrate?"
His eyes were filled with confusion and disbelief.
Just a moment ago, he'd been a burnt-out corporate slave who'd pulled an all-nighter for a week straight trying to meet a project deadline—only to black out and collapse in front of his computer.
But now…
A chaotic flood of fragmented memories surged through his mind like a tidal wave, crashing violently against his nerves.
Uchiha Haru — a member of the Uchiha clan of Konoha, only twelve years old, with average grades at the Ninja Academy, and viewed as a good-for-nothing by his peers due to his minuscule chakra reserves and weak taijutsu.
Bang!
The door was kicked open with brute force.
Blinding sunlight flooded into the room, and three boys dressed in Uchiha clan attire blocked the entrance, smirking with disdain and mockery.
The leader of the trio was Uchiha Kenta, slightly taller than the others and clearly the ringleader.
"Yo, still pretending to be dead, trash Haru?"
Uchiha Kenta shot him a scornful glance, his tone dripping with ridicule.
"Heard you missed the target again during shuriken training yesterday? Way to disgrace the Uchiha clan!"
Haru instinctively tried to argue back, but the original body's deeply ingrained sense of inferiority and cowardice clamped his throat shut. His lips parted, but no sound came out.
This body… was far too weak.
Though technically a Genin, it was a title earned on shaky ground.
His chakra reserves were pitiful, and even the most basic Three Academy Techniques were a struggle.
The only reason he managed to graduate was thanks to the chaos of the Nine-Tails Incident.
After that disaster, Konoha suffered massive losses, even the Fourth Hokage and his wife perished. No one knew how many regular shinobi died in the aftermath.
To rebuild their forces, the village had no choice but to lower graduation standards, allowing large numbers of students to become Genin.
In the power-worshipping, strength-oriented Uchiha clan, the original Haru's abilities made him the laughingstock—an easy target for bullying.
"What? The trash can't even talk now?"
Seeing Haru remain silent, Uchiha Kenta's impatience flared. He stepped closer, towering over Haru's bed like a predator eyeing its prey.
"It's time to pay your 'protection fee.' If you can't cough it up, don't blame us for being rough!"
"Protection fee?"
Haru's brows furrowed immediately.
In the original memories, these punks had long bullied the weak Haru. The so-called "protection fee" was nothing more than a convenient excuse for extortion.
"I don't have it."
He wasn't the same Uchiha Haru anymore.
And he sure as hell wasn't going to hand over money like the old Haru did.
He wouldn't be anyone's punching bag again!
"Huh? You don't have it?"
As if he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world, Uchiha Kenta sneered and grabbed Haru by the collar, yanking him off the bed without warning.
Thud!
His frail body slammed into the cold wooden floor. It felt like his bones were going to fall apart.
"Looks like I need to teach you a little lesson about the word 'rules'!"
Uchiha Kenta raised his foot, aiming a vicious kick at Haru's stomach.
Humiliation!
Rage!
Unwillingness!
A storm of emotions churned in Haru's heart.
Why?!
Why should I be treated like this?!
'Damn it! Getting bullied right from the start—where's my system?! Come out already!' Haru roared inwardly.
Just as Uchiha Kenta's foot was about to come down—
[Ding!]
[Detected: Host possesses strong will to survive and deep desire to change fate...]
[Family Growth System successfully bound!]
[Detected: Host is in current state of crisis. Distributing starter gift pack...]
The cold, mechanical voice echoed in Haru's mind like heavenly music!
A system?!
A cheat ability?!
Haru's pupils shrank as a wave of ecstasy surged within him.
The system had arrived at the perfect moment. As the starter gift pack activated—
The next second, a vast and indescribable warmth surged into his limbs and bones, like rain nourishing a drought-stricken land, soothing his withered meridians.
His previously negligible chakra began to swell at a visible rate!
Every muscle, every cell in his body rejoiced, greedily absorbing the sudden influx of power.
Chunin-level chakra!
Haru could feel it clearly—his chakra had reached the level of an average Chunin!
And it didn't stop there.
A burning sensation welled up from deep within his eye sockets—this was the Uchiha clan's unique Kekkei Genkai.
The world before his eyes turned sharply clearer. He could see floating dust in the air, the grain on wooden planks, even the twitch of muscle on Uchiha Kenta's twisted sneer—every detail rendered in perfect clarity!
"Ugh—!"
Haru couldn't hold back a pained groan and clutched his eyes.
Uchiha Kenta flinched, startled by the sudden change.
"Quit with the theatrics!"
He spat on the ground, but an inexplicable unease crept into his heart.
A few seconds later, Haru slowly lowered his hands.
When he raised his head, his once-dull black eyes were now dyed a brilliant crimson.
'From this moment on, I'm no longer the corporate drone Haru. I am Uchiha Haru! The Uchiha will rise because of me!'
Within his blood-red gaze, a single black tomoe spun slowly around his pupil.
Sharingan!
A single-tomoe Sharingan!
The bloodline limit of the Uchiha clan—awakened at this very moment!
Time seemed to freeze.
Uchiha Kenta and his two lackeys froze mid-sneer, their expressions replaced by stunned disbelief.
"Sha...Sharingan?!"
Even Uchiha Gō's voice trembled.
How could that loser Haru possibly awaken the Sharingan?!
But Uchiha Haru paid no attention to their shock.
He slowly stood up from the ground, stretching out his limbs and savoring the overwhelming power coursing through him.
Chakra flowed effortlessly through his meridians, as though it had always been there.
Through the lens of the Sharingan, the world looked entirely different.
He looked at Uchiha Kenta, the corners of his lips curling into a cold smirk.
"What was it you just said…?"