"Get lost, get lost! This is a legitimate establishment. Minors aren't allowed in!"
Amid the rough shouting, Uchiha Ci was thrown out the door by two burly, fierce-looking men.
Uchiha Ci climbed to his feet, cursing indignantly.
"Damn it, what kind of legitimate establishment doesn't allow minors in?"
"Ptooey!"
Hearing the commotion from Uchiha Ci's side, the villagers inside all looked at him strangely.
"You brat snuck in with a Transformation Jutsu. Did you think we wouldn't see through it?" The guard sneered disdainfully.
"Get the hell out of here. If you don't leave now, I'll have an adult from your clan come take you home!"
Those words immediately made Uchiha Ci shrink his neck.
He shot the two watchdogs a vicious glare.
If only public humiliation were covered by insurance.
"You still dare to crane your neck and look inside? Want me to call someone?" The burly man wrinkled his nose and prepared to shout inside.
Uchiha Ci promptly dismissed the fanciful thoughts in his head, covered his face, and fled the alley in disgrace.
By the time he returned to the street, there were already few people left on the road.
The full moon silently watched over all things beneath heaven.
An early spring wind that still carried winter's chill swept across his face. Uchiha Ci shuddered, and his mind regained its calm.
At that moment, Uchiha Seiichiro, a fellow clansman and member of Uchiha Ci's squad, staggered out of the alley with a wine bottle in hand.
Seeing Uchiha Ci, Kiyochiro looked him up and down. When he noticed the dusty marks all over Uchiha Ci, he could not help but grin teasingly.
"Oh, isn't this the glory of our Uchiha Clan?"
"What, did they throw you out?"
Uchiha Ci's face instantly tightened. "No. I was just walking down the road and got stepped on by an elephant."
"Heh heh, everyone has their ignorant youthful days." Kiyochiro's face was flushed red, and the stench of alcohol hit Uchiha Ci head-on as he grinned teasingly.
"I understand. I understand everything."
"After all, we're about to carry out that kind of mission."
Kiyochiro's tone sank slightly. His gaze shifted several times as he looked at Uchiha Ci, as though he had recalled something difficult to accept.
He suddenly frowned impatiently.
"You're called Ci, right? Listen up—"
Kiyochiro paused, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"Don't expect me to help you on this mission."
[Uchiha Seiichiro has developed hatred toward you.]
Uchiha Ci glanced at the text that had suddenly appeared before his eyes, raised his brows slightly, and then answered indifferently, "Don't worry, Senior Kiyochiro."
"I won't hold you back."
"Heh heh, it looks like you still don't understand what exactly you've done!" Kiyochiro's face darkened when he heard Uchiha Ci's casual reply.
"I don't know why the Great Elder chose to let you participate in this mission."
"But according to our faction's plans, this mission was supposed to be carried out by three Jonin-level clansmen."
"But because of your Ninja Game, the Great Elder changed his mind and made a Chunin like me participate in something this dangerous for no reason at all!"
Uchiha Seiichiro's gaze gradually turned icy, and he snorted coldly.
"You have no idea what kind of lunatics you'll be facing on this mission!"
"Without the Sharingan, you're no different from a toy in front of those lunatics!"
Uchiha Ci raised his brows slightly. How could he, someone who had read the Original Work, not know what was in the Land of Hot Water?
The destination of this mission—
Was the Chinoike Clan within the Valley of Hell in the Land of Hot Water.
Within their Ketsuryūgan was reflected hatred for the Uchiha Clan, stretching from the Warring States Period to the present day!
Uchiha Seiichiro was actually right.
Without the Sharingan, Uchiha Ci had no advantage at all against the Ketsuryūgan, another dojutsu bloodline.
The Ketsuryūgan was a dojutsu bloodline extremely similar to the Sharingan. Both required intense emotional stimulation to awaken.
But unlike the Sharingan, once the Ketsuryūgan awakened, it simultaneously possessed abilities such as the Hypnotic Eye, enhanced genjutsu, Blood Release Ninjutsu, and Human Bombs. It was enough to rival a Two-Tomoe Sharingan.
As Pupil Power increased, even more terrifying abilities might emerge.
Uchiha who had yet to awaken their eyes, or had only just done so, were almost guaranteed to lose when they encountered Chinoike Clan ninja, their bloodline abilities completely crushed.
Moreover, the Chinoike Clan had lived year-round in a godforsaken place like the Valley of Hell. Every one of them had honed superb taijutsu to hunt birds for food.
Their throwing techniques were at least at the proficient level.
Conventional Ninjutsu was also countered by Blood Dragon techniques that had completed Water Release Nature Transformation within the Blood Pool Environment, which was full of boiling springs.
They were utterly superior in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu alike.
Faced with such hellish difficulty, even with his master-level Uchiha Style: Silk Manipulation Shuriken Jutsu, Uchiha Ci could only stare helplessly.
It simply could not have been more perfect.
Ahem. What Uchiha Ci meant was, what an incredible enemy.
I shall do my utmost to defeat them!
"Forget it. What would a green brat like you understand if I told you this?" Uchiha Seiichiro tipped back the wine bottle and gulped down a mouthful. His expression was somewhat dazed as he muttered to himself.
"I only just awakened Two Tomoe. Why did it have to be me?"
He squatted down while clutching his head, his face filled with terror.
Uchiha Ci looked at Uchiha Seiichiro squatting on the ground, pursed his lips slightly, and sighed. He stepped forward, patted Kiyochiro on the shoulder, and fell silent.
The thing he had been worried about had still happened.
Because of him, the plot had changed and dragged this poor man into it.
Although the two were not familiar with each other, Uchiha Ci still felt a little pressure in his heart.
He shook his head and could only speak earnestly in the end.
"Senior Kiyochiro, don't worry. I'll say it again."
"If someone has to die, that person will definitely be me."
Uchiha Ci said solemnly.
"You only need to protect yourself. As for me, I've long been mentally prepared to die!"
"W-What did you say?" Uchiha Seiichiro raised his head, surprise in his voice.
Then his expression darkened slightly, and he sighed.
In his eyes, Uchiha Ci was still too childish, speaking without thinking.
Only once the brat truly faced death would he understand what fear was.
As fellow clansmen, he had already gone too far by saying all this today. He could not bear to be too harsh on the other boy.
After all, Uchiha Ci was still only a child.
"Forget it, forget it. This is my fate."
As though he had accepted his fate in an instant, Uchiha Seiichiro carried the wine bottle, swayed past Uchiha Ci, and staggered toward home.
Under the clear light of the full moon, his wretched figure looked like a dog that could not find its way home.
Suddenly, Kiyochiro turned his head slightly and asked in a low voice.
"Kid, can you tell me why you went this far?"
Uchiha Ci froze slightly.
He scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.
He could not exactly say it was to scam insurance money.
After a long while—
Uchiha Ci stood amid the biting wind, beneath the cold and merciless moonlight, atop the long shadow cast by the massive Hokage Rock.
Slowly, he clenched his hand into a fist and pressed it against his chest, over his heart.
"The reason..."
Uchiha Ci's expression was inscrutable, yet his next words were as resolute as a blade piercing through the weakness in one's heart.
"I often wonder what an ordinary ninja like me can do."
"And what exactly are the village and the Uchiha?"
"But after thinking it over and over, I could only confirm one thing in the end."
"Without power, nothing can be done."
"So I am willing to devote myself to the flames of war, offer myself to blazing fire, and seek my medical insurance—the path for these eyes to exist—between life and death!"
"Then, I will use these eyes to illuminate the world!"
"And rebuild the glory that belongs to my Uchiha!"
Uchiha Ci stood straight in the cold wind, as hard and unmoving as a statue.
"Is that so?"
Looking at Uchiha Ci like this, Uchiha Seiichiro nodded slightly, his expression easing. He recalled what Young Master Shisui, who also belonged to the Dove Faction but possessed an extremely noble status, had told him when he came to find him earlier.
"I understand."
After a moment of silence, Uchiha Seiichiro left those words behind and departed.
He left behind Uchiha Ci, who was utterly baffled, his gaze darting around as he scratched his head in confusion.
"No, what the hell did you understand?"
Bang, bang, bang. Everything I wanted to say is on the ground. You understand.
Before you continue