Uchiha Fucheng had just looked at himself in the blade of his kunai.
Although he was only sixteen, the brutal realities of the battlefield had already awakened his fully developed Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
In his memory, even his older brother, Uchiha Fugaku, only had the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. He remembered that in the original timeline, Fugaku had said himself that he awakened his Mangekyō at the beginning of the Third Shinobi World War.
Judging by that, the difference in strength between the brothers probably wasn't great.
Fucheng looked up at the distant woods, calculating how far away Konoha's reinforcements were.
As long as he got more than ten kilometers from the battlefield, he could shake off the main Sand Ninja force.
Even if his combat experience wasn't especially extensive, as an Uchiha jonin with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Fucheng could still crush ordinary ninja through the power of his bloodline.
Before he could make it through the woods, Uchiha Yashiro, whom he had sent off earlier, sent back a notification.
[Changed Nawaki's fate]
First reward settlement begins!
Fucheng was overjoyed:
Nawaki's life should be saved.
[First active mission completed. The reward space has officially opened.]
He carefully concealed himself in the treetops.
Fucheng examined the rewards.
[Reward 1: Uchiha Fucheng's Fate Dice]
[Reward 2: Nawaki's Fate Dice]
With two rewards in hand, Fucheng decided to try using [Recognition Points] to roll the dice.
[Current Recognition Points available to spend: 75]
"It seems I got two more." Fucheng had a few theories, but wasn't sure.
The system's instructions stated that the minimum cost for one roll was ten points, and that the more Recognition Points spent, the better the reward.
To be cautious, Fucheng didn't stake everything he had.
He chose the basic amount of 20 [Recognition Points].
A chime rang in his mind.
Nawaki's Fate Dice spun rapidly.
The dice finally landed on "5"!
A great start.
Five corresponded to a reward related to talent or bloodline.
Nawaki's Fate Dice turned into a stream of green warmth that washed through Fucheng's body from head to toe.
As the warmth appeared, an inconspicuous mound of earth in the distance stirred the attention of a white, humanoid creature. It seemed to sense a special change in Uchiha Fucheng.
A kind of bloodline resonance echoed between him and White Zetsu.
Immersed in the changes, Fucheng felt as if he were soaking in an intensely refreshing mint-flower lotion.
He didn't notice White Zetsu in the distance. He only felt his skin growing warm.
His eyes felt especially comfortable, surrounded by a soothing warmth, like a hot towel pressed against his face.
[Obtained a small amount of Senju bloodline. Chakra slightly increased.]
Fucheng nodded in satisfaction. "Senju bloodline. It's only a small amount, but there's nothing I can do about that. I have too few Recognition Points. Next time I'll stake more if I get the chance."
Fucheng took stock of the changes in his body.
By his estimate, his total chakra had increased by a little over a quarter.
A quarter of a jonin's chakra reserves was entirely in keeping with the description "Chakra slightly increased."
After all, this was the Senju Clan!
Nawaki was only a Genin, but there were plenty of "chakra-guzzling" Senju among the clan's young people.
For the second roll, Fucheng hesitated, but still spent 20 Recognition Points.
He rolled a 6!
Uchiha Fucheng's own Fate Dice vanished in an instant, replaced in his mind by a special energy orb marked with a lightning symbol.
When he touched it with his thoughts, all it showed was:
"Follower not bound. Unable to activate."
Fucheng thought, Forget it. I don't know what a follower is yet, so there's no point worrying about it. Maybe I only got a special reward with a lightning symbol because I was electrocuted to death. Could it be a bonus limited to new accounts after being reborn?
After obtaining the Senju bloodline, Uchiha Fucheng's wounds healed even faster!
Given this change, Uchiha Fucheng decided not to go any farther.
It was safer to stay where he was and recover his chakra.
Military Ration Pills, blood-replenishing pills, vitality pills...
As the second young master of the Uchiha Clan's main branch, he had no shortage of equipment and medicine.
Only the Senju, Hyuga, and a few other major clans could match his wealth.
With his medical supplies, he recovered more than half his chakra in under an hour.
By the standards of a jonin's chakra reserves, that was an extremely fast recovery.
Boom!
A burst of air exploded somewhere in the distant woods.
A battle suddenly broke out to the west!
As a ball of flame shot into the air on the western side of the woods, Uchiha Fucheng's Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly.
"Fireball Jutsu!" Uchiha Fucheng narrowed his eyes.
From the color and shape of the distant flames, he quickly deduced more information.
"Another Uchiha has run into the enemy."
The branch trembled. Fucheng used the Body Flicker Technique to leave it and sped straight toward the Fire Release.
At the edge of the woods, a black-haired, dark-eyed Chunin girl glared furiously.
She led three Konoha Genin and faced off against the enemy.
Mikoto and the three Genin behind her were clearly at a disadvantage.
The Fireball Jutsu from a moment earlier had been cast by Uchiha Hezi, who stood behind her.
Looking across at the Sand Ninja, there were two Chunins and four Genin. The enemy had a clear numerical advantage.
What made things even more difficult for Mikoto was that the opposing force included a Sand Ninja Chunin who could control a large puppet.
Puppeteers were unique to the Land of Wind.
Out of caution, Mikoto kept weaving Hand Seals as electricity flickered faintly around her body.
It wasn't intense, but it continually heightened her reaction speed.
The puppeteer controlled Chakra Threads with both hands and sneered. "They're all Konoha brats, and there's even a Uchiha Genin?"
Neither of the Sand Ninja Chunins was a rookie.
They didn't let their numerical advantage make them careless.
The puppeteer's strategy was to work with his Chunin teammate and take out the Konoha Chunin, who was clearly skilled in Lightning Release.
But before the puppeteer could make a move, the Sand Ninja to his right, who had been wearing a cocky expression, suddenly became a "Lingji Bodhisattva" with his head separated from his body.
The blade sank into flesh, severing bone with a single stroke.
It turned lightly along the cervical vertebrae, leaving a clean cross-section on the Sand Ninja Genin's neck.
The head flew more than three meters into the air, its face frozen in terror.
Blood sprayed everywhere as the body hit the ground, filling the air with a pungent stench!
The Sand Ninja were horrified!
The puppeteer scrambled backward in panic.
He caught only a glimpse of a pair of blood-red Sharingan before his opponent vanished from sight.
"Enemy attack!"
"Too fast!"
Before the other masked Chunin from the Land of Wind could spot him, Uchiha Fucheng used the Body Flicker Technique to close in.
He bent his knee!
He kicked off!
With a single kick, the masked Chunin flew backward, blood spurting from his mouth and nose.
"Konoha reinforcements!" a Sand Ninja shouted.
The puppeteer put both puppets in front of himself and leaped backward.
He wanted to fend off Fucheng's follow-up attack. At the same time, a mechanism opened in one puppet's chest, ready to fire a large volley of poisoned needles.
He planned to catch Uchiha Fucheng off guard with a wide-area poison attack—a puppeteer's "first encounter kill."
Snake—Boar—Dog
"Earth Release: Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
Fucheng was wary of poison too. To be safe, he used Earth Release at once.
A wall of earth rose from the ground!
Five sculpted cat heads and the Uchiha Gunbai emblem adorned the wall.
Earth Style: Earth Wall!
It blocked Mikoto and the others at just the right moment.
Uchiha Fucheng, meanwhile, leaped onto a tree on the other side.
Fucheng kept his hands moving, rapidly weaving more Hand Seals.
Behind the Earth Wall, Mikoto was overjoyed. "Reinforcements! It's Lord Fucheng!"
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