Konoha Year 36. Nineteen years after the First Great Ninja War ended—after the Five Great Nations clashed over control of the tailed beasts—your father Uchiha Fugaku and mother Uchiha Mikoto were married in front of the Uchiha clan elders at the shrine in the Uchiha district. The union was meant to strengthen ties between the main lineages.
(Note: In canon, Fugaku and Mikoto likely married a bit later, around Konoha Year 40—this timeline has been adjusted slightly.)
The following year—Konoha Year 37—Mikoto became pregnant. That same year, the Second Great Ninja War broke out.
Under Hanzō of the Salamander, the Hidden Rain launched a territorial expansion campaign, striking first at Konoha, Sunagakure, and the Land of Iron. Your father, Uchiha Fugaku, fought the Rain army under the leadership of the Sannin. He witnessed a close friend die to Hanzō's poison techniques. That day, he awakened the Sharingan, and—carrying both grief for his fallen friend and a heartfelt hope—he gave you a name before you were even born: "Ren".
Winter of Konoha Year 37: Uchiha Mikoto gave birth. You were officially born. That same year, Dan Katō, Tsunade's boyfriend, died in battle, and your future Ninja Academy classmate Gekkō Hayate was born.
Konoha Year 39: The Second Great Ninja War ended. Your father returned to Konoha. Because he'd missed your birth, he doted on you excessively and began training you personally.
You were two years old. You held a kunai for the first time and began receiving your "main-body" power. (Current synchronization: 0.5%.) Your flawless kunai throwing—never missing a single throw—shocked even Fugaku.
That same year, the "Copy Ninja" Kakashi Hatake graduated from the Academy at age five and was hailed as a once-in-a-generation prodigy—the youngest graduate in Academy history. Uchiha Shisui was also born.
Konoha Year 40: Kakashi, age six, passed the Chūnin Exams and officially became a chūnin. You watched that exam under your father's guidance and saw Kakashi for the first time. You were three years old. Your "main-body" synchronization reached 2%. You began learning chakra refinement, and—using Nen training as a reference—tried to "open your pores" through meditation and awaken them on your own.
Konoha Year 41: Might Guy and Genma Shiranui graduated from the Academy. You were four. Fugaku tried to enroll you early, but you refused. Out of guilt for missing your birth, he indulged you for a full year. During that year, you focused on absorbing your main-body power and, after nearly a year of meditation, successfully opened your pores on your own. Current synchronization: 5%. Physique: 40 (ordinary civilians = 1).
Konoha Year 42: Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, Kurenai Yūhi, Shizune, and Asuma Sarutobi graduated. You were five and entered the Academy. Synchronization: 10%. Your Zoldyck assassination arts—Silent Gait, Rhythm Echo, The Snake Awakens—were already fully mastered. You had also grasped the Four Major Nen Principles Ten/Zetsu/Ren/Hatsu at a basic level (Lv1).
That same year, under Fugaku's teaching, you learned Fire Release, mastering the C-rank technique Great Fireball Jutsu. The panel displayed:
"Nen Nature Transformation": Fire +100…
That was when you realized you could deepen your understanding of "Nen" by learning ninjutsu, and you began deliberately collecting and studying more techniques.
Konoha Year 43: The Third Kazekage died, planting the fuse for the Third Great Ninja War. That same year, Mikoto carried a second child to term and gave birth to Uchiha Itachi. You were five. Synchronization: 30%. Your "breathing method" training was complete. Swordsmanship: Lv2, early-stage Shikai. After the Four Major Principles, you also mastered Shū and Gyo.
In the southern forest, when you first revealed En, you rescued a toddler Shisui from drowning by chance.
At age three, Shisui started calling you "big brother" and became your little shadow.
Konoha Year 44: Genma Shiranui, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara passed the Chūnin Exams and became chūnin. You were six and had spent a year in the Academy, continuing to absorb your main-body power. Synchronization: 50%. Physique: 491 (ordinary civilians = 1). You had begun to grasp the advanced application Ken, and your swordsmanship reached Lv3, entering early Bankai.
That same year, as you continued collecting ninjutsu to deepen your Nen comprehension, you mastered:
C-rank Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu
B-rank Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson
B-rank Water Release: Water Fang Bullet
B-rank Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone Jutsu
Panel prompts: Fire +100 +100… Water +100…
You also began using clones to handle school while continuing to refine Nen and absorb main-body power.
Konoha Year 45: The Third Great Ninja War intensified. Casualties among captain-level chūnin were severe, creating a gap in Konoha's mid-tier forces. Younger ninja like Might Guy and Asuma Sarutobi were promoted to fill the void. You were six and followed Fugaku into the battlefield for the first time, witnessing its brutality firsthand. That year, you saw Fugaku awaken the Sharingan and rampage across the battlefield—and you faintly sensed a trace of Yin Release. Later, when Minato Namikaze arrived as reinforcement, you returned to Konoha with Fugaku and continued absorbing your main-body power. Synchronization: 80%…
…
"Beep-beep-beep…"
The panel notifications rained down like drumming on bamboo.
In a haze, Roy's cognitive world unfolded before him. On the familiar blue Cognition Sea, near the Demon Slayer gate, the wooden door carved with an eye symbol creaked open—just a crack—spilling a sliver of light.
Deep under the West Sea—ten thousand meters down, inside the ruin-cathedral—Roy wiped his hand, crushing the fake Feccha's Parrot to death. He coldly glanced at the fake Ging. The timing was terrible—this gate shouldn't be opening now—but his consciousness lurched anyway, eyelids drooping as drowsiness surged up.
Roy stabbed Snow-Walk into the ground with his left hand, freeing both hands. His fingers flickered like butterflies as he formed seals, selecting Shadow Clone Jutsu from the flood of newly-loaded information—
And before fake Ging's startled, wary eyes—
BAM.
A clone split off. It took the oncoming sleepiness for him, immediately sat cross-legged, and sank into slumber—passing through the kaleidoscopic dream tunnel, reaching the familiar Cognition Sea, staring at the newly opened Naruto gate, and shoving straight in.
Meanwhile, Roy re-gripped Snow-Walk and Moon-Wane, clenched Eclipse between his teeth, and—using Swamp Space—crossed a hundred meters in an instant. Three blades rose together, layered with Sun, Water, and Wind breathing sword arts, and he carved at fake Ging.
A prompt flashed:
Clone-substitution can only last 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, the clone disappears, and the host body will fall asleep.
It was a warning: move fast.
"Clang-clang-clang—!"
Firelight, waterlight, and wind-blades erupted together.
Roy's swordplay grew brutally aggressive, hacking endlessly as he forced a deadlock with Deepwater Giant Turtle…
…
Hunter Association — Volleyball Training Court
Netero sat cross-legged on the floor, his aged eyes shifting between Roy and the clone behind him—already asleep in the ownerless space, ignoring everything, even snoring softly. He exchanged a look with Bisky, and both of them wore the same disbelief.
On-screen, the golden crow screeched, then spat a roaring stream of fire straight at fake Ging under the turtle's shell—
Wing pushed up his glasses, confused. "What is he doing?"
He could make a clone—so why wasn't he double-teaming? Wasn't this clone completely wasted?
Bisky propped her chin and sneaked a glance at Netero. For once, even she couldn't process it. Spending aura to create a clone just so it could… sleep? Was she too old to keep up, or was this kid's brain broken?
On-screen, the sleeping clone even blew a little snot bubble—
Netero noticed Bisky's stare and pretended not to. His eyes, however, stayed glued to the feed.
After a pause, he stroked his beard and said:
"Existence has its reasons. Nen is fascinating precisely because it's hard to understand."
He flicked a glance at Bisky and Wing.
"Youngsters—go and realize it."
Bisky & Wing: "…"
…
Through the dream tunnel, guided by the Gate of Cognition, Roy's sleeping clone stepped into the Naruto world.
The familiar falling sensation hit—
But this time, Roy didn't open his eyes in Mount Sagiri's cabin, nor at the Ubuyashiki estate hidden in wisteria.
Instead, he found himself in a detached, Japanese-style courtyard house.
A cherry tree bloomed in the yard, petals bursting in full splendor.
Spring wind carried a wave of floral fragrance—
The main building had a wooden veranda held up by thick pillars. Under one corner, a bamboo spout poured a thin ribbon of water into a basin.
Roy—black hair, black eyes, loose robes—was sprawled lazily on a blanket, his head resting on a child's lap.
The child—three or four years old, almost a miniature Roy—sat perfectly still like a little adult, knees together, both arms holding Roy's head as he gently massaged his scalp.
"Itachi—little more to the left…"
"Here?"
"More left… yeah… ah—"
Roy hummed in bliss as Itachi's small hands worked. For a moment, even the fatigue from battling fake Ging faded into nothing.
"Itachi," Roy's little brother asked softly, "will you teach me swordsmanship?"
Itachi lowered his eyes, his bangs nearly brushing Roy's face as the spring breeze swayed them, tickling Roy.
Roy closed the one eye he'd opened, pretending he hadn't heard.
Itachi pressed harder, staring at Roy's face with that unsettling calm.
"Everyone says your sword is incredible, Nii-san. That you never need a second strike. I want… to be useful to you and Father too."
It was Konoha Year 45, and the Third Great Ninja War was raging…
Roy had returned from the front with Fugaku. He'd killed plenty, harvesting life energy—but with Fugaku shielding him, most targets were low-level fodder. Of course he didn't need a second strike.
Once, he'd lost control and swept the battlefield in a day, killing ten Kumogakure genin—and nearly cut down the chūnin squad leaders too. Obito saw it and ran his mouth, and Roy gained a new nickname: "Ten Kills a Day." Suddenly even Zeno's "A Kill A Day, Never Retire" sounded a little embarrassing…
"That's because they were weak," Roy muttered.
"But Hatake-sama also said you're amazing," Itachi insisted.
"Who?"
"Hatake Sakumo-sama."
Itachi stopped massaging and hugged Roy's head, serious. His eyes—too old for a child—rippled with admiration.
"A few days ago, while you were gone, he visited. I hid behind the door and heard him…"
"He said when you graduate, he wants to be your jōnin instructor."
The White Fang… Roy's mind flashed through Sakumo's fate—his achievements, his collapse, his death. He didn't comment.
Itachi sensed the shift in mood and held Roy's head quietly.
"Nii-san… do you not like Hatake-sama?"
"Not really about liking or not," Roy suddenly opened his eyes and ruffled the little cowlick on Itachi's head, smiling. "Being 'too strong' isn't always a good thing, Itachi."
Why? Isn't being strong good?
Itachi tilted his head—
Footsteps sounded from behind.
Roy's ear twitched. Even without En, he could pinpoint Fugaku's presence through the walls.
Roy looked at his little brother—this kid whose fate was so cruel—and said, almost pitying:
"Because if you're strong, people will covet you. Use you. And you can die easily."
Just then—
The wooden screen door slid open.
Uchiha Fugaku's stern face appeared.
His expression had grown noticeably colder since returning to the village. The moment he stepped in, his gaze locked on Roy.
"Ren. Come with me to the clan meeting."
~~~
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