Ding! Uchiha Itachi, the filial son, has sent a request—he asks to return to the Uchiha Clan.
Hiroki was sprawled across the tatami, massaging his aching back. At the alert he jolted upright. "Hah? He's dead?"
The system answered coldly, "Yes."
"Hold on!" Hiroki slammed the floor. "He's a dead man from the Ninja World—how's he sending a cross-dimensional request?"
"Probably because of blood ties."
"Tch, System," Hiroki narrowed his eyes. "That half-baked line sounds fake even coming from you."
The system's tone stayed flat: "In short, the Uchiha Clan has left the Ninja World's Pure Land system. Itachi discovered the clan had been relocated and applied to rejoin. Any other questions?"
"Yeah—just tell me what you want." This money-grubbing system couldn't be doing this out of kindness.
"Travel fee: 100,000 points."
"Damn! You just want my points!" Hiroki remembered blowing 100,000 on Third-Class Spiritual Pressure. "Shouldn't he count as a newbie bonus bundle?"
"No. The newbie pack was claimed twenty years ago." A half-second pause. "Current price: 100,000. No discounts."
Hiroki stared at Itachi's profile on the virtual screen—Mangekyo Sharingan, Kage-level strength… Recalling he'd soon face Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, he clenched his teeth. "Fine, 100k for a Captain-level fighter isn't a loss!"
A blinding flash erupted!
When the spatial ripples settled, a young man in the black-red Uchiha crest robe knelt on one knee. "My lord, thank you for sheltering the Uchiha Clan—"
"Uchiha Itachi! You don't deserve that name!"
Four figures burst through the beams like ghosts. Shisui's Mangekyo spun wildly, his Zanpakutō already three inches out of its sheath. The other three Three-Tomoe Uchiha fanned out, killing intent locked on Itachi.
Itachi looked up at his former best friend, voice hoarse. "I'm sorry, Shisui. I failed you."
"Everyone—stop!" Hiroki rubbed his throbbing temples and pointed outside. "Take personal grudges elsewhere!"
"Yes, sir!" Shisui vanished with a Body Flicker after shooting Itachi a glare. "You three—guard the lord!"
When the paper door slid shut, Hiroki glimpsed Izuna in the corner, knuckles white as he clutched his sleeve, pale lips bitten until they bled.
Alarm bells rang in Hiroki's head—crap! Don't tell me we're triggering ex-lover drama?! Above Seireitei the sky suddenly looked neon green.
The Uchiha were no longer the cornered beasts they'd been in Konoha.
Under his protection they'd integrated into Soul Society, into the Shihōin Clan's structure, putting down roots in this new world built on soul power and combat.
After the genocide and the struggle to gain footing in a foreign realm, every fighter was precious—especially someone with Mangekyo Sharingan and terrifying battle experience like Itachi.
Even if he'd committed grave sins, even if he needed a harsh lesson, the clan would never "waste" him for mere venting.
A beating was necessary—catharsis and a way to clean house—but the goal was always to subdue this powerful asset and have him contribute to the clan's future.
Shisui's fury was real; so was his urge to punch.
If one beating didn't suffice, you just beat again.
So Hiroki waved a hand, silently approving their "take it outside and settle it privately."
The "settling" took far longer than expected.
A full day and night passed. Not until the next noon, when sunlight again streamed in brightly, did sounds finally come from outside.
The sliding door opened. Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Shisui stepped in first, dusted with the grime of battle and faint fatigue. Behind them, Uchiha Itachi limped, clothes torn, face and body bruised—mostly superficial, but impossible to hide his wretched state.
Their appearance confirmed Hiroki's guess: this had indeed been a long "negotiation" that included plenty of physical discussion.
Fugaku led the three, dropping solemnly to one knee before Hiroki.
"Thank you, my lord, for giving my son a chance to atone." Fugaku's voice was low, sincere, laden with complex feeling. The meaning was clear: Hiroki had provided a path—a beating followed by acceptance—so father, son, and clan could face this dark past and allow Itachi to "make amends."
Hiroki understood; this was the outcome he'd foreseen. Lesson delivered, grievance vented, the man still stood—injured but alive and brought back, meaning he'd been "received."
He answered calmly, "Well, it's nothing. From now on, your clan will live here in peace." The words both accepted Fugaku's thanks and set the tone for the newly accepted "asset" Uchiha Itachi's future life.
"Yes. Thank you, my lord." The three voices—especially Itachi's, hoarse with exhaustion—rang out together, as though drawing the final line under a day-and-night-long family reckoning and induction.
Only when the room had fallen silent again did Hiroki finally recover from the shock of this family ethics drama. Exhausted, he leaned back against the cushions, his gaze drifting irresistibly to the figure kneeling in the corner: Uchiha Itachi, bedraggled yet still ramrod-straight.
"Come to think of it…" Hiroki focused his thoughts. "System, show me exactly what sort of quality I just bought back with a hundred-thousand points.
At his command a translucent panel only he could see unfurled, floating clearly above Itachi's head.
Name: Uchiha Itachi
Spiritual Pressure: Second-Class (Captain-level)
Skill Ranks:
Hakuda: S (converted from Taijutsu)
Shunpo: S (converted from Body Flicker Technique)
Kido: SSS (converted from Ninjutsu)
Zanjutsu: A (converted from Swordsmanship)
Talent: Mangekyo Sharingan
Equipment:
sword of totsuka (Sealing Blade)
yata mirror
Yasaka Magatama
???
Hiroki's eyes bulged; he nearly leapt off the cushion.
"Huh?? Dude—filial piety incarnate—are you kidding me right now???"
He stared at the glaring "Second-Class (Captain-level)" line.
"A mere Mangekyo Sharingan—and not even an Eternal one—and you're Second Class Spiritual Pressure?"
Second-Class cost a million points!
Next his gaze swept downward like a scanner:
"A-and what about this equipment???" Hiroki's breathing quickened. Thanks to the system conversion Itachi's living abilities had been mapped to the Shinigami framework—but this load-out was off the charts! "sword of totsuka? Sealing blade?! yata mirror?! Yasaka Magatama?!" These famous canonical god-tools had actually been carried over with his soul? This was pure cheat territory!
Yet what made Hiroki's pupils quake and his composure completely shatter was the skill section—brightly emblazoned:
"Kido: SSS (converted from Ninjutsu)"
His eyes nailed themselves to that sky-piercing "SSS"!
"And—System!!!" Hiroki roared in his mind. "Get out here and explain! What's with an SSS skill? Didn't you say the top rank is S???"
The system's voice remained icy, unruffled: [When did I ever say the top is S?]
The retort nearly choked Hiroki. He couldn't recall the system ever stating it, but every panel he'd seen had shown S as the pinnacle!
"...Then what is the maximum?!" he ground out.
The system answered succinctly: [MAX—the limit of this world.]
[MAX]—the limit.
At that moment Hiroki fell utterly silent. The air seemed to solidify while a tsunami churned inside him—not despair, not rage, but a mix of shock, bewilderment, and an indescribable…sourness!
He admitted it: he was jealous.
Almost unconsciously he called up his own stat panel:
Hakuda: B
Shunpo: D
Kido: C
Zanjutsu: D
A chasm! A glaring contrast!
He, Hiroki! The live-in son-in-law of the Shihōin Clan! Had spent a full ten years! In daily "hellish brawls" against Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō Shihōin Yoruichi, bones broken every single day, just to grind that "Hakuda" to a respectable B-rank!
Hiroki drew a deep breath, forcing down the surging lemon juice, and spoke in a deliberately calm voice to the still-kneeling Uchiha Itachi below:
"No long speeches…" He paused, eyes boring through the cuts on Itachi's face as though peering into his soul. "After dying once, I trust you've seen things clearly. From now on, live properly here." The words closed the matter—and served as a warning.
"Yes. Thank you, my lord." Itachi's voice was low and husky, carrying exhaustion and a deep humility.
Hiroki waved him out.
Only when the room was empty did his composure vanish, replaced by an undisguised mix of emotions. He truly—really—disliked this "unfilial son". Itachi's "glorious achievements" in the Ninja World and his creed of acting for the "greater good" remained a thorn in Hiroki's heart.
"Good thing the system's safeguards are in place…" Hiroki murmured. That was why he'd finally gritted his teeth and spent the hundred-thousand points to retrieve Itachi. The system's imposed constraint was the only insurance that let him wield this double-edged blade named Uchiha Itachi.
Otherwise he wouldn't dare use Itachi. If one day the guy's convictions skewed again and, for Soul Society's "peace" and "bigger picture", he delivered a righteous backstab to "Lord Hiroki" the way he had to the Uchiha Clan… Hiroki shuddered.