You Wouldn't Want That Either

[Dojutsu Sharingan gained +3 experience]

[Ninjutsu Body Flicker Technique gained +4 experience]

[Taijutsu Uchiha Style gained +2 experience]

[Dojutsu Sharingan (A): Level 3 (205/300)]

[Ninjutsu Body Flicker Technique (A): Level 3 (54/300)]

[Taijutsu Uchiha Style (C): Level 9 (102/900)]

Watching the data flash across his eyes, Uchiha Sou felt both satisfied and somewhat regretful.

What satisfied him was that his two A-rank abilities could grow continuously, and for now, the speed wasn't too slow.

But what frustrated him were the low-level techniques, because he simply had no time to train them consistently!

"If there were no war, I could perhaps practice slowly at home. Practicing for an afternoon would definitely be much faster and yield far more improvement than this."

After years of use and mastery, Uchiha Sou had long since understood the logic behind his system.

The speed of improvement could roughly be divided into three stages: solo training, sparring, and actual combat.

For low-level techniques, it was naturally better to practice on his own to build up some proficiency, then increase their intensity through sparring, and finally achieve sublimation in actual combat.

But unfortunately, most of his techniques were still at a low level; they were essentially "full of future potential."

The problem was, on the battlefield, this turned into "future full of vulnerability."

Although C-rank Taijutsu wasn't unusable, the proficiency was a real issue. The only good news was that he had the Sharingan as an aid.

With an A-rank Sharingan combined with C-rank Taijutsu, he could at least exert B-rank effectiveness.

However, such effectiveness was likely not enough to rely on, whether for the current war or the future Uchiha Clan Downfall.

But for him, the most urgent priority was still the Sharingan!

"Captain, everything has been cleaned up." Just as Uchiha Sou was lost in thought, Shiranui Genma ran over. "We should get moving."

"Mm, take the wounded and let's go." Uchiha Sou snapped back to reality and nodded.

This battle had been a close call. After he used Fire Style to obstruct the Mist ninja's vision, he had taken the lead in launching a sneak attack on a Mist Jonin.

In his view, the burst speed of his A-rank Body Flicker Technique had likely already surpassed that traitor who would later earn the title of Body Flicker Shisui.

Of course, his Body Flicker Technique was primarily practical; in an instant, he broke through the encirclement, reached the Jonin, and quickly finished the guy off.

The subsequent battle became simple. Although the Anko Squad was in poor condition and Hyuga Tetsu had basically lost all combat capability, the crazed Anko and Morino Ibiki, who had been conserving his strength, provided support.

They pinned down the other Chunin and Genin, allowing Uchiha Sou's squad to surround the last Mist Jonin.

No matter how outstanding that Jonin's strength was, it was difficult for him to handle being surrounded by three ninjas who were all at the Chunin level.

Moreover, these three were no pushovers, especially Uchiha Sou, for whom "Chunin" was merely a title and rank.

Thus, after a fierce struggle, the Mist Jonin couldn't even manage to use the Hidden Mist Jutsu before falling at their hands.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."

Releasing a Fire Style technique onto the corpses, Uchiha Sou didn't look back as he left the scene, watching the bodies ignite.

Their situation wasn't exactly great right now; heaven knows if that signal flare would attract other Mist units from nearby.

Therefore, running away quickly was the only right path.

The group moved silently in another direction until they found a cave at night, at which point they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, So." In the dim cave, Anko, who had been re-bandaged, whispered, "If it weren't for you guys, they might have really been in trouble."

"Don't say that, you need to have confidence in yourselves." Uchiha Sou smiled and shook his head upon hearing this. "Even without us, you would have been able to break through."

He wasn't being humble; after all, he knew the original story, and he knew Anko and the others would be fine.

At the very least, Anko and Morino Ibiki would be fine. As for that Hyuga Tetsu, his situation was hard to say.

Because this guy was almost non-existent in Uchiha Sou's memories, which meant either he faded into obscurity after returning to his clan, or he had died in the war.

However, Anko didn't believe his words. Only after experiencing everything just now did she realize how desperate they had been.

To put it bluntly, they had already prepared themselves for death.

"Regardless, I still want to thank you."

Anko shook her head. Whether she had completely relaxed or was just getting carried away, she spoke up directly.

"I will tell my teacher; I'll make sure he rewards you properly!"

"..."

In an instant, the entire cave fell silent. Shiranui Genma looked at her with an expression that said, 'Are you trying to repay kindness with a death sentence?'

Even Morino Ibiki shook his head at this moment, and he immediately spoke up: "Anko, it's better not to say things like that."

"What's wrong?" Anko clearly hadn't realized the implications and asked with some confusion.

"Those are things for later; it's still too early to talk about that now."

Uchiha Sou shook his head with a smile. He wasn't truly surprised that Anko would say something so shocking, and besides, this was actually a good thing for him. He continued to ask.

"By the way, is your mission also to cause trouble for Kirigakure here?"

"So-sama, this question—"

"That's right, it seems you are here for that too!"

The moment Morino Ibiki heard this question, he immediately felt that something was wrong. He almost instinctively opened his mouth, wanting to shut down the topic.

But before he could finish his sentence, he was directly interrupted by Anko. At that moment, his expression turned ugly.

According to the mission regulations, they weren't even supposed to meet, because meeting meant that they would learn each other's intelligence.

Now that they had met due to special circumstances, the natural course of action would be to part ways amicably after the rescue and only meet again once the war was over.

What was Uchiha Sou trying to do by asking about their mission so blatantly? Wasn't he forcing everyone to violate the rules together?

What was most fatal was that Anko, as a student of Orochimaru, had actually answered. Even though this didn't truly exceed his expectations, it was still a disaster.

"Eh?" Just as Morino Ibiki was at his most distressed, Anko seemed to finally realize what had happened: "So, you..."

"It seems our missions are the same."

Uchiha Sou didn't give Anko a chance to speak; he stood up and said with a smile.

"According to battlefield protocols, your current situation is on the verge of being judged a failure, and our mutual situation also falls under the category of failing to adhere to confidentiality principles.

Therefore, to reduce the risk of exposure and ensure the requirements of mission execution are met, I propose that you merge into our squad."

Having said this, Uchiha Sou paused slightly, then turned to look at Anko and the two others with Ibiki, who were now dumbfounded. The smile on his face became even more radiant.

"I imagine you wouldn't refuse, would you?

After all, you wouldn't want Lord Orochimaru to find out that your mission failed, right?"

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