Chapter 98: Tobirama Lacks Copyright Awareness
The Hidden Grass Village.
"Get out here! We're under attack!"
"Move it, brat!" A Grass Head Ninja barked, leading a squad as he kicked open the cabin door. He spotted the boy standing there and paused for a second. "Oh, it's the kid who swore loyalty to us. Good. You're coming too—"
This Head Ninja was one of the few who hadn't panicked yet. His survival instinct was sharp.
He didn't plan on fighting. His strategy was the classic Grass Village "Legacy": when an enemy invades, grab the gold and the valuable assets, run into the mountains, and wait for the storm to pass. If the village survived, he'd return and call it the "Will of the Grass."
His grandfather had survived the First War that way. It was practically a family commandment.
Shio Uzumaki's eyes trembled. In the village, she was a "Strategic Asset," which meant she was protected by the internal factions. But out in the wild, with no oversight and a desperate squad of refugees? Her fate—and the boy's—would be far worse than a cage.
The Head Ninja gave a predatory grin, stepping forward as his men laughed in the background.
In that heartbeat, a streak of black-and-red blurred through the room.
SLASH. SLASH. SLASH.
Tobirama moved like a shadow through a sunbeam. A single kunai danced in his hand, tracing a lethal path across the throats of the Grass ninjas in one continuous, fluid motion.
He came to a halt, his Two-Tomoe Sharingan spinning slowly in the dim light. He let out a cold, merciless snort. "I've wanted to kill you scavengers for a long time."
"You were right, Shio," Tobirama said, his voice dropping to a low, resonant tone. "It's time I embrace my 'talent.'"
He turned slowly. His crimson eyes glowed in the darkness of the cabin. Behind him, the Head Ninja hit the floor, his hands clutching a throat that was no longer there. The man's final expression was one of total, wide-eyed disbelief.
So slow, Tobirama thought, dissatisfied.
I'm light-years away from my prime. This teenage body is a handicap.
But... the starting stats are higher than my original Senju form was at this age. I can work with this.
It was a strange sensation. He actually missed the days before his name was a legend—the days when he could sneak attack people. Later in life, the moment an enemy saw him, they either fled or fought with the suicidal desperation of a cornered rat. Being a "Nobody" again was tactically refreshing.
"You—!" Shio stared at him, her gaze locked onto his eyes.
"You're amazing!" she screamed, pumping her fists in the air. "You have the Uchiha bloodline? The Sharingan?! That's a legendary power! Oh, we're definitely getting out of here!"
Tobirama stiffened. He realized he was acting too "Kage-like"—too calm for an orphan who just got his revenge. To play the part of an Uchiha teenager, he needed to be more... "edgy."
He searched his mental database for "Uchiha Dialogue Patterns." He felt a wave of "Cringe" wash over him, but for the sake of the mission, he pushed through.
"The Sharingan?" Tobirama said, his face a mask of cold arrogance.
"In the presence of these eyes, pathetic curs like these can only lament the fate of being born without them."
He quoted the line perfectly, though he couldn't remember which Uchiha had said it first.
Does this count as copyright infringement? he wondered. Doesn't matter. Winners take all. And I'm an Uchiha now anyway.
Tobirama allowed a sharp, dark smirk to cross his lips. He let out a fast, manic laugh—exactly the kind of laugh a boy who had been oppressed for years would make after slaughtering his captors.
Shio stared at him, her heart skipping a beat. He's... he's so cool, she thought. Powerful, arrogant, and mysterious... it's like a romance novel come to life.
"Urgh—!"
Tobirama's brow suddenly furrowed. He coughed, a splatter of fresh blood hitting the floor.
He checked his chakra flow. Unstable. Rejection? No, just the soul and the vessel grinding against each other. It's expected. The hardware is new.
In his Warring States mindset, as long as your heart was beating and your brain was intact, you were fine. He spat the remaining blood out like it was a "toxin" he was purging.
Shio gasped and rushed to his side, her face turning pink. "Are you okay?! Here—bite me! Take my life force! Don't overtax yourself!"
Tobirama hesitated. He didn't want to bite her. He was fine.
But then he remembered the Uchiha "Persona." After a big win, they were supposed to be overconfident and slightly manic—a state of "temporary disregard for others."
"Fine."
He grabbed her arm and bit down. A surge of pure, high-density Uzumaki chakra flooded his system, accelerating his cellular recovery. The malnourished Izuna-vessel seemed to fill out instantly, his muscles tightening with the influx of energy.
Shio winced at the pain, but she didn't pull away. She stared at him with eyes full of worship.
"You... you should rest," Shio whispered. "I'll guard the door."
Tobirama pushed her back onto the bed with a cold, dismissive glare.
"Use your brain, woman. If you want to live, stay calm. You know nothing of combat. You'd only be an obstacle."
That wasn't even the Uchiha act. That was pure Tobirama.
How many times do I have to tell you? You're a support unit! Stay in the back!
In his past life, he had been a man of "dignity," so his sharp tongue was usually tempered by a Hokage's grace. But now? He was an Uchiha. He had a biological license to be an asshole.
I have to admit... being rude is actually quite fun, Tobirama thought.
He picked up a discarded Grass katana from the floor and stepped behind a large cabinet near the entrance, his red eyes scanning the darkness.
Interestingly, Shio wasn't offended by his harshness. She nodded frantically and curled into a ball on the bed, feeling safe under the protection of her "Traumatized Hero."
Meanwhile. The Grass High Command.
The Hidden Grass didn't have a village-scale barrier. To the elite eyes of the Leaf, the village was as transparent as paper.
Minato Namikaze flickered into the center of the Council Chamber, his gold hair a stark contrast to the blood on the floor.
Behind him, a squad of Three-Tomoe Uchiha appeared via his transport marks. At their head was Fugaku Uchiha, looking more energized than he had since his wedding day.
"The Uchiha Clan of the Leaf is here!" Fugaku roared, his voice echoing through the halls.
"If you want to live, drop your weapons and kneel! If you want to die... stay right where you are!"
Fugaku let out a wild, boisterous laugh as he ran a Grass elder through.
The Uchiha were back on the battlefield. And they were loving every second of it.
☆☆☆
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