In Kakashi's understanding, while shinobi with kekkei genkai were undoubtedly far stronger than average ninja, they weren't so overpowered that ordinary ninja couldn't compete at all.
Take the Third Hokage, hailed as the strongest Hokage—no kekkei genkai, yet he'd commanded respect throughout the shinobi world. Or his own teacher, the Fourth Hokage, who'd risen from humble origins to earn the title of "Yellow Flash of the Leaf."
Of the four Hokage, only the First possessed a kekkei genkai—his legendary Wood Release. Even the Second, despite being from the Senju clan, had no bloodline limit, yet he'd still become a legendary powerhouse.
So fundamentally, Kakashi didn't believe you needed a kekkei genkai to succeed as a shinobi.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Konoha, in a modest civilian home, a youth around fifteen or sixteen stood wearing the standard Chunin vest. He had short hair, clean features, and an expression of pure delight.
He'd just finished his tenth diary entry. Time to spin the wheel.
Yes, this was Kitahara Kaede—a soul from modern Earth who'd found himself in this world.
He'd woken up one day to find himself an ordinary Genin in an incredibly dangerous world.
How ordinary? He had no kekkei genkai. His family, the Kitahara clan, wasn't even like the Sarutobi—clans without bloodline limits but with deep traditions and legacies.
His parents were just regular people. His father had been an average Chunin who'd died on a mission years ago, leaving just him and his mother, Kitahara Yoshiko, to fend for themselves.
Talent-wise, he was only slightly above average—enough to get into the Academy. After graduation, he'd naturally become a Chunin after three years. A completely unremarkable Chunin.
Without a kekkei genkai or any particular genius, Kaede's original plan had been to keep his head down. Based on what he knew about major events in the shinobi world, as long as he avoided the worst of it, maybe he could survive a few more years.
It wasn't that he lacked ambition—this was just the brutal reality of the ninja world.
Even with a kekkei genkai, what good did it do? You'd better be the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' son, or you'd end up like Neji Hyuga.
The hero's son becomes a hero. The sacrifice's son becomes a sacrifice.
But everything changed ten days ago. He'd awakened a diary system. As long as he wrote in his diary every day for ten consecutive days, he could draw a prize once.
Today was his first draw, and he couldn't contain his excitement. He knew that if he had any chance of changing his predetermined fate, it would be through this diary system.
"Draw!"
Kaede thought the command silently, and a semi-transparent wheel appeared before him—visible only to himself. The prizes displayed on it made his eyes widen.
Wood Release. Byakugan. Sharingan. Sealing techniques. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu. Countless rare abilities from across the shinobi world appeared on the wheel.
As the pointer spun, hope surged through Kaede's heart. Finally, it stopped.
"Standard Uchiha Bloodline!"
Kaede froze. Not the Sharingan, but the standard Uchiha bloodline?
What did that even mean?
He thought for a moment and quickly formed a theory. According to the diary system's classification, the Uchiha bloodline was one thing—the Sharingan was another.
After all, you could have a Sharingan without Uchiha blood. Like Kakashi Hatake.
But the price for that was being unable to turn the Sharingan off. Kakashi's chakra reserves had become a running joke—his chakra capacity had literally become a unit of measurement: "one Kakashi."
Many people thought he had tiny chakra reserves. In reality, while Kakashi's chakra wasn't exceptional, it definitely wasn't as pitiful as it seemed.
The reason it appeared that way was because his constantly active Sharingan drained his chakra non-stop, forcing him to become an assassin-type ninja.
For a shinobi, becoming an assassin-type wasn't necessarily wrong—but that was only true in the early days of Naruto. In the later stages, squishy assassins were just cannon fodder.
Every ninja seemed to become a taijutsu specialist, each with more ridiculous durability than the last.
But with the standard Uchiha bloodline, things would be different. Essentially, Kaede had just become an unofficial, surviving member of the Uchiha clan on a genetic level.
Theoretically, he could even awaken his own Sharingan.
He could feel the chakra in his body increasing at a pace he could consciously perceive.
In just a short time, his chakra reserves had more than doubled.
Kaede had never felt such abundant chakra since he'd begun training.
Thinking about it, that made sense. The Uchiha were descendants of the Sage of Six Paths. While they couldn't compare to the Senju clan's inherited "Body of the Sage," that comparison only applied to the Senju.
Compared to other ninja clans, the Uchiha still had substantial chakra reserves. Otherwise, Madara Uchiha couldn't have fought Hashirama Senju for as long as he did.
Not to mention Kaede had just been an ordinary civilian—he couldn't even be called part of a ninja clan.
When night fell, Kaede had finally absorbed most of the standard Uchiha bloodline. His total chakra had increased more than tenfold from its original level—now comparable to an average Jonin. He'd shattered the ceiling he could never have broken through before.
And at his current age, he was just entering the rapid growth phase of his strength. His chakra reserves would continue to increase, and the potential of this standard Uchiha bloodline was far from fully developed.
Most importantly, the quality of his chakra had improved beyond measure.
Both quantity and quality had undergone earth-shattering changes. The same jutsu would now be at least one tier more powerful.
He could even feel his natural talent improving. His memory had noticeably enhanced, his comprehension had increased—Kaede, who'd only been average before, could now be called a genius. In a small scope, anyway.
How small? Currently, only he knew about it!
Kaede then tested his abilities, thoroughly gauging his improved strength. Where he'd barely scraped the Chunin threshold before, he could now definitely match a Special Jonin—even hold his own against regular Jonin.
Kaede felt the crushing weight that had pressed on his heart for years finally lift substantially.
Even in this perilous world, he now had a chance to escape being cannon fodder and stand at the pinnacle of the shinobi world.