Konoha, the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Inside an antique study, an old man and a young man sat facing each other across a low wooden table.
Uchiha Setsuna—the Great Elder of the Uchiha clan, one of the most powerful families in the ninja world—looked at his eldest grandson with undisguised satisfaction.
The young man possessed sharp brows, bright eyes, and an air of calm confidence far beyond his years.
Setsuna spoke slowly.
"Anlan, that monkey Sarutobi has convened another Jōnin meeting. Judging by the situation, the Senju faction on the front lines is about to collapse."
The old man was nearly sixty years old, yet the aura around him remained sinister and arrogant.
Whether in tone or in words, he showed not the slightest respect toward Sarutobi Hiruzen—the Hokage of Konoha, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
His eyes carried naked disdain.
He snorted coldly.
"If the Hokage seat had fallen into the hands of the Uchiha clan, would the other villages dare act so brazenly? What a bunch of incompetents."
"If Uzumaki Mito hadn't stubbornly interfered back then, Sarutobi and the others should have been dragged into the interrogation room. For all we know, they might even have been responsible for the death of that hateful Senju Tobirama."
Setsuna let out a mocking laugh.
"The Second Hokage died in battle, yet the Hokage Guard Squad that was supposed to protect him returned safely after being hunted by Kumogakure."
"And one of them even became the Third Hokage."
"The dignified position of Hokage passed privately within the Senju faction. How utterly ridiculous."
In Konoha, the Hokage was first nominated by the village leadership.
After that, all registered Jōnin voted, and the final candidate was submitted to the Daimyō of the Land of Fire for confirmation.
Unfortunately, the Uchiha clan—openly suppressed by the Senju faction—could not even pass the first stage of that process.
No matter how powerful they were.
In this world, brute strength alone was never enough.
Background and political connections mattered just as much.
Watching his grandfather once again indulge in his daily habit of mocking the Hokage, Uchiha Anlan had long grown used to it.
He calmly picked up the teacup in front of him, his expression relaxed as if the words were nothing more than background noise.
Taking a small sip, his black eyes drifted toward the blue sky and drifting clouds outside the window.
Then his consciousness slowly sank inward.
More precisely—
He entered the strange Sharingan space that had appeared along with his transmigration.
His personal cheat ability.
Inside that empty void, where even the concepts of up and down no longer existed, a single pale-blue stone gate stood quietly.
The gate was tightly shut.
There were no decorations upon it, yet it radiated an ancient and solemn aura.
A great war is approaching…
Hopefully today I can draw something useful.
Already familiar with the process, Uchiha Anlan placed his hand against the stone gate and poured the ocular power of his Sharingan into it.
A faint glow spread across the surface.
Ancient patterns slowly appeared, winding across the stone like living veins.
Within those patterns, faint characters flickered indistinctly.
Since awakening the Sharingan, I've been pouring ocular power into this gate for more than ten years…
Yet actually opening it still feels incredibly far away.
Looking at the patterns that now covered more than half of the gate, Uchiha Anlan sighed inwardly.
Having lived two lives, he awakened the Sharingan at the age of six.
Now he was already eighteen.
With Kage-level strength, he had become one of the most outstanding members of the younger generation of the Uchiha clan.
Even so, day after day he continued to feed Sharingan ocular power into the gate.
The patterns had already spread across more than half of the stone door.
But at the current rate, it would still take at least another ten years before the entire gate was covered.
Only by evolving my Sharingan into the Mangekyō Sharingan and gaining stronger ocular power can I speed this up.
Just as he was thinking, the stone gate suddenly emitted a faint glow.
A moment later, the light condensed into a floating bubble in front of him.
Inside the bubble drifted something rather disturbing.
It looked like a slender woman wearing a tight skirt.
However—
Her entire body was drenched in blood.
One eyeball dangled loosely from its socket.
A large chunk of flesh had been torn from her neck.
Her limbs twisted violently as she struggled, her blood-soaked mouth opening in a silent scream.
Didn't expect a zombie to appear.
I wonder what kind of surprises the gate will bring once it truly opens.
Uchiha Anlan already knew that the items produced by the stone gate were completely random.
Utterly unreliable.
At the beginning, he had drawn things like obscene novels or roadside weeds.
But as the tomoe of his Sharingan evolved, the items appearing in the bubbles gradually became more valuable.
For example—
A Nichirin Blade from the world of Demon Slayer.
Or magic from Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, which he could activate using his mutated ocular chakra.
So far, aside from living creatures, almost anything could appear.
But the randomness was enormous.
Over the years, the items produced by the gate had rarely provided direct help.
He couldn't become absurdly powerful overnight like those legendary transmigrators.
The kind who supposedly became Jōnin at three, Kage-level at five, and reached Six Paths by seven.
Getting something useful depended entirely on luck.
A line of information soon appeared beside the bubble.
Item: Corpse
Evaluation: A corpse from another world. Only the genetic virus within its body holds some value.
Origin: Highschool of the Dead
Tch… the Highschool of the Dead world.
If I had a capable research team, this thing might actually be useful.
If it shares a universe with Resident Evil… or even the original Infinite series… extracting the T-virus and unlocking humanity's genetic limits would be a massive gain.
As he read the information emerging from the bubble, Uchiha Anlan's eyes flickered.
Several brilliant scientists and medical experts from the Naruto world flashed through his mind.
For now, however, he suppressed the thought of extracting the zombie's blood and experimenting with viral evolution.
Instead, he simply placed the bubble containing the corpse aside.
After completing his daily draw, Uchiha Anlan's consciousness returned to his body.
Across from him, his grandfather had just finished his usual round of mocking the Hokage.
Setsuna took a sip of tea before turning his slightly clouded eyes toward his grandson.
After a brief pause, he spoke.
"After the Jōnin meeting ended, that monkey Sarutobi had a private discussion with the clan head."
"He wants the Uchiha clan to move to the eastern battlefield and guard against Kirigakure. The Hidden Mist has been stirring recently."
"Anlan."
"What do you think?"
"A viewpoint?"
Uchiha Anlan murmured softly.
Then he asked calmly,
"That depends on two things."
"What demands our clan makes…"
"And what kind of battlefield situation we'll be facing."
"Oh?"
Uchiha Setsuna chuckled, his sharp gaze locking onto his grandson.
Strong.
Capable.
Intelligent.
Compared to the clan head's son—Uchiha Fugaku, who always appeared rigid and indecisive—Anlan was clearly superior.
That hesitant brat thinks he can block Anlan from becoming the next clan head? Ridiculous.
Setsuna sneered inwardly.
My grandson has the bearing of a true leader.
However, when he heard Uchiha Anlan's next words, the faint smile on his face slowly faded.
"Grandfather."
"As long as people like Sarutobi Hiruzen—those poisoned by Senju Tobirama's ideology—remain among Konoha's leadership…"
"Our clan's ultimate dream of producing a Hokage will never become reality."
Seeing the slight twitch on the Great Elder's face, Uchiha Anlan continued calmly.
"So instead of chasing an unrealistic Hokage seat…"
"We should take every benefit Sarutobi Hiruzen is willing to offer."
"The growth of the clan is far more important than a Hokage title that exists only like a castle in the air."