Huh, huh...
The sound of heavy breathing filled the dimly lit room. Uchiha Kei opened his eyes and stared at the reflection in the mirror—those familiar scarlet Sharingan eyes, adorned with three tomoe. He couldn't help but sigh.
Failed again.
Kei Uchiha, who had experienced failure countless times, felt a pang of disappointment. Still, he picked up his notebook and carefully recorded his latest findings.
The characters he wrote weren't in Japanese but in pure Chinese—because he wasn't originally from this world. Uchiha Kei had been an ordinary person on Earth, but due to some unforeseen accident, he found himself in this new, brutal reality.
When he first learned that he was born into the Uchiha clan, pride swelled within him. After all, this was one of the most powerful bloodlines in the Naruto world. But reality quickly struck him with a harsh lesson.
In this world, weakness is a sin.
Perhaps because of his modern sensibilities, Kei found it difficult to accept the cruelty of this era. To make matters worse, his talent as a ninja was nothing extraordinary.
If not for the spiritual strength he seemed to have retained from his past life—an edge that slightly boosted his chakra control and perception—he would have been just another disposable pawn on the battlefield. Without the Sharingan, he might have already been buried six feet under, with weeds growing over his grave.
Kei sometimes marveled at the sheer ruthlessness of the ninja world. Children barely past infancy were trained to kill. By age six or seven, many were already proficient in combat. At ten, they were sent to the battlefield. And then there were anomalies like Kakashi Hatake—who, by twelve, had already slaughtered countless enemies and earned the rank of jōnin.
Because Kei was painfully aware of his circumstances, he kept his Sharingan hidden for as long as possible, even on the battlefield. If he wasn't strong enough to protect himself, revealing his abilities would only paint a target on his back.
The only way forward was to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. At least with that, he would have some measure of security.
As for what he would do after gaining it? He didn't bother thinking that far ahead. What was the point? If he couldn't even reach that level, he had no right to consider anything beyond survival.
"Is this kind of stimulation not enough?" Kei mused after finishing his journal entry.
He was well-versed in the evolution of the Sharingan. He knew the truth behind its power—how it thrived on intense emotional upheaval. No wonder so many considered the Uchiha clan mentally unstable.
The Mangekyō required even greater turmoil—deep grief, intense hatred, or unbearable loss. Only when the brain's chakra surged under extreme distress would the eyes evolve.
That was why Kei had been trying to awaken his Mangekyō through genjutsu. He had devised a method to cast illusions on himself—making himself experience unbearable despair, tricking his own mind into believing it was real.
But no matter how many times he tried, he failed.
It wasn't a complete waste—his Sharingan had evolved to three tomoe using this method. But that was the limit. No matter how much he experimented, he couldn't push past the final threshold.
"Is the emotional impact not strong enough? Or do I subconsciously recognize that it's all an illusion? Have I built some kind of mental resistance?"
The situation was growing dire. The war outside was reaching its final, most brutal phase. While Kei had managed to survive up to this point, he had no guarantee that luck would continue to be on his side.
It was now Year 47 of the Hidden Leaf. Only one year remained before Minato Namikaze would take the title of Fourth Hokage. And right now, the war was at its most dangerous stage.
The Battle of Kikyo Pass had ended. Sunagakure had suffered a crushing defeat and surrendered. That left only one major enemy for Konoha—Iwagakure.
Kei couldn't help but marvel at the bizarre sequence of events that had unfolded. If Iwa hadn't chosen to betray Kumogakure with a surprise attack, the Third Raikage wouldn't have been forced to singlehandedly fight tens of thousands of Iwa ninja for three days and three nights—until he ultimately perished.
If not for that, Konoha would have been stuck fighting a two-front war against both Iwa and Kumo.
Thanks to that, Minato Namikaze now only had to deal with the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee. Otherwise, Konoha's situation would have been far worse.
"Soon, the Battle of Kannabi Bridge will happen." Kei thought. "That's when Kakashi will inherit Obito's Sharingan and become the 'Copy Ninja'..."
After ensuring his notes were safely sealed in a scroll, Kei stored them carefully.
Despite the similarities between Japanese and Chinese, he couldn't afford for these records to fall into the wrong hands. They contained every significant event from Naruto that he could recall. Having a written reference allowed him to stay ahead of history—to predict upcoming dangers and seek out potential opportunities.
But in the end, his current power was still too weak.
Three tomoe Sharingan alone wasn't enough.
Without the Mangekyō Sharingan, how could he possibly survive in the years to come?
Not to mention the many monsters that would appear later—the likes of Itachi Uchiha, Nagato, and eventually, Madara Uchiha.
Even before any of that, the Uchiha Clan Massacre was right around the corner.
"If I don't figure something out soon..." Kei's expression darkened.
"Uchiha Itachi will be the death of me."