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

What was he laughing at?

Uchiha Hikari found it strange.

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

"Scared stiff?" he frowned in confusion, preparing to step forward and end this person's life.

He was afraid that if he dragged this out too long, it might attract pursuers from the Three Clans.

Just as he took two steps, he suddenly heard a familiar laugh.

"Hahahahaha." The sound was filled with mockery.

A ninja's senses were incredibly keen. How could Kyosuke's unreserved voice possibly escape Uchiha Hikari's notice?

"It's you?!" he exclaimed, a mix of shock and anger.

Perhaps Hikari never imagined that the clansman who came to intercept him tonight would be another Deputy Legion Commander, Uchiha Kyosuke.

Besides disbelief, a hint of grievance welled up in his heart.

Yes, he had targeted him countless times, both openly and covertly.

But that was normal, wasn't it? Everyone played the game of power struggles like this.

He had been constantly suppressing him, but in all honesty, Hikari had never intended to kill him.

Otherwise, with his influence, there had been plenty of opportunities in the past to harm Kyosuke in secret.

He never expected his leniency to result in this.

As intelligent as he was, he had already guessed the deal between Kyosuke and the Nara clan.

That kind of divine Space-Time Ninjutsu was enough to guarantee the youth unrestricted access in and out of the enemy camp.

"Truly ambitious," was his assessment.

Clutching the wound on his abdomen, Kyosuke struggled to sit up, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then greeted the other with a smile, "Yo, what a coincidence."

Coincidence my ass!

Hikari didn't want to waste words with him. Since the man had meticulously planned to kill him, he wouldn't be blamed for being ruthless.

A genius rarely seen in the Uchiha clan for centuries was about to fall by his hand. Thinking about it, a twisted sense of pleasure arose in his heart.

"Remember to be more careful in your next life," he said, preparing to strike.

"Heh." To his surprise, Kyosuke let out another cold laugh. "Commander Hikari, is that your last word?"

As he uttered the word "last word," his voice appeared right beside his ear.

Shink! A Kunai deeply pierced the enemy's abdomen, in almost the exact same spot he was injured.

"Does it hurt?"

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

"How could this be..." Hikari's eyes widened, unable to process anything.

The next second, the same scene repeated.

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

"Can't figure it out?" Facing the enemy's pleading gaze, Kyosuke smiled and pointed to a spot on his abdomen.

Using his last bit of strength to lower his head, Uchiha Hikari's eyes flashed with understanding. He finally knew why he had failed.

[System Notification: Killed a Jonin of the Uchiha clan, gained 3850 points.]

Points: 5166.

"The rewards for Jonin are still quite generous," Kyosuke murmured, then casually engulfed the body with a Fire Style jutsu.

His previous risky maneuver wasn't about killing the enemy, but about marking them with a spatial coordinate.

If the imprint was successful, as long as the target wasn't in high-speed motion, he could launch a surprise attack at any time.

It was equivalent to handing the enemy an invitation from the Grim Reaper.

Below the Clan Leader Level, it was almost impossible to react effectively in an instant.

The only pity was that imprinted coordinates couldn't be used as a regular method.

Avoiding clothing and making direct contact with the enemy's body—if he had that kind of time, he might as well have just stabbed them with a Kunai.

Unless it was like today, where he risked severe injury to trade blows, it was hard to get such a good opportunity.

If the information leaked, the chance to imprint coordinates would be even slimmer. Many would rather take a knife wound than let him succeed.

After destroying the scene and disposing of Uchiha Hikari's body, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave.

About ten minutes later.

"Quick, there are signs of a fight ahead." Pursuers arrived.

Akimichi Mitsuki was in charge of this pursuit. To be honest, he hadn't felt this exhilarated in a long time.

It was a shame the enemy leader escaped, but annihilating the Uchiha forces was enough to restore their plummeting reputation.

"Report, report to the Clan Head," the clan member responsible for scouting the scene quickly brought back news.

"What did you say?" Akimichi Mitsuki pushed aside his subordinate and rushed to the charred corpse in just a few steps.

After careful identification, he joyfully discovered that the nameless charred corpse lying here was indeed Uchiha Hikari himself.

Unwilling to consider the details within, he now only wanted to take the body back to claim credit.

With this merit, his position as Akimichi Clan Head would be secured.

As for the Uchiha's retaliation, he had no intention of dealing with it now.

Anyway, he was already preparing to flee; who cared if they hated him or not.

Soon, the news spread in all directions.

Both enemy and ally forces learned of this matter.

Uchiha camp.

Smashing the teacup forcefully, the Legion Commander struggled to suppress a laugh while doing his best to maintain a clumsy act.

"Naruto Higashihiko. Pfft, he's truly too detestable."

Pinched his thigh hard, he finally managed to suppress his smile.

After calming his emotions, Uchiha Rei then "furiously" issued his orders.

"We must take revenge; the blood of the Uchiha must not be shed in vain!"

Leaving Kyosuke, who was not lightly injured, to guard the camp, he personally led the troops, determined to completely resolve the southern border unrest in one go.

After today, the southern border would become his Uchiha Rei's sole domain.

Thinking about it made him so excited.

"Hahahaha." When no one else was around, this elder finally couldn't contain his excitement.

Hearing the laughter from inside the tent, several Unit Captains exchanged glances, ignoring their leader's laughter as if they were deaf and mute.

As for Kyosuke...

He didn't attend this farce at all.

Everyone understood what was going on; he needed to recover and wouldn't participate in their act.

With Uchiha Rei holding great power, it was equivalent to him firmly securing his position as second only to one, above ten thousand.

Let alone being unsociable, even if he went to dance on Uchiha Hikari's grave, no one would dare say anything to him now.

Uchiha Rei coveted the position of Clan Head and needed to constantly maintain his image. He didn't need any of that; he could do as he pleased.

Soon, half a month passed in a hurry.

The three great noble families that once dominated the southern border of the Land of Fire successively withdrew from the conflict, migrating their entire clans to the Land of Lightning, where they found a place to recuperate.

They had effectively withdrawn from the race for supremacy.

At that time, the Senju Clan began its furious retaliation, clearly very displeased with the Uchiha's actions.

Under the encirclement of the Senju of the Forest and the Uzumaki Clan, the Uchiha on the front lines suffered continuous defeats.

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

Until they had nowhere left to retreat, Clan Head Tajima finally put aside his pride and hoped that Uchiha Rei's Southern Legion could provide reinforcements to the main battlefield.

Aware of the gravity of the situation, the Legion Commander did not take the opportunity to make demands.

With a wave of his hand, he directly allocated two hundred usable combatants, led by Deputy Legion Commander Kyosuke, to personally go to the heartland of the Land of Fire to fight a decisive battle against the Senju.

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

"Senju Clan, we can finally face you."