Showing Off Before a Master

"Run. Why aren't you running now?"

Four Suna Ninja surrounded Uchiha Gen. The tallest among them, a Chunin squad leader with a scar on his forehead, sneered viciously.

Uchiha Gen gave an eerie smile and flipped his palm over. Two Exploding Tags burst into flame.

The Sand Chunin sensed trouble. As he retreated, he immediately shouted, "Fall back!"

Boom!

The two Exploding Tags detonated at once, their powerful shockwave carrying flames in every direction.

The three Sand Genin were too slow to dodge and were blasted away. Though they were not killed on the spot, they suffered serious internal injuries and lay on the ground vomiting blood.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

From behind the Sand Chunin, three Shuriken flew out of the treetops, shooting at the back of his head, his back, and his rear.

The Sand Chunin remained calm in the face of danger. He spun around at high speed and knocked all the Shuriken away with his Kunai.

At that moment, Uchiha Gen seized the opportunity and leaped down from a tree, slashing his sword at the man's forehead.

His timing was impeccable. The Sand Chunin found it difficult to dodge and had no time to form hand seals, so he could only raise his Kunai to block.

With a clang, faint sparks flew. Uchiha Gen released his left hand and swiftly grabbed for his throat.

The Sand Chunin blocked with his left hand and was about to counterattack, but his body suddenly stiffened.

"How is this possible?"

The Sand Chunin's face twisted as he spoke in disbelief.

Three Shuriken had already pierced his back. They were lined up vertically beneath the midpoint between his arms, and crimson blood streamed down.

Armor was not something every ninja could afford, and even some who could afford it disliked how it hindered their speed.

Bang! Without a word, Uchiha Gen seized the chance to kick the Sand Chunin in the abdomen. Then his eyes turned into crimson Sharingan, and with a sweep of his arm, he knocked away all the incoming Shuriken and Kunai.

The Sand Chunin crashed to the ground, driving the Shuriken deeper into his flesh. His spine had been severed by the Shuriken, leaving him a crippled paraplegic.

Seeing their captain defeated, then seeing the crimson Two-Tomoe Sharingan in Uchiha Gen's eyes, the three Suna Ninja could not help but feel afraid.

What did an Uchiha ninja with Two-Tomoe Sharingan represent?

Everyone in the ninja world knew: an outstanding Chunin, perhaps even possessing the strength of a Special Jonin.

How could the three mere Genin possibly fight him?

Seeing the terrified expressions of the Sand Genin, Uchiha Gen activated the Soul-Soul Fruit's power. Their souls and lifespans streamed uncontrollably from the tops of their heads.

A feeling of powerlessness swept through their bodies. Before they could understand what had happened, the three Sand Genin collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Y-you... what did you do?"

Because of his angle, the Sand Chunin noticed something strange about one of his subordinates and was overcome with terror.

"You don't need to know."

Uchiha Gen walked up to the Sand Chunin, first extracting his soul and lifespan. He then turned him over and drove a sword into the back of his head, destroying his brain. Finally, he retrieved the three bloodstained Shuriken and left.

After leaving, Uchiha Gen found a place to calm his discomfort at having killed someone.

Earlier, Uchiha Gen had been too preoccupied with using his new ability to create Homies. He had been excited and exhilarated, so he had felt no discomfort.

On the battlefield, right and wrong did not matter—only allegiance did. Uchiha Gen was open-minded about it, and with the original owner's battlefield memories, he quickly calmed the unease in his heart.

Then Uchiha Gen began tending to his ninja tools. He ate Soldier Pills to fill his stomach and restore Chakra.

Although the battle had been settled with cold weapons, just one Shadow Clone Technique had consumed half his Chakra.

Even though he had not exhausted it all and some had returned after the clone dispersed, he still needed to restore it as soon as possible.

Chakra was not easy to recover and required considerable time. On a battlefield full of danger, there was no such luxury. He had to eat Soldier Pills to recover.

The Uchiha Clan's Soldier Pills were of exceptional quality, no worse than those made by the Akimichi Clan. They occupied forty percent of Konoha's Soldier Pill market.

Because his powerful soul gave him powerful spiritual energy, evenly distributing Chakra to create clones was no difficult task for Uchiha Gen.

The ability to finely control Chakra was highly beneficial for both learning and using ninjutsu.

After spending half an hour restoring his Chakra, Uchiha Gen resumed his hunt. A few minutes later, he spotted a lone Suna Ninja.

Judging by the armor on the Suna Ninja, the scroll on his back, and his calm demeanor despite being alone, he was most likely an expert.

But Uchiha Gen was not afraid. At most, he would be a Special Jonin, because Jonin-level experts had long since charged into Kikyo Mountain.

Although he could have used the Camouflage Concealment Technique to get close and launch a surprise attack, Uchiha Gen did not take that risk. If the other man possessed sensory abilities and deliberately played along, it would be dangerous.

Same old rule: test him with Shuriken first.

Just as Uchiha Gen was about to make his move, the Suna Ninja suddenly attacked. With a flick of his hand, three Shuriken flew toward where he was concealed.

He really does have sensory abilities.

Though surprised, Uchiha Gen remained composed. He dodged and flung Shuriken backhandedly. Thunk, thunk, thunk! The Shuriken embedded themselves in the tree trunk with crisp, sharp sounds.

The Suna Ninja flashed aside and formed hand seals, but the Shuriken that had flown past him circled around and came back.

Frightened, the Suna Ninja hurriedly abandoned his hand seals. As he dodged, he pulled out a Kunai to block, falling into a flustered scramble.

Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!

Clusters of orange-red flames poured from Uchiha Gen's mouth like phoenix sage seeds. They shot forward at tremendous speed, and under his deliberate Chakra control, sealed off every route of escape.

The Suna Ninja brought his hands together. Bang! A cloud of white smoke appeared, and a dense barrage of senbon shot out from within it, scattering the Chakra-nature flames.

Uchiha Gen darted aside to evade the remaining senbon, ordering the Shuriken on the ground not to attack for the moment.

As the white smoke dispersed, a bizarre wolf-shaped puppet appeared. It was called wolf-shaped because its head was clearly that of a wolf.

"An Uchiha Clan ninja."

The Suna Ninja looked at the crimson Sharingan in Uchiha Gen's eyes, and his expression turned grim.

One of the ninja puppet masters least wanted to face was an Uchiha with Sharingan. Their powerful insight rendered many mechanisms useless.

Uchiha Gen tilted his head slightly and flicked his right hand, sending out a ball of white light.

The Suna Ninja's left pinky twitched, and a Kunai shot from the wolf's mouth. The Kunai pierced through the white ball of light without causing any damage.

The Suna Ninja instinctively controlled the puppet to block in front of him. The white ball of light vanished as soon as it reached the wolf puppet.

That's it? I thought...

At that moment, the wolf puppet suddenly turned around. Its jaws opened wide, and several Kunai shot out.

The Suna Ninja never imagined that his own puppet would betray him. They were too close, and caught off guard, his powerful Kunai pierced through his chest armor and plunged into his chest.

"H-how is this possible?"

Blood seeped from the Suna Ninja's mouth. His eyes were filled with disbelief as he lowered his head in horror to look at the Kunai embedded all over his chest.

The chest armor had still served some purpose—it had kept the Suna Ninja from dying immediately.

While the Suna Ninja feared death, Uchiha Gen immediately leaped over and used his ability to extract the man's soul and lifespan.

The wolf puppet wagged its barbed tail and eagerly rubbed against Uchiha Gen's calf...

Playing with puppets in front of me?

That's showing off before a master. Even Sasori of the Red Sands is just a little brother compared to me!

Consider yourself unlucky.

Uchiha Gen shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Destroy his brain. From now on, you cannot speak without my permission."

"Yes, Master."

These Homies, created using other people's souls and lifespans, had neither much quantity nor high quality, so their intelligence was not high. Still, they could understand simple commands.

"You three, come back too."

The three Shuriken lying on the ground immediately rose into the air and automatically dropped into Uchiha Gen's ninja tool pouch. It was convenient and efficient.

Once he had dealt with the aftermath, Uchiha Gen sealed away the wolf puppet with a sealing scroll and left.

At the same time, a figure suddenly appeared atop a tree at the edge of the battlefield.

"Looks like I'm not too late..."

The figure had blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue skintight combat suit beneath a green Konoha vest. Handsome and sunny, with a warm temperament, he was like the sun in spring.

Don't stockpile chapters, don't stockpile chapters! It's easy for a novel to die that way!!!