Not Stimulating Enough

In the following days, Uchiha Kei continued to advance according to his newly designated plan. They dealt with some of the defending Iwa Ninja while rescuing some Konoha captives who were relatively easy to save.

It had to be said that the Byakugan was indeed very useful at this time. Relying on Hyuga Aya's Byakugan, they repeatedly bypassed the larger numbers of Iwa Ninja guards and attacked many isolated squads.

After a few days, the number of people in Uchiha Kei's team had reached nearly twenty. However, what made Uchiha Kei dissatisfied was that there were only two Jonin among them, with the rest being mostly Chunin.

Genin in this era generally fell into two categories: those worth nurturing and cannon fodder.

Those worth nurturing went without saying; such individuals were usually protected and never sent to the most dangerous places on missions.

As for cannon fodder?

Did that even count as people?

They lacked intelligence, their strength was negligible, and they were basically the kind of people who died from unspecified area-of-effect attacks.

They could only be considered as a way to expand the facade, while also hoping they would get lucky and pick up a kill or finish off an enemy.

Uchiha Kei and his group were, in a sense, also cannon fodder. Although they were slightly better off than those miserable Genin, they were merely larger-scale cannon fodder.

There was no point in the "fifty steps laughing at a hundred steps" situation. Uchiha Kei was well aware of his own standing.

As for why there were so few Jonin, it was simple: Jonin possessed strong abilities and adaptability. Unless they were unlucky enough to be targeted and surrounded by several individuals, it was difficult for them to die.

The Frontal Battlefield was not about sneak attacks. Sneak attacks relied on catching the enemy off guard and exploiting the Time Difference in their reactions.

However, on the Frontal Battlefield, there was time to react. While there were still instances of being caught off guard, at least there were people all around, and one might be blocked by someone else.

Moreover, a Jonin in full concentration was terrifying, and the chances of survival or being captured were much lower.

Therefore, Jonin were usually either killed or escaped. Those who were captured were purely unlucky, which was why there were so few Jonin among Uchiha Kei's group.

As the main force, Chunin became the biggest point of harvest, and it could be said to be quite tragic.

Fortunately, although these people had their own little thoughts, such as believing this mission had nothing to do with them and that they needed to return to Konoha's rear.

After all, not everyone was indifferent to their own lives. But fortunately, the Jonin rescued by Uchiha Kei and his group played their part.

Yamanaka Masato had greatly helped Uchiha Kei and his group. With him there to suppress these individuals, coupled with the Yamanaka Clan's name and Uchiha Kei's surname, these Konoha Ninja could only obediently choose to participate in this mission.

"However, my experiments are being held back."

When it was time to rest for the night, Uchiha Kei also took the time to think about his experiments and conduct some inconspicuous ones.

He did know the evolutionary path of the Sharingan, but Uchiha Kei truly had no way to break through this barrier. The stimulation of spiritual power seemed insufficient to allow him to cross this stage.

Although Uchiha Kei's spiritual power was very strong, with his continuous research during this period, he could clearly feel that he seemed to be facing a 'wall'.

This 'wall' was impenetrable, and no matter how his spiritual power impacted or permeated it, the 'wall' remained unmoved.

Uchiha Kei felt both happy and frustrated. Happy because he seemed to have found a 'node', frustrated because he couldn't break through it no matter what.

Perhaps the stimulation isn't deep enough? Uchiha Kei thought silently. But what could stimulate me the most? Although I still can't bear it, I can indeed face the passing of life with relative indifference. And I don't seem to have any emotional attachments.

In essence, the so-called 'personally killing the closest person' was nothing more than destroying a spiritual reliance, causing unimaginable mental shock when one's heart collapsed to an extreme or even became twisted.

Of course, it wasn't necessarily a hands-on act. Look at Sasuke, who personally killed Uchiha Itachi, and he didn't awaken his Sharingan.

But later, he was awakened by a few words from Uchiha Obito. In reality, his inner world was twisted by Obito's words, leading to intense guilt, hatred, and other emotions. His mind reached an extremely abnormal threshold, thus awakening his Sharingan.

As expected, all Uchiha are lunatics. Uchiha Kei inwardly complained, but he quickly corrected himself: Except for me, I'm not a lunatic.

The research yielded no results for the time being, and the environment was not conducive to Uchiha Kei recording his findings. Therefore, after several attempts, Uchiha Kei had to temporarily stop.

Their mission had to continue, especially as they ventured deeper in recent days, and they could feel the pressure.

After all, they were deep in the rear of the Iwa Ninja army. This area was almost entirely patrolled by Iwa Ninja. If they weren't careful, none of them would be able to leave alive.

The next morning, Uchiha Kei and the others set off.

They still maintained the formation of a normal squad. This had many advantages, such as if a small team was discovered, that team would have to figure out how to solve the problem themselves.

Whether for attracting enemies or for escaping, being in small numbers behind enemy lines was far more advantageous than being in large numbers.

Quietly lurking in the trees, Uchiha Kei looked at a camp ahead and silently made a gesture to those behind him.

It was clear that this was another prisoner concentration point. They had been attacking such places for days.

However, their luck seemed to be poor today. Through Hyuga Aya's Byakugan, they discovered that the number of ninjas here was quite large.

It was evident that Uchiha Kei's recent actions had already attracted the attention of the Iwa Ninja. They were now increasing their control over Konoha Ninja, as well as...

The intensity of their interrogations.

"That's the fourth corpse," Hyuga Aya quietly approached Uchiha Kei from behind, her voice indifferent and cold. "There were only seven in total, and now only three remain. Jonin Yamanaka instructed us to be ready. If we can save them, we save them. If not, we attract the attention of the Iwa Ninja and retreat separately to distract them."

Truly worthy of a Konoha Jonin, actually listening to Lord Hokage, Uchiha Kei scoffed softly. Fine, I understand. Whether they live or not depends on their fate. Also, wait until the others make their move, it'll be easier to retreat.

"You don't need to remind me," Hyuga Aya clearly had already prepared. Imai Kenta, on the other hand, obediently nodded, appearing like a ninja who faithfully followed orders.

But just as Uchiha Kei and the others were preparing to act, a messenger hawk suddenly flew over.