I Just Want to Cripple You.

Although Arata Uchiha had activated his Sharingan, he did not release any ocular jutsu.

For trash like the one he was currently pinning down with one hand, he had no interest in torturing or intimidating them.

The mention of Itachi was the primary reason he had taken action.

As for activating the Sharingan, it was because he felt someone was tailing and watching him.

This sensation of being pricked in the back had started the moment he left the clan compound and had persisted ever since; the person was extremely skilled at concealment and was also intimately familiar with the layout of this village.

During this time, Arata had tried to scout behind him without leaving a trace by using street corners and the moments he turned to check his direction, but he had found nothing; everywhere he looked was blocked by other objects.

Right now, he wanted to use this chaos to make that person lower their guard and reveal a flaw.

"Let him go! Let go of Kazama!"

Watching their companion's face flush a deep red from the lack of air, someone finally snapped out of their terror.

Even though Kazama was older and had already carried out over a dozen missions with a certain amount of combat experience, he had been instantly suppressed!

What kind of terrifying strength was this?

However, Arata remained unmoved. He knew his limits, and his taut nerves simply filtered out the noisy clamor around him, his focus entirely on finding that voyeur lurking on the sidelines.

"Found you."

Arata's peripheral vision swept over a thick wooden post and suddenly stopped. It was tied with rattan ropes, usually used for basic close-quarters combat training.

However, it looked like it was rarely used.

Younger ninjas preferred to train in Shuriken or Ninjutsu.

Yet, that obscure gaze was coming from there. Although there was nothing else in his field of vision, Arata was certain.

After all, his own movement and concealment techniques were not weak at all.

"I said, let him go!"

Abruptly, a sharp blade edge slashed toward Arata's arm.

Anyone who could become a ninja, even if only in their teens, possessed a mentality that transcended the average person.

Arata withdrew his gaze; having already locked onto the position of the voyeur, there was nothing else to worry about.

As for that incoming Kunai...

With such a stiff grip, did they really think it would work?

The boy did not retreat but advanced instead, dragging his slightly taller prey and slamming into the attacker's chest before the Kunai could even descend.

"Cough."

The violent collision instantly forced the opponent to cough up blood. As the Kunai clattered to the ground, the attacker tumbled away into a corner.

As for Kazama Hajime, who had been used as a shield, he had already passed out.

After all, in the missions performed by Genin, they basically never encountered situations involving combat against other ninjas, and just now, he had truly and deeply felt Arata's killing intent.

For him, this was naturally the best way to escape, though it was hard to say if he would be able to escape the shame of the puddle of fearful urine in his pants once he woke up.

That Single-Tomoe would be forever etched into his memory, impossible to erase.

"Hayata!"

"Brothers, Arata Uchiha can't beat his clansman Itachi, so he comes here to bully people and seek a sense of superiority! Everyone, attack together!"

The gnashing, low roar instantly ignited half of the training area.

This zone belonged to Genin and students; they were relatively young and mostly hot-blooded.

Of course, the most important point was that Arata's reputation for being despicable had already spread, and the heat of the discussion among the ninjas had already surpassed that of the Demon Fox, Naruto Uzumaki.

Ganging up on a guy who didn't value clan camaraderie carried no psychological burden or pressure.

Especially since the opponent was one of the notoriously arrogant Uchiha!

They had long wanted to beat the stuffing out of that clan!

Of course, there were also smaller ones watching the group of brainless Genin with disdain.

"Are these guys really Genin? They're just asking for trouble."

"Looks like I have a reason to convince my dad to let me skip school."

Sitting on a small dirt mound, a certain pineapple-head had a thoughtful look in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.

"Give it up, Shikamaru."

"Crunch, crunch."

"Aunt Yoshino will hang you up and beat you."

"Crunch, crunch."

The little fatty beside him was frantically stuffing potato chips into his mouth, his small eyes filled with an inexplicable fear toward the boy in his field of vision.

Word was, Hishi-aniki from within the clan had been sent to the infirmary with a dislocated joint by that guy's single punch.

"Watch your tone! Do you still want to eat or not? If you don't, give those potato chips back to me!"

Shikamaru Nara instantly flew into a rage.

At home, he wasn't afraid of his old man in the slightest, because the one who held the real power was his mother.

"Hoo, hoo."

In the center of the training ground, Arata Uchiha hunched his back, gasping for air. His clothes were tattered, and thin trails of blood meandered down his arms.

He seemed somewhat exhausted.

As for the surroundings, not a single person remained standing!

Over a dozen genin lay sprawled across the ground in disarray, various ninja tools scattered about. Their eyes were filled with terror, and they wished they could just faint like Hajime Kazama.

"What are you all doing!"

The chunin responsible for this sector roared from the edge of the field.

He had been eating breakfast, and it wasn't as if he hadn't sensed the chakra fluctuations coming from the training ground. But as the name implied, this was a place for genin to train on their own.

Those young brats always liked to show off the new ninjutsu they had mastered here.

There would be some sparring, and chakra fluctuations were the most normal thing in the world.

However, these fluctuations had suddenly ceased!

At first, he hadn't paid much attention; after all, no one's chakra was infinite.

It wasn't until no further ripples emerged that the eerie silence made him truly panic.

Arata ignored him.

He adjusted his breathing on his own, trying his best to look as disheveled as possible.

Because he wanted to catch that voyeur.

That cunning fellow had released energy fluctuations a few times as if preparing to strike, only to suddenly retract them at the last moment, as if testing him.

"Help! Arata, Arata is trying to kill us!"

Seeing the green flak jacket that symbolized authority, one of the genin lying on the ground cried out for help with a hideous expression!

Hearing this, Arata's indifferent gaze fell upon the genin who had spoken.

The corner of this guy's mouth had a trace of blood left on it in a decent imitation of an injury, but he didn't look nearly as battered as his companions, and his narrow eyes were filled with resentment.

He remembered that this was the very guy who had initially incited the surrounding ninjas to gang up on him.

Moreover, had the opponent even entered the fray himself?

Arata was puzzled.

"No, you're wrong."

A cold whisper escaped his lips.

"I only wanted to..."

Watching the youth approach with measured steps, Shiro Uemura suddenly leaped from the ground, his speed comparable to a fleeing hare.

This guy really was faking it!

"...cripple you."

Arata raised his right hand, pointing in the direction the other was fleeing.

Instantly, two ice shards manifested out of thin air, pinning the panicked runner to the spot. The gushing blood was frozen solid before it could even drip down.

As the perpetrator, Arata's cheeks also turned quietly pale, a sign of apparent exhaustion.

"Arata Uchiha!"

The late-arriving chunin's pupils turned blood-red, his voice filled with loathing.

So, the rumors circulating in the village were true—he was a sinner who ambushed his own comrades!

He never should have let this bastard in!

Just then, a figure flashed from the shadows, arriving after the fact but moving faster than the rest; the speed was on par with even Master Hayate.

Most importantly, he held a wakizashi, the blade already unsheathed!

Focusing his gaze, he saw that the fellow's weapon had already pierced Arata's side. It wasn't fatal, but it was enough to incapacitate him.

"What?"

The arriving chunin stopped dead in his tracks, unable to process the scene unfolding before his eyes.

"That attire... an Anbu was actually present?"

"Then why didn't he stop this one-sided violence?"

However, in the next second, he had no time to ponder why an Anbu was there.

Because Arata's figure quietly shattered like a dream or a bubble.

"Genjutsu?!!"

Sensing something amiss, the Anbu had just intended to retreat when a swift side kick swept him horizontally to the ground.

His specialty lay in concealment and assassination techniques; his direct combat prowess was not particularly strong.

After crashing to the ground, the ninja wearing the white mask immediately tried to weave hand seals to escape, for he knew clearly that this mission had already failed.

But faster than his hand seals was a blade.

"Clang."

Shattered pebbles splashed against his head as a blade radiating a cold glint pierced the earth diagonally, right beside his eye. The proximity was so close that it even cracked the mask he wore on his face, and a shallow trail of blood was etched into his cheek.

"Move again?"

Beside his ear came a low murmur, like that of a fiend.

Entering his vision was that utterly indifferent Sharingan.