After all, that 'tomato and egg' pair were the future savior's parents. Minato Namikaze was also one of the main reasons Konoha would survive the Third Shinobi World War in the first place. Before Naruto was ever born, Minato had practically been cast as the protagonist of the era. Even Jiraiya believed he was the Child of Prophecy, the one destined to save the world.
At the very least, Uchiha Gen did not want the future to spin out of control because of some early butterfly effect before he had gained enough strength—and enough absolute means of self-preservation—to protect himself.
The three of them agreed to meet later at the barbecue restaurant. After that, they split up on their own.
The moment he was alone, Gen could no longer suppress the itch in his chest. He hurried all the way back to the Uchiha district, nearly running the entire path home. His heart had already started beating faster before he even stepped inside.
He washed his face. Brushed his teeth. Bathed. Lit incense. Then he sat cross-legged on the bed with all the solemnity of someone preparing for a sacred ritual.
First he paid respect to the Three Pure Ones and the Four Emperors. Then to Buddha and Guanyin. Then to God. And finally, to the Sage of Six Paths.
System. Draw.
[System extraction in progress...]The guaranteed return mechanism has been triggered.[Character Card successfully recruited: Uchiha Madara (Young) | Quality: Green][Character Card (Green) Description: Equipping this character card grants access to all of its abilities.]
Gen's eyes snapped open, and delight flashed through them at once.
This might not have been the strongest green-rarity card in the entire pool, but to Gen, it was one of the most valuable. In some ways, it was the one most suited to him. Because before transmigrating, he had personally designed this card himself.
He knew everything about it—from its background story to its skill kit, from its stat curve to the logic behind each of its abilities. More importantly, the Madara represented by this card was young Uchiha Madara at the moment he had already awakened the Sharingan.
Inside the inventory section of the system, a card edged in green lay quietly in its slot.
The image on the card showed a black-clad boy standing by a muddy riverside, a pebble pinched between his fingers. The cutscene began immediately after he focused on it. Madara flicked the pebble out across the surface of the river, sending it skipping over the water in a series of sharp splashes before it finally sank.
'I told you already, Hashirama! I'm sensitive. If someone's standing behind me, I can't even pee properly, and I can't put any strength into my hands either.'
The black-haired boy turned around irritably and glared at the mushroom-headed kid behind him, who was grinning like an idiot. Hashirama did not answer. He just bent down, picked up a stone, and threw it as well. His technique was rougher than Madara's, but he made up for it with brute force, sending the stone skipping all the way to the opposite bank.
Before long, the two boys were arguing again. The scene shifted rapidly. They competed at skipping stones. Then at who could pee farther. Then they sparred, exchanged ninjutsu, and eventually climbed together to the great tree that would one day become Konoha's heart. Sitting on the cliff edge of the stone that would later become Hokage Rock, they spoke to one another about their ideals as though the future were something two children could shape with nothing but stubbornness and belief.
In the background, the leaves changed from green to gold. Then winter snow covered everything. Then spring came again and split the frozen white apart. The passing seasons marked the passage of time.
The next scene was a battlefield strewn with the corpses of Senju and Uchiha. Inside a tent, Madara faced his father while anger and resentment simmered inside him. Then the view shifted once again, returning to that small river. This time, Madara and Hashirama were no longer alone. Uchiha Tajima, Uchiha Izuna, Senju Butsuma, and Senju Tobirama had also appeared by the riverbank.
The two boys were forced to stand opposite one another.
'Hashirama, those foolish futures we talked about may never come true. From today on, if we meet on the battlefield, there will be no more Madara and Hashirama—only Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.'
A crimson glow bloomed within the young Madara's eyes.
And the animation ended there. That also meant the card represented Madara at the exact moment shown in the final scene—just after the awakening of his Sharingan.
At that point in time, Madara Uchiha had only a single tomoe in each eye. But after years of war, his actual strength had already risen far beyond that of an ordinary genin. Even in his youth, he was still Madara.
Gen's gaze shifted toward his card slots.
At present, he only had one available slot. A second slot would not unlock until level twenty, when the prize pool updated and higher-rarity cards became available. In other words, he could only choose one of the two cards he currently possessed: Haruno Sakura (Ninja Academy Student) or Uchiha Madara (Young).
As for which one to pick... was that even a choice?
Sakura Haruno (Ninja Academy Student) was unequipped.
[Uchiha Madara (Young) equipped.]
The instant the card settled into place, Gen clearly felt the changes inside his body. His physical attributes rose at once. The quality of his chakra improved. Even the total volume of chakra inside him swelled noticeably.
The Madara on this card was somewhat older than Gen's current body, and his raw foundation was naturally superior. Even if his base stats at that age were still nowhere near the monstrous level of the Senju or Uzumaki bloodlines, they were already excellent enough to crush his previous state.
But the most important change wasn't that.
Gen stepped over to the mirror and sent chakra into his eyes.
It happened almost by instinct.
In an instant, his eyes turned blood-red. A single tomoe appeared beside each black pupil and began to revolve.
'So this is what it feels like...'
Gen stared at his reflection, and the whole world seemed to sharpen. The steam rising from the kettle of freshly boiled water in the next room. A tiny insect crawling across the leaf of a tree outside the window. The subtle movement of air near the paper screen. Everything was suddenly much clearer than before.
At the single-tomoe stage, the Sharingan's advantages in copying ninjutsu, casting genjutsu, or using hypnosis were still limited. Its most obvious improvement right now was perception. Anything inside his field of vision became easier to read, easier to follow, easier to understand.
And more importantly...
Gen lowered his head and raised his hands in front of him, channeling chakra into them.
Within his vision, two different colors appeared at once. One represented Fire Release. The other represented Wind Release. They flowed through the pathways in his hands in a way that had been invisible before.
Fire and wind were the elemental natures belonging to Uchiha Gen himself.
Thinking back, that made sense. Young Madara Uchiha—before ever fusing with Hashirama's cells—was best known for Fire Release and Wind Release. In other words, once this card was equipped, Gen could directly see chakra to a certain degree.
The single-tomoe Sharingan was still blurry compared to the later stages. It lacked the precise detail of a two-tomoe eye, let alone the terrifying clarity needed to replicate techniques flawlessly. But even so, it was already enough to make out the rough flow of chakra inside a person's body and judge their condition on a basic level.
The moment the Sharingan awakened, an Uchiha already stood a step ahead of other ninjas at the same level.
That was why the most common tactics in the ninja world when dealing with an Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan were simple. Either you ganged up on them, or you bullied them with overwhelming strength.
In a group fight, there had to be at least two people. One to seize the Uchiha's attention, and one to pin them down. Otherwise, facing that kind of perceptive eye head-on was asking to be torn apart.
As for the second method—bullying the weak—there was a reason it was harder in practice than it sounded.
The Uchiha clan had always produced the greatest number of jonin-level elites among all ninja clans in the world. That was the true foundation of their title as the strongest clan.
And now, at last, Gen had taken his first real step onto that path.
He kept the Sharingan active for a moment longer, staring at himself in the mirror. The reflected boy was still young. His shoulders were still narrow. His face still carried traces of softness that had not fully faded into adulthood. But those eyes—those eyes had changed everything.
This was not just a stat increase. Not just another useful card effect.
This was a qualitative transformation.
Until now, Gen had relied on Sakura's exceptional theoretical foundation, on his own caution, on Orochimaru's teaching, and on the advantages granted by the system. Those things had been enough to push him into the ranks of the elite among his peers. But from this moment onward, he was no longer merely a talented child borrowing pieces of other people's advantages.
Now he finally possessed one of the defining powers of the Uchiha clan itself.
He slowly let the chakra in his eyes recede. The red faded. The tomoe disappeared. His vision returned to normal, though even then he could still remember the sharpness that had just filled the world.
The corner of Gen's mouth lifted.
This draw had been worth it.
More than worth it.
The card did not merely give him better stats. It solved one of the biggest uncertainties hanging over his head. Before this, he had no idea when he would personally awaken the Sharingan with his own body. His talent was good, but not monstrous. His emotions were stable, perhaps too stable, and that kind of disposition was hardly ideal for forcing an awakening the natural way. He had always assumed it would happen eventually, but 'eventually' was too vague for a world as dangerous as this one.
Now that uncertainty was gone.
Even if his own body had yet to awaken the eye naturally, the system had already bridged the gap for him.
That alone was enough to make this card priceless.
And that wasn't the end of it. Since he knew this card's design so well, he also knew exactly what it implied for the future. Young Madara today meant stronger Madara later. A green-rarity version was only the beginning. If his level continued to rise and the prize pool kept expanding, then in the future there might be other versions—older, stronger, far more terrifying.
The thought sent a small thrill through him.
Still, this was not the time to get drunk on possibilities. The immediate question was how to make best use of the power in front of him. A one-tomoe Sharingan was powerful, but not invincible. It improved perception, helped him read movements, and let him observe chakra flow. It did not magically erase the gap between him and truly dangerous enemies. It did not instantly make him Madara.
He would need training. Familiarity. Real combat practice.
Fortunately, he had all three.
Orochimaru's hellish curriculum would become even more valuable now. Genjutsu resistance drills, chakra interference exercises, close-range response training—every single part of it would benefit from the addition of the Sharingan. And because Orochimaru already thought highly of him, any improvement he displayed would only make the man invest even more heavily in him.
That was good. Very good.
As for the Uchiha clan...
Gen's eyes narrowed slightly.
If others in the clan learned that he had awakened the Sharingan, his standing would inevitably rise again. Status, resources, influence, and expectations inside the Uchiha clan were all closely tied to the eye. Once the eye opened, a person stopped being ordinary, no matter how talented they had seemed before. They were admitted one step deeper into the clan's true core.
Of course, revealing it too casually would be stupid. Power that surfaced too quickly always invited scrutiny. He would need to choose the timing carefully and make sure the story around it was believable.
But that was a problem for later.
For now, he stood in the quiet room with the incense not yet fully burned out and the evening light sinking lower beyond the window. Outside, Konoha continued moving toward whatever tomorrow would bring—the Hidden Cloud delegation, the unstable peace talks, the uncertain future that might or might not match what he remembered.
Inside, Uchiha Gen looked down at his own hands and felt the new power quietly resting inside him.
Whatever came next, he would meet it with clearer eyes than before.