Uchiha's Evil Rakshasa

Uchiha Clan Compound, training ground in the back hills.

Kyosuke held a short sword, focusing on the tree trunk ahead.

One breath. Two breaths. Three.

Suddenly, his chakra surged. The leaves shook by the force of it immediately drifted down from the sky like scattered petals.

He raised his arm with a movement that seemed slow but was in fact swift. His muscles tensed, and the short sword flashed with boundless light.

When the wind finally died down, every leaf scattered before him had been sliced cleanly in two.

After a year of grueling training, Kyosuke had finally reached Chunin-level combat strength.

Of course, without the boost from his Sharingan, he might not have managed to cut even a third of the leaves.

There was no denying that bloodline had a remarkable effect on a ninja's strength.

Name: Uchiha Kyosuke

Age: 8

Physical Strength: Genin

Mental Strength: Chunin

Chakra Reserves: Chunin

Abilities: Uchiha Style Swordsmanship (Level 4), Three Body Technique (Level 4), Throwing Technique (Level 5), Chakra Control Technique (Level 2), Hand Seals (Level 3)

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan (One Tomoe)

Summoning Beast: None

Ninja Tools: None

Points: 5840

In the second week after he began training, the fusion of his souls had finally come to a complete end, and his mental strength temporarily settled at the Chunin level.

As he grew older, it would continue to improve to some extent.

If he focused on Genjutsu and refined his Yin Release chakra, both his speed and potential would increase considerably.

As for his physical strength, sword training naturally kept his body active. But because of his age, he had no way to improve it quickly.

Genin was already the limit of Kyosuke's current physical strength.

His chakra reserves had also improved considerably. Since both his body and mind had grown stronger, an increase in chakra was only natural.

He might not measure up to the Senju of the Forest, but the Uchiha were descended from the Otsutsuki, after all. Their chakra reserves far surpassed those of ordinary prestigious clans.

His Sharingan was still at the One Tomoe stage, with no major improvement. The real leap forward had come in the Uchiha Style Swordsmanship he had devoted himself to mastering.

At Level 4, his swordsmanship could already rival that of the Land of Iron's elite samurai.

With the boost from his Sharingan, Kyosuke could bring his swordsmanship up to Level 5 without much trouble.

All in all, his close-combat strength was probably a little above that of an ordinary Chunin.

His chakra reserves limited his ranged options. Aside from continuing to hone his throwing skills, Kyosuke had simply abandoned ninjutsu training.

For a Chunin who wasn't on the level of the Konoha 12, ordinary C-rank ninjutsu was more or less the limit.

Techniques like the Great Fireball.

They weren't useless, but instead of wasting chakra on them, he was better off putting it all toward Taijutsu.

After dozens of real battles, Kyosuke had realized that close-quarters combat was the most effective way to fight.

For the past year, he had gone out on missions almost every three days.

His teacher followed him from the shadows. Unless Kyosuke faced a life-or-death crisis, he shouldn't expect anyone to come to his rescue.

At first, Kyosuke had struggled to adjust. After a few missions, however, he gradually got used to operating alone.

He had carried out dozens of assassination missions and killed nearly a hundred Genin.

Word had spread throughout the Shinobi World that the Uchiha had produced a bloodthirsty little brat: he ran from strong opponents, but against a Genin, he would cling to them even if it killed him.

"Uchiha's Evil Rakshasa"—that was the title Kyosuke had earned through a year of hard work.

There were two reasons for it. First, every enemy Genin he encountered had been killed; not one had ever escaped alive.

Second, he had a habit of wearing a demon-face mask while carrying out missions.

At first, he had worn it because he was afraid others would see the cowardice in his heart. After killing and killing, though, he had gotten used to it—and the mask also kept blood from splattering onto his face.

It had all sorts of uses.

His desperate battles had brought him not only greater combat experience, but also nearly 6,000 points.

That wasn't enough to buy anything too expensive, but it could at least raise one ability by two levels.

If he wanted, he could also trade it for a basic B-rank ninjutsu.

For now, Kyosuke's strength lay entirely in close combat.

With his Sharingan activated, he could clearly read his enemies' movements, and his swordsmanship let him dominate in battle.

The only problem left was figuring out how to close in on his enemies.

So Kyosuke turned his attention to a type of ninjutsu called the Body Flicker Technique.

Any technique that enabled high-speed movement in an instant was generally classified as a Body Flicker Technique.

The most common kind involved a chakra burst, using a sudden increase in muscular strength to achieve high-speed movement.

Might Guy, Sasuke, and most of the Jonin used this type of Body Flicker.

The second kind used a nature transformation as a medium to achieve an instant, high-speed movement similar to exchanging one substance for another. Most such techniques required a special secret art or a Kekkei Genkai.

Notable users included Gaara, Haku, and Deidara.

Representative techniques included Sand Body Flicker, Water Body Flicker, and Clay Body Flicker.

The most complex were the Space-Time Ninjutsu wielded by Minato and the Second Hokage.

By warping and altering space, they allowed direct movement from point A to point B. They were the most mysterious and powerful kind of Body Flicker.

If he could, Kyosuke would naturally want to trade for a Space-Time technique. It was an invaluable skill for escaping danger and traveling.

Unfortunately, Space-Time Ninjutsu was extremely rare. Even the cheapest option, Flying Thunder God, cost a full 25,000 points.

By comparison, burst-type Body Flicker techniques were much better suited to his needs.

Even if his physical limitations kept him from using one as a regular technique, learning a Body Flicker would greatly expand the range of targets Kyosuke could hunt.

After a year of analysis and experimentation, he had worked out some general rules for how points were awarded.

Killing Genin earned between 20 and 100 points, depending on whether the target was a rookie who only knew the Three Body Technique or an elite who had mastered some ninjutsu.

Chunin, on the other hand, earned anywhere from 100 to 500 points.

In other words, even killing the weakest Chunin brought in as much as several Genin.

Once he grew stronger, he could try hunting Chunin. That would surely boost the rate at which he earned points.

Without investing early, how could he enjoy growth later? Hoarding points was all well and good, but he was afraid he might not live long enough to spend them.

After all, Ghost Father had reached the end of his term. Starting yesterday, he had stopped teaching Kyosuke.

Without a Jonin watching over him from the shadows, one careless mistake could turn the Evil Rakshasa into a wandering ghost.

That was precisely why Kyosuke had decided to use his points to get stronger.

As he gazed at the dazzling array of burst-type Body Flicker techniques in the list, an idea suddenly came to him.

If he learned one in advance, could the requirements for trading for it be reduced?

Even if he could save only a few points, they would still be hard-earned points. Running a household was no easy business; save wherever you could.

With that thought, Kyosuke hurried home and dug out the ninjutsu manual his teacher had left behind.

"Found it!"

Completely absorbed in his training, Kyosuke mastered the most basic burst-type technique in just one afternoon.