"Impossible..."
The translucent panel floating in her mind left Izuna stunned for a couple of seconds.
Seeing the first line call her a "player," Izuna couldn't help but fall into thought.
She had been playing an online Naruto game when she accidentally fell asleep with her face on the keyboard. When she woke up, she had found herself in this world.
Could this cheat ability be connected to the game she'd been playing?
Wind Style: Suppression (Learned, B-Rank Wind Release) → Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane (A-Rank Wind Release, 54 Skill Points Required) Wind Style: Wind Scythe Formation (A-Rank Wind Release, 50 Skill Points Required) Wind Release: Rasengan (A-Rank Wind Release, 66 Skill Points Required)] [Lightning Release: Earth Running (Learned, C-Rank Lightning Release) → Lightning Release: Earth Explosion Current (B-Rank Lightning Release, 26 Skill Points Required) Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave (B-Rank Lightning Release, 22 Skill Points Required) Lightning Release: Thunder Tiger (B-Rank Lightning Release, 26 Skill Points Required)]
Izuna was taken aback. She hurriedly examined it and found that something like the skill tree from the game had appeared in her mind.
Each jutsu she had learned had a note beside it: Wind Style: Suppression (Learned), Lightning Release: Earth Running (Learned), Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation (Learned)...
After every learned skill—whether ninjutsu, genjutsu, or Taijutsu—there was a higher-level technique that remained locked.
Just like in the game, she needed Skill Points to unlock them.
In the Warring States Period, the number of jutsu was nothing like it would be in later years, when Konoha filled an entire Scroll of Seals with them.
Each ninja clan had a limit to the number of jutsu it possessed.
The larger clans, such as the Uchiha, Senju, and Sarutobi, naturally knew more jutsu. But the Uchiha only had S-Rank jutsu for the Fire Release they specialized in.
They had almost no A-Rank jutsu for their other four elemental natures.
Izuna suddenly thought of something important. She opened the skill tree again and tapped the "Kekkei Genkai" section.
As expected, it showed:
Sharingan (Learned) → Mangekyō Sharingan (Learned) → Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan (Locked, 300 Skill Points Required, Prerequisite: Blood of a Close Relative)
Can evolve into: Rinnegan (Locked, Skill Points Required: ??, Prerequisite: ??)
This means I can get rid of the drawbacks of the Mangekyō Sharingan, right?
Seeing this, Izuna secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Although she and Madara Uchiha had only just met, she could still feel the deep bond between the brothers through this body.
She didn't want to end up fighting Madara Uchiha to the death over their eyes.
For now, she set aside the drawbacks of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Izuna decided to take care of those few jutsu first.
Aside from the Fire Release shared by all Uchiha, she also had Lightning Release and Wind Release.
That was why the Water Release and Earth Release skill trees remained dark and unawakened.
Unless she awakened the Rinnegan and gained all seven elemental natures, there was no way she could unlock them.
She really wanted the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, but the glaring requirement of "300" Skill Points was a far cry from the pitiful "80" currently displayed in the lower-right corner of the screen.
Izuna had no choice but to give up. It seemed those 80 points were what she had left over from spending money on the game in her previous life...
If this were peacetime, she wouldn't mind slowly accumulating Skill Points.
But they were in the middle of a war, and the Senju were about to come knocking!
In the end, Izuna chose Wind Release: Rasengan, an A-Rank Wind Release technique.
It was the best value among the techniques she could currently unlock.
A warm current flowed through her body. She had mastered a new jutsu—one unknown to the entire Uchiha clan, and even to this era.
After she learned Wind Release: Rasengan, the skill tree immediately displayed:
[Wind Release: Rasengan (Learned) → Wind Style: Rasenshuriken (Locked, S-Rank Wind Release, 100 Skill Points Required, Prerequisite: Senjutsu Chakra (Can be thrown)]
At that moment, Izuna suddenly realized that she could make scrolls of these jutsu and let other Uchiha learn them too.
For instance, Madara Uchiha seemed to have Fire, Lightning, and Water Chakra natures. This Lightning Release technique might suit him even better than it suited her.
But now they were locked in a stalemate with the Senju—or, rather, the Uchiha were still at a disadvantage. There was no point discussing any of that yet. First, they had to escape the Senju, who could launch a surprise attack at any moment.
She spent the entire night studying the new jutsu and the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Early the next morning, more than a dozen high-ranking Uchiha ninja gathered in the main camp, including Izuna and Madara.
"Today, we must decide who will stay behind to cover our retreat."
A middle-aged ninja of the same generation as Tajima Uchiha spoke in a low voice.
"I think... the wounded should be responsible for it. Our clan has suffered severe losses. We should protect the members who are still fit to fight."
"How can you say that? Those people risked their lives for our clan! Wouldn't that just mean sending them to their deaths for nothing?"
"Right now, we have to consider the clan as a whole. If there's no other choice, then this sacrifice has to be made."
"Some sacrifices are inevitable. If it comes to it... Izanagi might help us turn the tide, but then..."
The higher-ups split into two camps. One side believed they should sacrifice the wounded, including those who were unlikely to survive.
They wanted them to fight to the death and even use the Forbidden Jutsu Izanagi to hold off the Senju.
The other side argued that the elite forces should cover their retreat so the wounded could be moved as soon as possible.
The two opposing opinions made the atmosphere in the meeting tense.
Izuna spoke up. "If we send the wounded to their deaths covering our retreat, what will the next generation think of us when they hear about it?"
Everyone fell silent. A middle-aged Uchiha ninja at the peak of the Jonin rank, who had argued for that course of action, said indignantly, "But if we sacrifice our elite, our clan will be in an even worse position. We'll never be able to stand against the Senju again."
The Uchiha were already at a disadvantage against the Senju. In the original story, Madara Uchiha was inferior to Hashirama Senju not only in strength; his clan was behind the Senju in general, too. No wonder they kept getting crushed.
Izuna was right, but the other man had a point as well. The Uchiha truly couldn't afford more sacrifices right now.
"Let me do it."
Izuna stepped forward, folding her arms across her chest. There was a hint of pride in her bearing.
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