Chapter 2: Although I transmigrated, it seems I arrived too early

At night, in a dense forest, several people were stationed at a campsite, with a simple tent pitched beside a bonfire.

Four people sat around the fire, all dressed in high-collared robes. Their pale, gloomy faces looked quite ghastly under the flickering light of the flames.

Each of them bore injuries to varying degrees. After a long silence, a black-haired man with a ponytail spoke up.

"If it weren't for this kid dragging us down, we would have finished long ago. I'm going to go teach him a lesson right now!"

He stood up and walked toward the tent, his hand resting on the long sword at his waist, as if he were ready to make someone regret their existence on the spot.

"That's enough. This matter requires the Clan Head's decision. We are in the middle of a chaotic war; having one extra person increases our chances of completing the mission."

The older man sitting in the center spoke up to stop him.

Although he didn't have much interaction with the person in the tent, the other's status left him with no choice. After all, it was the Clan Head who had ordered him to look after this guy. Even if the fellow was a complete loser, he had to provide some protection.

Hearing the older man's words, the ponytail man felt indignant, but he couldn't defy his captain's orders.

Meanwhile, inside the tent, the man was slowly waking up.

"Where the hell is this? I remember walking by the river, drinking until I blacked out, and then I think I slipped..."

Feeling a sharp pain in his head and a soreness in his back as if he’d been hit by a car, the man struggled to open his eyes. There was no familiar ceiling.

In the pitch-black space, he could vaguely see the canvas of a tent. He tried to lift his hand, only to find he couldn't move a muscle, as if suffering from sleep paralysis. With a sudden, agonizing twist in his brain, he passed out again.

After a while, the man was jolted awake by the arguing outside the tent. Feeling that his limbs had regained some strength, he managed to prop himself up.

Looking at his unfamiliar hands and clothing, as well as the katana placed beside him, and recalling the memories that had just flooded his mind, the man fell silent for several seconds.

"Damn it, I actually transmigrated? And it's *Naruto*? Luckily, I remember most of the plot—what's-his-name Naruto, Sasuke... but isn't this time period a bit off?"

Indeed, the man was a corporate slave who had recently entered the workforce, living a life of slacking off at his job until he drank a few too many at a company team-building event.

After drinking, he wandered to the riverbank alone. Under the influence of alcohol, he lost his sense of direction, stumbled, and fell into the water, meeting his end. When he opened his eyes again, he had transmigrated into the body of this unlucky fellow.

"Uchiha Gin... is it Uchiha?"

According to his memories, this was the Warring States period. It seemed long before the founding of Konoha. Currently, it was a time of chaotic warfare, and the Uchiha clan had just signed a friendly pact with the Hagoromo clan to jointly oppose the Senju clan.

Their current mission was a "Seed-Elimination Operation" launched to weaken the Senju clan's new generation. They were working in small groups, specifically hunting down young Senju to create a generational gap in the Senju clan's core strength.

The original owner was named Uchiha Gin, and both his parents had died in the war.

Because his mother was the cousin of the current Clan Head, Uchiha Tajima, he had been adopted by Tajima after becoming an orphan.

However, in the exceptionally talented Uchiha clan, Uchiha Gin was very mediocre—some might even say a complete loser.

He was already in his twenties, yet he had been outmatched in a sparring match against a ten-year-old clansman, eventually suffering a crushing defeat.

Recalling the memory of being beaten up by a child, Uchiha Gin’s expression turned strange.

"That was freaking Madara as a kid. If I could have hammered him, I could brag about it for the rest of my life."

After roughly browsing through the original owner's memories, Uchiha Gin, who now inherited the name, began to analyze the current situation.

Since it was the Warring States period, there was no order to speak of. Danger lurked everywhere; swords were heartless, ninjutsu was indiscriminate, and one careless move could mean returning to the afterlife.

As an ordinary person who had just transmigrated, Uchiha Gin felt that staying alive was the key. After all, in this era, living to thirty was already a luxury.

Following the original owner's memories, Uchiha Gin tried to circulate the chakra in his body, only to find it flowing as slowly as a snail, sometimes even flickering out of existence. He then tried to chant in his mind

"System, activate!!!"

After a long time with no feedback, Uchiha Gin opened his eyes and sighed.

"Talentless, and no system. What a disastrous start."

After thinking it over, Uchiha Gin decided to stick close to the original owner's "big shot" connection. Uchiha Tajima, as the current Clan Head, was quite powerful.

As his distant nephew, as long as he didn't take unnecessary risks, he should be able to live a peaceful life until the founding of Konoha.

With that thought, Uchiha Gin propped himself up and walked out of the tent.

The three people sitting by the bonfire, who had been feigning sleep, opened their eyes upon sensing the movement. The older man saw Uchiha Gin crawling out of the tent, his gaze sharpening as he spoke coldly

"Come here."

Seeing that he could move, he signaled for him to sit down. The newcomer, Uchiha Gin, obediently sat opposite the older man.

"Uchiha Gin, I will report the losses caused by your mistake today to the Clan Head truthfully when we return. In the upcoming mission, you are not to be reckless again. All actions must follow my command."

As he spoke, a flash of scarlet flickered in his narrow eyes. The pressure emanating from him made Uchiha Gin feel breathless, but he still nodded firmly.

"Three tomoe. This is already considered top-tier combat power in the Uchiha clan."

Looking at the three tomoe that had flashed in the man's eyes, Uchiha Gin realized that the difficulty of this mission was likely not small.

The original owner had learned during the day that the Hagoromo clan had already completed a major mission first. As a proud Uchiha, the original owner naturally couldn't stand the sight of the smug Hagoromo clan.

Thus, he decided to venture deep into the Senju clan's territory to find their mission target.

Unexpectedly, before they even entered the Senju territory, they were discovered by an outer sentry, drawing a squad of Senju assassins. The original owner, who was like a total rookie, was hit in the back by a punch of brute force in the very first exchange.

His already lackluster strength meant he was sent flying like a cannonball for dozens of meters, landing on his head and passing out. Fortunately, the older man in front of him—their captain, Uchiha Fuka—had intervened to save him, allowing the original owner to barely cling to life.

It was this kind of brainless behavior that had made the others in the team resent him, but Captain Uchiha Fuka, knowing Uchiha Gin's identity, had suppressed their anger.

"Was the original owner really that reckless?"

Just then, a figure flashed in front of them. It was the ponytail Uchiha who had wanted to teach Gin a lesson earlier.

It had been his turn to keep watch, and hearing that everyone in the camp was awake, he had come over. Seeing that Uchiha Gin had recovered, a vein popped on the ponytail Uchiha's forehead.

"Uchiha Gin, if it weren't for the Captain protecting you, I would have burned off that curly hair of yours long ago. If you pull any more stunts, I'll finish you off before the Senju clan does."

Hearing this, Uchiha Gin couldn't help but feel a toothache. Looking at the unfriendly glares from the others, he felt immense pressure.

"How unlikable was the original owner, exactly?"

He glanced sideways at the giant shuriken stuck in the ground nearby. Through its smooth, sharp surface, and with the Uchiha clan's superior eyesight, Uchiha Gin saw his current appearance for the first time.

A messy, fluffy, natural curly head, and a pair of annoying, dead-fish eyes. Although the Uchiha clan's genetics made him look quite handsome, for some reason, the original owner's face seemed to have an inherently "punchable" quality.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I was reckless today. From now on, I will definitely follow your commands."

When under someone else's roof, one must bow their head. Besides, he hadn't fully mastered the original owner's power yet, so it was better to lay low for a while.

"Huh???????"

Hearing what Uchiha Gin said, everyone present was shocked, as if they had seen a ghost.

(End of chapter)