Night, the commander's tent.
"Kyosuke's here. Come in and sit down." Uchiha Rei set aside the documents in his hands. He looked somewhat weary.
Promoting Kyosuke had been a deliberate choice on his part, though it could also be called a move born of necessity.
Once upon a time, the Southern Legion had been entirely under his control. There hadn't been any damned Deputy Legion Commander.
Unfortunately, two years ago, Uchiha Hikari had used his achievements to wrest some of that authority away from him.
The legion now had two Deputy Legion Commanders. One was Kyosuke; the other was Uchiha Hikari.
Uchiha Tajima certainly knew how to play his hand.
He'd seized his chance and driven a wedge into what had once been an ironclad Southern Legion.
No, to be precise, the legion had been divided from the very beginning.
Even the auntie in charge of cooking knew what Uchiha Rei was up to. Some people chose to support him, while others naturally resented his ambition.
With Uchiha Hikari pulling the strings, opposition within the legion had grown ever louder. It was now on the verge of becoming impossible to contain.
If Uchiha Rei weren't so powerful, no one would dare make a move without absolute certainty. Otherwise, he might already have been facing a mutiny by his own subordinates.
"Sigh." Kyosuke kept his expression neutral, but couldn't help sighing inwardly.
In his eyes, Uchiha Rei was an excellent commander, even a wise superior—but he simply wasn't cut out for political maneuvering.
Uchiha Tajima was thousands of miles away, yet could easily undermine Rei's authority by directing his subordinates from afar. If he actually made a move, Uchiha Rei would have no chance of survival.
He let things develop for two reasons. First, he valued Uchiha Rei's strength; only Rei could suppress the restless powers in the southern lands.
Second, perhaps Tajima didn't want to invite criticism. More importantly, he'd never considered Uchiha Rei an equal opponent.
Kyosuke understood all this, but he couldn't say it to the man in front of him.
That would be nothing less than a blatant humiliation.
"Sigh. Let him keep dreaming."
Hoping to become Clan Head?
In truth, there wasn't the slightest chance.
Setting Uchiha Tajima aside, the real obstacles were his two sons.
Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna.
For now, battles in the Shinobi World remained within relatively reasonable bounds.
Once the Dance King came of age, the era of godlike clashes would begin.
Against a Perfect Susanoo and the terrifying Wood Golem Jutsu, numbers were nothing but a joke.
What could Uchiha Rei possibly use to compete with Madara-sama?
Forget the Dance King. In a few years, Rei might not even be able to beat Uchiha Izuna.
There was no helping it. Reality was just that cruel.
Kyosuke understood this perfectly, but that didn't stop him from continuing to work for Rei.
Uchiha Tajima had repeatedly made things difficult for him. Over the past year, he'd started targeting Kyosuke more openly.
What kind of person was Kyosuke?
If he were strong enough, he'd have already grabbed a blade and hacked that bastard Tajima to pieces.
Since he couldn't yet stand up to someone at Clan Leader Level, he might as well start with Tajima's subordinates.
"Uchiha Hikari." Remembering the man from back then, Kyosuke gave a cold laugh and began secretly discussing countermeasures with the Legion Commander.
The Southern Legion was important to him. He had to bring it under his control.
When the day came that Uchiha Rei breathed his last, the entire legion would be his for the taking.
Until then, he had to eliminate any destabilizing elements.
"My lord, that list of spies we discussed earlier..."
"Oh, I've put it together. What do you want to do?"
"I have a good idea."
That night, Kyosuke sat cross-legged, anticipation written all over his face.
Points: 26316.
After a brutal battle, he'd finally saved enough for the down payment on an S-rank jutsu.
Why call it a down payment?
The reason was simple: to use the Flying Thunder God freely, he needed to raise the jutsu's level to at least five.
Otherwise, it would be nothing more than a fixed-point teleportation skill.
Further upgrades would cost a huge number of points. To reach the point where he could go wherever he pleased at will, he estimated he'd need a full 100,000 points.
That was enough to redeem a Mangekyo Sharingan.
Fortunately, Kyosuke had plenty of time now. He could still improve gradually through steady effort.
Maybe he couldn't manage it in three or five months, but surely he could make some progress in three or five years.
His standards weren't high. He just wanted to keep Senju Hashirama suppressed.
With some excitement, he reached out and scrolled through the menu in the air. He soon found the list of S-rank jutsu.
Forbidden Jutsu: Impure World Reincarnation, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 80,000 points.
Forbidden Jutsu: Self-Reincarnation Technique, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 75,000 points.
Forbidden Jutsu: Eight Inner Gates Formation, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 70,000 points.
Forbidden Jutsu: Living Corpse Reincarnation, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 60,000 points.
Sealing Jutsu: Hundred Healings Technique, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 60,000 points.
Forbidden Jutsu: Spirit Transformation Technique, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 50,000 points.
Sealing Jutsu: Nine Phantom Dragon Sealing, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 40,000 points.
Puppet Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 35,000 points.
Sealing Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 30,000 points.
Flying Thunder God Technique, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 25,000 points.
Lightning Release: Kirin, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 20,000 points.
Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 20,000 points.
Lightning Blade, S-rank jutsu, redemption cost: 20,000 points.
Every jutsu on the list made Kyosuke want it badly.
As for the higher-ranked SS-rank jutsu—things like Truth-Seeking Orbs, Yomotsu Hirasaka, Daikokuten, and Indra's Arrow—he decided it was better not to look.
As for how jutsu were ranked, Kyosuke figured it came down to their minimum potential and how powerful they could ultimately become.
Some Forbidden Jutsu had terrifying, immediately obvious destructive power as soon as they were learned.
But the Flying Thunder God Technique had an extremely low floor. The best example was that toothpick-carrying guy from Konoha's era, Shiranui Genma.
He needed two others to work with him just to barely use the Flying Thunder God at fixed coordinates.
Put simply, there was almost no difference between knowing it and not knowing it. It was completely useless in battle.
By contrast, if he learned the Reaper Death Seal, he'd have the means to trade his life for any opponent's below Super Shadow Level.
That was, as long as he could actually get hold of them.
"Come to think of it, there are quite a few jutsu I need to master."
"I need to improve my swordsmanship, and I can't neglect Chakra control or Hand Seals. Now I've got the Flying Thunder God Technique to work on, too."
"Sigh. It can't be helped. Space-Time Ninjutsu is essential."
[System Prompt: Successfully redeemed "Flying Thunder God Technique." 25,000 points consumed.]
As the points he'd painstakingly saved vanished in an instant, Kyosuke suddenly stirred. A wealth of knowledge had somehow appeared in his mind.
He could also faintly sense a strange fluctuation.
Kyosuke understood that it was most likely the presence of "space." In the past, he hadn't had the relevant talent, so naturally he couldn't perceive it clearly.
The prerequisite for learning the Flying Thunder God was having an affinity for space.
In other words, that peculiar sense.
"Finally, I did it."
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