"Outstanding..."
If he remembered correctly, wasn't this a passive ability used by some busty big sister in black stockings who was good at playing with balls?
The ability filled Haori with excitement. With it, the evolution of his eyes would no longer be a problem!
The reward for the main quest had really stunned him, but unfortunately, completing main quests wasn't easy.
Since obtaining the system, he had only completed one main quest.
Before that, he had even thought the main quest was the only one.
"At least I managed to complete it. With this ability, I can set my sights higher."
Haori secretly rejoiced. He had obtained skills from other ninjas through side quests.
That was how he had slowly built up his eye power and upgraded to the Two-Tomoe Sharingan. Now, he was already close to his limit.
With this ability, he was sure he would soon have the Three Tomoe, and he wouldn't need to worry too much about what came after!
"But this new main quest is really a bit..."
Looking at the brand-new main quest, Haori wasn't sure what to say for a moment.
He seemed to remember the line was supposed to be, "I'll raise your wife and children for you," wasn't it?
Was something wrong with this system? It wanted him to kill someone and then steal their wife. Wasn't that a little...
"At least it didn't ask me to raise Uchiha Itachi!"
But when he thought of Uchiha Itachi, Haori felt that the system was great. He didn't want to raise an ungrateful brat.
The saying that the Uchiha had two world-class turncoats wasn't entirely accurate.
Uchiha Shisui really was stupid. He was stupid enough to tell Konoha's High Command about his Mangekyo Sharingan's ability.
Especially Danzo. How could that not worry Konoha's High Command? How could it not tempt Danzo?
The guy's intentions were good, of course. He wanted Konoha to believe that he could use Kotoamatsukami to control the Uchiha.
But the problem was, would someone like Danzo—a man who had broken every rule in Konoha's book, apart from the cover—believe an Uchiha?
He was far too naive, but there was no denying that he had put his clan and village on the same side.
Otherwise, after Danzo ambushed him and he realized that neither he nor his clan were trusted by Konoha, he wouldn't have thrown in the towel, left everything to Uchiha Itachi, and chosen to kill himself.
As for Uchiha Itachi...
"Like father, like son. Those two are both rotten fish in a can—neither of them is any good."
Because Shisui's first attempt to change his clan's mind directly had been too heavy-handed, he chose a second approach—one that was even more heavy-handed.
"If I kill my whole family, there won't be any conflict between the clan and the village anymore, right?"
"He probably thinks everything he does is right, and won't listen to a word anyone else says, will he?"
Besides those two, there was actually another Uchiha turncoat: Uchiha Obito.
Although Haori sympathized with Obito's circumstances, the guy was undeniably selfish.
Rin died, so he wanted the whole world to be buried with her. And the first people he went after were the Namikaze couple, who had trusted him completely.
An eye for an eye, a grudge for a grudge—but even though it hadn't happened yet, Haori couldn't accept that kind of behavior.
Besides, he and Obito weren't exactly close, because...
"Haori!"
Haori was lost in thought with his head lowered when he suddenly heard someone call his name. He looked up and saw Nohara Rin walking toward him.
"Oh, Rin. Are you here to see Obito?"
Haori quickly composed himself and smiled as he replied.
Nohara Rin was his classmate, and they got along quite well.
After all, good-looking people always ended up together.
Haori's grades at the Ninja Academy weren't as bad as Uchiha Obito's, who was barreling toward last place.
But they still weren't great. Fortunately, he had a handsome face.
The truth was, no matter what line of work you were in, looks were always a form of strength.
It was the same with taking photos: some people looked like they belonged in a fashion magazine, while others looked like they were on a missing-person poster.
"Mm. Our rest period is over, and we've got another mission."
Rin nodded, but she sighed when she mentioned the mission.
"When will this war finally end?"
Once you finish this mission, won't it end?
Haori grumbled inwardly, but he couldn't say that out loud.
After thinking for a moment, he smiled and said, "Actually, war will never end."
"Huh?" Nohara Rin hadn't expected Haori to say that, and for a moment she didn't know how to respond.
"Wherever there are people, there will be conflicts of interest. And conflicts of interest will escalate."
Haori strolled toward the road ahead. After a moment's silence, Nohara Rin followed.
"Whether it's between clans or between villages, it's just that the conflict takes different forms."
"Does that mean there's no way to get rid of war?"
Nohara Rin sounded downcast. She sighed as she spoke.
"No. Should we kill everyone just to prevent a war that might happen?"
Haori tilted his head, not bothering to hide his jab at Uchiha Obito.
"Or maybe cast some kind of genjutsu and lock everyone inside, so they can enjoy their own worlds?"
"No, that's too extreme."
Nohara Rin wasn't at all pleased with what Haori was suggesting. She pouted and shook her head.
"You can't think like that, Haori."
"Of course not. I know what I want to do, and what I ought to do."
Haori blinked and smiled.
"War won't stop, but each of us has our own convictions.
"Whether it's protecting our home, protecting the people we care about, or honoring those who gave their lives to protect us—those are the convictions that keep us fighting.
"When we fight for what we believe in, war doesn't seem so frightening after all."
As far as Konoha was concerned, whether Haori truly believed what he was saying didn't matter. He knew that he had to say it.
He had left out one thing, though: protecting his own life!
When it came to protecting his own life, he'd fight with everything he had, no matter what he faced.
"Is that so?"
Hearing those words lifted Nohara Rin's spirits at once, and the way she looked at Haori changed a little.
Perhaps war truly was unavoidable, even in the future. But with convictions to hold on to, it didn't seem so frightening after all!
"Thank you, Haori. So, what do you believe in?"
"Me?"
Haori nearly blurted out, My life matters most!
But he tilted his head and thought for a moment, then smiled at Rin.
"Of course, protecting the things I want to protect, and the people worth protecting."
"You really..."
Hearing those words, Nohara Rin lowered her head slightly.
But before she could say anything, she realized Haori had taken her hand and was leading her outside.
"Haori, this..."
"We're heading out on a mission. Of course we should see each other off properly."
Holding Nohara Rin's hand, Haori continued toward the exit without looking back.
"Let's take it as a blessing, that we'll all make it back safe and sound.
"As for notifying Obito, I'll get someone to tell him. Don't worry."
At that, Nohara Rin gave a gentle nod, then smiled and followed Haori outside.
The sun sank in the west, stretching their shadows long across the ground.
Meanwhile, Obito had already turned bright red with rage...