Uchiha's Glory

[ Ding! ]

[ Detected that the host placed first in the Chunin Ninja Exams. ]

[ Mission complete. ]

[ Obtained Ninjutsu: Uchiha's Glory. ]

Beneath the night sky,

At the Uchiha Clan Compound,

Sora Uchiha slowly came to a stop, his expression strange. The system reward for this Chunin Ninja Exam had arrived late.

But as for this reward... He rested one hand beneath his chin and fell into thought.

"This time, the reward is actually a ninjutsu?" he murmured to himself. The evening breeze brushed his face, its chill creeping through his collar. He hunched his shoulders and tugged it higher.

For years, most of the system's rewards had been chakra reserves. Occasionally, he received a Summoning or a Secret Scroll, but a ninjutsu... that had never happened before.

As a result, despite carrying the title of the Uchiha Clan's greatest young genius, he only had two ninjutsu worth mentioning:

First, the Uchiha Clan's signature technique, Great Fireball Technique.

Second, the Shadow Clone Technique from the Ninja Academy graduation exam.

Other than those, the rest of his ninjutsu were pretty useless. For example: the Throw-All-Your-Shuriken Technique.

And now the system was actually rewarding him with a ninjutsu.

"Could it be that I've run out of Summons or Secret Scrolls to get?" He gave a small, surprised sound, then dismissed the possibility.

After all, he only had four Summons and five Secret Scrolls at the moment.

His Summons were Blue Snake, Gamakichi, Ninja Dog, and Panda.

His Secret Scrolls were Protective Shuriken, Water Wave, Air Cyclone, Lightning Strike, and Scatter.

Beyond those, all he had was a chakra supply comparable to that of a Uchiha with the Three Tomoe Sharingan.

As a transmigrator, he knew there were far more Summons and Secret Scrolls than these. There were top-tier Secret Scrolls like Perseverance, Time-Space, and Super Armor, as well as top-tier Summons like Nightmare and Manda.

"Mm, so that means the system will start rewarding me with ninjutsu from today onward?"

The thought didn't upset him. In fact, it made him a little excited.

The reason?

His chakra control was abysmal. Learning Great Fireball Technique and Shadow Clone Technique had taken him an enormous amount of effort, and he still couldn't use them as well as the young Obito or young Naruto.

So, he had a massive chakra supply but no real way to put it to use.

But now things were different. The system directly rewarded him with ninjutsu, which he could master without having to learn them himself. At last, he'd have a use for all that chakra.

"Come to think of it, Uchiha's Glory... Is it the ninjutsu I'm thinking of?" Sora Uchiha's expression grew even stranger.

Traditional ninjutsu didn't have odd names like Uchiha's Glory. As far as he knew, those words had only appeared in his previous life as the name of a certain "mad dog" ninja's ultimate move in a certain game.

As he thought about it, the system directly implanted information about Uchiha's Glory into his mind.

The process was a little uncomfortable. Sora Uchiha frowned, braced himself against the wall, and closed his eyes as he spent a while digesting it.

[ Use the Sharingan to immobilize the enemy, unleash Fire Release, then rush in and slash, sending out a blade of light. ]

The description of the ninjutsu was simple. In just a moment, he had fully absorbed all the information about the move.

From that moment on, he had mastered Ninjutsu: Uchiha's Glory.

"Interesting. Use the Sharingan to grab the enemy?" Sora Uchiha's eyes flickered.

The thing was, he didn't have the Sharingan. So how was he supposed to use it?

Could it awaken automatically when he used the ninjutsu?

His head was full of questions, and he felt an urge to try the technique right away. He glanced around.

Everywhere, the buildings were shaped like triangular "flames," cleverly incorporating the symbol of the Will of Fire.

The buildings were packed tightly together, so Sora Uchiha abandoned the idea of using the ninjutsu. He had never tried it before, but the description in his mind made it clear that it was highly destructive.

He didn't want to become an arsonist and accidentally burn down someone's house.

Suddenly, Sora Uchiha sensed something. His eyes shifted as he looked toward the forest not far away...

The Uchiha Clan had been driven away from the center of Konoha, so they were close to the outskirts. It didn't take long to leave Konoha Village. In other words, Sora Uchiha was now near the edge of Konoha.

He silently watched the distant forest.

The night was thick as ink. His gaze seemed to pierce through the darkness, fixing on the shadowy woods. For now, only the sharp night wind stirred the camphor leaves, making them rustle.

There was nothing there.

But was that really true?

Sora Uchiha didn't think so. Just a moment ago, he'd heard a faint gasp.

Something seemed to have happened over there.

After a moment's thought, he lightened his steps and slowly headed that way...

"Idiot! You can't even finish the job cleanly!"

In a dim forest, the night wind swept through, and dry leaves scraped across the ground with a rustle, casting shifting shadows.

Beneath a tree stood two figures, one fat and one thin, seemingly blending into the darkness. They wore black, tight-fitting combat uniforms beneath yellow-brown chainmail and spoke in hushed tones.

Nearby, a corpse lay sprawled on the ground, eyes open in death. The air smelled of blood and damp earth.

The Monkey-Faced Man kept his voice low. "I told you to do it cleanly. If Konoha finds out, neither of us will get out alive!"

They had infiltrated Konoha to take out a sentry. The fat man had slipped up, and the sentry had made a noise before dying.

The fat man warily scanned their surroundings. "It's fine. It's late, and this place is remote. No one should've noticed."

The Monkey-Faced Man glared at him. After a moment, he grabbed the corpse by the legs and dragged it into the weeds nearby.

"Move it. If we ruin Kazekage-sama's operation, neither of us will escape punishment!"

The fat man nodded, and he and the Monkey-Faced Man slipped into the forest like ghosts. Their mission this time was to scout Konoha's terrain.

A few minutes later, rustling came from the edge of the forest, and the Monkey-Faced Man and the fat man appeared again.

The Monkey-Faced Man searched the surroundings with a sharp gaze. There was nothing unusual. The fat man glanced sideways and muttered, "See? I told you nothing would go wrong."

The Monkey-Faced Man nodded slightly. "Better to be careful."

Then the two disappeared into the forest again. Only the broken branches beneath their feet proved they'd been there.

Five minutes later,

The fat man and the Monkey-Faced Man hid silently in the grass and exchanged a glance, both letting out a sigh of relief.

"Let's go." The Monkey-Faced Man mouthed the words and led the fat man away. The forest fell silent.

This time, they really had left.

After a while,

A young man leaped down from a tree, looking thoughtful. He parted the weeds and glanced at the corpse hidden inside.

"Ghk... killed in one blow. He didn't have a chance to fight back." He muttered to himself, "Those clothes... He was a Sunagakure ninja. Why would someone from Sunagakure come to Konoha at a time like this?"

Then he realized something.

"Konoha's Year 48. The second year of the Third Shinobi World War. Sunagakure... Could this be the Kikyo Mountain Battle?"

Historically, the Kikyo Mountain Battle had been a surprise attack by Sunagakure against Konoha. That battle had inflicted heavy casualties on Konoha.

After thinking it over, he crouched and brushed his hand over the dead man's face. The corpse's eyes closed peacefully.

"Well, I didn't know you, but we were from the same village, at least. I'll avenge you."

He stood and looked toward the retreating Sunagakure ninjas, his gaze deep and the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Two Chunin. They're within my abilities. Perfect. I'll use you to test Uchiha's Glory."