The Uchiha compound during the Warring States Era was not a village. It was a high-density military node. It smelled of charcoal, sulfur, and the sour, persistent tang of human sweat that had dried and been re-saturated a dozen times over. There was no "Will of Fire" here, only the cold, hard logic of the forge.
I walked through the perimeter gate, Taiga's weight a constant, irritating drag against my fractured rib. The bone ground against its neighbor with every step, a sharp, white-hot 7-on-the-pain-scale that I used as a metronome to keep my breathing synchronized.
Status Check:
* Core Temperature: 36.2°C (Slightly hypothermic from the river).
* Chakra Reserves: 12% (Critical threshold approached).
* Neurological Load: 45% (Sharingan feedback loop cooling down).
The guards at the gate didn't offer a "Welcome home." They offered a visual scan. Their eyes flickered red—the Sharingan was the clan's firewall, and I was a packet of data being inspected for corruption.
"Kaito," one of them said. His name was Hikaku, a cousin of some degree. "You're late. The scouts reported a Senju surge in your sector. We assumed you were scrap."
"Assumptions are a failure of data gathering, Hikaku-san," I said, my voice as flat as the limestone I'd used to kill the first Senju. "I neutralized three units. Taiga is functional but incapacitated by psychological shock. Requesting immediate medical triage to preserve the asset."
Hikaku blinked. The Sharingan doesn't just see chakra; it sees intent. He was looking for the trauma, the "Curse of Hatred" that should be radiating off a seven-year-old who had just tasted blood. He found nothing but a clinical summary.
"Three units?" He scoffed, stepping closer. The air pressure shifted as he released a minute pulse of chakra—a dominance display. "You're a brat with half a tomoe. Don't lie to—"
"Body A: Adult male, Earth specialist. Location: 4km North-East, limestone canyon. Cause of death: Spinal severance via high-tension wire using armor leverage. Body B: Adolescent female, Water specialist. Cause of death: Femoral artery rupture following photostress-induced blindness. Body C: Adult male, Hunter-nin. Cause of death: Brainstem puncture following thermic-shock induced armor fragmentation."
I stared into his eyes. My Sharingan—still active, still overclocked—mapped the dilation of his pupils. "If you wish to verify, the Hunter-nin's tantō is currently in my pack. It is a high-carbon alloy, likely forged in the Land of Iron. Its loss represents a 0.8% decrease in the Senju's local equipment-to-manpower ratio. I suggest we reclaim it."
Hikaku went silent. The "Nathaniel Gwyn" personality wasn't just a mask; it was a superior operating system. In a world of emotional volatility, cold logic was a weapon.
"Go to the infirmary," Hikaku muttered, stepping back. "The Clan Head wants a report. Tajima-sama does not like waiting."
"Waiting is an inefficiency," I agreed, and kept walking.
The compound was a series of low-slung wooden structures, reinforced with Earth Style jutsu to withstand fire-bombings. I saw children younger than me—five, maybe six—sharpening shuriken with the mechanical precision of industrial robots. The Uchiha didn't raise children; they manufactured ordnance.
I dropped Taiga off at the infirmary—a tent that smelled of rot and primitive antiseptics. There were no medical ninjas yet. Healing was a slow, biological process of cell division, often complicated by sepsis.
Technical Note: The absence of Yang-release medical jutsu makes every wound a potential terminal event. Win condition: Never get hit. Zero-hit runs are the only sustainable strategy for a long-form campaign.
I found Tajima Uchiha in the central tactical pavilion. He was a man built of sharp angles and shadow, his hair a jagged mane that seemed to absorb the light. Beside him stood a boy my age, his face a mirror of the Clan Head's intensity.
Madara.
At this stage, Madara Uchiha was not a god. He was a high-potential asset with a massive "software bug"—empathy. I could see it in the way he looked at the maps, the way his hands clenched at the reports of casualties. He cared. It was a technical flaw that would eventually lead to the founding of Konoha—a systemic compromise I would have to calculate for.
"Kaito," Tajima said. He didn't look up from the map. "Taiga is in the infirmary. He says you killed a Hunter-nin using 'alchemy and gravity.' Explain the technical parameters of the engagement."
"It wasn't alchemy, Tajima-sama," I said, standing at a rigid 90-degree angle. "It was thermodynamics. I manipulated the thermal expansion coefficient of the enemy's armor to induce structural failure. Total chakra expenditure was 4.2% of my maximum pool. A Great Fireball would have cost 35% with a lower probability of a terminal kill."
Tajima finally looked up. His Sharingan wasn't just active; it was spinning with a predatory curiosity. "You chose efficiency over power."
"Power is a variable," I replied. "Efficiency is a constant. In a war of attrition against the Senju, who possess superior vitality and chakra reserves, the Uchiha cannot afford a 1:1 exchange of energy. We must leverage the environment to achieve a 1:100 kill-ratio."
Madara looked at me then, his eyes wide. "How did you calculate the expansion? The metal... it should have just melted."
"It would have melted if I had applied broad-spectrum heat," I explained, turning to the "Protagonist" asset. "But I used localized cryogenic cooling followed by a pinpoint thermic flare. The resulting internal stress exceeded the material's yield strength. It's simple physics, Madara-sama. The world is a machine. If you know where the gears are, you don't need a hammer. You just need a needle."
Tajima leaned back, his eyes narrowing. "A needle. Is that what you think you are, Kaito?"
"I think I am the debugger, Tajima-sama. I'm here to fix the errors in our combat algorithm."
"A debugger," Tajima repeated, a ghost of a smile—something cold and sharp—flickering on his lips. "Then begin your work. Madara is the future of this clan. He has the power, but he lacks your... detachment. You will train with him. If you are as efficient as you claim, show him how to kill a Senju with a needle."
System Log: Connection established with Key Asset: Madara Uchiha. Objective: Optimization of Clan Successor. Difficulty: Hell.