"I'm seven years old already, and I didn't even realize it."
Standing in the middle of the ruined street, Sosuke's gaze held a trace of emotion.
No matter where you went, there were always poor people living at the bottom. Just as dawn began to break, a group of cleaners carrying brooms headed out into the streets.
Not every Uchiha was a warrior. Many clan members weren't cut out for killing, and could only handle the everyday chores of daily life.
Of course, they were all members of the Uchiha Clan, so they couldn't very well be made to pick up brooms and clean the streets.
Ordinary people from other clans handled everything from food and clothing to housing and transportation.
The Uchiha might have a bad reputation in the Ninja World, but ordinary people didn't care about that.
They could bring their families along when they came to work in Uchiha territory. The pay was good, the benefits were generous, and most importantly, it was very safe here.
If an enemy could reach the heart of Uchiha territory, the flames of war would probably have already spread across the entire Land of Fire. There'd be nowhere to hide anyway.
At their core, ordinary people and ninja simply thought in completely different ways.
Rubbing his slightly hungover head, Sosuke sat alone on the steps outside his home.
He seemed to be spacing out, but was actually browsing his system stats.
[Name: Uchiha Sosuke]
[Age: Seven]
[Physical Strength: Genin]
[Spiritual Strength: Chunin]
[Chakra: Genin]
[Special Ability: Sharingan (One-Tomoe)]
[Ninja Tools: Short Sword]
[Summoning Beast: None]
[Points: 343]
After a year of hard work, he'd finally reached the physical strength of a Genin.
His already formidable spiritual strength had even shot up to Chunin level. Now it'd be even easier to handle that brat Izuna.
Nothing else had changed much. He had no idea when his Sharingan would evolve to Two-Tomoe.
Just as he was about to close the system menu, Sosuke clicked the shop interface on a whim.
[Thousand Years of Death, Item Rank: E, Exchange Cost: 20 Points.]
[Great Fire Annihilation, Item Rank: D, Exchange Cost: 360 Points.]
[Demonic Flute: Demonic Sound Chains, Item Rank: C, Exchange Cost: 3,100 Points.]
[Lightning Armor (Beginner), Item Rank: B, Exchange Cost: 7,800 Points.]
[Flying Thunder God Technique (Stage One), Item Rank: A, Exchange Cost: 8,500 Points.]
[Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, Item Rank: A, Exchange Cost: 9,000 Points.]
The results that came up were the options he was most interested in.
Besides exchanging points for ninjutsu, he could also use them to upgrade his Sharingan, or exchange them for all kinds of knowledge and weapons.
After studying the system carefully, Sosuke realized that the prices of its exchange items didn't quite match the prices listed in the future.
Genjutsu tended to be more expensive, while standard ninjutsu from the five elements was relatively cheap. Weapons, on the other hand, were ridiculously pricey.
Even a weapon made with chakra-conductive metal cost at least three thousand. The three hundred points in his pocket weren't nearly enough.
Ordinary Kunai and short swords could also conduct chakra; the difference was how well they did it.
With special weapons, three parts strength could produce twelve parts of force. Ordinary blades were basically the opposite.
With his current means, Sosuke probably wouldn't be able to get his hands on a chakra-conductive weapon anytime soon.
There wasn't much he could buy with three hundred points. Most of the options were useless junk.
There was only one item in the system that was relatively cheap.
[Cell Biology (Beginner), Item Rank: D, Exchange Cost: 800 Points.]
[Cell Transplantation (Beginner), Item Rank: C, Exchange Cost: 1,500 Points.]
[Gene Modification (Beginner), Item Rank: B, Exchange Cost: 3,600 Points.]
Compared with items of the same rank, research and knowledge were practically bargain-priced.
If circumstances allowed, Sosuke would've loved to become a science whiz. Those biological techniques sounded incredibly advanced.
"Even if I don't learn it myself, I could find someone I trust in the future and have them conduct the experiments."
After thinking over his future plans, Sosuke brought the most pressing question back to the forefront.
How could he keep earning points? He couldn't sneak out every single time.
If he learned Shadow Clone and Flying Thunder God, maybe he could pull off a switcheroo. The problem was, he couldn't use either of them yet.
Becoming a mission-taking ninja was even more out of the question. No one would hire a seven-year-old kid.
"Ugh." Sosuke sighed and went to a roadside stall for breakfast.
By the time he got home with the food packed up, the two hungover brothers had already crawled out of bed.
Seeing Izuna's dazed expression, Sosuke grinned and asked, "So, how was your first time drinking?"
"Heh, it was great." Izuna was clearly putting on a brave face. He'd been the first one to pass out last night.
Sosuke smiled but didn't call him out. He set the food down in front of them and casually asked, "When do you think we'll get to set foot on the battlefield?"
"Who knows?" Uchiha Madara was just as frustrated. He wanted to train on the battlefield, but his father had locked him up at home.
As Uchiha Tajima had put it, his son was at the perfect age for a ninja to grow stronger.
Rather than blindly fighting on the battlefield, he should spend more time building a solid foundation.
The reasoning was sound, but the Clan Head might not even realize that his eldest son was already Captain-level.
Training at home alone could no longer make him stronger.
Battles to the death were what would take the Dancing King's strength to the next level.
"Maybe we should find a chance to prove ourselves." Eager to get out, Sosuke made a rather ridiculous suggestion. "Why don't we challenge the clan's strongest fighters and prove how strong we are?"
"Yeah, great idea." Izuna nodded, then shot him a look like he was an idiot. "And then you'll find out there's no place for you in the Uchiha Clan anymore."
".I was just throwing it out there." Sosuke knew perfectly well that this wouldn't solve the real problem.
Just as Izuna had said, he didn't know if they'd succeed in getting out, but if they actually tried it, he'd definitely end up on a lot of clan members' blacklist.
"This won't work, that won't work either. Damn it, even going out to serve the clan is this hard."
Frustrated, Uchiha Sosuke got up and left home to collect the compensation for the new quarter.
In the past, most of the compensation had been pocketed by his uncle. That man owed him a great deal, and one day Sosuke would get it all back, with interest.
But Sosuke never expected that, now that his name was beginning to spread, Uchiha Takeshi would once again show up at the compensation distribution office.
Watching the money pouch in his uncle's hand, Sosuke's gaze turned utterly cold.
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