Naruto:The System's Shadow

The Uchiha clan compound.

Uchiha Kaito, acting like a grown-up, walked with his hands behind his back into the courtyard of Uchiha Tajima, the clan head.

The moment he entered, his eyes narrowed. His body naturally dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding a fist.

Then, he sidestepped behind the attacker, grabbed their arms, and twisted them behind their back, rendering them completely immobile.

"Wah… Wah… Wah… It hurts! It hurts! Let go, Kaito!"

"Just as I thought," Kaito said dismissively. Who else would try to ambush him in front of the Uchiha clan head's residence but Uchiha Izuna?

After a moment's thought, Kaito didn't let go. Instead, he grabbed the back of Izuna's shirt and lifted him. Izuna screamed, "Hey! What are you doing? Let go! My brother will get you for this!"

Ignoring him, Kaito carried him straight to a spring in the courtyard and threw him in.

"Help… Glug… I can't swim… Glug!" Izuna cried. Kaito ignored him and turned to leave.

The spring wasn't deep, just enough to submerge Izuna's head. He wasn't worried about Izuna drowning. There were plenty of guards in the Uchiha compound who would rescue him.

Kaito walked to Uchiha Tajima's room and glanced inside. Through the crack in the door, he saw his great-uncle discussing something with two elders, pointing at a map on the table.

He turned and walked back to his room. The Uchiha clan was fighting on three fronts. From what Kaito overheard, the situation wasn't looking good.

Even so, he wasn't likely to be sent to the battlefield. Usually children under the age of ten wouldn't be sent. Even in emergencies, they kept it to around eight. Kaito was too young for that.

Entering his room, Kaito sat quietly on his bed and pulled up the system, looking at the items available for exchange.

Besides the initial Rinnegan, Sage Body, and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, there were Mangekyo Sharingan for 100,000 points, three-tomoe Sharingan for 10,000 points, and various bloodline abilities, ninja techniques, and secret arts of the ninja world. Everything that had ever appeared in Naruto was there.

But right now, Kaito was broke. He could only drool over the goods.

"Hey, system, besides waiting for you to issue quests, is there any other way to earn points?"

"Besides quests, you can submit ninjutsu or ninja tools. You'll receive one-fifth of their exchange value."

"...You're a heartless system!"

Kaito thought about the ninjutsu he knew. "I have the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu. I'll give it to you for 100 points." A C-rank ninjutsu cost 500 points to exchange, so one-fifth was 100.

He had already learned it, so he might as well put it to use. From now on, he would submit all the ninjutsu he learned to the system. Every little bit counts.

"This system does not accept ninjutsu that the host has already learned!"

The day quickly passed. The next day, Uchiha Tajima left with a large group of Uchiha clan members. Kaito heard that the war against the Senju clan had reached a fever pitch, with both sides pouring in everything they had.

Three months later, Uchiha Tajima returned, covered in blood. Kaito didn't know the outcome of the battle, but judging from Uchiha Tajima's grim face, it wasn't good.

Two days later, Kaito learned that the Senju clan had somehow managed to enlist the help of the Hyuga clan. They set up an ambush, and Uchiha Tajima barely escaped with his life. Two of the three elders had sacrificed themselves to cover his retreat.

"Things have gotten serious!" That was Kaito's first thought.

The Uchiha clan had a tradition of having three elders beneath the clan head, all respected figures. Losing two was the biggest setback the clan had suffered in fifty years. And judging from the Senju clan's actions, they weren't planning on stopping there. If things went wrong, it could lead to a full-scale war between the two clans.

Kaito could only watch and wait.

Sure enough, after returning, Uchiha Tajima issued the highest-level recall order. All Uchiha clan members, regardless of their reasons for being away, were to abandon their missions and return to the compound.

The atmosphere in the Uchiha compound became heavy. Ninjas returned from all over. It was the first time Kaito had witnessed the full strength of one of the two great clans of the Warring States period.

When a thousand Uchiha clan members stood together on the training grounds, the sight was indescribable. A thousand people with Sharingan, even if only half of them had a single tomoe, were enough to make any enemy tremble.

"Recently, our clan's elite were ambushed by the treacherous Senju and Hyuga clans. We suffered heavy losses. Two elders were killed in action. This is a humiliation that the Uchiha clan hasn't experienced in fifty years. Blood must be paid in blood. We are the number one clan in the ninja world, the Uchiha! We cannot remain silent. We will show our enemies how foolish they were to offend the Uchiha clan!"

Uchiha Tajima gave a rousing speech, making the final preparations before the war. Kaito and five other children sat on a wall in the distance, watching the rare spectacle.

"I wish I could grow up faster so I could join them on the battlefield and show off my courage!"

Kaito turned to look at the speaker, Uchiha Fei, who was only half a month younger than him. He scoffed and ignored him. Young and ignorant children always thought the battlefield was a place to show off their valor, never considering its cruelty. Those types were usually the first to die.

Unlike the children who didn't understand the battlefield, eight-year-old Uchiha Madara watched the large number of clan members with deep concern.

"What are you worried about, Madara?" Seeing the worry in Madara's eyes, Kaito couldn't help but ask. He was curious what an eight year old Madara was thinking.

Madara frowned. "You should call me Big Brother."

He didn't like Kaito calling him by his name. Every time Izuna complained to him, he would stand up for Izuna, mostly because of Kaito's disrespect.

Kaito shrugged it off. No way was he going to call an eight-year-old his "Big Brother." Even if he was the future peak of the ninja world, Uchiha Madara, no way.

Madara didn't push it. It wasn't the first time.

"I'm worried. The Senju clan is our equal in power, not an easy opponent. With the Hyuga clan added to the mix, this war is going to last a long time. I don't know how many more of our clan members will die."