Grand Uncle's Inheritance
The rain had stopped, but the air still smelled of damp soil and incense.
A small boy stood before a lonely grave — the only splash of life among rows of stone. His black hair was a little too messy for the occasion, and his face far too calm for a child who had just buried the last person in his family.
Behind him, a couple from the neighborhood placed flowers and spoke in soft voices.
"Ken, dear… your grand uncle was a good man. If you ever need anything, just come to our house, alright?"
The boy turned to them, bowing politely — far too politely for someone his age.
"Thank you, Auntie. Uncle. I'll be fine."
His voice didn't waver. It wasn't bravery — just a kind of patience born from habit.
The couple exchanged worried looks as he walked away. But Ken didn't slow down.
He left the graveyard, shoes crunching against the wet dirt, and ran all the way home — past empty streets, past the shuttered shops of the Uchiha district, until he reached a small, creaky house tucked behind a row of old trees.
The moment he stepped inside, he shut the door, turned the lock twice, and let out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Finally… they're gone."
The quiet settled around him, thick and familiar. He leaned against the door, stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds — then smiled, just a little too sharply for a grieving child.
"…System."
A faint hum filled the room. Then, out of thin air, glowing letters began to form before his eyes — clean, golden, and somehow smug.
> [Equivalent Exchange System Activated.]
[Initializing Market Access… Welcome, Host.]
Ken's lips curled into the kind of grin that made his grand uncle always sigh and mutter something about "bad genes."
He rubbed his small hands together, eyes glinting like a mischievous little devil who'd just inherited the keys to hell.
"Oh yeah," he whispered, voice dripping with the promise of future chaos.
"Grandpa, wherever you are… your life might be over, but your legacy? I'm gonna use it to buy something way better."
…
Name's Ken Uchiha — five years old, recently orphaned, and soon-to-be full-time criminal mastermind.
Well, what do you expect? I was born into the "evil Uchiha clan." I'd say it's practically in the bloodline at this point.
To be honest, I was never a big fan of the Uchihas back in my previous life. Watching them in Naruto from a safe third-person distance, they looked cool — until Kishimoto butchered half their dignity.
Madara? Peak until he got plot-armored out of existence.
Sasuke? An emotional blender on two legs.
And don't even get me started on the clan as a whole — a bunch of overdramatic tsunderes who seriously lack testosterone.
If I had to describe them in one line: Emotionally unstable red-eyed soap opera actors.
Still, I wasn't too worried about my future in this clan.
Why? Because I had something no other Uchiha had.
My Golden Finger.
I got my cheat system on my fifth birthday. Cool, right?
Yeah, except it took a whole month to download. Apparently, divine software updates run slower than Konoha's bureaucracy.
It finally finished installing this morning.
Right before I found my grand uncle's body lying half-dead on the tatami — head split against the bed frame, sake bottle shattered beside him, blood and liquor pooling together like some tragic alcoholic masterpiece.
He must've slipped while drinking.
The neighbors cried. I shedded a few drops of crocodile tears. Standard funeral performance.
But deep down? I didn't feel much.
The old man was my last relative, sure — but he was also a walking wine cellar with a pulse. His greatest parental act was occasionally throwing pension money at me like a low-effort tip.
If not for my past life's memories, I'd have been in serious trouble.
Still… Now that he's gone, everything he owned — and everything my parents left behind — officially belongs to me.
A perfect time to start.
I sat cross-legged on the floor, looking around the empty house.
"Alright," I muttered under my breath. "System."
> ["Equivalent Exchange System Online."]
["Welcome, Host."]
Finally !
"My very own cheat," I whispered, grinning. "Let's see what you can do."
> ["Acknowledged. Explanation requested. Initiating tutorial."]
A faint hum followed, and then lines of text shimmered in front of my eyes — neat, gold, and very smug-looking.
> ["The Equivalent Exchange System functions as a multidimensional trading platform. Host may trade any form of value — tangible objects, knowledge, or intangible power — to receive something of equal worth in return."]
> ["Value assessment is determined by the Equivalent Market Index, which calculates rarity, utility, and cross-dimensional demand."]
I blinked. "So basically... a divine pawn shop?"
> ["Simplified description accepted."]
"Alright, let's break it down," I said, leaning forward. "Walk me through the trade types."
> ["Category One: Tangible Object."]
["Host may offer physical items — money, weapons, resources, or even illegal goods — in exchange for anything of comparable value. For example, a normal gun, a pair of panties of a famous actress or even a devil fruit… it can be any tangible object available in the system Trade centre."]
> ["Category Two: Knowledge."]
["Host may offer information, theories, or intellectual concepts. Once traded, that knowledge and all associated memories are erased from the Host's mind. However, external records such as books or notes remain unaffected."]
I raised an eyebrow. "So I can sell a chemistry formula but still keep the written copy?"
> ["Affirmative."]
Noted. That's already interesting.
> ["Category Three: Intangible Power."]
["Host may offer chakra, bloodline abilities, or similar life-force derivatives in exchange for tangible objects, knowledge, or other forms of power. Once traded, the sacrificed ability is permanently removed unless repurchased through another trade."]
My mind started running the math immediately.
So it's not restricted — I can cross-trade between categories.
Knowledge of chakra. Chakra for items. Items for knowledge.
Everything has a price, but everything is currency.
> ["All exchanges are absolute. The System does not interfere with Host morality or decisions."]
That line made me grin. "So you don't care if I sell, say, a scroll of forbidden jutsu or a bottle of snake oil?"
> ["Value is value."]
God, I think I love this system.
I leaned back, exhaling slowly, letting everything sink in.
So that's how it works — a universal barter engine with no restrictions.
Trade knowledge, lose memory. Trade power, lose strength. Trade trash, maybe get lucky.
It's dangerous, but also... Has great potential.
I looked at the faint golden text still glowing in front of me and chuckled under my breath.
"Equivalent exchange, huh? Guess that makes me a merchant of chaos."
My fingers drummed against my knee. "Now then… time to figure out what's worth selling first."
…