Mission: Head to the Valley of Hell!

At that moment, the hall fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The Uchiha clan members stood in shock, not daring to take a single breath.

Afraid that if they did, Uchiha Setsuna might cleave Uchiha Ci in two on the spot!

And the Uchiha Setsuna everyone was staring at—his face had already darkened to the color of a pot bottom.

Being rebuffed so recklessly by Uchiha Ci, even a man with his temper was starting to lose his cool!

Setsuna's eyes flickered with a cold, crimson light, three tomoe spinning slowly in his Sharingan as he locked gazes with Ci.

A suffocating murderous aura gradually spread through the hall.

It felt like any moment now, this Great Elder would draw the long blade at his back and slice Uchiha Ci apart like a piece of fruit!

But at that moment, the targeted Uchiha Ci had no time to care about that oppressive pressure.

He was staring blankly at the subtitles appearing before him.

[Clang!]

[You bravely clashed with Uchiha Setsuna, acquiring a random skill from the target: Uchiha Style—Wire-Controlled Shuriken Technique (Transcendent).]

[Your Steel of the Heart stacks have increased.]

In that instant, Uchiha Ci's mind went blank as a torrent of knowledge flooded into his brain.

From the various styles of shuriken, to the materials of the wire, to the throwing techniques, methods, hidden force, and subtle power of ninja tools—all of it raced through his consciousness.

In the blink of an eye, comprehension, analysis, mastery, and proficiency crossed threshold after threshold that normally required time to hone.

Then he crossed more thresholds—those muscle instincts forged in life-and-death struggles—

Until—

Transcendent!

Uchiha Ci had mastered the Uchiha Style—Wire-Controlled Shuriken Technique at the Transcendent level!

"Huh?!"

"What... what's going on?" Uchiha Ci stood dumbfounded.

No joke, at this level of shuriken technique, even the young Sasuke's windmill shuriken from the original story wouldn't be fit to polish his shoes.

Shurikenjutsu had no shortcuts; it could only be built up with time.

A shuriken technique of this caliber would only be matched by the one-armed Sasuke at the level of fighting Momoshiki Otsutsuki.

But he'd just stood up to Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna head-on, and he'd gotten it!

Still, thinking of Setsuna's terrifying resume—having assassinated the Second Hokage and still kicking—Uchiha Ci felt a bit more at ease.

Was this the confidence of an old-school Uchiha artist?

This, this—honestly, no wonder it's called Steel of the Heart. There's a beauty in the numbers!

Awesome!

But why hasn't the Great Elder chopped me yet?

On the scene, after a full three minutes of silence, Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna turned his head away in slight exasperation.

He'd finally confirmed that this Uchiha Ci was just a reckless fool who didn't know what fear meant.

Under his terrifying murderous aura, the kid seemed completely unaffected, just staring back at him with wide eyes.

If they kept staring, the situation would get awkward.

Setsuna finally let out a cold snort:

"Since you're so eager to go die for Konoha, this old man won't stop you."

"You, step forward!"

Uchiha Ci jolted, snapping back to reality as he looked up at the Great Elder. There was no joy on his face at receiving the mission—only stunned confusion.

Wait, this script isn't right!

Uchiha Ci had just been ready to die on the spot when he said those words to Setsuna.

He was almost cackling like a maniac...

But, Great Elder, why haven't you cut me down yet?

Why don't you just take that blade and finish me off!

You're a hardliner—can't you show a little backbone?

"Ci-kun." Uchiha Shisui couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

One look at Uchiha Ci's expression made it clear—he understood exactly how dangerous war was.

Look, even Lord Ci's face had gone pale with fear.

But even so, he still bravely stepped forward.

In that case—

Uchiha Shisui, Sharingan gleaming, stepped out from the crowd and spoke gravely to Uchiha Setsuna:

"Great Elder, the mission still lacks one genin. Please allow me to join the battle."

Uchiha Setsuna watched Shisui approach, his brow slightly furrowed, his gaze landing on the boy's crimson Sharingan: "You're Kagami's grandson? Shisui?"

"Yes. And allow me to be selfish this once—I wish to choose the mission to the Land of Rain."

Uchiha Setsuna said nothing at this. He merely swept a brief glance over Shisui, then moved on, continuing to assign tasks to the other shinobi.

That was tacit approval.

As the leader of the hawk faction within the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Setsuna was naturally at odds with the dove faction, and Shisui's development was none of his concern.

The dove faction would handle the full, cradle-to-grave nurturing of a prodigy like this—someone who had graduated early from the Academy, awakened the Sharingan, and was the grandson of the former clan head—a genius with connections.

Compared to Shisui, Uchiha Setsuna's current headache was Uchiha Ci.

Even though the hawk faction's philosophy for cultivating talent was to throw children off a cliff.

Those who could fly would naturally become soaring eagles with free will.

Those who couldn't would crash to the valley floor as a pile of dog shit—perhaps, in this increasingly chaotic era, that counted as a kind of luck.

But Uchiha Ci...

He hadn't even grown his feathers yet, and already he was thinking about flying. The sheer stubbornness of his skull was breathtaking.

Even Setsuna, an extreme hawk faction leader, felt this kid might be a little too extreme...

#

Soon, the personnel were fully assigned. Uchiha Setsuna swept a cold gaze over the crowd and announced flatly:

"For the Land of Rain battlefield, the squad will be led by jonin Shinichi, with tokubetsu jonin Suke and genin Shisui. You will proceed to the border camp ahead of time and await orders. A falcon message has already been sent; an Uchiha member will be there to receive you."

"I have one special instruction for you: your lives belong to the Uchiha, and to yourselves alone—not to Konoha. You'd best understand that clearly, old man!"

"For the Valley of Hell in the Land of Hot Water, I myself will serve as squad leader, with chunin Seiichiro and genin Ci. We will reinforce the Valley of Hell garrison."

"Squad members, assemble at the village gate tomorrow at eight in the morning."

"That is all. Dismissed!"

Uchiha Setsuna had always been a man of swift, decisive action. The moment he finished announcing the missions, he vanished with a Body Flicker.

The shinobi present exchanged glances for a moment, then did not linger either. The Police Force kept no idle men.

Soon, only two people remained in the main hall: Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Ci, who was deep in thought.

Uchiha Ci frowned slightly.

Because of Shisui's interruption, he had ended up with the assignment to the Valley of Hell.

In comparison, he would have preferred the meat grinder battlefield of the Land of Rain.

The Land of Rain battlefield had been fought from before the war's climax all the way to its end—five full years. In the middle, Iwa, Suna, and Kumo had even coordinated to push the front line from the Land of Rain all the way into the Land of Fire.

In the end, it gave rise to the single bloodiest battle in Konoha's history during the Third Shinobi World War—

the Battle of Mount Kikyo.

That was precisely why Uchiha Ci wanted to go there. It was the real deal, a battlefield that truly lived up to the name "meat grinder."

But his words carried little weight. Just getting his hands on a mission at all was already a stroke of luck.

He had no choice but to accept the mission assignment.

He was thinking about a different problem.

In the original timeline of this event, without his involvement, Uchiha Shisui should have only been able to choose the Land of Hot Water, later merging into the front line against Kirigakure.

Without Uchiha Ci actively stepping in to snatch a slot, the dove faction would never have allowed Shisui to make a selfish choice. Even if Shisui had volunteered, he would definitely have been assigned to the slightly safer Kirigakure front.

And eventually, he would have carved out the name "Shisui of the Body Flicker."

But now, because of his appearance, the storyline had already begun to shift quietly, like a butterfly flapping its wings.

Would Uchiha Shisui die in the Land of Rain because of this?

And if Shisui was gone, would Uchiha Itachi still awaken the Mangekyo and become the madman who slaughtered the entire clan?

Uchiha Ci suddenly realized—

his very existence, his will to cheat fate, the choices he made—had already changed many things, silently and imperceptibly.

Ahead of him, it seemed an impenetrable fog had begun to gather.

This realization made him shudder violently.

Bookmark it, keep reading, my lords—bang, bang, bang!