"..."
Kakashi opened his mouth, wanting to argue.
But when he thought back to their earlier spar, he realized that it really did seem to be the case.
"I-I thought Qingye just hadn't reacted in time..." Kakashi murmured, dazed.
Minato Namikaze shook his head. "With the perceptiveness of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, how could he fail to react if he had even a little more combat experience? Kakashi, you've gotten a bit arrogant."
There was no question that Kakashi had tremendous talent.
But perhaps it was precisely because of his exceptional talent that Kakashi had hardly ever felt any pressure from his peers.
It was good for someone to give him a challenge now.
After pointing out Kakashi's mistake, Minato turned to Qingye. "Qingye, I've heard your clan leader, Fugaku, talk about you. But it seems you're even more talented than I imagined."
"You flatter me, Tokubetsu Jonin Minato," Qingye replied modestly.
Minato shook his head slightly.
This boy's talent and strength had truly taken him by surprise.
Earlier, Aburame Ryoma had specifically requested that Uchiha Qingye's team also take part in the Kannabi Bridge mission.
Minato had been worried that the mission would be too difficult for them, but after seeing Qingye's strength for himself, he could at least feel a little more at ease.
It was practically impossible for them to complete the mission, but given the strength Qingye had just shown, they might be able to hold out until Minato returned to support them.
"By the way, Kakashi!"
Qingye suddenly seemed to remember something, and his eyes lit up. "Weren't you developing a new Lightning Release Ninjutsu? You must have finished it by now, right? Why didn't you use it just now?"
"Of course I've finished it."
Kakashi looked rather pleased with himself and rapidly formed Hand Seals. "This technique is too powerful to use in a spar."
As Lightning Style Chakra gathered in his palm, a fierce buzzing filled the air, like a thousand birds crying out in unison. The high-density Chakra packed itself into his palm, almost taking on a physical form!
The A-rank Lightning Release Ninjutsu, Chidori!
"And Chidori requires a lot of perceptiveness, so—hey, what are you doing?" Kakashi's expression darkened as he stared at Qingye, whose pair of scarlet eyes were fixed on him.
This guy had his Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated and was copying the technique right in front of him, wasn't he?
Was he really going to be that shameless about it?
"Ahem. Not bad. It really is an impressive technique. No wonder you're the genius Kakashi Hatake." Qingye gave him a thumbs-up.
As everyone knew, the Uchiha Clan never recognized ninjutsu copyright.
If I see it, it's mine!
"..." Kakashi rolled his eyes.
Whatever. He wouldn't hold it against him.
It had taken him ages to develop this A-rank technique. Learning it wouldn't be easy, so there was no way Qingye could master it just by staring with his Sharingan.
That night.
After sharing a meal with Minato Namikaze's team, Qingye didn't feel like catching up for long. He soon returned to his own tent and waited in silence.
Time passed second by second.
The countdown to his loan repayment on the system panel went from hours to minutes, then from minutes to seconds. Those final ten seconds felt as long as a century.
[Repayment period for the Three-Tomoe Sharingan Chakra Loan has ended.]
The system's electronic voice sounded in his mind. Qingye felt a jolt run through him as the invisible shackle that had bound him vanished.
The limits on his physical and spiritual energy, imposed because he was repaying his Chakra Loan, returned to normal!
"Phew... That feels great!"
His body felt freer than ever before!
With the invisible restraint gone, the limit on his Chakra capacity had returned as well.
[Stats: Spirit 7, Body 8, Strength 5, Speed 8, Ninjutsu 7, Seals 6, Genjutsu 8, Intelligence 9]
He checked the system panel. His total still came to 58 points, and compared with when he'd finished repaying his first loan three months ago, only his Taijutsu stat had increased by one point.
"Spirit went from 6 to 7, and my Chakra capacity has roughly doubled."
Qingye made a quick estimate. Spirit 6 had given him roughly one card's worth of Chakra, so his current Spirit 7 gave him a limit of about two cards.
He checked the system panel and found that the Ninjutsu Learning module still hadn't unlocked.
He could only choose the Talent Enhancement module.
Two options lay before Qingye, and he still had to make a choice:
Should he increase his Chakra capacity across the board, or upgrade his Sharingan bloodline to the Mangekyō level?
"System, if I choose to increase my Chakra across the board, will my Sharingan bloodline improve accordingly?" Qingye asked silently.
[No.]
The electronic voice was cold and emotionless.
Well, that settled it.
There was nothing left to hesitate over.
Increasing his Chakra was certainly important, and the results would probably be more predictable.
But opening a blind box to see what Mangekyō ability he got sounded much more fun!
The Shinobi World was still in the era of the Five Great Villages' brawls and the legend of the eyes. It hadn't reached the age of tattoos yet!
If he could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, with Kamui in his left eye and Yachihoko in his right, then he'd gladly go from being a Chakra Card to a Chakra Ton, too!
"I choose to upgrade my Sharingan bloodline."
[Are you sure?]
"I'm sure."
After he confirmed one last time, a strange power appeared from nowhere. Qingye felt his body begin to heat up.
The mysterious force seemed ready to burst out from within him. His body grew hot, and his mind became increasingly excited.
His heartbeat pounded so loudly that it seemed to shake his eardrums!
Qingye could feel something miraculous happening to his body. Power surged through him, and his senses grew extraordinarily sharp. It was as though he could feel the blood flowing through every vessel in his body!
What was happening?
Was this some kind of marrow cleansing?
Was he going to start shitting through his pores in a minute?
This wasn't a cultivation world, was it?
"Something's wrong!"
Qingye felt his physical and spiritual energy rising without pause, and his Chakra capacity climbing along with them. It went from two cards to three, and kept rising toward a limit of four.
"System, you sure you didn't make a mistake?"
He'd clearly chosen to upgrade his Sharingan, not his Chakra!
Why wasn't his Sharingan reacting at all, while his Chakra kept increasing?
The system didn't respond.
Had this stupid system messed up?
His physical and spiritual energy limits continued to rise. Just as his Chakra capacity reached four cards, Qingye's vision suddenly went black, and he passed out.
In the haze of unconsciousness, Qingye felt as if he were dreaming.
In the dream, he had never encountered a system.
With strength barely reaching Tokubetsu Jonin level and a great war on the horizon, Qingye watched for the moment Minato Namikaze's team arrived, then deliberately got himself injured during a mission to avoid the battle against Iwagakure.
Relying on his foreknowledge, he managed to survive the Third Shinobi World War.
After that, he could only watch as the Uchiha Clan's situation worsened day by day...
During the Nine-Tails' attack, he urged the clan leader to help suppress the Nine-Tails and support the Fourth Hokage. Uchiha Fugaku's reply was to forbid it!
He lacked the strength, and no one listened to him.
He went to Orochimaru, hoping to participate in experiments and improve his talent, but his body nearly collapsed, leaving him on the verge of disability.
As the night of the clan's destruction drew closer, Qingye simply gave up trying to persuade the clan either to stage a coup immediately or to abandon the idea.
He couldn't carry them. There was just no carrying them!
Taking advantage of a mission, he made contact with the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, then staged his own death to escape. He left Konoha for Kumogakure, where he became a stud.
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