Over the next few days, Uchiha Kei continued carrying out the plan he had recently devised. They took out a few Iwa Ninja on guard duty while rescuing the Konoha prisoners who seemed easiest to save.
There was no denying that the Byakugan came in handy at a time like this. With Hyuga Aya's Byakugan, they repeatedly slipped past the larger Iwa Ninja patrols and ambushed plenty of isolated squads.
After a few days, Uchiha Kei's group had grown to nearly twenty people. What bothered him was that only two of them were Jonin; almost all the rest were Chunin.
In this era, Genin basically fell into one of two categories: those worth cultivating and cannon fodder.
There was no need to explain the ones worth cultivating. They were usually protected and never sent on missions to the most dangerous places.
And cannon fodder?
Did that stuff even count as people?
They had no intelligence, and their strength was impossible to judge. Most of them just died in some unexplained area-of-effect attack.
They were only good for making the numbers look better, while hoping they might get lucky and land a kill or finish someone off.
Uchiha Kei's group were basically cannon fodder too. They were a little better off than those pitiful Genin, but they were still just higher-grade cannon fodder.
There was no point in people who were all in the same boat laughing at each other. Uchiha Kei knew his place, at least.
As for why there were so few Jonin, it was simple: they were powerful and quick to react. Unless they were unlucky enough to be surrounded and attacked by several enemies, they were hard to kill.
A head-on battle wasn't an ambush. Ambushes worked by catching people off guard and exploiting the gap before they could react.
But on an open battlefield, there was time to react. Even if something caught you off guard, there were people all around, and someone might block the attack for you.
A Jonin who was fully focused was terrifying, too, which made them much less likely to die or be captured.
So Jonin were usually either killed or escaped. Those who were captured had simply been unlucky. That was why Uchiha Kei's group had so few Jonin.
The Chunin, who made up the main force, were the ones they found in the greatest numbers. Their lot was truly miserable.
Fortunately, although some of them had their own concerns—for instance, they thought this mission had nothing to do with them and wanted to return to Konoha's rear—the Jonin they had rescued proved useful.
Yamanaka Masato had been a huge help. With him keeping the others in line, and with the reputation of the Yamanaka Clan and Uchiha Kei's surname, the Konoha Ninja had no choice but to agree to take part in the mission.
"But my experiments are falling behind."
Whenever they had a chance to rest at night, Uchiha Kei took the time to think about his experiments and conduct a few inconspicuous tests.
He knew the path to evolving the Sharingan, but he had no way to break through this obstacle. The stimulation of his spiritual energy still didn't seem sufficient to help him cross this stage.
Uchiha Kei's spiritual energy was indeed powerful. After all his research during this time, he could clearly sense that he had run into a "wall."
The "wall" was impenetrable. No matter how hard he tried to strike or seep through it with his spiritual energy, it didn't budge.
This left Uchiha Kei both pleased and frustrated. He was pleased that he seemed to have found a "key point," but frustrated that he couldn't get past it.
"Maybe the stimulation just isn't deep enough," Uchiha Kei thought to himself. "But what would affect me the most? I still can't bear it, but I can face the passing of life with relative indifference. And it seems I don't have anything I'm emotionally attached to, either."
The so-called act of "personally killing the person closest to you" was really about destroying a spiritual anchor, causing someone to break down—or even become twisted—under the strain and suffer an unbelievable mental shock.
Of course, you didn't necessarily have to do it yourself. Sasuke had personally killed Uchiha Itachi, but his eyes hadn't awakened then, had they?
It was only later, after Uchiha Obito said a few things to him, that he awakened. His inner world had been twisted by Uchiha Obito's words, and the resulting guilt, hatred, and other intense emotions drove his mind past the threshold of sanity and awakened his eyes.
"As expected, everyone in the Uchiha Clan is crazy." Uchiha Kei grumbled to himself. But then he quickly caught himself. "Except me. I'm not crazy."
His research had yielded no results so far, and the conditions weren't suitable for him to keep records. After trying several times, Uchiha Kei had no choice but to stop for the time being.
Their mission had to continue. In fact, the deeper they ventured in recent days, the more pressure they felt.
They were already in the rear of the Iwa Ninja army. The area was practically crawling with Iwa Ninja patrols. If they made one mistake, none of them would make it out alive.
At dawn the next day, Uchiha Kei and the others set out.
They still split into teams of a standard size. This had plenty of advantages. For example, if one team was spotted, that team could figure out how to handle the situation on its own.
Whether they were trying to draw the enemy's attention or escape, smaller groups were far more effective behind enemy lines than larger ones.
Hidden among the trees, Uchiha Kei watched a camp ahead and quietly signaled to the people behind him.
Clearly, this was another place where prisoners were being held. They had been attacking places like this for days.
But today, their luck seemed to be running out. Hyuga Aya's Byakugan revealed that there were quite a few Ninja here.
Their recent actions had clearly attracted the Iwa Ninja's attention. They had tightened their control over the Konoha Ninja—and increased the intensity of their interrogations.
"That's the fourth body," Hyuga Aya whispered as she came up behind Uchiha Kei. Her voice was detached and cold. "There were only seven to begin with. Now there are three left. Yamanaka Jonin told us to get ready. If we can save them, we save them. If we can't, we draw the Iwa Ninja's attention and then split up as we retreat, to keep them occupied."
"No wonder he's a Konoha Jonin. He really does listen to Lord Hokage." Uchiha Kei muttered sarcastically. "Fine, I understand. Whether they live or die is up to fate. And wait until the others make their move before we act. That'll make it easier to retreat."
"I don't need you to remind me." Hyuga Aya had clearly been prepared already. Imai Kenta, meanwhile, simply nodded obediently, looking like a Ninja who followed orders without question.
But just as Uchiha Kei and the others were preparing to move, a Communication Hawk suddenly flew over.
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