"Sure enough… it's still come to this."
Downstream of the Naka River—
Uchiha Mo sat alone on a damp rock, the cold scent of river water mixing with the heavy air of dusk.
Not far away—
The Naka Shrine blazed with light.
Once a place for secret gatherings, it had now turned into a battlefield of words—shouting, accusations, and the occasional sound of something shattering.
The Uchiha clan meeting—
Had collapsed again.
Shisui was dead.
Itachi had chosen his path.
Sasuke had already entered his second year at the Academy.
Which meant—
The countdown had begun.
"…Tch."
Uchiha Mo exhaled slowly, lifting his gaze toward the horizon.
The setting sun bled across the sky.
A deep, ominous crimson.
Like a warning.
Or perhaps—
A prophecy.
All these years, he had lived by one rule:
Stay ordinary.
Don't stand out. Don't attract attention.
His performance had always been average. After graduation, he joined the Police Force. Even his Sharingan had only awakened a single tomoe.
The reason?
Simple.
He didn't want to die.
He had thought about changing things.
More than once.
But reality was cruel.
He was born after the Second Shinobi War. By the time he graduated, the Third Shinobi War was already ending.
Back then—
The Uchiha clan placed all their hopes on Minato Namikaze.
And for a brief moment—
They succeeded.
Minato became Hokage.
The Uchiha entered a rare period of cooperation with Konoha.
A fragile honeymoon.
But—
What they didn't know was…
Uchiha Obito had already begun moving in the shadows.
The Eye of the Moon Plan had started.
The Akatsuki had fallen—and risen again under the name "Pain."
And then—
The Nine-Tails incident.
Everything spiraled out of control.
And Uchiha Mo?
Too weak to interfere.
Too cautious to act.
Perhaps—
Too afraid.
Even someone like Uchiha Shisui—
The man known as Shisui of the Body Flicker.
A genius who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Even he—
Couldn't change anything.
Because idealism…
Was a double-edged blade.
The line between hope and destruction—
Was razor-thin.
And Shisui—
Belonged nowhere.
Not to the Uchiha.
Not to Konoha.
So—
He died.
And Uchiha Mo—
Chose silence.
To the clan.
To the village.
Shisui's death was almost… convenient.
It created Itachi—
A blade loyal to Konoha.
And at the same time—
It severed the last fragile thread between the Uchiha and the village.
No more illusions.
No more peace.
Only one truth remained—
If you want to survive…
Become stronger than your enemies.
More decisive.
More ruthless.
Uchiha Mo stood up slowly.
He gave the shrine one final glance.
Then—
Turned away.
Without hesitation.
...
Creak—
The door opened.
A small room.
A bed. A chair. A desk.
Cold. Empty. Lifeless.
But for an orphan like him—
It was enough.
A place to sleep.
That was all.
Most of his time was spent outside anyway.
Uchiha Mo: "..."
Alright.
The truth was—
He had nowhere else to go.
No one to meet.
No one to drink with.
No one to rely on.
So he lived carefully.
Cautiously.
Because—
When you carry a secret that could shake the world…
You don't act.
You watch.
You wait.
That was why—
He stayed invisible.
Uchiha Mo shut the door, cutting off the noise of the clan compound.
Then—
In his mind—
He called out:
"System."
Silence.
No voice.
No response.
But—
Deep within his consciousness—
Something stirred.
Ancient.
Broken.
Dormant.
His awareness was pulled inward—
Into a void.
Endless.
Dark.
Beneath his feet—
A shattered platform.
Like fragments of a destroyed world, floating in emptiness.
At its center—
A massive crystal.
Cracked.
Flickering.
Barely holding together.
This—
Was his "system."
A broken Main God Space.
Not a golden finger.
Not a cheat.
But a dying existence—
Struggling to survive.
And unfortunately—
It had latched onto him.
The space was broken.
Its functions incomplete.
Its rules shattered.
Its authority—
Absolute.
Its usefulness—
Almost none.
And yet—
They were bound together.
If it collapsed—
So would he.
Seventeen years old.
A chūnin.
Three-tomoe Sharingan.
Fire, Lightning, Water chakra natures.
Proficient in taijutsu.
Mastered over twenty ninjutsu.
And yet—
His chakra reserves were abnormally low.
After two techniques—
He was drained.
Because of this—
He lived like a nobody.
Perfectly average.
Perfectly safe.
Perfectly… suppressed.
But—
Was that normal?
Of course not.
Since when did an Uchiha lack chakra?
Uchiha Mo: "How is this my fault? This broken system is dragging me down!"
"…Yeah."
"That must be it."
Two and a half months ago—
For the first time—
The system responded.
His consciousness was dragged into this space.
And a stream of fragmented information flooded his mind—
[Energy supply reached minimum threshold… Authority activated…]
[Repair function missing… Exchange function incomplete… World coordinates missing…]
[Detection function intact… Punishment function intact…]
[Searching…]
[…]
[Low-energy world detected. Establish connection?]
[Warning: Passage unstable. Maximum capacity: three individuals. Risk of loss. Host must anchor return point.]
"…What kind of trash system is this?"
Uchiha Mo was speechless.
No proper repair.
No exchange list.
No stable traversal.
Was this even usable?
…
Well—
Not completely useless.
Basic healing still worked.
The exchange system could record items.
And traversal—
Had just found something.
But still—
This wasn't a Main God Space.
This was clearly—
A broken, second-hand junk recycler.
And yet—
The punishment function—
Worked perfectly.
"…Seriously?"
Did it survive just to keep that part?
...
Uchiha Mo let out a breath.
Fine.
Even like this—
It didn't matter.
Because now—
He finally had something.
A chance.
To live.
To change.
To survive.
And that—
Was enough.