Shū

At night, Sosuke lay in a tent of his own.

As a newly appointed squad leader, this was a privilege he was entitled to.

Starting tomorrow, he would set aside two days each week to teach the Shadow Clone Technique he had created.

Once his clansmen learned the Shadow Clone Technique, their survival rate would surely rise dramatically, fulfilling the Corps Commander's original wish.

Sosuke stood to gain roughly three things from this.

First, prestige.

Even if they didn't call him "teacher" when they learned his ninjutsu, his clansmen would always feel grateful to him.

Without him even noticing, he would build up unimaginable prestige.

Second, status.

The position of squad leader was no small thing. It meant Sosuke could form his own squad and have subordinates loyal to him.

No matter how you looked at it, he now held a military position. He was nothing like the half-civilian he'd been before.

Third, freedom.

This was a special promise from the Corps Commander. Apart from Uchiha Shinya, no one in the Western War Zone could give orders to Sosuke's squad.

That meant he could act freely and do whatever he wanted each day.

This was what Sosuke valued most. Without the freedom to act on his own, how could he rapidly accumulate Points?

The faster he earned Points, the faster his strength would increase. And with greater strength, he'd be able to take on different enemies.

This virtuous cycle was the right way to use the system.

"Once I redeem the Cursed Seal, I'll be able to fight Jonin-level opponents."

"Three Tomoe plus Cursed Seal Level 2—I'll have no trouble killing ordinary Jonin. By then, I'll be raking in thousands of Points at a time."

As he imagined the future, Sosuke drifted off to sleep on the wooden bed.

Just before he fell asleep, one final, peculiar thought crossed his mind.

"This bed is so hard."

"Thank you for the instruction!"

Inside the tent, a group of powerful ninjas sat in a row. Their fearsome auras flared from time to time, making Sosuke, who was standing before them as their teacher, feel constantly on edge.

Even so, he showed no sign of nervousness. He continued patiently explaining the intricacies of the Shadow Clone Technique.

"Remember, physical clones have their advantages and disadvantages. The instant they're dispelled, the pain felt by the original body may cause you to lose control."

He wasn't exaggerating. When two experts clashed, even a single second of paralysis was enough for an enemy to kill you a thousand times over.

The Shadow Clone Technique was a double-edged sword. Anyone who used it had to be prepared for the consequences.

The Corps Commander acted swiftly. By the next day, he'd gathered Sosuke's first batch of students. Left with no choice, Sosuke had to take the job despite having no qualifications.

Fortunately, he was excellent at thinking on his feet, and managed to avoid embarrassing himself in front of everyone.

From the eyes of these Captain-level fighters, it was clear they genuinely approved of him.

"Thanks for that." Suddenly, a fair, slender arm reached out toward him.

The boy looked up. A woman's face, strikingly similar to Uchiha Mikoto's, came into view.

She looked about seventeen or eighteen, maybe twenty. It was hard to judge a woman's age from her appearance at that stage.

Her figure was even more unbelievable. Looking at the beautiful woman in front of him, Sosuke wondered if the two tumors on her chest really didn't get in the way during battle.

Uchiha Aya, a Captain-level fighter in the Western Army Corps, was exceptionally powerful—and merciless in her methods.

Despite her bright smile, fewer than three people present could beat her in a fight.

"Little Sosuke." The woman put an arm around the boy to keep him from getting away, then said with a grin, "What other impressive tricks do you have? Big Sis wants to see them for herself."

"In exchange, I'll show you one of my secrets too. I guarantee you've never seen anything like it."

It took Sosuke quite a bit of effort to wriggle free of her embrace.

The woman deliberately bit her finger. Sosuke's mouth twitched, but he pretended not to understand her teasing.

Damn it, picking on me because I'm young. Just wait a few years. I'll find a chance to make you regret it.

He knew she wasn't the only one deliberately trying to tempt him. The others all wanted to learn more from him too.

After all, the Shadow Clone Technique wasn't what he was most famous for. His Chidori techniques were. Those were the real weapons of mass destruction.

Unfortunately, Sosuke wouldn't teach them to outsiders so easily. If he ever did teach them, it would be to subordinates loyal to him.

That was easier said than done. Finding reliable subordinates was no simple matter.

Once the first batch of students had gradually left, Sosuke finished his first day of lessons and decided to take a walk outside by himself.

But as soon as he left camp, he saw a group of people rushing toward the medical unit.

"Make way!"

"Quick, Doctor! Get the bleeding under control!"

Three wounded people lay on stretchers. From the looks of it, they'd been attacked by the enemy.

Their teammates were so frantic that the situation had to be worse than it appeared.

"Ah, the cruelty of the battlefield."

Sosuke was about to leave when something caught his eye.

A boy lay on one of the stretchers, his clothes soaked in blood. He could even see the stark white bone exposed on the boy's arm.

Despite his injuries, the boy didn't make a sound, a stark contrast to his two companions, who were wailing incessantly.

"Shū, can you hold on?"

"No problem."

"Good. We'll treat the others first."

With that, his companion actually began tending to another wounded person.

Sosuke took a closer look. The other person had lost a leg. Their condition really was worse than the boy's.

But their tolerance for pain was on a completely different level. The boy hadn't furrowed his brow even once.

He didn't want to interrupt. He knew nothing about Medical Ninjutsu; he just thought the boy's incredible willpower was remarkable.

One lowered his head in silence, while the other stood at a distance, watching quietly. After an unknown amount of time, a scream came from inside the medical tent. The shinobi with the severed leg ultimately couldn't be saved.

A little while later, someone finally carried the boy inside and began treating his wounds carefully.

Throughout it all, the boy never made a sound. Even as pain shook his body, his gaze remained as calm as still water.

"Not bad." Sosuke turned and walked away. Before he left, he asked the boy's name.

Uchiha Shū. He wasn't a particularly talented ninja, and he still hadn't awakened his Sharingan. The clan had judged that he had no ability to awaken his bloodline.

"So his talent's pretty poor, then." Sosuke didn't give it much thought.

Poor talent didn't matter. He cared about certain qualities of character.

In truth, anyone without direct Ōtsutsuki blood was ultimately just a mortal, no matter how talented they were.

Besides, Sosuke might not be entirely powerless to change someone's aptitude.

Over the next three days, Sosuke continued teaching the Shadow Clone Technique.

On the afternoon of the last day, the person he'd been expecting finally appeared before him.

"You're here."

The person standing before him was the boy, Uchiha Shū.