[POKEMON: RIGHT EYE]
[CURRENT EXP: 5/10]
[HP: 2/3]
Motomu had an epiphany!
He saw the light!
It didn't matter how it worked.
As an Uchiha, everything revolved around the eyes anyway.
The battle was a loss, but the experience points were skyrocketing!
"A man has to know when to take advice, especially from Daddy System!"
"If you say it's a Pokémon, then it's a Pokémon."
Uchiha Motomu felt his future was looking brighter than ever!
According to his memories of his past life, Pokémon restored all their HP every time they leveled up.
Exchanging 1 HP for 5 EXP was an absolute steal.
One more time—just one more and his Right Eye would level up. Plus, that last point of HP would ensure it didn't die!
With that thought, he didn't hesitate to start wandering around the forest near the clan's training grounds.
"Nobody's around during dinner time. I have to move fast."
In Pokémon games, there were two ways to trigger wild encounters: overworld and random encounters.
The names were self-explanatory.
Overworld encounters meant the wild Pokémon wandered the map, and he just had to touch them to start a fight.
Random encounters were the opposite, where hidden enemies appeared randomly in specific areas like tall grass, caves, or water.
Motomu certainly wouldn't leave things to chance with random encounters.
If a random encounter triggered some beast that one-shot his Right Eye, it would be game over!
So, his goal was crystal clear.
He needed to find a small creature like that sparrow from earlier.
He searched the area thoroughly, circling left and right.
As the voices of approaching clansmen grew louder in the distance, Motomu started to get nervous.
'Maybe I should call it a day and sneak back out tonight instead.'
The moment that thought crossed his mind...
*Rustle—*
[DING]
[A WILD PIDG... JUMPED OUT FROM THE GRASS!]
Like a dating sim player trying to skip the dialogue...
Motomu's intense gaze locked onto the sparrow before the system could even finish its narration.
[PIDGEY ACCEPTED YOUR CHALLENGE!]
[WILD PIDGEY (LV. 1) USED TACKLE!]
[IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE!]
[RIGHT EYE WAS KNOCKED BACK!]
[HP -1]
[BATTLE LOST]
[RIGHT EYE LEARNED FROM THE EXPERIENCE]
[RIGHT EYE EXP +5]
[CONGRATULATIONS, TRAINER! YOUR POKEMON HAS LEVELED UP FOR THE FIRST TIME!]
[TRAINER HAS RECEIVED: EARLY EVOLUTION CARD X1]
As the system prompts rang out, a refreshing chill seeped into his right eye.
An itchy sensation soon followed around his eye socket. Motomu gripped his hands tightly, forcing himself not to scratch it.
When it was all over, Motomu opened his eyes again to a world that seemed much clearer.
It wasn't an illusion!
Motomu closed his left eye to compare; the vision from his right eye was significantly sharper!
"At this rate, if this eyeball keeps leveling up, it's bound to evolve into the Sharingan!"
Motomu had no doubts, because he knew he could verify his theory immediately!
[TRAINER HAS RECEIVED: EARLY EVOLUTION CARD X1]
[DESCRIPTION: AN EXTREMELY RARE ITEM THAT CAN HELP YOUR PATHETIC POKEMON EVOLVE DIRECTLY. SERIOUSLY, THE EYEBALL ISN'T MEANT FOR COMBAT.]
This is broken!
Based on his past experience playing Pokémon, a low-level life form like Pidgey usually needed to reach level 18 to evolve.
He hadn't expected the system's divine power to give him such a massive shortcut!
Amidst his excitement, a flicker of greed surfaced in Motomu's mind.
Early evolution?
If he waited until the eyeball evolved once naturally before using this, wouldn't that be an even bigger win?
Maybe a Mangekyo could turn straight into a Rinnegan!
Greed brewed, and wishful thinking began to take root.
However, as Motomu's gaze inadvertently swept over a kunai someone had left forgotten on a wooden post nearby...
The conflict on his face lasted only a moment before turning into resolve.
"Right."
"This is the dangerous world of ninjas. Every ounce of strength is a lifeline between life and death."
"If I let myself be swayed by greed and save this for later..."
"I'll be walking straight into a trap!"
"That evil furry-lover Uchiha Kemono might still be watching me from the shadows."
"There's no telling if he'll make a move on me the very next second."
"Instead of chasing the late game, I should boost my growth rate right now!"
Motomu took a deep breath, suppressing his greed and hesitation.
[USE EARLY EVOLUTION CARD? YES/NO]
"Yes!"
[USE SUCCESSFUL!]
[YOUR POKEMON: RIGHT EYE HAS BEGUN TO EVOLVE]
Motomu saw black and white particles swirling around the eyeball in the air, its silhouette appearing to grow slightly larger amidst the light.
[EVOLUTION SUCCESSFUL]
[POKEMON: ONE-TOMOE SHARINGAN]
[LEVEL: 2]
[TYPE: PSYCHIC/DARK]
[CURRENT EXP: 0/20]
[BASE STATS: HP: 10 | ATK: 5 | DEF: 2 | SP. ATK: 8 | SP. DEF: 8 | SPE: 5]
[IV: 22/31]
[EV: 30/100]
[NATURE: BOLD]
[MOVES: TACKLE, LEER]
[DESCRIPTION: YOU CAN'T EXPECT AN EYEBALL WITHOUT SPECIAL MOVES TO PARTICIPATE IN BATTLE.]
It actually worked!
Seeing the words "One-Tomoe Sharingan" in the Pokémon's name, Motomu couldn't contain his joy.
At this rate, obtaining the Rinnegan was only a matter of time!
According to the clan's records on the Sharingan...
Special Attack and Special Defense likely referred to the ability to cast and resist genjutsu.
Motomu could understand that.
But what was with the increase in HP and Attack?
He glanced sideways at the now slightly larger eyeball.
"Wait, it's not too big to fit back in, is it?"
Motomu's heart tightened as the thought struck him.
"Do I really have to release the Sharingan every time I want to use it?"
Just imagining the scene made Motomu's modern soul feel incredibly creeped out.
"System, how do I recall a Pokémon?"
He waited, but there was no response.
Motomu thought about it and issued a recall command to the big eyeball in his mind.
With a soft squelch, the one-tomoe eyeball that had been happily flying in the sky spun around and smoothly squeezed back into Motomu's eye socket.
Feeling his empty eye socket fill up again, Motomu let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, his bizarre imagination hadn't become a reality.
"Oh?"
"Little Mo is at the training grounds too?"
"How diligent."
Motomu retracted his Sharingan and turned around to see a man with triangular eyes and a hooked nose.
Behind him were several Uchiha children around the same age as Motomu.
Motomu recognized him.
Uchiha Koji, a Chunin who had never awakened his Sharingan. He was a stingy man who made extra money by teaching children who hadn't yet entered the Ninja Academy.
"Uncle Koji, are you out here training this late too?"
Koji smiled, though his tone was dismissive.
"Unlike you, these are all talented children."
"They're going to aim for the top at the Academy, so of course I have to train them hard."
Motomu's eyebrows twitched. Koji was clearly taking a jab at him.
He could see right through it. Anyone who paid for Koji's tutoring was "talented" in his eyes.
Motomu had turned down the man's offer before to save money, and it seemed the man was still holding a grudge.
"Boring."
Not wanting to waste another word on someone like that, Motomu turned to leave the forest.
Uchiha Koji let out a cold laugh, clearly not intending to let him off so easily.
"I've seen plenty of kids like you."
"No talent, no effort—sooner or later, you'll end up just like your parents, dead on the battlefield."
Motomu's footsteps came to a halt.
"Koji."
Motomu's voice was calm, devoid of any obvious emotion.
"What did you just say?"
Uchiha Koji sneered and threw his hands up.
"I said, just like your useless parents, sooner or later..."