Chapter 1: Being a Cannon Fodder, What a Wonderful Thing!
"Uchiha Takanotsume, the clan leader has ordered all clan ninja to gather at the Police Force headquarters."
"Got it, I'll head over right away."
Uchiha Takanotsume nodded calmly, responding while fishing an empty soda can out of the river.
The Uchiha chūnin delivering the message gave him a surprised glance and, before vanishing with a Body Flicker, quietly warned, "Kid, the Third Kazekage is missing, and tensions at the border are escalating. It looks like the Ninja World War is about to break out."
"You're just a genin. Don't get cocky and take on missions you shouldn't!"
Then, frowning at what Takanotsume was doing, the chūnin added, "As an Uchiha, you should be training hard to improve your strength, not wasting time on these garbage missions."
With that—
Whoosh!
The chūnin disappeared.
A spark of uncontainable excitement flashed in Uchiha Takanotsume's eyes. He tossed the rake he was using to clean the river, stepped on the water, and flipped onto the shore.
He casually threw the can into a sack on the riverbank.
"Hell yeah, is the Ninja World War finally about to start?"
Uchiha Takanotsume's face lit up with enthusiasm.
"I can finally leave the village and get myself killed! This past year has been driving me nuts!"
"Collecting trash, catching cats, babysitting, clearing riverbeds..."
"How am I supposed to die doing these stupid missions?"
Uchiha Takanotsume let out a long breath, his hands trembling with excitement.
"I can finally go home!"
It wasn't hard to see that the current Uchiha Takanotsume was no longer the original one from the ninja world's history.
He was a transmigrator.
But not just any transmigrator.
He was a Chosen One, handpicked by the Will of Heaven itself!
What was a Chosen One?
In simple terms:
He'd be randomly assigned a talent, then sent to various chaotic worlds. With his personal abilities and effort, he was tasked with rewriting tragedies that were destined to happen, pushing society toward progress and achieving a happy ending.
If he completed the mission, Uchiha Takanotsume would return to his original world with a massive reward.
Failure, or worse, acting immorally, would result in the Will of Heaven judging and erasing him when the story concluded.
Of course, as a proper Heavenly Will, it provided insurance.
If he died unexpectedly while saving the world as a Chosen One, he'd be compensated.
He'd return to his original world with a hefty insurance payout (500 million yen).
The catch was that his fate couldn't be worse than the original history, and intentional suicide wouldn't qualify for the payout.
Uchiha Takanotsume had been waiting for this moment.
The original body lost both parents young and, due to mediocre talent, was often bullied by clan members. Even now, he was just a genin.
In the Naruto world, no one had ever heard of him. He likely died in the Third Ninja World War, the Nine-Tails attack, or the Uchiha massacre.
In short, he was cannon fodder.
And what was a cannon fodder's destiny?
Uchiha Takanotsume didn't even need to think about it—
The battlefield!
Once he got to the battlefield, someone would stab him to death.
No matter how strict the Heavenly Insurance Company was, they'd have to grit their teeth and pay up!
And now, it was the eve of the Third Ninja World War.
With the Third Kazekage gone, Sunagakure would soon declare war on Konoha, escalating the conflict.
From there, chaos would unfold.
The Battle of Kikyo Pass!
The Invasion of the Cloud's Lightning Gorge!
The One-Man Army, the Third Raikage's final stand!
The Rain Country, the Gedo Statue, the Dragon Soul Massacre!
The Battle of Kannabi Bridge!
The Battle of Kikyo Mountain!
Legendary ninja!
The most brutal war to date!
All the whispered conspiracies, the greedy lines drawn on maps—
They'd all erupt in this period!
Uchiha Takanotsume figured with so many iconic battles, slipping into any one of them would ensure a weakling like him got killed cleanly!
As cannon fodder, he'd die in no time!
Even if, by some miracle, he survived these wars—one in a million—he could stay calm.
After all, there was still the Nine-Tails attack and the Uchiha massacre to come!
Of course, Takanotsume wasn't oblivious to the idea of being a proper Chosen One and changing history.
He had plenty of regrets about the Naruto world.
But after assessing the situation, he realized that with his abilities, achieving an ending better than Naruto's—crown prince of destiny—was a pipe dream.
Naruto had talent cheats, a dad-delivered cheat, ancestral cheats, and god-tier persuasion cheats, yet he still nearly died against the world's top powers.
And him? He was a weakling who couldn't even awaken the Sharingan.
He couldn't trace his lineage back to snag Indra's power or Six Paths juice for a genetic upgrade.
Nor could he, with his knowledge, invent a Gundam and ascend through technology.
What was he supposed to fight with?
If he had a cheat like "press 1 for a free Mangekyo Sharingan," maybe he'd have a shot. But the Heavenly Will, being a legit operation, wasn't generous with cheats. His assigned talent hadn't even arrived yet.
Besides being cannon fodder, he couldn't see how his mortal self could turn the tables.
So, once he realized he could reasonably scam the insurance, his mindset did a 180.
Five hundred million yen—didn't that smell sweet?
As for saving the world?
Let's just say—
Trust in Naruto!
As for him, Uchiha Takanotsume, he'd dive into the turbulent eve of the ninja war—
And find a place to heroically sacrifice himself!
Such resolve would bring tears to Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes!
He'd probably burn paper offerings for him at the Memorial Stone!
"A clan meeting at a time like this must be a war mobilization. Dangerous missions are rare—I can't let them steal mine!"
"I gotta hurry!"
"This is my chance to spill blood for Konoha!"
"Full speed ahead!"
With a determined glint in his eyes, Takanotsume didn't hesitate. He kicked off his river-wading boots and bolted toward the Police Force headquarters!
He didn't even bother with the sack or rake on the shore.
Nearby, Uchiha Shisui, who was leaping across rooftops toward the same destination, overheard Takanotsume's words.
He froze, nearly slipping off the roof.
Then his eyes lit up.
"There's someone in the Uchiha clan who thinks like me?"
Shisui studied Takanotsume sprinting toward the sunset, rubbing his chin.
"But… the missions the clan leader's about to announce are way too dangerous."
"No way—I can't let a young, passionate guy like him throw his life away!"
With that, Shisui's gaze hardened.
As a village-loving guy, he understood Takanotsume's burning desire to serve Konoha.
In that emotional state, it was easy to get reckless, picking missions so deadly others wouldn't even glance at them, just to prove oneself.
How many good men had died for such foolish reasons?
What a waste.
And Shisui—
He'd never let such a tragedy happen on his watch!
Especially—
Not with those two missions about to be announced, practically guaranteed to be a death sentence!