Creak. Creak. The worn wooden door was slowly pushed inward.
A dark-haired boy stepped across the threshold. It was evening, and the sun was about to drop below the horizon. The last afterglow streamed in behind him, stretching his shadow out long and distorted on the dusty floor. He wore the signature red Uchiha fan crest on the back of his shirt.
Stepping into the sparse room, he sealed the door behind him. He walked to the edge of the bed and sat, his eyes fixed on the mirror opposite him.
"I didn't expect... I'd actually become the Second Pillar."
The reflection showed a boy with jet-black hair and a naturally gloomy gaze. His face was flawless, handsome, yet radiating an iceberg indifference. This was twelve-year-old Uchiha Sasuke.
The irony was crushing. He was handsome, yet an orphan. He was called a genius, yet an orphan. He possessed the bloodline limit that countless ninjas in the world envied, yet he was an orphan. His looks, talent, and heritage were perfect... but his life was an absolute tragedy.
"While becoming the Second Pillar isn't terrible, eventually ending up a one-armed, crippled hero—that's a pitfall I won't accept!"
Sasuke frowned, a look of genuine distress crossing his features. "Becoming a one-armed hero is one thing, but marrying Sakura? Completely unnecessary!
The original Sasuke's future didn't matter. This body was now occupied by a soul from the Blue Star, and marrying Sakura was an absolute impossibility. "No matter what, I can't marry Sakura. Even Ino is more appealing!"
Yet, the prerequisite for avoiding Sakura seemed to be defeating Naruto. And who could defeat Naruto? If Naruto hadn't received his massive 'cheat' power and coincidentally dragged Sasuke along for a lesser copy, there's no way Sasuke would have achieved his final strength.
Genius. He scoffed internally. He had been called Konoha's genius, but what was the reality? When he looked up, there were people like Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi—those were the real geniuses. Without those later plot devices, the word "genius" was a generous stretch for Sasuke.
"Now, I am Sasuke, not the original 'Second Pillar' destined for fate."
Sasuke stood and stared at the imposing figure in the mirror. He exhaled slowly, then clenched his fists.
"There are seven days until the graduation exam. Since I've become Sasuke, I'm going to become a different Sasuke!"
The original Sasuke, driven by the trauma his brother inflicted, was still fundamentally too weak. Every time he tried to make a grand statement or act powerfully, he got decisively slapped in the face. For a genius, this failure to smoothly and completely flex his strength was unbearable.
The current Sasuke refused to be humiliated.
"Practice!" he declared. "Inward roll! I need crazy internal pressure. A genius must work harder than everyone else!"
He was determined to train harder than anyone to avoid marrying Sakura and prevent future humiliation. However, he had only been in this world for three days and had just finished absorbing all of Sasuke's memories. Running out to practice Ninjutsu wasn't an option. Konoha's waters were deep; who knew if Hiruzen or Danzo—those two old monsters—might arbitrarily decide to peek at him, looking for trouble?
It was safer to stay home and focus on refining Chakra. Accumulation was a long game. The original Sasuke, despite his motivation for revenge, actually spent more time brooding over the night of the massacre than he did training. He was likely too slack, believing his natural talent already put him far ahead of his peers.
But this new Sasuke didn't feel superior. Better than Konoha's current peers? Aside from the Kunoichi like Sakura, Ino, and Tenten, the rest of the Konoha Twelve were fierce rivals.
Genius? He almost laughed. Ghost genius.
As the theoretical reincarnation of Indra, he was far too weak right now. His Chakra reserves were meager, limiting his Ninjutsu use. His Sharingan was only a single-tomoe. He had even been physically overwhelmed by Rock Lee! Was this really a genius?
Determined, Sasuke immediately began refining his Chakra, recalling the method from the original Sasuke's memory. Chakra refinement is the delicate combination of physical and spiritual energy.
Three grueling hours passed.
His Chakra amount had indeed improved slightly, exactly as his prior calculation suggested. But he was now drenched in sweat.
"At this rate," he thought, slumping back onto the bed, "it would take another ten years just to increase my Chakra by ten percent! I'm a genius, yet this is all I can achieve?"
[Host has completed integration]
[The System is opening]
A system?
Sasuke shot upright, all tiredness vanishing from his eyes. It had been three days, and he'd almost given up hope for a cheat!
[Scanning Host]
[Host: Uchiha Sasuke]
[Age: twelve years old]
[Bloodline Limit: Sharingan (Single Tomoe)]
[Mastered Ninjutsu: Three Body Technique (Beginner)]
[Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique (Beginner)]
[Mastered Taijutsu: Basic Fighting Style (Beginner)]
[Mastered Genjutsu: None]
[Special Skill: Uchiha Shurikenjutsu (Beginner)]
[Chakra Amount: Rare (Low)]
[Special Chakra: Indra Chakra (Unawakened)]
[Comprehensive Evaluation: Garbage Genin]
Sasuke stared at the final line, speechless. "I'm Konoha's genius, and you call me a Garbage Genin!"
He sighed. He couldn't argue. Based on those stats, he was doing a disservice to the word genius.
[Given that the Host is too utterly rubbish, which is an insult to the God-Making System]
[Granting Novice Reward: Perfect Talent]