I Usually Don't Laugh Unless I Can't Help It

What was he laughing at?

Uchiha Hikoichi found it strange.

No matter how he looked at it, he should have had the absolute upper hand now.

"Scared stupid?" He frowned in confusion, preparing to step forward and finish the man off.

He feared that if he dragged things out too long, the Three Clans' pursuers might catch up.

But after only two steps, he suddenly heard a familiar laugh.

"HAHAHAHA." The voice was filled with mockery.

A ninja's five senses were incredibly sharp. How could Kyosuke's undisguised voice possibly escape Uchiha Hikoichi's notice?

"It's you?!" He was both startled and enraged.

Perhaps Hikoichi had never imagined that the clansman who had come to ambush and kill him tonight would be another Deputy Legion Commander, Uchiha Kyosuke.

Beyond his disbelief, he even felt a trace of grievance.

Yes, he had targeted Kyosuke openly and covertly countless times.

But that was normal. It was a struggle for power—wasn't that how everyone played?

He had kept applying pressure and suppressing him, but honestly, from beginning to end, Hikoichi had never intended to kill him.

Otherwise, with his influence, he had had far too many chances to secretly harm Kyosuke in the past.

Who would have thought that his leniency would lead to this outcome?

Clever as he was, he had already guessed at the deal between Kyosuke and Nara.

That near-miraculous Space-Time Ninjutsu was enough to ensure the youth could enter and leave the enemy camp without hindrance.

"What monstrous ambition." That was his assessment.

Covering the wound on his abdomen, Kyosuke barely managed to sit up. Only after spitting out a mouthful of blood did he smile and greet him. "Yo, fancy running into you here."

Fancy running into him, my ass! Hikoichi had no desire to waste words on him. Since Kyosuke had gone to such lengths to kill him, he could not blame Hikoichi for being ruthless.

An unparalleled genius the Uchiha Clan had not seen in centuries would die by his hand today. Thinking of it carefully, he actually felt a twisted thrill.

"Remember to be more careful in your next life." With that, he prepared to strike.

"Heh." To his surprise, Kyosuke sneered again. "Legion Commander Hikoichi, are those your last words?"

When he uttered the words "last words," the voice appeared directly beside his ear.

Pshk! A kunai plunged deep into his enemy's abdomen, almost exactly where Kyosuke himself had been wounded.

"Does it hurt?"

Dodging the enemy's counterattack in a flash, Kyosuke asked with a cold smile.

"How could this happen?" Hikoichi's eyes widened. He had no time to think at all.

The next second, the same scene played out once more.

Blood splattered. The dignified Deputy Commander of the Southern Legion collapsed into a pool of blood like a stray dog.

"Can't figure it out, can you?" Meeting the yearning look in his enemy's eyes, Kyosuke smiled and pointed at a spot on his abdomen.

Using his last bit of strength to lower his head, realization flashed through Uchiha Hikoichi's eyes. He finally understood why he had failed.

System notification: Killed an Uchiha Clan Jonin. Received 3,850 Points.

Points: 5,166.

"A Jonin's reward really is generous." Kyosuke silently remarked, then casually used a Fire Release to engulf the corpse.

His earlier risky approach had not been meant to kill the enemy, but to carve Space Coordinates onto him.

If the mark succeeded, then as long as the target was not moving at high speed, he could launch an assassination anytime, anywhere.

It was like handing the enemy an invitation from the god of death.

Below Clan Head Level, it was nearly impossible to react effectively in an instant.

The only pity was that marking coordinates could not be used as a conventional tactic.

Avoiding clothing and directly touching the enemy's body—if he had the time for that, he might as well stab them to death with a kunai.

Unless, like today, he risked serious injury to force a life-for-life exchange, it was difficult to get such a good opportunity.

If word got out, the chances to mark someone with coordinates would become even slimmer. Many would rather take a blade than let him succeed.

After destroying the scene and disposing of Uchiha Hikoichi's corpse, he used Flying Thunder God to leave.

About ten minutes later. "Quick, there are signs of fighting ahead." Pursuers arrived.

Akimichi Mitsunori was in charge of this pursuit. To be honest, he had not felt this satisfied in a long time.

Letting the enemy leader escape was certainly regrettable, but wiping out the Uchiha Clan's forces would be enough to restore their reputation from rock bottom.

"R-Report, Clan Head." The clansman responsible for investigating the scene soon brought him some news.

"What did you say?" Akimichi Mitsunori shoved his subordinate aside and reached the charred corpse in just a few strides.

After carefully identifying it, he joyfully discovered that the nameless burnt corpse lying there truly was Uchiha Hikoichi.

He had no desire to consider the details. All he wanted now was to take the body back and claim credit.

With this achievement, his position as Akimichi Clan Head was secure.

As for Uchiha Clan retaliation, he had no interest in worrying about it now.

They were preparing to flee anyway. Who cared whether they hated him or not?

Before long, the news spread in every direction.

Both sides learned of the matter.

Uchiha Clan camp.

Crash! He smashed his teacup to the floor. The Legion Commander struggled to hold back his laughter while doing his best to maintain his awful acting.

"Nara Higashihiko... pfft, he's just too, too despicable."

Pinching his thigh hard, he barely managed to suppress his laughter.

After calming himself down, Uchiha Rei finally issued his orders in "furious" fashion.

"We must take revenge. Uchiha blood must not be spilled in vain!"

He ordered the badly injured Kyosuke to remain behind and guard the camp, while he personally led the troops out, determined to completely resolve the chaos in the southern region in one stroke.

After today, the southern region would become Uchiha Rei's personal domain.

Just thinking about it was exciting.

"HAHAHAHA." Once no one was around, the elder could no longer suppress his excitement.

Hearing the laughter from within the tent, several squad leaders exchanged glances and ignored their leader's laughter as though they were deaf and mute.

As for Kyosuke, he had not attended this farce at all.

Everyone knew what had really happened. I need to recover, so I'm not playing along with your little act.

With Uchiha Rei holding absolute power, Kyosuke's position as second only to one and above all others was thoroughly secured.

Forget not fitting in—even if he went dancing on Uchiha Hikoichi's grave, no one would dare say anything now.

Uchiha Rei coveted the position of clan head and needed to maintain his image at all times. Kyosuke did not need any of that. He could do whatever made him happy.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

The three great noble families that had once dominated the southern Land of Fire successively withdrew from the conflict. Their entire clans migrated to the Land of Lightning, where they found a place to rest and recover.

They had completely withdrawn from the struggle for supremacy.

Meanwhile, the Senju Clan began a frenzied retaliation, clearly deeply dissatisfied with the Uchiha Clan's actions.

Under the joint assault of the Senju of the Forest and the Uzumaki Clan, the Uchiha Clan on the main battlefield suffered defeat after defeat.

They were even pushed to the brink of destruction at one point.

With nowhere left to retreat, Clan Head Tajima finally swallowed his pride and asked Uchiha Rei's Southern Legion to reinforce the main battlefield.

Knowing how serious the situation was, the Legion Commander did not take the opportunity to make demands.

With a wave of his hand, he directly assigned two hundred available combatants. Led by Deputy Legion Commander Kyosuke, they would head into the heartland of the Land of Fire to battle the Senju Clan.

Including his own direct forces, a total of 253 ninja were placed under Kyosuke's command.

"Senju Clan, I can finally have a proper fight with you."