You Really Think I Was Scared?

You could eat whatever you wanted, but you couldn't say whatever you wanted. I came here just to warn you. Some people aren't someone like you can latch onto. If the clan head hadn't been softhearted, do you think you'd still be standing here talking to me? The arrogant Uchiha visitor swept a contemptuous, disdainful glance over Aoba.

Aoba's heart sank when he heard this. He hadn't expected the Uchiha's reaction to be so extreme after meeting Itachi only twice.

And that infuriating attitude was seriously irritating!

Then, at precisely this moment, the stupid system popped up to stir up trouble again.

Ding!

Bronze-class Death-Seeking Mission issued!

Mission Name: What the hell do you think you are?!

Description: Fight to the death without retreating. Take him on.

(You can tolerate someone this arrogant? Beat the crap out of him! Requirement: Make the other party bleed at minimum!)

Mission Rewards: Bronze Treasure Chest x1, Beginner Skill Card x1 (Excessive completion will grant additional rewards)

Mission Failure: You can't even deal with a nameless extra. If you die, you die. At least it'll be peaceful!

Aoba stared at his opponent with an uncertain expression. From what the other man had said, it wasn't hard to guess that the Uchiha wanted him to stay away from Itachi in the future. Simply put, he didn't deserve to be around the son of the Uchiha clan head. This visit was mainly a warning. The other man had probably learned that Aoba had already caught the attention of the Fourth Hokage, which was why he hadn't used any overly extreme methods. He hoped Aoba would back down after recognizing the gap between them.

If he chose to admit defeat now, the Uchiha might let the matter pass out of consideration for the Fourth Hokage.

But if he chose to confront him head-on, then even if he managed to escape this time by sheer luck, he would be in serious trouble in the future.

But...

I wasn't scared into growing up!

Even without the mission issued by the stupid system, he had never intended to back down this time!

He was nothing more than a lackey, yet he dared to act so arrogantly!

Huh!?

"Brat, what are you looking at? Do you not want those eyes anymore?"

"Heh, I was just wondering what a dog that loves barking looks like."

"You're courting death!"

Uchiha Han's expression darkened. He stepped forward, preparing to teach this brat a proper lesson.

Although Fugaku Clan Head hadn't explicitly told him what to do, merely saying, "I know," before leaving it at that...

In Han's view, Fugaku Clan Head had obviously found it inconvenient to say so himself. That was why Han had taken it upon himself to issue a warning, so the clan head's child wouldn't be led astray.

Now he had another reason as well. Some brat had cursed him to his face. Han wasn't magnanimous enough to let that go.

At worst, he would break all four of the brat's limbs and leave him alive.

No matter what, he was a Chunin—and a Chunin of the Uchiha clan at that. Even though he hadn't awakened his eyes yet, he was still beyond comparison to ordinary civilian ninjas. Besides, he was only dealing with a five-year-old brat. Naturally, it would be as easy as lifting a hand!

What he had never considered was whether he had actually understood the clan head's intentions. After all, not every Uchiha clan member was as conceited and foolish as he was!

Aoba naturally noticed the contempt in his opponent's eyes as well.

Being underestimated was good. The more his opponent underestimated him, the easier it would be for his plan to succeed.

"Y-You... What are you trying to do?"

Aoba retreated step by step, pretending to be afraid.

Uchiha Han didn't suspect a thing. Instead, he seemed to be enjoying the sensation of bullying the weak.

With a bang!

Uchiha Han suddenly accelerated and kicked Aoba, sending him flying.

Although Aoba had secretly raised his arms, which had been strengthened with Hardening, in front of himself and deflected much of the impact—and although his opponent hadn't dared to use lethal force—the kick still sent his blood surging and left every inch of his body aching terribly.

What he didn't know was that after delivering the kick, Uchiha Han experienced an immense rush of pleasure, only to freeze for a moment when a sudden pain shot through his foot.

It felt as though he had kicked a cactus, with countless thorns piercing his foot.

The pain quickly vanished, however, and he didn't think much of it.

After Aoba spat out a mouthful of blood and saw that the LV0 Thorn Halo had indeed failed to cause any substantial damage to his opponent, he wasn't disappointed. He merely said with difficulty, "Lord Hokage won't let you off..."

Uchiha Han had thought that one kick would be enough to make the brat suffer, but he hadn't expected him to dare invoke the Hokage to intimidate him!

Yet Aoba's words didn't make Uchiha Han wary. Instead, hearing him mention the Hokage repeatedly only made him angry.

"Looks like you haven't had enough of your punishment."

Uchiha Han slowly walked up to Aoba, punched him to the ground, and then kicked the child's small body viciously like a demon.

Of course, he had carefully controlled his strength. He wanted to make Aoba suffer horribly without beating him to death.

Meanwhile, Aoba curled up on the ground, doing his best to protect his body as he gritted his teeth and waited for the right moment to counterattack.

He only had one chance to strike. If he failed, he would be in danger.

So he had to endure, and endure some more...

They said that people who were ruthless toward themselves were generally more likely to succeed. After all, if you dared to be ruthless toward yourself, you would only be even more ruthless toward others!

After kicking him more than a dozen times, Uchiha Han grew bored facing a brat who didn't make a sound. He found it utterly pointless.

So he bent down, intending to haul Aoba up and deliver one final warning.

However, at that moment, Aoba clenched his teeth and squeezed every last bit of strength from his body before suddenly exploding into action!

His right fist, strengthened with Hardening, slammed toward his opponent's throat!

Uchiha Han was clearly startled by the sudden change, but he was, after all, a genuine Chunin. Moreover, Aoba's punch had no technique behind it—it had merely caught him off guard.

Thus, once he recovered, he only had to shift his body to the side to evade the punch.

Although he had successfully avoided it, Uchiha Han was still furious. He had nearly been hit by a little brat!

If word of this got out, who knew how badly the others would laugh at him!

So he decided that he had to teach Aoba a vicious lesson before he could vent his anger.

But at that moment, he suddenly noticed that the brat was holding a kunai in his left hand, aimed directly at his head.

If this had been a normal enemy, he would have broken into a cold sweat.

Because it meant he was about to die!

But his opponent was only a brat, and he was confident he could dodge it completely.

And then...

The gun fired!

Bang!

The [Kunai—Desert Eagle] in Aoba's hand released a wisp of smoke!

The kunai that Uchiha Han had seen but paid no attention to pierced through the hand he had instinctively raised to catch it, almost instantly. It then plunged straight into his eye socket!

"Arghhh!"

"My hand! My eye!"

Blood poured from his palm and eye socket as Uchiha Han let out a shriek that sounded nothing like a human being.

Watching his miserable state, Aoba lay on the ground, gasping heavily. A trace of regret appeared in his eyes...

P.S. My dear readers, you're incredible! In just one day, we made it to first place on the APP's new signed novels chart, fifth place on the new fanfiction chart, and ninth place on the sitewide chart for new novels by signed authors. You can see us as soon as you open the website homepage! But there are still plenty of big names eyeing the rankings hungrily, so Old Faceless sincerely begs everyone to keep voting for me and see just how far we can go!

Reaching this result while running completely naked is truly no small miracle! Even Old Faceless was stunned!

Also, thanks to my friend Snowball for the Ten Thousand Reward. I'll note down the extra chapters for now! And thanks to Yaoji and Assassin Not-So-Cold for their five-hundred rewards. Many thanks as well to 7 Degrees of Oriental Red, Xianli, and Evil King True Eye Envoy Xihe for their gifts!

P.S. This new novel is still a fragile seedling and needs your care. Hurry up and throw those votes over here!