Inside the room.

  Seimei slowly woke up, his gaze sweeping across the unfamiliar surroundings, eyes clouded with confusion.

  ‘Where am I?’

  No sooner had the thought surfaced than a flood of fragmented memories poured into his mind.

  ‘Ninja... Konoha... Uchiha...’

  Seimei quickly sifted through the mess in his head. One familiar yet distant term after another helped him piece together his current situation.

  There was no doubt about it—he had transmigrated.

  According to the memories, the original owner of this body had the same name as him but was a member of the Uchiha cn of Konohagakure.

  Uchiha Seimei, age ten, currently a fourth-year student at the Ninja Academy.

  As for how he ended up taking over this body—well, that part was pretty simple. Just that afternoon, the kid had returned home from school and was suddenly hit with the devastating news that both his parents had died in action.

  Crushed by grief, the poor boy's heart gave out—and that was all it took for Seimei to become the new occupant.

  But that wasn’t the important part.

  The real kicker was that this world was none other than the notorious Shinobi World—and not just any point in time, but during the chaos of the Third Great Ninja War.

  If there was one phrase to sum up this era, it was: life was cheap.

  Not just for civilians. Even high-ranking shinobi were constantly living on the edge, not knowing if they'd survive the next day.

  That did nothing to comfort Seimei.

  Even in the Hidden Leaf—the strongest of the five great vilges—nowhere truly felt safe.

  Worse still, the original owner had the misfortune of being born into the ill-fated Uchiha cn. After the war came the cn massacre. Talk about misfortune piling on like a leaking roof during a thunderstorm.

  “Sigh... I thought dying from overwork was tragic enough. But this?”

  Seimei could only smile bitterly.

  What’s that? Superpowers?

  Please. He had already checked. Even with the huge emotional trauma the original had just gone through, the Sharingan still hadn’t awakened.

  Calling that bad talent would be too kind—it was straight-up trash.

  Chakra? Yeah, he had a bit.

  So what?

  In the ninja world, it all boiled down to bloodline. The closer your heritage was to Kaguya ōtsutsuki, the higher your ceiling.

  Otherwise, you'd be lucky to shine even for a moment—just like Might Guy.

  Seimei had no illusions of being some hero who'd save the world.

  He knew himself well.

  Sure, he had some ability—but only just. The thought of walking a unique path like Orochimaru? Practically impossible.

  “If only I had a golden finger...”

  After racking his brain and finding no way out, Seimei could only mutter helplessly.

  But the moment those words left his lips, a translucent blue panel shimmered into view before his eyes.

  【Name: Uchiha SeimeiAge: 10Physique: 5Spirit: 7Chakra: 60 (125)Bloodline: Sharingan · Unawakened (51/100)Skills: None】

  “A... system panel?!”

  Seimei shot upright, all the earlier despair instantly swept away.

  He’d never been the kind to give up easily. The situation had just seemed too hopeless—that’s all. Now, at least there was a glimmer of hope.

  His eyes scanned the panel. Name, age—basic stuff, nothing surprising.

  But physique and spirit...

  The former represented his physical potential—recovery rate, reflexes, muscle density, bone strength—basically anything tied to the body.

  The tter indicated mental aptitude.

  Ordinary people usually clocked in around 3 points in both areas. Surpassing that meant one had the potential to become a ninja.

  With 5 in physique and 7 in spirit, it looked decent at first gnce. But that wasn’t quite the case.

  For a ten-year-old civilian student, a 5 in physique was impressive. But for a member of the Uchiha cn? Disappointing.

  As for spirit... seven was decent, sure. But Seimei figured that number had been boosted by his arrival. Otherwise, it likely would’ve been closer to five.

  That would expin why the Sharingan hadn’t awakened.

  It wasn’t like the original didn’t care about his parents—far from it.

  The kid literally died of grief upon hearing they’d died. There had to have been a deep emotional bond.

  And even then, his Sharingan progress was barely halfway. The only expnation was that his potential was just... that bad.

  Now, that trash-tier bloodline had become Seimei's problem.

  After a moment of silent frustration, he pushed the thought aside.

  He turned his attention to the skills tab—completely empty.

  That didn’t make sense. He’d inherited the original’s memories. He should at least have the basic academy jutsu, right? But the panel showed nothing.

  Uchiha Seimei may have been untalented, but even he could perform the three basic techniques.

  It was confusing.

  If not for the chakra currently flowing through his system, Seimei might have thought those memories were fake.

  ‘Wait… could it be because I haven’t actually performed them myself?’

  With that thought, Seimei stood up. Following the memories in his mind, he began channeling chakra and slowly formed the signs: Ram — Snake — Tiger.

  He attempted the Clone Technique.

  Nothing happened. Chakra was spent, but no result.

  Wait...

  His eyes narrowed as he looked at the skill panel. The empty space flickered—and then a line of text appeared:

  Clone Technique: Lv0 (1/100)!

  “So it was because I hadn’t done it myself...”

  Seimei muttered softly, eyes now focused on the new entry. He turned his attention to the level and the numbers next to it.

  If he was right, those numbers indicated proficiency.

  To test his theory, he gathered chakra again and repeated the jutsu.

  Predictably, it failed again.

  But this time, Seimei didn’t look the least bit annoyed.

  Why? Because the skill panel had updated:

  Clone Technique: Lv0 (3/100)

  That confirmed it—it was a proficiency-based system.

  As for why it jumped two points this time?

  Seimei figured it had something to do with the memories he’d inherited.

  In a way, he wasn’t learning from scratch. He was reciming lost abilities, which made the proficiency gain a bit unstable.

  Easy enough to test...

  He took a deep breath, calmed his racing heart, and focused on replicating exactly how the original had practiced the Clone Technique.

  A few seconds ter, a puff of chakra smoke fshed—and vanished just as quickly.

  The jutsu had failed again.

  But the proficiency had increased by three points—Clone Technique: Lv0 (6/100)

  Bingo. He was right.

  Now he could quickly recreate all of the original’s skills and hide any signs of abnormality.

  After all, the shinobi world wasn’t short on mind-reading or soul-probing techniques. If he slipped up, Seimei had no doubt he’d find himself face-to-face with the ANBU.

  Sure, the chances of that happening were low. But a little paranoia never hurt anyone.