Anomaly in Spiritual Power

The summer night was destined to be anything but quiet. The chirping of insects, the cries of night owls, and the rustling of small animals rose and fell without end.

Katsuo could not only hear them clearly—he could even see some of them!

He discovered that his five senses were extraordinarily sharp. He could even feel the moisture in the air growing heavier as the night deepened!

At first, Katsuo thought it was because of the difference in his body. After all, he belonged to the Uchiha Clan, while in his previous life, he had merely been an ordinary person.

But after looking at his own frail body, he rejected that guess. He even felt that this body was far worse than his body had been at the same age in his previous life!

If it was not his body, then it had to be his mind.

Thinking about how he had inherited Uchiha Katsuo's memories, with the spiritual energy of two lifetimes gathered in this frail body, it was only natural for his five senses to become so extraordinary.

He had guessed correctly, but that was not all.

He possessed not only the spiritual power of two lifetimes, but had also undergone two unique experiences of death: one was the death of his previous life, and the other was the memory of Uchiha Katsuo's death. Those two extraordinary brushes with life and death had caused his spiritual power to multiply explosively.

By the standards of children his age, his spiritual energy was now at least dozens of times greater than that of an ordinary five-year-old. Although that gap would narrow as he and his peers grew older, in the ninja world of the future, no one his age would ever be able to compete with him in spiritual power!

Of course, that was assuming he lived that long.

It was precisely because his spiritual power was so strong while his body was so weak, creating a strange fusion between the two, that Uchiha Feng found Katsuo unusual and far from simple!

That feeling became even more obvious after Uchiha Feng awakened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan!

After all, the Sharingan was a manifestation of Yin Release and could indeed sense invisible spiritual energy to a certain extent.

There truly were good people in the world who helped others without expecting anything in return, like Kuiko, or Obito when he was young.

But Uchiha Feng was definitely not one of them. Otherwise, he would never have become one of the Uchiha Clan's elders!

With his status as an Uchiha Clan elder, nominating someone was nothing more than opening his mouth.

Though it was already late at night, Katsuo did not feel sleepy in the slightest, nor did he feel mentally exhausted. This was one manifestation of powerful spiritual strength.

The second manifestation was his astonishing learning ability. In the darkness, Katsuo devoted most of his attention to practicing hand seals. The twelve seals were extremely simple for him; he could form them perfectly after seeing them just once.

However, he still needed to practice often to improve his seal-forming speed.

Suddenly, he stopped practicing. Then, without warning, he took out a banana and began eating it, his eyes fixed tightly on his home courtyard several hundred meters away.

Just now, a shadow seemed to have flashed through his courtyard. Though it had moved quickly, Katsuo had caught it!

He had always kept a small part of his attention focused there. The biggest reason he had a home yet could not return to it, and had to feed mosquitoes on a summer night, was to guard against that shadow!

Ever since he had gone to collect the debt, he had been thinking: did his existence mean anything to the Uchiha Clan? Or rather, did anyone remember him?

After thinking for most of the day, he could only regretfully conclude that the answer was no!

In other words, one more or one less of him made no difference to the Uchiha Clan. No one would even notice if he disappeared. Put another way, his house was so remote and his presence so insignificant that even if he died at home right now, no one would know!

This was also the biggest reason Katsuo had been able to obtain that compensation so easily, just as Uchiha Kari had asked:

"Aren't you afraid you won't live long enough to spend it?"

He had not been joking. He had already decided to take Katsuo's family's compensation!

Twelve thousand ryo was neither a small amount nor a huge one. It was roughly the reward for a C-rank mission. Killing an uncared-for five-year-old brat to earn the equivalent of a C-rank mission reward—many ninjas would surely choose to act.

In this world, darkness far outweighed light! Especially among ninjas—whose hands were not stained with blood?

After encountering this world's darkness, how could Katsuo dare let down his guard?

At present, his life was as light as a feather to others!

All he could do was keep adding weight to that feather, making it so heavy that no one could control it, so heavy that no one could shake it!

"Just wait. I'm taking your life, you greedy chunin!"

Katsuo casually tossed aside the banana peel, shifted into a slightly more comfortable position, and fell asleep.

The morning mist was hazy, and dew dampened his fur, waking him up. Six hours of sleep had left him full of energy. If he had slept more comfortably, five hours would have been enough. Once he was a few years older, perhaps even four hours would suffice.

Katsuo glanced at his home courtyard, climbed down from the tree, and left directly. He did not go home. There was basically nothing in the house, so whether he returned or not no longer mattered.

After doing a little exercise, he found a stretch of river and took a cold bath. Once he had changed into clean clothes, he headed toward the market area of the Uchiha Compound.

There were many things he needed to buy, and they were quite miscellaneous: food, clothes, knives, steel forks, a tent, hunting traps, oil, salt, seasonings, and all sorts of daily necessities. The quantity was considerable. He had decided to temporarily leave the Uchiha Compound and avoid Uchiha Kari.

"Hey, little brother, where are you planning to go with all this stuff? You can't carry so much by yourself, can you? Want my son to deliver it to your destination for you? Free delivery!"

The owner of the camping supply store spoke boldly. It was rare to encounter such a big customer so early in the morning, making him both happy and generous.

"Uh, I recently read a few wilderness survival books and thought I'd challenge myself."

"Haha... so that's how it is. Just as expected of a child of our Uchiha Clan. That's what a man should do! Where do you want it delivered? Uncle will have someone take it there for you!" The shop owner laughed as he praised Katsuo and patted him on the shoulder.

"Where should it be delivered? I haven't decided yet... Uncle, do you have a map of Konoha?" Katsuo asked seriously.

"..."

"Delivery is only available within the Uchiha Compound!"

"Huh? Going back on your word? Didn't you say delivery was free? You think I'm easy to bully because I'm a kid? Do you have no conscience at all?" Katsuo said unhappily.

"I'm telling you, if you don't deliver my goods today, I'll set up my tent at your house. Not only that, I'll spread the word everywhere that your shop is a shady business that bullies customers because it's big..."

The shop owner's face darkened. Then he found a map of Konoha and handed it to Katsuo. He was not afraid of Katsuo causing a scene; he simply found it troublesome. Better to avoid trouble when possible.

Besides, he really had forgotten to remind Katsuo at first that free delivery was only available within the Uchiha Compound...

After taking the map, Katsuo immediately returned to normal and quietly studied it, as though nothing had happened. The sight made the shop owner roll his eyes.

He turned around, called over his son, and handed all of Katsuo's goods directly to him.

A teenager of around thirteen grumbled unhappily:

"I finally get a day off and don't have to take missions, yet you're making me do this kind of thing again. Are you trying to work me to death?"

By then, Katsuo had finally found a suitable location and pointed it out to the teenager.

"Huh? Kid, do you know this place is extremely close to the Death Forest? It's far too dangerous. Are you sure you want to play house there?" the Uchiha teenager asked disdainfully.

Katsuo nodded. To keep the teenager from saying or asking too much, he directly ordered him:

"Just deliver it there. The rest is none of your concern."

"Tch. Brat, just don't piss yourself when the time comes."

After speaking with a curl of his lip, the Uchiha teenager took out a Storage Scroll and sealed the pile of goods inside. The sight filled Katsuo with envy.