"Shisui, listen to me—"
"I'm not listening! I'm not listening!"
"No, really, something came up this morning—"
"I said I'm not listening!"
...
Noon.
Dragging his short little legs, Uchiha Kai arrived at the forest behind the clan grounds. Just as he did, two young voices drifted into his ears.
That voice—
Itachi and Shisui?
The best bros.
Kai's eyes instantly lit up.
He'd originally just wanted to find a sunny spot to laze around in, but instead he'd stumbled upon a live scene of best-friend drama.
Without hesitation, he activated Weak Presence and carefully poked his head out.
About ten meters ahead—
A small boy wearing a black high-collared shirt and black pants, with a round, dumpling-like nose, stood with his back to Itachi.
He was a head taller than Itachi, but it was obvious that he was the one sulking.
Behind him, Itachi kept trying to explain.
Again and again.
Failing every time.
Yet he never lost his temper, calmly repeating himself.
Kai watched with an unmistakable auntie smile.
So ship-worthy.
Absolutely ship-worthy.
As expected, real CP only hit right when you watched it live.
"But… Itachi, what about Izumi?"
Suddenly, Kai thought of that girl who loved making three-colored dango.
Pure, kind, gentle.
The teardrop-shaped beauty mark beneath her left eye almost felt like it had already sealed her fate.
Lost in thought, Kai accidentally stepped on a branch.
Crack.
The sound instantly drew both boys' attention.
"Who's there?!"
Shisui straightened immediately, a small kunai appearing in his hand as his sharp gaze swept over.
But when he saw who it was, he froze.
"Huh? Kai? Why are you here?"
Then—
Did that embarrassing scene just now… get seen?
Thinking of that, he completely ignored Itachi and jogged over, scooping Kai up with a laugh.
"Kai, did you get lost?"
At seven or eight years old, Shisui was already around 1.4 meters tall—considered tall among kids in Konoha.
Kai nodded obediently, not exposing the faint redness on the boy's face.
Serious interaction? ✘
Putting in the effort? ✔
The two chatted about all kinds of random things.
Until—
[Conversation Target: Uchiha Shisui]
[Analyzing Copyable Traits…]
[Fire Release Affinity (Blue), Genjutsu Affinity (Green), Body Flicker Affinity (Green), Chakra Control (Green), Pure-Hearted Nature (Green)…]
"A full set of green…"
In Kai's eyes, Shisui was glowing green from head to toe.
Any man seeing this would feel uneasy.
[Conversation with Uchiha Shisui exceeded ten minutes. Attempting to copy trait…]
[Copy failed.]
Kai: ...
Another failure.
Maybe because he'd succeeded several times yesterday, today's repeated failures hit harder.
The little face that had been "professionally socializing" instantly collapsed.
"Haah…"
He let out a heavy sigh and staggered back toward the clan grounds.
Seeing this, Itachi frowned and turned to Shisui.
"Shisui… what did you do to Kai?"
Shisui: ???
"I didn't! I swear I didn't!"
He was completely baffled.
What did he do?!
...
Afternoon.
The blazing sun gradually softened.
Inside the Uchiha compound.
A small boy lay sideways atop a courtyard wall.
His left elbow propped him up while his palm supported his cheek.
His eyes were unfocused, lips dry and slightly cracked.
He muttered, "Sixty! Sixty people, system!"
"Not a single successful copy?!"
"What's the actual success rate for copying traits?!"
After leaving the back mountain, he'd gone around chatting with clan members.
Everyone.
Ten minutes per person.
An entire afternoon.
But after sixty people, the system felt like the newbie protection had expired.
Not a single success.
It made him seriously question the copy rate.
[Ding. Based on host's current strength, conversation-based trait copy success rate: 5%.]
Well then.
The last bit of hope died on the spot.
Five percent.
How was that any different from zero?!
Especially for someone like him—black-handed since his previous life.
After some hesitation, Kai decided to just live quietly and enjoy life.
Whoosh—
Mountain wind brushed past.
Soft, gentle, carrying the faint fragrance of leaves.
The sunlight above was no longer harsh.
It felt warm.
Just as he was fully committing to doing nothing—
A faint warmth suddenly appeared inside his body.
Extremely faint.
Yet undeniably pleasant, soothing both body and mind.
This… was chakra?
Kai froze.
Because of his age and undeveloped body, he hadn't begun refining chakra yet.
But in the Naruto world, a sensation like this could only be one thing.
He narrowed his eyes—and a new prompt appeared.
[Ding. Congratulations to host for sunbathing for 1 minute. Chakra +1.]
"Chakra +1… the passive effect of Body of Light?"
Only now did he remember.
Body of Light had a passive effect—absorbing sunlight to gain chakra.
He hadn't paid much attention to it before.
Now it was obvious.
Absorbing sunlight meant—
Sunbathing.
"So if it's +1 chakra per minute… that's 60 per hour."
"At this time of year, I can probably sunbathe for 14 hours a day."
"That's… 840 chakra per day."
"Seven years until the massacre—let's be conservative and say six years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days…"
"That's… 2,145,360 chakra."
Kai smacked his lips.
"Over two million… does this count as Chakra Titan?"
He didn't know how other shinobi calculated things—
But this amount could probably support dozens of Kakashis.
"More importantly…"
"The Flying Thunder God plan can start early."
He shifted to a more comfortable position, letting sunlight cover his limbs.
Each use of Flying Thunder God cost 100 chakra.
Before, with zero chakra, it had been nothing more than a dream.
But now?
Two hours of sunbathing was enough.
He had to try it today, or he wouldn't be able to sleep.
An hour and a half later.
Kai slowly sat up, pondering the technique.
"System… how do I use it?"
[As long as the coordinates are placed by the host, teleportation can be activated.]
"Placed by me? Then can I use the Fourth Hokage's coordinates?"
[Placing coordinates costs 100 chakra per use.]
Kai: ...
Wow.
Russian nesting dolls, huh?
He rolled his eyes, flopped back down, and went to sleep.
Only when the sun finally set did he rub his sleepy eyes and stand up.
Something subtle had changed in his gaze.
[Name: Uchiha Kai]
[Mental Strength: 20 (Adult baseline: 10)]
[Physical Strength: 12 (Adult baseline: 10)]
[Chakra: 149]
[Traits:
Seven-Year Itch (Black),
Body of Light (Colorless),
Weak Presence (Colorless),
Flying Thunder God Technique (Gold) Lv.1,
Distinguished Lineage (Purple),
Sharingan (Purple),
Fire Release Affinity (Blue),
Sharingan (Blue),
Light as a Swallow (Green),
Dynamic Vision (Green)]
"So these are my stats…"
Kai shook his head.
Most of his traits had been obtained yesterday.
The legendary Day One Luck.
Total bait.
After that, it was all grinding.
He narrowed his eyes and prepared to leave.
Worth noting—
Despite lying on the wall all afternoon, no one had noticed him.
No one remembered.
The clan members acted as if the second young master didn't exist.
They even forgot to call him for dinner.
Kai personally watched Itachi walk around the courtyard twice with a bowl in hand.
As if searching for something.
After two rounds, he gave up and quietly went back inside.
The value of Weak Presence—
Was still rising.