Naruto: the Uchiha's path

....

"Urgh....." I hear myself grown, eyes blurry-barely making anything out....."where..." I question my self as it feels like I was lost on the road of life as kakashi always says.

That was until recent memories started seeping in...gathering myself..."hrrmmph!" based on the recent events I remembered, I scoffed in annoyance and frustration yet there was no real anger in it because based on speculations and consistency, deep down I have already figured out her aims....her reason for this extreme event...thus the natural anger and hatred that was spilt out towards her in that single moment toned down a good bit...

"Haaahhh...." I sigh, 'All those spars....the objective was obvious. She was trying to capture lightning in a bottle again, she knew genjutsu like before wouldn't work anymore.' I wrapped myself in my thoughts a bit.

Yes-her plan was to train the sharingan to the next stage, the two tomoe, before she was forced to leave for the frontlines again. The frequent spars up to this point were to see how far she needed to push it. Culminating in this final spar where she honestly wasn't expecting much success.

She probably thought that she wouldn't be able to recreate a miracle like last time again due to how mature I've been recently....there's no doubt that the more emotionally immature you are the easier it is to unlock and progress the sharingan. someone who hasn't come to terms with their feelings are easier to set off and lead to an emotional explosion which is the same resource that fuels the sharingan. That and talent.

I was befuddled for a bit with my thoughts until my eyes finally cleared up and I finally caught wind of where I was...

"....THIS IS!?!?-" I shout in disbelief...

I find myself in a very familiar place...MY OLD RENTED APARTMENT!

"DON'T TELL ME ALL OF THAT WAS SOME FEVER DREAM AND I DIDNT ACTUAL DIE!!!" I wrestle to get shock under control and think logically which was hard because where I am right now is none other than my lonely apartment I had during my college days of my old life! 

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I'VE RETURNED LIKE THIS-" I cut myself off as I turned to a mirror within the room which revealed...THE SAME UCHIHA MUTOYUKI!?!?

It honestly makes no sense-

"haaahhh....." there was a sigh...but this time it wasn't from me....

I turned around so fast you would think I was jiraiya who just caught whiff of a big boobed beautiful blond haired woman in his general vicinity-

My mouth hangs open as my eyes fell open the second figure in my room-

It was UCHIHA MUTOYUKI!-WAIT WHAT!?

Sitting on my cheap ergonomic chair that I bought off amazon when I first got this apartment was me again?

But this time the me was radiating a powerful aura. Only this aura wasn't as sinister and deadly as orochimaru but more like an aura of determination and pride. 

"....I really hate her sometimes...yet I really love her sometimes as well" the "not me" starts to ramble to themself echoing thoughts native to me as well. Like we were on the same wavelength.

They had their arms crossed with their head down looking every bit as dignified....

I continue to wrestle control over my emotions and shock-of which I was finally succeeding.

until the "not me" raised their head to which I got a look at their eyes.....

One tomoe more than me...THIS MUTOYUKI HAD 3 TOMOE IN HIS BLEEDING RED EYES!!!

"Rey." He called out with what I can only assume was a nickname he derived from my former last name reyonjay, his sharingan spinning "seems we meet for the first time finally." my two tomoe sharingan unconsciously activated, also spinning to match the "not me's" three tomoe sharingan.

The room was quiet for a while.....until my face suddenly takes up the expression of someone who's managed to click the clues into place....

"Nice to meet you in person mutoyuki." I greet with a casual grin on my face.

There is no more confusion here-

What I'm experiencing right now is my own mindscape!

A place deep inside a persons mind that represents who we are as a person.

A construct of the bearers soul.

That's right this place belongs to my mindscape. and given I have seemed to merge with mutoyuki's soul within his body I naturally take on the form of the current body I am inhabiting within my soul.....

But the predecessor hasn't disappeared like I initially thought.

No. We've only become apart of each other. Souls intertwined, able to both influence the same being in harmony. which is why I was able to assimilate so much of mutoyuki's mannerisms, courage, determination, thought process, muscle memory, personality and experience with ease while still retaining my own parts of my old self cleanly and subtly woven within this new mutoyuki.

My predecessor nods with purpose, as if acknowledging me and my struggles. I look around with interest until my predecessor draws my attention back to him with his next words.

"You really allowed her to toy around with you like that, maybe I could of done better." His words we're less than demeaning. Sounding more playful like a jab at an old friend. I turn to look at him again only to see signs of a pout on his face.

Ofcourse don't let the aura of authority and pride around my predecessor fool you, he is still very much a kid-not fully matured yet.....

Hmmm...maybe he was also influenced by my adult self as well because otherwise there would of been more of an outburst and playful mockery yet he is keeping himself quite tame right now.

I give him a smirk "You would of been begging for daddy and mommy when she was done with you." I just had to have my get back-I would never catch myself losing a roast off with a kid.

"Hmph! I saw your panicking when her rock clone grabbed you. You look like you were about to cry." He shot back without missing a beat while rising from the chair to get himself on the same level as me physically. Damn it he was definitely influenced by me.

We continued our back and forth until we each ran out of ammunition.

...

"Heh...." I chuckle a bit before I started asking some real questions I'm hoping to get answers to...

"Do you know why we ended up like this?" I asked....my meaning clear about how a soul from earth managed to mix with soul from the ninja world.

My predecessor looks to be thinking-seemingly sifting through the memories and knowledge from not only himself but me as well. Because our souls are merged he also has access to my memories "I draw as much blank as you." He answered. "Maybe that old man sage hagoromo has something to do with it" Again he echo's my thoughts. I nod at him as It's basically along the same line I was thinking

"Alright...and I'm not jealous or anything but why do you have a three tomoe sharingan and I don't." I asked and he gives me a prideful smug look and pushes his left hand in his pocket.

"You will have to figure that one out yourself." He answered making me look at him with annoyance. It felt like he was trying to mimic chiyo-nee just now.

I sigh. Having no more questions I turn to the window of my room to have a look at the outside. only to see pure black-which was kind freaky if i had to put it into perspective. Instinctively I knew that my mindscape is currently limited to my apartment complex right now.

I look back at him and his 3 tomoe sharingan....

"hmm....I feel your the reason I had such an easier time unlocking and upgrading the sharingan-I mean I'm no shisui or itachi or even sasuke.....I've got some talent but I'm not them.

"Astute observation. You are basically correct" He all but confirmed my suspicion. It takes a long time to acquire the mental power and stimulus necessary to unlock the sharingan and progress at each stage so usually Uchiha's aren't unlocking sharingans until they left the academy and face warfare for a time. Ofcourse again it all goes back to innate talent as well. Shisui and itachi were just plain swimming in innate talent and sasuke had that late game awakened talent.

I put my hands into my pockets and a smug expression floods my face until it drops in incredulous embarrassment. I just did the same thing my predecessor did.

"haha" I hear him chuckle until he gives me a serious look. and I straighten up under it with no less seriousness

"We need to update our plans regarding the war, danzo and hiruzen. we can't allow them to know I unlock the two tomoe at this age" he basically read my mind.

"way ahead of you" I answered.

I continue to talk to my predecessor within my mindscape until I felt a tug, like my body is being awakened from slumber and requires my soul to work its magic.

"...And before you go, to acquire more power you need only to defeat me" his three tomoe sharingan spun just to showcase how much of a herculean task that would be.

I look at him a bit..."What am I getting after doing that, a bankai???" based on what my predecessor is implying I could only draw parallels to the unique power system and rituals of bleach.

This feels eerily similar to the inner spirit of a Shinigami being battled to unlock the final release of their zanpakuto, a full manifestation. It feels like the same thing here.

Ofcourse whatever I can think of, my predecessor can think of as well.

"You can think of it as a bankai." He smirks. 

The fact that he doesn't elaborate more on it is telling. Defeating my inner spirit would probably give me some form of transformation or ability not seen before in the shinobi world.

"Then I should really hurry up and pick up swordsmanship then. Can't release the inner power without a sword to call my own~" I jest.

I get a closed eye grin for that one from my predecessor before-

I finally fade from my mindscape. Beginning the process of awakening in the real world.

..............................................

I awoke to my usual room, the one within the uchiha clan complex.

my vision clears quicker than when I was in my mindscape.

Having no clue how much time has passed. I look around to find that my room is empty.

'I can only surmise that its the next day and she was pretty much forced to go back to the frontlines...damn, I'm kicking her when I reach there' I sighed out and got up out of the soft bed. feeling more refreshed than usual.

On the dresser, a piece of paper catches my line of sight-obviously a note.

I pick it up to read.

-You probably wont be seeing me again for a while. I've returned to the battlefield. 

You most likely are planning on rushing to give me a beating whenever you get the chance. 

I have a suspicion that you also want an explanation as well or you don't, maybe you have figured something out.

Just be as strong as you can be and live your best life.

You doing that is part of my master plan. Hopefully you wouldn't want to ruin that master plan. If you do I'm coming back to spar you again.-

"...Is this really all she wrote. There's no name on the note but its obvious who its from." I remark exasperated. "Way to vilify yourself too, I'm sure I definitely wont ruin your master plan, run to the front lines to find you and beat you up.....jeezuz." reading the note was just embarrassing. 'She's terrible at making parting notes, I should hire her a tutor in that area.' I continue to make fun of her as that was my only form of revenge for now.

I smirk. "She clearly has more to say that she can't write down." but then my face holds an expression of annoyance briefly, Remembering how much of a sadist she is. 'War just warps people.' I thought as I try to get a look at the time of which I think I am-NO I'm definitely late to the academy 

'Whatever I will get there when I get there. One day wouldn't hurt much.' I thought as I feel the condition of my body.

I feel the massive increase in chakra and yin energy of my body. 

Activating my fresh off the trauma two tomoe sharingan, I feel the usual power trip that I manage to control with ease a compliment to my mental fortitude.

"It will take me a bit to get used to the upgrade but I have a base to work off of so its not as hard as the first time.-" I analyze until I was cut off by a shout from a person outside my room.

"Hey! I know your awake and talking to yourself in their. why don't you come out so we can check your condition!" an unfamiliar voice sounds out.

"Sigh~ iten-san you can't be shouting like that the patient probably just woke up" another unfamiliar voice.

'.....with the way one of them just called me patient. I can only assume they are medical-nin hired to look after me when I finally wake...' I sigh but Nonetheless I decide to see who I'm working with here.

I turn of my sharingan and went to my door unlock it and swing it open and I was greeted with two people on the other side of my door

One of them, male with a clipboard in hand, he wore white garb symbolizing his place of work within konoha hospital. he had golden shoulder length hair, black eyes and some form of black marking on his left cheek under the left eye. 

The other, the female one had green short hair, wearing a bit of green eye makeup with blue eyes and blue jewel like earing on her left ear. Also wearing the standard white garb of the konoha hospital alongside black gloves. This one had a big scroll strapped to her lower back. 

The both of them looked pretty distinct over all.

"Greetings. I am mande samechika and my partner for today is called yamanaka iten, we are with konoha hospital. I understand that you had a rough training accident or so we were told. If you would allow us we would like to do a quick check up on you." The female one introduced herself and her partner with professionalism and a touch of grace.

I silently gave them a once-over for a bit. They seem very relaxed and professional. I'm not getting any bad vibes from them so far

"As you've heard my name is iten and your name is uchiha mutoyuki, correct?" The male-iten, offers a disarming smile and begins to write on his clipboard with what I can only assume is preliminary observations of my behavior so far. Due to his family name I can confidently guess that he is with the psychiatrist division. The other one, samechika, I cant discern much maybe just a regular non-specialized medical-nin

"That's correct" I answered blankly.

"Good, can we come in?" Samechika patiently asks with a nod.

"...Fine" I answer, they both look to have good character and don't seem to have any prejudices so far so I might as well get this over with.

"Thankyou for being understanding with us" Iten responds in a professional manner though his tone seems more laidback than anything.

After they walk in I close the door behind me 'Iten seems like the chill kinda guy who makes lots of friends with his patients, well that's sort of expected of a yamanaka. Samechika just has a cool air around her.' I decided to profile them personality wise just like the yamanaka was most certainly doing even before I opened the door.

"Right, now that introductions are out of the way. First things first is for me to do a quick physical analysis just to see if there is anything wrong and then Iten-san over here will ask you a few questions. We will see if anything more needs to be done after." I hear Samechika deliberate.

"Make it painless, you don't want to have 'made a kid cry' on your resume." Iten jests, yeah I knew he would turn out to be a funny laidback man.

"My exams have always been painless. I have yet to hear any complaints, even from you." I see the picture perfect face for incredulousness on her, I have now marked her down as one that's easy to tease, heh. "Now lets start." She is quick to recover.

The lauded exam that iten was trying to spook me with was just basically her weaving handsigns and sending harmless medical chakra throughout my body. Which I expected completely.

Almost everything in this world is done through the medium of chakra, why waste time doing a time consuming traditional hands on exam when you can just do a quick scan with chakra and go about your day.

"Hm" while this was happening iten was observing.......and then he says something stupid on purpose "The oxygen in this room feels less than usual, I'm gonna open the window some more." and proceeds to do just that.

We had a collective sweat drop at that one. I get it. His actions are just a psychological tactic to see how I would react to blatant stupidity.

I sigh.

"Done" I hear samechika state.

"That scan was 2.4 seconds longer than usual, you clearly need more training" Iten declares with a straight face.

And all he got for it was an eye twitch from his partner. I admire her ability to still stay cool at this point. I WOULD BE LAUGHING IN HER PLACE.

I turn to look at her and I realize she's done the same. It feels like we had a silent communication there.

"Now, was there anything out of the ordinary with our young charge." He continues like nothing happened.

"Nothing out of place, temperature good, nerve activity stable vitality good, muscle density, muscle mass and tendons good, bone health good, chakra reserves very impressive" That last one from her had my eye twitching. 

Iten raises an eyebrow at the last one

"I'm pretty talented, I guess" I try to play it off smugly.

"Can we swap talents. You already have seasoned chunin level reserves, I feel like mine is defective." Samechika declares her blatant jealousy...and I was about ready to bop her on the head. my whole face twitching and my arm shaking in preparation.

"Alright. Its my turn!" samechika was just saved by the bell. Iten starts scribbling on the clipboard with gusto before looking back up "You can take a seat if you want." He continued.

"No, ill stand for now" I refuse because I wanted to make myself out to be strong and stable right now.

After I said that, iten makes a one handed hand seal for a moment and then lets it go like he hadn't just done that.

"Ok! question 1: Do you feel any discomfort?" He asks.

"Not really." I answered, he scribbles something down

"Question 2: are you bothered by the checkup process in any way?" He asks.

"Other than wanting to hit her. everything else is smooth" I answered honestly while pointing to Samechika. She looks at me with betrayal. Iten continues to write on his clipboard.

"Question 3: Do you have any pet peeves?" A seemingly out of no where question.

"No" I answered.

"Question 4: how do you feel about that training mishap?" He ask.

"I feel annoyed" I answer honestly.

"hm that's it? Ok." He doesn't linger on it.

"Question 5: Do you find the shinobi arts interesting?" He asked.

"Ofcourse" I give an honest answer. the reason for the question is pretty obvious, to see if I was deterred from continuing a shinobi career because of this incident.

"Question 6: Do you like this village?" He asked.

"Yes. Its my home and I live in it." I gave a generic answer for that. One that was completely logical, but in truth just hides a persons true feelings. I don't care if he caught on to it or not.

"Ah....Question 7: how do you feel about your guardian?" he asked.

"I'm also annoyed about her and feel the need to beat her up." I answer honestly. "Is there anything wrong with that?" I asked.

"Depends, Is it justified?" He throws it back to me with a smile.

"It is very much justified!" declare with passion

"Ooooo, family drama, my favorite, hehehehe." He laughs and I gave him an eye roll.

"huh, I guess this is tough love. I give her my full sympathy" samechika deliberates.

"Hahaha-haahh." Iten was calming down from his laughing.

"question 8: If the hokage and your guardian was in the room right now at the same time would you still go for the beating on your guardian?" He asked, still laughing.

"Not even the sage could stop me from putting my hands on that sadist" I smirk.

"PPTTTTPP!! NO! YOU ARE CRACKING ME UP TOO MUCH HAHAHAHA!-" The dam broke on iten again.

"hehehehehe" It also finally broke on samechika, she had her hands on her mouth trying to stifle it.

"Question 9: When did you unlock the sharingan?" His laughing somehow stops on a dime and his face goes blank before asking this.

The entire room goes quiet-

"....Ooh...." Samechika makes a face of recognition as if realizing something.

I facepalm hard-I mean I give a crisp HARD SLAP TO MY FACE. 'There goes that.....my misdirection tactic didn't work!'

"Beats me, I just got it one day" I answer the question in a stupid way while I side-eye samechika with severe exasperation, she senses it and looks away.

"Oh-no don't worry I'm just very curious!" he reassures with a smile 

"Well I'm also very curious about the yamanaka secret techniques as well!" I shoot back also with a smile.

"ah! You got me. I can never win against chiyo and now I can never win against you either." He finally backs down.

"No. I really am very curious about yamanaka clan techniques we are all friends here and we can share with each other right!" I continue with a closed eye smile.

"ugh, sorry it's not possible" Iten gives me a pained smile.

"What if I give you some of our prized genjutsu scrolls? I'm sure those would have alot of value for you. How about a trade." I continue to press

"mhm! I-sorry I still can't" he gives me a look of embarrassment....he was kinda thinking about it a bit.

"haahh....such a shame." I state with sadness of which I bounce back quickly from 'I actually really did want some of their techniques. they would be very useful in my arsenal....its too bad' I deliberate.

"So did chiyo-nee just tell you guys to check up on me." My guard was relaxed completely for a long while now because I came to realize pretty quick...These two are just basically some of chiyo-nee's close friends! 

"Yeah! She basically ran into my office all sobby, saying my baby boy is in bad shape! please help!! Like that!" Iten jests.

I smirk hearing her character get slandered like that is bringing up my mood

"Huh, I remember her coming in to my office with just a solemn face saying 'I think I messed up a bit, can you take care of him for me'..." Samechika corrects.

we look at her.....

"No, I believe iten-san more than you" I quickly dismiss the obvious truth coming from samechika.

"oh...." she gives us a look.

"So I guess your skipping the academy today then..." Iten comments on my absence to the academy.

"Depends. Is my check up done?" I ask.

Iten seems to be thinking about something until "Screw it I wanna hear some unbiased opinions about our buddy from you I feel they would be fun to hear. I wouldn't be able to wait to tell her about them when we meet her again." Iten was basically in it for the game of making fun of my aunt at this point.

"Atleast tell her the tame ones....we don't want to hurt her feelings too much." samechika chimes, looking ready to pray for my aunt.

Nonetheless I smirk and tell them all the fun I've had with her so far from the day she got back from the battlefield as well as some embarrassing secrets I know about her, making fun of her from every corner.

..................

*swish* 

A whole company of ninjas were dashing through forests within the land of fire. 

Their destination was ofcourse the battlefronts!

reaching the borders of fire country a ninja speaks up.

"captain Kazama! I feel somethings a bit off." a special jonin, specializing in sensing and tracking, spoke up about their intuition which is a very powerful thing in the ninja world. Intuition can make or break a scenario, for most ninjas, life and death always hangs in the balance. Those who survive are more often than not the ones who trust their guts and instincts 

"hmmm...send a scouting team to check ahead as soon as we cross the border into grass country" This shinobi company's leader orders gruffly, Miyazaki Kazama. a high level and decorated Elite jonin who made a name for himself in the 2nd great shinobi world war and is now on his second ride in the 3rd great shinobi world war.

Miyazaki Kazama, currently 29 years old. Known as 'the broken wail' on the battlefields, known for his self created signature ninjutsu. that leaves his enemies stunned and gob smacked when in use leading to their miserable death. A supreme master at taijutsu, bukijutsu and battlefield tactics. A high A-rank shinobi just shy of S-rank who's name could cause blind fear in the hearts of seasoned veterans.

"yes sir!" The tracker special jonin answers with reverence before splitting off to preemptively help create such scouting squad.

......................

 Crossing the border a small 4 person team splits off from the 80 shinobi strong army and dashes forward at incredible speed and agility.

Using the trees and rocky formations as cover they blend in while travelling.

For a while everything was quiet and the 4 man team continued to dash forward with speed and vigilance until-

"Stop!" A female voice. The weight of the order causing the squad to immediately follow

The one leading the team's eyes bleed red scanning the ravine before her...

That's right current leader of this team is known as the skilled kenjutsu mixed with fire release user, the searing edge of the uchiha clan. Uchiha chiyoko

"Mikage." She promptly orders, not needing to say more as her team member knowns why he would be called at this moment, his one niche in the shinobi arts in this scenario.

"mhm." A sound of acknowledgment was heard before he quickly stepped forward and muttered "byakugan." his eyes bulged with veins. That's right, hyuga mikage from the branch family of the famed hyuga clan, a skilled jonin reconnaissance ninja, scouting out the terrain for any irregularities with his byakugan.

"This spot feels like a good ambush spot we need to send message back to the main army to avoid this route entirely, we can loop around the amashui pass instead." Yuhi Kenichi suggests as he is writing down the information and speculations they have gathered.

Yuhi Kenichi, a jonin from the Yuhi clan skilled in the art of genjutsu and kenjutsu.

"Nn, Got it. Just in case, risato!" Chiyoko acknowledges his assessment and calls out to risato. Clearly while mikage was scouting around she wanted to send word back in advance as this area is most likely gonna end up as the best place to ruin the army's advance cold.

"Already on it!" Risato kamatachi answers while making handseals for the summoning jutsu a a circle of sealing scripts flow out where his hand smacks the ground followed by a small eruption of smoke. The smoke clears to reveal a small ninja Pheasant bird. 

"Hih!" The ninja pheasant sounds out.

Risato kamatachi, a civilian jonin specializing in water release ninjutsu and information gathering and transmission. while not particularly well known in the shinobi world or from any established clan, he has a good head for deciphering and delivering correct and critical information and intelligence which is made easier and faster due to his ninja summons.

"Take this back to the main army." Risato took the scroll from Kenichi, gives it a quick read, checking for any mistakes or missing information, nods and then packs it onto the pheasant while providing it the order.

"Hih hih" The ninja pheasant sounds out in affirmation before flapping its wings and taking off.......

.................................

in the hidden high ground of the ravine...

"Looks like they wont be coming any closer, damn, clearly a scouting team..." Someone spoke in a gruff voice.

"Its a shame but y'all know what to do, the main army isn't here yet so lets take care of these bunch of tree hugging sissies and await future orders." Another one declares.

"This may be our window of opportunity here....." This time it was a female voice that spoke after witnessing a small pheasant about to make a flight to the skies.

"Then what are we waiting for! Lets not miss it~" another male voice sounds out but in a sinister tone. they make a movement and pull out a shuriken killing intent rolling off him in waves before-

shing~

the shuriken was accurately tossed predicting the targets path of movement.

.....................................

The scouting group from konoha were still deliberating when all of a sudden they hear a shout-

"WATCH OUT, NINJAS AHEAD!!" A shout from hyuga mikage before-

Shing~ squesh~

"Hiiiii....." A dying wail

The pheasant that was just about to fly higher into the sky was sniped so suddenly and they felt a completely unconcealed killing intent....all of a sudden- 

"Earth release: Great spreading influence!" two rolls of sturdy earth flow out in a circular pattern rushing towards the konoha group while continuing to grow and expand-

But the konoha group were all still made up of skilled jonin so they quickly recovered they're bearings and begun to dash out of the way.

"Water release: great waterfall!" Risato takes it upon himself to run through hand seals and summon a massive storm of water to clash against the great spreading influence technique.

There were loud grinding noises until the great spreading influence technique finally lost power and returned to the ground while the great waterfall technique fizzled and splashed harmless around the terrain.

"Phew" a breath was heard from risato.

"Great job! now lets kindly see who our enemy is!" Chiyoko praises before getting into the thick of things 

"ah! they managed to block it! they're fully on guard now" a voice was heard.

"doesn't matter we take care of them!" a group of 4 Iwa-nin jumped out in the open facing the 4 konoha-nin.

the 2 sides finally meet face to face.............

Phew this is a long one that took a while but I'm happy i managed to get it out. More fight scenes next chapter this time from the perspective of chiyoko so stay tuned for that as you would get to see her real combat style, the one where she goes all out. See you next time