Reincarnating as Itachi in a cultivation world!

Itachi laid on his bed, chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath. After venting his frustration in a flurry of curses that could make even the vilest demons cry, he was utterly drained. Yet somehow, the simple act of yelling and being tired from it, left him feeling even more frustrated.

He scowled at the floating scroll hovering nearby.

"You…" Itachi growled through clenched teeth.

"I get it! I get it!" the scroll interrupted, its cartoonish eyes wide with a mix of shock, fear, and irritation. "You're mad. Very mad. Fine! But do you really have to call me every slur under the heavens? Do you know how long I've been around? No user has cursed me this much before!"

"Good," Itachi spat, glaring daggers at the scroll. "That means I'm better than all of them at least in that aspect or I am the only one you're treating like shit."

The scroll looked genuinely offended for a moment before rolling its eyes—well, the doodle equivalent of it, anyway. "See, this is why I can't stand morta—uh, humans!" it snapped, hastily correcting itself.

Itachi's glare intensified. "Say that again, you smug piece of paper."

The scroll shivered under his gaze but shook it off with a huff. "Go look in the mirror!"

"What?" Itachi barked, caught off guard, "You go look in the mirror, you piece of shit!"

"Go. Look. In. The. Mirror!" The scroll enunciated each word as if Itachi were a child who couldn't comprehend simple instructions. "Like seriously! Do it!"

Still bristling with irritation, Itachi decided to humor the obnoxious scroll. Even if it was an annoying existence, it was his one source of power remaining. Grumbling under his breath, he walked over to the small mirror resting on a table in the corner of his room. "What's there to look a—"

The words died in his throat.

Itachi froze, his breath hitching as he stared at his reflection. His usual dark eyes were gone, replaced by crimson orbs with a single black tomoe spinning lazily in each pupil.

Sharingan.

The realization hit him like a bolt of lightning. His eyes were now the legendary dojutsu of the Uchiha Clan—the one-tomoe Sharingan.

"What… the… hell…" he muttered, leaning closer to confirm it wasn't some cruel trick. The crimson glow of his eyes was unmistakable, and the tomoe's hypnotic spin sent a shiver down his spine as excitement flashed through his eye for a moment.

"See? Told you!" the scroll chimed in, floating smugly behind him. "I'm a big believer in the trade of equivalent exchange, so in return for awakening me, I've granted you the gift of a lifetime! I have awakened your dormant bloodline. Your very own kekkei genkai: the Sharingan! Normally you would have to buy it in the store like everyone else, but since I, the scroll, am so gracious I gave it to you for free. Aren't I the best?"

Itachi's hand trembled as he pointed an accusing finger at the scroll. "Fuck your mother!" he roared.

The scroll recoiled as though physically struck, the smugness vanishing from its face. "W-Well, that was uncalled for…"

Itachi took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down as he processed the situation. His emotions churned like a raging storm—excitement, confusion, frustration, and dread all battling for dominance.

On one hand, the Sharingan was an incredible gift. Its potential for combat, perception, and copying techniques made it one of the most versatile tools imaginable.

But on the other hand…

What the hell is the point of the Sharingan when I don't even have cultivation?! Sure the powers of Sharingan was incredible, but what he was to do with a one-tomoe sharingan?

Maybe if it was the eternal Mangekyo Sharingan or at the very least a full fledged three tomoe-sharingan, he could atleast consider its benefits. But he was certain, that the shop would make him use his cultivation point to upgrade it. After all, he had already seen them in the shop before.

What use is a sharingan, when your opponent can blip you out of existense with one move. Even if you notice their attack or even manage to copy it, what was the point if he didn't have the strength to retaliate. If he still had his cultivation, this could've been a great tool but for now, it was useless.

Not to mention the whole deal with the shop, it took him 15 years to grow his cultivation to Elemental Manifestation Realm, how long will it take him to reach it now? 

And to add to that, if he were to buy even a average item or skill from the shop, he would regress his cultivation so far back that he would die a mortal before he could even use it.

Itachi slumped onto his bed, his face buried in his hands. "What kind of cruel joke is this…" he muttered, his voice muffled.

The scroll floated closer, tilting its head. "You don't like it?" it asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Itachi lifted his head just enough to glare at it. "Oh, I'm thrilled. But without cultivation, these eyes are nothing but a flashy decoration. Even my little brother could kill me with a hug right now. What good is a Sharingan when I can't even protect myself?"

The scroll hesitated, looking unusually quiet for once.

"And to make it worse," Itachi continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "it's not even the fully evolved version. One tomoe? Really? You couldn't have at least given me a three-tomoe or a Mangekyō Sharingan?"

The scroll huffed, clearly offended. "Do you think this is a charity? Be grateful I gave you anything at all! Normally, you'd have to buy it from the shop! And not to mention what I have given you is not the sharingan but awakened your bloodline, meaning your sharingan will evolve as you progress further. Hell you can awaken Mangekyo Sharingan with time."

"Awaken it? I'll probably die before I awake anything. Even the beggars from down the road have a better chance of killing me than me awakening my Sharingan to that level before gaining my cultivation back."

"You know what, take it back and you can go back to where you come from." Itachi snapped, flopping backward onto his bed. "I'll just cultivate from scratch. I can't afford to waste even a single bit of spiritual energy, so your overpriced shop is useless to me anyway."

The scroll was so stunned it fell silent, floating aimlessly for a moment before dimming and vanishing entirely.

For the first time since he woke up, Itachi was alone. The silence was deafening, but it gave him time to think.

His strength, his plans, his future—it had all been stolen in an instant. Fifteen years of effort had gone down the drain, and now he was left with nothing but a fancy pair of eyes he couldn't even use.

Why can't I have something overpowered for once… he thought bitterly, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Just as despair began to settle in, the screen reappeared with a cheerful chime.

"Hey! I have an idea!" the scroll's voice rang out.

"Leave me alone," Itachi muttered, not even bothering to look at it as he got up from his bed and grabbed a spiritual stone. As he began to cultivate.

"Come on, hear me out!" the scroll insisted. "It's about your gift. What if I… changed it?"

Itachi opened one eye, his curiosity piqued. "Change it? How?"

"In exchange for taking back the Sharingan," the scroll said slyly, "how about I give you a technique instead? Something useful. A certain… cloning technique, perhaps?"

Itachi's other eye snapped open. "You mean… that technique?"

"Shh!" The scroll looked around nervously, as if afraid someone might overhear making even Itachi wonder what was its deal.

"Are you sure it works even here? And just to be clear we are talking about the same thing right?" Itachi awkwardly whispered at the scroll

"Of course, the world is different so why shouldn't the technique be as well?" it whispered back.

 For the first time since he had woken up, he saw a ray of sunshine as he nodded. "Deal."

With a flicker, the screen displayed the words, "Purchase Completed!"

The familiar seeping sensation returned, and Itachi watched as the crimson glow of his Sharingan faded away, leaving his vision dull and blurry once more. Making him wonder how better the visual prospect of the sharingan was. But before he could lament the loss, a surge of information flooded his mind like a rushing river.

Standing up, he instinctively formed the hand seals that had just been etched into his memory.

Taking a deep breath, he struck a pose and shouted, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With a puff of smoke, an exact replica of himself appeared in front of him, standing tall and smirking just like the original.

Itachi stared at his clone from head to toe and there was literally no discrepancies between him and the clone. It was him. "I am certainly good looking..."

The scroll appeared once again as it rolled his eyes.

He couldn't help but joke to lighten up his mood, but before he could begin feeling happy again, he needed to confirm his theory. 

Itachi handed the spirit stone in his hand to the clone and asked it to start cultivating. The clone like a robot did as he was told and sat in the lotus position and soon as it did, the spiritual energy in the air began gathering towards it.

Itachi nodded at the way things were looking as he sat down and began cultivating as well grabbing another mid tier stone from his pouch.

Since Itachi had lost all his cultivation from the beginning he had to start from scratch.

The cultivation realm of this world went as following, Mortal Realm, Profound Realm, Soul Realm and Divine Realm.

The realms were segmented further down, Mortal Realm was further segmented into 4 different realms that one had to go through.

Body Tempering Realm.

Qi Gathering Realm.

Core Refinement Realm.

Foundation Ascension Realm.

Each of these realms separated into 3 stages, Early, Mid and Late.

The purpose of the Mortal Realm was to create a foundation to further develop cultivation after. This realm focused on building a stronger body and a stable dantian core more than anything else.

Since Itachi had already gone through the stages completely before, although his spiritual energy was gone, the way his body was structured was just left as it was. His bones and muscles were still stronger than ordinary mortals.

And now that he began cultivating it again, for some reason he could feel the already stronger bones growing in strength further.

With this, won't I have a stronger foundation than anyone else? Of course, geniuses and privileged cultivators aside. Itachi felt the first upside of having to restart his cultivation again but he doubted there could be anything else other than this. But this was more than enough for a cultivator, a stronger foundation meant a better chance of ascending to higher realms in the future. And if his theory tested out to be correct he would- No, it's not time to be hopeful yet.

Hours passed, as the sun that was once on the rise began descending again.

Itachi opened his eyes as he turned towards his clone who was still cultivating with due diligence having run through two mid-tier spirit stones already. Itachi couldn't help but look at his bag, which only had a couple more spirit stones remaining.

"You can stop." Itachi ordered the clone as the latter opened his eyes.

With a deep breath, Itachi raised a hand sign, "Dispel!"