A Year Flies By

In the woods, the fierce battle had been going on for over ten minutes.

"Izumi, control Mayo. I'll deal with them."

The moment he finished speaking, Kyosuke charged at the enemy with his short sword in hand.

Ten minutes earlier, the squad had successfully intercepted the enemy team.

Lacking sufficient long-range firepower, they could only have Uchiha Izumi open with Fire Release while Kyosuke led Mayo in to inflict damage at close range.

However, this time, he had run into a tough opponent.

The enemy team had a perfectly assembled Ino–Shika–Cho lineup, and their coordination was exceptionally seamless.

The Akimichi Clan Chunin used the Partial Expansion Jutsu to forcefully disrupt the pair's charge, while the crafty Yamanaka Clan ninja seized the chance to take control of Uchiha Maya's body.

By the time Kyosuke risked using the Body Flicker Technique to forcibly eliminate the enemy before him, Mayo had already pressed a kunai to her own throat.

System Notification: Killed an Akimichi Clan Chunin. Obtained 280 Points.

"Surrender now, or this woman dies."

Surrender?

That would be no different from killing himself on the spot. If he fell into the hands of the Three Clans, Kyosuke would most likely discover what it truly meant to be better off dead.

"Mayo!" Uchiha Izumi's voice was like a blood demon crawling out of hell, filled with despair and hatred that sought to devour everything.

Only then did he realize that there was some kind of special bond between the two subordinates.

"I can surrender—" The moment the words left his mouth, 'Mayo' immediately looked at him.

When she met those bewitching Sharingan eyes, 'she' felt her heart skip a beat and silently cursed her bad luck.

As a special existence formed by the fusion of two souls, Kyosuke possessed an exceptionally solid foundation of mental power.

Without anyone teaching him, he had comprehended the most basic—and also one of the most powerful—ocular genjutsu of the Sharingan.

Genjutsu: Sharingan! His consciousness plunged into Mayo's body, and his blood-red eyes instantly engulfed the enemy's spiritual form.

As his dojutsu power erupted, the enemy was instantly kicked out of his subordinate's body, leading to the scene from the beginning.

Drawing his cold, gleaming short sword, Kyosuke charged toward the Yamanaka Clan ninja like the wind.

He knew that the Nara Clan ninja responsible for overseeing the battle would certainly try to save his companion at all costs.

Sure enough, Kyosuke had barely taken a few steps when a black shadow shot toward him from the ground.

Putting everything else aside, the friendship between the Three Clans was truly moving. That was why he decided that, no matter what, he would send them all to the Pure Land of Bliss together today.

He formed a few simple hand seals. As the Nara ninja's pupils abruptly dilated, Kyosuke transformed into an afterimage and charged forward madly.

Slash! The short sword swept through the air. Blood sprayed, and a fine head shot into the sky.

System Notification: Killed a Nara Clan Chunin. Obtained 310 Points.

"Fuck." The moment Kyosuke came to a stop, massive muscle spasms wracked his body.

Collapsed on the ground, he could only watch helplessly as Uchiha Izumi ran over and stole his kill.

"Damn it, I'm not done with you." His lips twitched a few times before Kyosuke tilted his head and passed out.

Using the high-difficulty Body Flicker Technique twice in rapid succession, he had been forcing himself to fight by borrowing against his future.

Fortunately, the total of 590 Points had at least soothed Kyosuke's wounded body and soul.

"This is bad, my lord fainted." Struggling to her feet, Mayo staggered to his side, pulled medical supplies from her ninja tools pouch, and began treating him.

Behind her, Uchiha Izumi kept his head lowered, as though he had yet to escape the despair from moments ago.

Drip, drip! Tears fell one after another as Mayo choked out, "He didn't abandon me. Lord Madara was right—Kyosuke is someone worth following."

There was something else she did not say aloud. As a Medical Ninja, Mayo knew very well what the consequences of forcibly using the Body Flicker Technique were.

Kyosuke was only eight years old. He had been fighting by draining his own body dry. For a moment, her heart was filled with gratitude and guilt.

At that moment, the two subordinates transferred from Uchiha Madara finally belonged to Kyosuke completely, in both body and heart.

Mayo kept babbling for quite a while before she suddenly realized that her boyfriend had not responded to her at all.

Curiously turning her head, she immediately noticed those blood-red eyes.

Within them, three black magatama slowly rotated.

It was a full day and night before Kyosuke finally woke from his coma.

"An unfamiliar ceiling~"

He did not even need to look to know that his entire body must be covered in bandages.

To outsiders, overtaxing one's body was an incredibly foolish thing to do, but Kyosuke himself did not care all that much.

The system shop had potions capable of perfectly repairing the body.

For just 5,000 Points, one could gradually heal all injuries and hidden ailments.

Higher-grade potions could even restore him to perfect condition in a very short time. It was just that the price... better not to mention it.

His reckless actions would surely move his two highly promising subordinates.

If he could not make them devote themselves to him completely, Kyosuke always felt somewhat awkward when using them.

With difficulty, he turned his head and saw Uchiha Maya sleeping soundly with her head resting beside his pillow.

The old her would never have dared to be so uninhibited in front of Kyosuke. The meaning behind it made the corner of his lips curl upward.

It worked!

"Sigh, going all out like this every time is bound to cause problems." During his recovery, Kyosuke considered the matter for the first time.

By now, his safety was temporarily assured.

His two subordinates had pledged themselves to him completely. In particular, Uchiha Izumi had successfully awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan after the previous incident.

In terms of combat power, when he went all out, he now had the ability to contend with a Jonin.

Future missions would certainly be far safer. The problem was that this guy would probably become even better at stealing his kills.

No, I have to limit how often he acts. I'll just say that I need real combat experience to temper myself.

A week later, Kyosuke was successfully discharged from the hospital.

Considering the efficiency of earning Points, he decided to slow down for the time being and strengthen himself first.

Rather than learning ninjutsu, he intended to seek Uchiha Maya's guidance in genjutsu.

It would make up for his lack of options at mid-range.

He could not possibly force himself to use the Body Flicker Technique while risking severe injury every time an accident happened.

Considering the time needed to recover from injuries, that would seriously affect his efficiency in earning Points.

After studying systematically for a while, Kyosuke finally mastered several basic genjutsu.

The squad set out once again and began relentlessly hunting the Three Clans' ninja.

Over time, he gradually reclaimed the fearsome reputation of the Evil-faced Rakshasa.

To lessen the impact of his age, Kyosuke habitually wore that Oni Mask even when he returned to camp.

Naturally, there were dangers as well. On several occasions, he was surrounded and hunted by the Three Clans.

If not for Uchiha Izumi's outstanding strength and his desperate protection while fleeing, the Rakshasa would have long since returned to the underworld.

And so, a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Kyosuke had finally accumulated enough Points.