"Interesting..."
If he remembered correctly, wasn't this the passive ability of that mature woman in black stockings who played with a ball?
Kisuke was excited. With this ability, evolving his eyes would no longer be a problem.
The reward from the main quest genuinely surprised him. But it was a pity—completing the main quests wasn't easy.
Since getting the system, he'd only completed one. Up until now, he'd even thought there was only one.
"At least it's done. With this, I can aim higher."
Kisuke felt secretly delighted. So far, he'd acquired skills from other ninjas through side quests. That let his Sharingan slowly evolve to two tomoe, and now he was close to his limit.
With this, three tomoe wouldn't be far off.
But this new main quest...
Kisuke stared at it, unsure what to say.
Wasn't the line supposed to be "I'll take care of your wife and children"?
Was something wrong with his system? Kill someone and steal their wife? That sounded—
"Good thing it didn't tell me to raise Uchiha Itachi."
Just thinking of Itachi made Kisuke feel lucky. He had no interest in raising an ungrateful brat.
The whole "Uchiha had two great traitors" narrative wasn't quite right, though.
Shisui wasn't a bad guy. Just stupid.
He actually told the village elders about his Mangekyō ability. Especially Danzo.
How could the higher-ups not panic? How could Danzo not get excited?
Shisui's goal was good—he wanted Konoha to believe he could use Kotoamatsukami to control the Uchiha clan.
But Danzo, a man who broke every rule in the book except the cover, trust an Uchiha? Not happening.
Naive to the end. But he really did care about the clan and village.
Otherwise, after Danzo ambushed him, he wouldn't have passed everything to Itachi and killed himself.
As for Itachi…
"Bastard father and son!."
Shisui's brain-dead idea of changing the clan's mind failed, so Itachi chose an even more brutal solution.
Kill the whole clan. No clan, no conflict.
"I'm guessing he thinks he's right and won't hear any other opinions."
And then there was Obito. Another traitor.
Kisuke actually sympathized with him. His story was tragic.
But burying the world because one girl died? And his first targets were the Minato couple—people who trusted him.
There's a saying: hold a grudge if you must, take revenge if you must.
But even if something hasn't happened yet, Kisuke couldn't stomach that level of selfishness.
And besides, his relationship with Obito wasn't great anyway.
"Kisuke!"
Kisuke, deep in thought, heard his name. He looked up and saw Nohara Rin walking toward him.
"Oh, Rin. Looking for Obito?"
He quickly collected himself and smiled.
Rin was his classmate, and they got along well. After all, attractive people tended to pair off.
Kisuke didn't rank last in the Academy like Obito, but his actual performance wasn't great either.
He had one thing going for him, though: he looked good.
"Yeah. Break's over. We've got another mission," Rin said with a sigh. "When will this war end?"
'Once you complete the Kannabi Bridge mission, it's over.' Kisuke thought that, but didn't dare say it.
After a pause, he smiled.
"Actually, war never ends."
"Huh?"
Rin didn't expect that answer. She didn't know how to respond.
"Wherever there are people, there are interests. And when interests clash, things escalate."
Kisuke began walking. Rin followed after a short silence.
"Whether it's families or villages, it's all the same. The form changes, but not the cause."
"So there's no way to end war?"
Rin looked more dejected.
"Well, we're not going to wipe out everyone just to stop war, are we?"
Kisuke tilted his head slightly, clearly hinting at Obito.
"Or throw the world into some illusion and force them to live happily ever after?"
"That's way too extreme," Rin said, clearly annoyed. She pouted. "You can't think like that, Kisuke."
"Of course. I know what I want—and what I should do."
Kisuke blinked and smiled.
"War won't stop, but everyone has their own beliefs.
Some fight to protect home. Some fight for people they love. Some to honor those who died for them.
That's what gives us strength. That's what makes war not so scary."
Whether he believed that or not didn't matter. He knew what he had to say.
The part he left out was: I fight to survive.
When it came down to it, self-preservation was the only truth.
"I see..."
Rin's mood lifted a little. The way she looked at him subtly changed.
War might never end, but if you had something to believe in, it didn't seem so terrifying.
"Thanks, Kisuke. So… what do you believe in?"
"Me?"
Kisuke almost said my own damn life, but stopped himself.
He tilted his head, thought for a second, and smiled at her.
"To protect what I want to protect. And those worth protecting."
"You..."
Rin looked away, flustered.
Before she could say anything else, Kisuke gently took her hand and led her outside.
"Kisuke, this is…"
"We're about to go on a mission. It's just a gesture, for luck. A wish that we both return safely."
"As for Obito, I'll get someone to let him know. Don't worry."
Rin nodded, smiled faintly, and followed him out. The setting sun stretched their shadows far across the ground.
And far away, Obito was already burning with rage.
****
"Rin."
In the Uchiha clan compound, Obito sat alone in his room, grinning at a photo.
It was a group picture of Minato's team—except Kakashi's face was covered with a strip of tape.
His gaze stayed locked on Nohara Rin. Just looking at her seemed to lift his mood.
"Obito, you're home. Uh…"
A voice suddenly interrupted his daydream and dragged him back to reality.
Obito snapped out of it, startled. He looked up and saw a young man standing at the door, staring at the photo in his hand with confusion.
He recognized him—another Uchiha, but not a ninja.
"Uh, hi. Can I help you?"
Obito quickly flipped the photo over. His voice came out stiff, maybe from being caught mid-fantasy or maybe just embarrassment.
"Ah, right. Someone told me to let you know: there's a mission in two days. You should get ready."
The boy looked away, clearly realizing he'd overstepped. He rushed to explain.
"A mission?"
Obito blinked, then lit up.
"Finally! I'm so tired of being stuck at home. I can team up with everyone again!"
Front-line rotations were normal—ninja couldn't fight nonstop.
Even so, Obito hated rest periods. Painful as the war was, at least Rin had been there.
Now they'd be heading out again. Of course he was excited.
"Okay, I'll be going now."
The boy didn't understand why Obito looked thrilled. Most people dreaded war.
Was this guy okay?
Something felt...off.
But he just nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait, who told you to inform me?" Obito asked suddenly, curious.
"Kisuke," the boy said after a brief pause.
"Kisuke?" Obito's eyes narrowed.
And then it hit him.
How did Kisuke know I had a mission?
"He went out with your teammates. He asked me to pass the word along," the boy added casually, shrugging.
"Oh, and—she's the girl in the photo. The one whose face you didn't tape over."
The moment the words left his mouth, Obito turned bright red.
The boy flinched. Yep—definitely something wrong with this guy.
Time to leave.
Obito didn't notice him leave. He sat there, fists clenched, breathing sharp and fast.
"Uchiha Kisuke!"