Rescue Operation, Part Twelve
"Holy crap! We took down a Jonin?"
"We really took down a Jonin! Haha, we took down a Jonin!"
Otoha got up from the ground, letting out a strange, incoherent cry. Araki's kick hadn't caused him much damage, only a bruise on his forearm. Aside from that, the impact of hitting the tree was quite hard, almost twisting his back.
However, seeing Araki's body crashing to the ground, Otoha's mood improved considerably, and he burst into laughter, making no attempt to hide his joy.
Having known Otoha for so long, this guy has become increasingly oblivious to what it means to be reserved and arrogant. He's completely thrown away the dignity of the Uchiha clan. Looking at his spittle-splattered, laughing maniacally, who would have thought that this guy is actually from the Uchiha Clan, known for its cold and aloof demeanor?
The Uchiha Clan possesses intense emotions, like a raging flame. It is this surging passion that awakens their Sharingan, granting them unparalleled Dōjutsu power—the so-called "Eye of the Mind's Reflection." However, 99% of Uchiha members are outwardly cold but inwardly passionate. Even when their inner emotions surge like a raging torrent, their faces remain frozen like ice. This is the Uchiha —the proud and unyielding Uchiha.
A character like Otoha, who wears his heart on his sleeve, is truly a disgrace and an anomaly within the Uchiha Clan.
However, before becoming familiar with Katsuki and the others, Otoha was actually quite aloof. Unfortunately, for some reason, this good kid turned out like this... Even if you beat Mizuki to Katsuki, he would never admit that it had anything to do with him. Well, it's just Otoha's nature, and it has nothing to do with him.
"Hey kid, I feel like you were just there for show the whole time. You only managed to take down one Cloud Ninja Chunin at most."
A faint sound drifted out from the mountains and forests.
Katsuki was treating his messy wounds. Although he had successfully killed a Jonin, the price he paid was not light. His chest muscles and bones had healed, but the cost was that he had suddenly lost about ten pounds.
Furthermore, half of his left forearm was severed, with bone marrow spilling out. Not to mention, when he used his bare hands to perform the White Lightning Strike, he almost burned his own hands to a crisp.
It was he who, with the inhuman vitality brought by the Uzumaki bloodline and the Hito Hito no Mi, dared to play the trick of trading injury for injury, and finally, with the help of Minato and Otoha, ended the life of a Jonin.
Because she had killed a Jonin, she instinctively felt safe and sat there to focus on healing her wounds, neglecting to perceive her surroundings. As a result, she was startled by the sudden sound and broke out in a cold sweat. She immediately spread her senses and noticed five powerful Chakra crouching in the tree, as well as a very familiar Chakra —it was Otome.
He felt a sense of relief, knowing that the visitor was a friend, not an enemy, and then his attention returned to his own terrible injuries, continuing the treatment.
There's no time for greetings and pleasantries right now; Otoha and Minato can handle that. He needs to heal his injuries as soon as possible before he can go save Kushina.
Katsuki was relieved, but Otoha was furious.
He jumped up and down indignantly, shouting.
"What do you mean 'just passing by'? I attracted that Cloud Ninja barbarian's attention, understand? I used myself as bait..."
Otoha looked up and met the pair of scarlet eyes in the tree, the words she was about to utter abruptly stopped.
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"Fourth Uncle, it's you! Haha, I knew it was you, haha!"
He chuckled awkwardly and scratched his head, a stiff smile plastered on Otoha's face.
"Hmph... He actually awakened his Sharingan, and even has a Futatsudomoe... Not bad." Uchiha No appeared lightly beside Otoha, patted his shoulder, and Otoha's Sharingan failed to detect his movement.
With just this one move, Uchiha No's strength is definitely above Araki's.
Hearing Uchiha No's praise, Otoha grinned smugly, a hint of pride in his eyes.
Uchiha No was a recognized genius among their generation, so to receive his praise was something he couldn't help but be proud of. However, the smile on his face quickly disappeared. They were here to rescue people, Kushina hadn't been rescued yet, so it was far from time to relax.
"You've actually seen something amazing... You must have gotten incredibly lucky!"
Otome jumped down from the tree, took small steps, and looked at Otoha's Red Eye, making sarcastic remarks.
"Hey! Say whatever you want, I won't hold it against you this time." Otoha waved his hand dismissively, but this made Otome's face turn pale with anger. She gritted her teeth and resolved to find a way to open her eyes as soon as possible. Her stupid older brother had already opened his eyes; she couldn't fall too far behind.
The four Uchiha Jonin Otoha in astonishment. He had awakened his Sharingan at such a young age, and one of his eyes even had Futatsudomoe. A smile appeared on their faces as they could already foresee a rising star. As long as this little guy didn't die young, he would surely become a pillar of the clan in the future.
The unity of the Uchiha Clan is evident; there is no prejudice between different families, only a high regard for talented members.
The only drawback is that they are too united internally, which has prevented them from integrating well into the village.
"Uzumaki Katsuki, huh? You're something else, kid. A fresh-graduated Genin took down a Jonin. Tsk tsk! That's absolutely one-of-a-kind."
Uchiha No walked up to Katsuki and clicked his tongue in admiration. Katsuki and Kushina, the siblings, frequently visited the Uchiha Clan's residence. Since the Uchiha Clan itself rarely had visitors, and their striking red hair made them quite conspicuous, the siblings were well-known within the Uchiha Clan.
"You flatter me."
Katsuki casually agreed, quickly took out three dark, longan-sized Ration Pills, threw them all into her mouth, chewed them to pieces, and swallowed them. Soon, a blush appeared on her pale, thin face.
"Kid, that's not how you use Ration Pills. It's one thing if you take this stuff on the battlefield, but if you eat it like food now, your body will probably break down when you reach middle age. The side effects are very serious."
Seeing Katsuki swallow the Ration Pills roughly, Uchiha No tried to advise him.
"Thank you, but don't worry."
Katsuki smiled, then took out three more Ration Pills and swallowed them to replenish her energy.
The so-called side effects of the Ration Pills are simply that the high concentration of protein energy compressed together puts enormous pressure on the stomach during digestion, and that they contain ingredients that stimulate Chakra, which can shorten the lifespan of the body's organs.
However, this was not a problem for Katsuki at all. With the Hito Hito no Mi in hand, the side effects of the Ration Pills were meaningless to him. As long as he had enough energy, he could repair any organ that was not naturally damaged.
In other words, aside from normal aging, he is not afraid of any harm, and as long as it is not an immediate death, he can stubbornly live on.