[You righteously countered Uchiha Seiichiro with reason.]
[You obtained a skill from him: Fire Release—Phoenix Sage Fire Technique (C-rank) (Proficient).]
[Your Heart of Steel stacks increased.]
[You could now view your Heart of Steel stack count and open your skill panel.]
Uchiha Ci was slightly stunned, then a trace of speechlessness appeared on his face.
He truly had not intended to trigger this talent. He had merely wanted to find an excuse to go die.
This can trigger Heart of Steel too?
With a thought from Uchiha Ci, an illusory panel immediately floated before his eyes.
[Employee: Uchiha Ci] [Title: Heavenly Strong Man.] [Talents: Heart of Steel (SSS), Sharingan (Unawakened, B), Combat Intuition (Undeveloped, S).] [Skills: Uchiha Style—Silk Manipulation Shuriken Jutsu (Mastery, S), Fire Release—Great Fireball Technique (Beginner, C), Fire Release—Phoenix Sage Fire Technique (Proficient, C), Taijutsu (Beginner).] [Heart's Hardness stacks accumulated (expandable)] [Insurance Status: Paid.]
Uchiha Ci gave it a brief look. It was more or less what he had expected, so he closed the panel with a thought.
The only thing that puzzled him was the sudden addition of [Combat Intuition] among his talents.
Everything else remained within his expectations.
Having an extra panel and an extra ninjutsu was harmless enough.
After all, the panel was only for looking at, and the ninjutsu was merely the C-rank Phoenix Sage Fire.
Fire Release was famously a merciful ninjutsu, following the law that where there was smoke, there were no injuries.
As long as he could persuade the other two members of the squad, this opportunity to go die was still worth trying.
However, Uchiha Ci's plans were wonderful, but reality did not comply.
His lecturing words rang in Uchiha Seiichiro's ears, instantly darkening the other man's face.
Seiichiro was a member of the Uchiha Clan's Dove Faction and knew the inside details of the mission.
He had already been full of resentment when he joined this mission. Now that Uchiha Ci had snapped back at him, his eyes immediately narrowed, and a pair of Sharingan quietly lit up within them.
"Uchiha Ci, are you lecturing me?"
Seiichiro coldly raised his brows, staring fixedly at Uchiha Ci with an icy tone.
"You're a genin who hasn't even awakened the Sharingan. What gives you the right to lecture me?"
"Looks like you need to be taught a lesson!"
What Uchiha Ci had said earlier made some sense, but Seiichiro's original intention in joining this mission had been to preserve his own life.
Sneaking into the borderlands at night was the sort of thing only madmen would do. It was far too dangerous and had never been within his considerations.
That was why he was so furious.
Seeing the Sharingan light up in the other man's eyes, Uchiha Ci instinctively shifted his gaze aside, looking only below Seiichiro's chest.
Then he saw—
Uchiha Seiichiro suddenly struck. One hand grabbed Ci's hair while the other reached for his shoulder, intending to force his entire head downward.
His knee shot toward Uchiha Ci's head in a swift, brutal strike!
Uchiha Ci's pupils suddenly contracted.
He had never expected—
that with Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna still standing nearby, Uchiha Seiichiro would dare start infighting and attack him outright!
The next moment—
Ci took a sharp breath and instinctively moved his body.
Following the force of the other man's grip on his head, he twisted his feet against the ground and drove with his waist, back, and legs at once. He flipped backward, turning his face slightly in midair to evade the incoming knee.
At the same time, his hand swept to his lower back and swiftly flung out three shuriken.
In an instant, they locked onto Uchiha Seiichiro's exposed throat, wrist, and temple beside his ear.
"What?!" Uchiha Seiichiro was suddenly startled. His Sharingan widened, and through its dynamic vision, he could clearly see the shuriken spinning rapidly toward him.
He hurriedly leaned back, releasing Ci's hair in an emergency and dodging the three shuriken.
A hint of shock rose in his heart, followed by surging fury!
Uchiha Ci actually dared to resist!
Resist him, his chunin superior!
The Two-Tomoe in Seiichiro's Sharingan spun as his eyes narrowed dangerously. The next moment, his hands rapidly formed seals—
However, before the other man could land, Uchiha Ci had already begun forming seals in midair.
Rat—Tiger—Dog—Ox—Rabbit—Tiger!
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!
Just as Seiichiro formed his final Tiger Seal, six sizable fireballs appeared before his eyes and shot rapidly toward him.
Right behind the fireballs came several sharp whistling sounds through the air!
Six shuriken and three kunai, accompanied by six fireballs, surged toward him like an overwhelming tide.
"Damn it!" Seiichiro could not help widening his eyes.
A quantitative change caused a qualitative change. A full fifteen projectiles were coming at him. Even though his Two-Tomoe Sharingan could clearly see every trajectory, it was useless.
All he could do now was quickly evade with the Body Flicker Technique.
But after the fifteen projectiles, Uchiha Ci was still pulling out more.
His left hand already held another four shuriken between his fingers.
And that was not all!
Uchiha Ci's right hand had already reached the Scroll Storage Bag at his waist, pulling out and unfolding a Sealing Scroll.
At the center of the scroll was a huge character: "Ninja"!
Judging from the scroll's length, it likely contained no fewer than a hundred ninja tools.
Damn it!
How could this brat fire so much?!
"Enough!"
At that moment, the indifferent voice of Uchiha Setsuna, who had been silently watching from the side, rang out.
He suddenly appeared between the two of them and casually drew the ninja sword from his back.
The blade swept in an arc, flashing with a crescent-like curve of light.
Clang! Clang!
Without missing a single one, all six fireballs, six shuriken, and three kunai were cut down and deflected by that slash.
"Uchiha Seiichiro." Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna slowly sheathed his sword, his gaze so cold it sent chills through the heart.
"Go do your job."
Seiichiro trembled under the Great Elder's gaze, then fell silent.
Without a word, he walked some distance away to set up Alert Traps.
Yet his face still carried a trace of defiance.
He was a chunin. Earlier, he had merely been caught off guard by Uchiha Ci's barrage of ninja tool throwing.
If he got serious, Uchiha Ci, a mere genin, would definitely be no match for him.
The conflict was stopped.
Uchiha Ci was now silently picking up the ninja tools scattered across the ground, his heart aching terribly.
That slash from the Great Elder had directly ruined two of his high-quality kunai.
As for those crudely made shuriken, there was no need to mention them. They had been split cleanly in two.
That was all money!
Money that should have been used on powerful enemies had been wasted on a guy like Uchiha Seiichiro. He felt like he had suffered a massive loss.
Uchiha Setsuna's gaze lingered briefly on the three shuriken Uchiha Ci had thrown first before he calmly withdrew it.
With his eyesight, he could naturally see that the three initially misfired shuriken had a thin thread wrapped around them.
If he had not stopped the fight just now—
Uchiha Seiichiro would have used the Body Flicker Technique to move to that position, and then Uchiha Ci would have pulled the thread.
If the brat had been ruthless enough, Seiichiro would most likely have been separated from his head.
Uchiha Setsuna slightly furrowed his brows and looked toward Uchiha Ci.
He suddenly had a strange feeling.
It was as though he himself had been the one who attacked Uchiha Seiichiro just now.
This brat's shurikenjutsu seemed... to have something to it.
"You're called Uchiha Ci, right?" Uchiha Setsuna suddenly asked.
"Ah, yes, that's me." Uchiha Ci froze for a moment, then nodded.
Uchiha Setsuna slightly narrowed his eyes, walked over to the campfire, and sat down. He beckoned to Uchiha Ci.
"Come here."
The setup was done. Time to charge in!
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