Why is it him? (Seeking follow-up reads)

The kunai in his hand lightly sliced across the throat of the Kirigakure ninja before him. Watching the look of unwillingness in the man's eyes, Uchiha Sou remained completely calm.

Although this battle was not particularly lethal, it had truly been quite troublesome.

At least this fight gave Uchiha Sou a clear realization about the future: he truly needed to polish his Taijutsu.

He knew that while C-rank Taijutsu was a bit weak, it shouldn't have been too bad when combined with his speed and his Dojutsu Sharingan.

But the battle just now proved that he was wrong; having weak Taijutsu was actually a significant problem.

He could see and keep up with the opponent's movements, but during high-intensity exchanges, his strikes were neither accurate nor disciplined.

This caused him to miss opportunities to finish off his enemies directly, leading to uncoordinated deviations that prevented him from achieving a one-hit kill.

Such a situation was hard to notice when he was launching sneak attacks or facing weaker opponents.

However, when fighting enemies who were not weak in overall strength and were actively pincer-attacking him, this weakness became glaringly obvious.

Although I can figure out their situation with the Sharingan, I must make up for my Taijutsu!

Thinking of this, Uchiha Sou felt a headache coming on. Between Genjutsu and Taijutsu, he really wished he could just grow an extra liver to handle the workload.

He took a slight breath, cast one last look at the two Kirigakure ninja who had died with their eyes wide open, and then abruptly turned back toward the sounds of battle in the distance.

After all, his body was only thirteen years old. While he wasn't exactly lacking in chakra, he certainly wasn't a "Jinchuriki" like Naruto.

The consumption from such a battle was not insignificant, but fortunately, he had managed to take care of both of them.

One of these Kirigakure ninja had been killed by his own comrade, while the other had his attention diverted by his Shurikenjutsu, allowing him to slit the man's throat.

However, just as he set off, notification information suddenly appeared in his pupils, and this data made him pause in surprise.

[Dojutsu Sharingan experience +20]

[Taijutsu Taijutsu Uchiha Style experience +100]

[Ninjutsu Body Flicker Technique experience +4]

[Ninjutsu Substitution Technique experience +4]

[Ninjutsu Substitution Technique (A): Level 1 (6/100)]

[Dojutsu Sharingan (A): Level 3 (224/300)]

[Taijutsu Taijutsu Uchiha Style (C): Level 9 (201/900)]

"Hmm?"

His Taijutsu had actually gained a full 100 points at once, and not only that, his Sharingan had also improved by 20 points!

"It increased by that much?"

Uchiha Sou murmured to himself, though once he thought about the duration of this battle, it seemed understandable.

It had been a long time since he had been in a fight that lasted this long; before this, he had always sent his enemies to the Pure Land in an instant.

Longer battles clearly allowed him to get more training, which was obviously more conducive to his improvement!

"If that's the case, then..."

Uchiha Sou's eyes flickered. With his intense sense of crisis and desire for survival, he suddenly felt a bit of internal struggle.

But soon, he shook his head and cut off those thoughts.

He remained clear-headed; he still had more important things to do right now.

In such thick fog, his visibility was truly too low without the assistance of the Byakugan.

Fortunately, Hyuga Tetsu's strength was not weak. Perhaps he lacked in other areas, but his defense was truly formidable.

Under the siege of two Kirigakure ninja, he hadn't been able to take down his opponents like Uchiha Sou, but his turtle-like defense had kept him from any major trouble.

When Uchiha Sou found him, other than looking exceptionally disheveled and having a few extra wounds on his body, he had no life-threatening issues.

After working together to finish off the two Kirigakure ninja, the two of them quickly found the others and cleared out the remaining enemies.

"How is your situation?" After regrouping, Uchiha Sou scanned them and asked.

"We're all fine." After the five of them looked at each other, Shiranui Genma finally spoke up.

It had to be said that, aside from Hyuga Tetsu, the others were worthy of being the future pillars of Konoha; they possessed considerable strength for such a young age.

Although they all looked bruised and battered and were panting for breath, they had either defeated their enemies or held out until reinforcements arrived.

"Very good. Tetsu-kun, how is the situation on the other side now?" Uchiha Sou nodded, then turned his head to look at the team's radar.

"Their situation is not optimistic. They are surrounded."

Hyuga Tetsu panted for a moment before speaking; keeping his Byakugan active for so long was a huge burden on him.

"Is the situation that bad?" Uchiha Sou couldn't help but frown upon hearing this.

"They are facing Anbu from Kirigakure." Hyuga Tetsu naturally understood what Uchiha Sou meant, but as he spoke, he couldn't help but glance at his temporary captain.

He suddenly felt as if he had said the wrong thing, because this captain of his was truly a monster!

Despite being roughly the same age as him, his strength was enough to make one's heart run cold.

A single jonin couldn't even last a few rounds against him.

When faced with an encirclement by three Mist ninja, he was still able to calmly take one out before finishing off the other two.

Although this captain was a bit of a disaster—getting their entire squad trapped the moment they met—it couldn't hide the fact that he was incredibly powerful.

"The Anbu are truly formidable."

Uchiha Sou had no idea what Hyuga Tetsu was thinking; he pondered for a moment before speaking up.

"Let's move quickly. With a commotion this loud, who knows if it will attract more Mist ninja."

"Yes, Captain!" Hearing Uchiha Sou's order, the others immediately replied in unison.

Indeed, in an environment like this, speed was essential; only by resolving the current trouble as quickly as possible could they deal with whatever came next.

After the six of them each swallowed a Military Ration Pill to replenish their depleted chakra, they set off once again.

Although Uchiha Sou possessed a Chakra Refining Technique that was nearly A-rank, he clearly couldn't use it in the current situation.

However, he didn't dwell on it too much, as his current chakra reserves were more than enough to handle the situation at hand.

Especially now that the mist was beginning to thin, which was definitely good news for him!

He was currently wondering which Uchiha squad had wandered in here, and whether they were here to carry out this godforsaken mission just like him.

"Captain, just ahead!" As Uchiha Sou was lost in thought, Hyuga Tetsu whispered, "There are people. Some may have been killed in action."

"Damn it," Uchiha Sou cursed under his breath, then took a deep breath before whispering, "Prepare for combat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes turned a deep, vivid crimson, and three tomoe began to spin rapidly within them.

But when his gaze finally landed on the figures locked in battle, he suddenly froze, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

He was considering whether he should just help that Anbu finish this guy off.