At this moment,
the hall was silent enough to hear a pin drop.
The Uchiha Group wore looks of horror, not daring to even breathe too loudly.
They were afraid that if they so much as took a breath,
Uchiha Setsuna would split Uchiha Ci alive on the spot!
And Uchiha Setsuna, under everyone's watchful eyes, had a face as black as the bottom of a pot.
After being challenged so recklessly by Uchiha Ci, even with his temper, he was starting to lose his patience!
Uchiha Setsuna's eyes glinted with a crimson chill. Three Tomoe slowly spun within his Sharingan as he stared directly at Uchiha Ci.
An oppressive killing intent gradually spread through the hall.
It felt as though, in the next moment, the Great Elder would draw the long blade from his back and chop Uchiha Ci into eight pieces like fruit!
Yet Uchiha Ci, who was being watched, had no time to care about that pressure.
At that moment, he stared blankly at the subtitles before his eyes.
[Clang!]
[You bravely confronted Uchiha Setsuna and obtained a random skill from the target: Uchiha Style—Silk Manipulation Shuriken Jutsu (Masterful).]
[Your Heart of Steel stacks increased.]
In that instant,
Uchiha Ci blanked out as a massive flood of knowledge poured into his mind.
From the forms of all sorts of shuriken, to the materials of steel wire, to the methods and techniques of Ninja Tool Throwing, Hidden Strength, Clever Strength, and countless other things, knowledge flashed through his mind.
In an instant, he comprehended, analyzed, mastered, and grew proficient, crossing hurdle after hurdle that normally required time to temper.
Then he crossed one Muscle Instinct after another, instincts that had to be carved into the body through life-and-death battles,
until—
Masterful!
Uchiha Ci had mastered the Uchiha Style—Silk Manipulation Shuriken Jutsu at the Masterful level!
"Huh?!"
"Wh-what's going on?" Uchiha Ci stood there in a daze.
No joke, Young Sasuke's Pinwheel Shuriken from the Original Work was not even worthy of carrying the shoes of this level of shuriken technique.
There were no shortcuts in Shurikenjutsu training. It could only be accumulated through time.
At this level of Shurikenjutsu, only Arm-severed Sasuke at the level where he fought Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki could possibly contend with him.
Yet he had gotten it just by confronting Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna head-on!
Still, when he considered Uchiha Setsuna's terrifying record of surviving after attempting to assassinate the Second Hokage, Uchiha Ci felt relieved.
Was this the confidence of an Old Generation Uchiha Artist?
This... this... honestly, as expected of Heart's Hardness. It had the beauty of raw numbers!
Awesome!
But why hadn't the Great Elder chopped me yet?
In the hall,
after a full three minutes of silence, Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna turned his head aside in speechless frustration.
He had finally confirmed that this Uchiha Ci was a complete hothead who did not know what fear was.
Under his practically terrifying killing intent, the brat seemed completely unaffected, simply staring him down.
If they kept staring, things would get awkward.
Only then did Uchiha Setsuna snort coldly.
"Since you're so eager to die for Konoha, this old man cannot stop you."
"You, step forward!"
Uchiha Ci jolted back to his senses and looked up at the Great Elder. There was no joy at receiving a mission on his face, only utter bewilderment.
Wait, this wasn't how the script was supposed to go!
Uchiha Ci had just spoken to Uchiha Setsuna with the mindset of dying on the spot.
He had been just short of cackling like a maniac...
But Great Elder, why the hell hadn't you chopped me yet?
Just casually cut me down already!
You're a Hawk Faction Leader—could you show a little manliness?
"Ci-kun." Shisui Uchiha could not help feeling moved.
Seeing Uchiha Ci's expression, he understood that the boy knew perfectly well how dangerous war was.
Look at him—Ci-kun's face had gone pale from fright.
Yet even so, he had still bravely stepped forward.
Since that was the case,
Shisui Uchiha activated his Sharingan, stepped out from the crowd, and solemnly addressed Uchiha Setsuna.
"Great Elder, the mission is still short one Genin. Please allow me to join the battle."
Uchiha Setsuna frowned slightly as he watched Shisui Uchiha step forward. His gaze fell on those crimson Sharingan. "You are Kagami's grandson? Shisui?"
"Yes. Please allow me to be willful just this once. I want to choose the mission to the Land of Rain."
Uchiha Setsuna said nothing. He merely gave Shisui a casual glance, passed over him, and continued assigning missions to the other shinobi.
That was tacit approval.
As the leader of the Uchiha Clan's Hawk Faction,
Uchiha Setsuna was naturally at odds with the Dove Faction, and Shisui's development was not something he needed to worry about.
For a genius with connections like Shisui—someone who had graduated early from the Ninja Academy, awakened the Sharingan, and was the Previous Patriarch's grandson—the Dove Faction would naturally provide all-round, nanny-like training.
Compared to Shisui, Uchiha Setsuna was more troubled by Uchiha Ci's problem.
Although the Hawk Faction's philosophy for nurturing talent was to throw children off cliffs,
those who could fly would naturally spread their wings, soar through the skies, and become Hawks with free will.
Those who could not fly would fall into the valley and become a pile of dog shit. In these increasingly chaotic times, perhaps that was a kind of fortune as well.
But Uchiha Ci...
His feathers had not even fully grown in, yet he was already thinking of flying. His hardheadedness was simply astounding.
Even Uchiha Setsuna, an extremely radical Hawk Faction Leader, felt that this brat might be a little too extreme...
Soon, the personnel assignments were complete. Uchiha Setsuna swept his cold gaze across the crowd and announced indifferently,
"For the Battlefield of the Land of Rain, Jonin Shinichi will serve as captain. Special Jonin Suke and Genin Shisui will form a squad. You will depart first for the border camp and await orders. A Flying Eagle Message has already been sent, and Uchiha members will receive you upon arrival."
"For you, I have one special reminder: your lives belong to Uchiha and to yourselves. They do not belong to Konoha. You had best understand that clearly!"
"For Valley of Hell in the Land of Hot Water, this old man will personally serve as captain. Chunin Kiyochiro and Genin Ci will form a squad and reinforce the Valley of Hell garrison."
"Squad members, gather at the village entrance tomorrow at eight in the morning."
"That is all. Dismissed!"
Uchiha Setsuna had always been swift and decisive. The moment he finished announcing the missions, he vanished with a Body Flicker.
The shinobi present exchanged glances for a moment before leaving as well. The Security Department had no room for idlers.
Soon, only Shisui Uchiha and the pensive Uchiha Ci remained in the hall.
Uchiha Ci frowned slightly.
Because of Shisui's interruption, he had ultimately been assigned to Valley of Hell.
Compared with that, he would have preferred the meat grinder that was the Land of Rain.
The Battlefield of the Land of Rain had fought from the eve of the shinobi war until its conclusion, lasting a full five years. In the middle of it all, Iwa, Suna, and Kumo had joined forces to advance the front, fighting all the way from the Land of Rain into the Land of Fire.
In the end,
the Third Shinobi World War's battle with Konoha's heaviest casualties erupted—
the Battle of Kikyoumori.
That was why Uchiha Ci wanted to go there more. It was the real deal, truly a battlefield comparable to a meat grinder.
But he was insignificant and powerless. Being able to get a mission at all was already incredibly lucky.
He could only accept the assignment. There was nothing he could do about it.
What he was thinking about was another matter.
In the Original Work, without his involvement in this event, Shisui Uchiha should only have been able to choose the Land of Hot Water, after which he would join the front against Kirigakure.
Without Uchiha Ci taking one of the slots on his own initiative, the Dove Faction would not have allowed Shisui to choose as he pleased. Even if Shisui had stepped forward, he would certainly have been assigned to the slightly safer Kirigakure Frontline.
In the end, he would carve out the title of Body Flicker Shisui.
Now,
because of Uchiha Ci's appearance, the plotline had begun to shift quietly, like a butterfly beating its wings.
Would Shisui Uchiha die in the Land of Rain because of this?
Without Shisui afterward, would Itachi Uchiha still awaken the Mangekyo and become that lunatic who slaughtered his entire clan?
Uchiha Ci suddenly realized
that his very appearance, his will to scam insurance, and the choices he made had already silently changed many things.
Ahead of him, it seemed a pitch-black Mist had begun to gather.
It made him shudder violently.
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