Chapter 61: Acquiring the Uchiha Bloodline
"Damn. Is that the true scale of power at the highest level?"
After witnessing the cataclysmic clash between Madara and Tobirama, Ren sat in the quiet of his apartment, reality settling heavily upon him. His current abilities—Flying Thunder God, Rasengan, a vault of forbidden techniques, the nascent Uzumaki vitality—made him a prodigy, a threat to jōnin, even a temporary danger to kage-level opponents.
But against true legends? He was a child with sharp sticks in a thunderstorm.
The gap was defined by two core deficiencies: physical foundation and chakra reserves.
The first could be trained. The second... required more fundamental solutions.
[System Notification: Live Stream Active]
[Viewers: 136 Pure Land Residents]
[Current Donation Pool: 390 viewer points]
[VIP Highlight: Uchiha Fugaku (VIP1) - "I've made a terrible mistake..."]
Physical training first, Ren planned. Weighted seals, extreme conditioning. The Uzumaki physique provides accelerated recovery—I can push harder than Lee without crippling myself. But chakra...
Chakra was a blend of spiritual and physical energies. Improving his body would yield incremental gains, but the exponential multipliers came from bloodline limits. This was, after all, a world where lineage dictated ceilings.
And I need a specific lineage. The Uchiha. Mikoto's donated Three-Tomoe Sharingan sat useless in his system storage, inaccessible without Uchiha genetics. That ocular power, coupled with the techniques he already possessed... the synergy was terrifying.
A plan crystallized, cold and pragmatic. The dead have what I need. And they have vulnerabilities.
The live stream system had two primary functions: real-time visual broadcast and short video transmission. The latter seemed like a niche feature until Ren realized its true purpose: leverage.
He accessed his stored clips—hours of footage automatically recorded by the system. Scrolling through, he found a particular sequence from the Soul Arena weeks prior: Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto's prolonged, mist-shrouded "reunion." The system, in its impartial documentation, had captured... everything.
Ren selected a particularly unambiguous 30-second clip and attached it to a private message.
[Private Message Sent to: Uchiha Fugaku]
[Attachment: Short Video Clip - "Soul Arena: Family Reunion (Explicit Cut)"]
The response was nearly instantaneous.
Uchiha Fugaku (Private): YOU LITTLE DEMON! DELETE THAT! ERASE IT NOW OR I WILL HAUNT YOUR DESCENDANTS FOR A THOUSAND GENERATIONS!
Ren Arakawa (Private): Clan Head Fugaku, let's negotiate like civilized men. No need for threats.
Uchiha Fugaku (Private): NEGOTIATE? THIS IS EXTORTION! I REFUSE!
Ren Arakawa (Private): Then I suppose this heartfelt family moment should be shared with the entire stream. The Uchiha clan's passion is truly... inspiring. I'm sure Madara-sama would be proud of his descendant's vigor.
Uchiha Fugaku (Private): ...YOU WOULDN'T DARE.
Ren Arakawa (Private): The 'Share to Public Stream' button is right here. My finger is feeling rather... decisive.
A long pause. Ren could almost feel the spectral fury vibrating through the interface.
Uchiha Fugaku (Private): ...Fine. What do you want?
Ren Arakawa (Private): Nothing excessive. I merely wish to... borrow the Uchiha bloodline. For research purposes.
Uchiha Fugaku (Private): YOU WANT OUR CLAN'S HERITAGE?! ARE YOU INSANE? THAT'S NOT "NOTHING EXCESSIVE"!
Ren Arakawa (Private): The video, Clan Head. It's looking very shareable.
Another agonizing silence.
Uchiha Fugaku (Private): ...Give me your word you'll delete it. Permanently.
Ren Arakawa (Private): On my honor as a future protector of Konoha.
Uchiha Fugaku (Private): Your honor is worth less than a used bandage. But... I have no choice.
[Donation Received: Uchiha Bloodline Limit - Genetic Legacy]
[Source: Uchiha Fugaku]
[Effect: Unlocks potential for Sharingan evolution, enhances fire-nature affinity, grants access to Uchiha-specific chakra pathways.]
[Warning: Integration may cause initial genetic instability. Uzumaki physique recommended as stabilizer.]
The notification was public. The entire stream saw it.
Silence for three full seconds.
Then the eruption.
Uchiha Mikoto (VIP2): FUGAKU?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!
Uchiha Izuna (Regular Viewer): TRAITOR! YOU SELL OUR BIRTHRIGHT FOR WHAT? SHAME!
Uchiha Madara (VIP1): So. This is the quality of the modern Uchiha leadership. Trading clan essence to a child over... what? Some petty blackmail? Pathetic.
Uchiha Shisui (VIP2): Clan Head... how could you?
Uchiha Kagami (Regular Viewer): The last leader of the main family... where is your dignity? The bloodline is not a commodity!
Uchiha Izumi (Regular Viewer): Disappointed sigh.
Cornered, Fugaku's response flashed in the public chat, a desperate, face-saving lie that fooled no one.
Uchiha Fugaku (VIP1): I HAD NO CHOICE! HE... HE THREATENED A VIDEO OF ME AND MIKOTO! OUR PRIVATE MOMENTS!
The admission only made it worse. The stream devolved into chaos—Uchiha accusing Fugaku of weakness, Senju laughing at the scandal, neutral parties facepalming at the drama.
Ren ignored it. A new, profound warmth was spreading through his body, starting from his core. It felt like drinking liquid sunlight—a burning, potent energy weaving into his very DNA. His eyes itched fiercely, and for a moment, his vision tinted red at the edges.
[Bloodline Integration in Progress: 5%... 12%... 28%...]
[Uzumaki Physique Detected: Acting as Genetic Stabilizer.]
[Conflict Mitigated: 45%... 67%...]
He staggered to his small bathroom, gripping the sink. In the mirror, his pupils briefly swirled with unnatural motion before settling. But the change was subtle—a slight deepening of color, a new sharpness to his perception even without activating any technique.
It's working.
Uchiha Madara (Private Message): Clever brat. Extorting the weak-willed. But understand this: the Sharingan is not a toy. It is a curse. Power paid for in grief. Do you have the resolve to bear that weight?
Ren Arakawa (Private): I have the resolve to do what's necessary. And right now, that means getting strong enough to protect what matters. Your clan's eyes will help.
Uchiha Madara: Hmph. We shall see. Do not disappoint me, child. The path of the Uchiha is paved with the ashes of failures.
The integration hit 100%. Ren exhaled, a plume of steam escaping his lips in the cool room. He felt... more. His chakra coils hummed with a new frequency, hotter, more reactive. And in his mind's eye, he could now sense the dormant Sharingan in his system storage, no longer a locked artifact but a tool awaiting his call.
He opened the system interface. There it was: Mangekyō Sharingan (Three Tomoe) - Mikoto Uchiha's Legacy. The [Use] button was now active.
He didn't activate it. Not yet. The eyes would drain him without proper control. But the potential was now his.
A soft knock at his door broke his concentration.
"Ren Arakawa? Anbu summons. Report to Tower Annex B, Sub-level 3. Immediate."
The voice was neutral, masked. Anbu.
Right. The internship. Protecting Naruto. Navigating Danzō's web. And now, integrating an unstable, powerful bloodline while every dead Uchiha from history either hated him or watched him with morbid curiosity.
Ren glanced once more at the mirror, at the eyes that now held the ghost of a legendary doujutsu.
One step at a time.
He opened the door to the masked Anbu operative. "Lead the way."
As he followed the silent figure into the Konoha night, the moon overhead seemed to watch with particular intensity, its pale light feeling less like illumination and more like... scrutiny.
Somewhere in the infinite darkness, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki stirred again, feeling the distant, familiar pulse of her son's legacy awakening in a most unexpected vessel.
Interesting, she thought once more. Very interesting indeed.