Blown Away by His Own Explosion

Uchiha Chen used his clones to throw a large number of spherical objects at once.

They looked quite heavy, but they didn't make Sarutobi Hiruzen feel that he was in danger.

Still, out of caution, he chose to destroy these unknown objects.

That was exactly what Uchiha Chen needed.

Underestimating him, relying on habit—these were all parts of Uchiha Chen's plan. Only by taking advantage of them would he have even the slightest chance of accomplishing the next step.

Sarutobi Hiruzen threw several Kunai, easily destroying the ceramic spheres.

And then, the next second, a foul stench filled the air.

Uchiha Chen had been prepared and was already wearing a mask. The poor Third, however, took the full brunt of it.

He'd only used Uchiha Chen's challenge as an excuse to get out, shirk his duties, and take a break. Instead, he'd been knocked out by Chen's custom-made weapon.

"Looks like everything went smoothly. System, I really did defeat the Third fair and square."

Uchiha Chen spoke with a grin, while also considering whether he should take the opportunity to finish the Third off.

Although the Third hadn't been the one to wipe out the Uchiha Clan, he was clearly involved.

The darkness within Konoha had indeed been Danzo's doing, but it was also tied to the Third's indulgence and negligence.

However, Uchiha Chen quickly gave up on the idea.

After all, plenty of Anbu knew that he'd challenged the Third. And if the Third really died, there was a nine-in-ten chance that Danzo would take over.

That was obviously no good.

"That worked?

That really was the Third?"

The system spoke up, its voice filled with disbelief.

The Third, renowned as the Professor of Ninjutsu, had actually been knocked out by a stench? Who would believe that?

"System, you're not going to refuse to acknowledge that I completed the mission, are you?"

"Ding. System notification: Challenge mission complete. Victory in the challenge against Sarutobi Hiruzen. Calculating mission rewards...

"Calculation complete. Evaluation: S. Mission rewards: Fire Style Mastery LV1, Great Fireball Technique upgraded by LV1, Shadow Clone Technique upgraded by LV1.

"One dress, XXXXXXX."

The earlier rewards were fairly normal, but as expected, the system had obscured the last ones with a mosaic. Chen could only choose to ignore them.

"How did you win so easily? Is the Third really that weak?"

The system was still baffled, while Chen gloated inwardly.

For one thing, he'd successfully beaten the Third and completed the mission. For another, he'd realized that his system wasn't omniscient and omnipotent, as he'd initially suspected.

Or rather, the system couldn't predict what would happen next. Realizing that gave Chen a sense of relief.

After all, he didn't want his entire life to be manipulated like a puppet's.

"System, I can more or less understand the level increases, but what's Fire Style Mastery?"

"Attribute mastery is a passive ability. It increases the power and effectiveness of all techniques of that attribute, and it also cancels out attribute disadvantages—unless the opponent's mastery of the countering attribute is higher than your mastery of the attribute being countered.

"For example, Water counters fire. Water Release has a certain advantage against Fire Release. With Fire Style Mastery, your Fire Release won't be countered by Water Release.

"Unless the other person's Water Style Mastery is higher than yours.

"However, I'm the only system in this world. Even the Otsutsuki Clan in the entire Shinobi World doesn't have attribute mastery.

"So, with Fire Style Mastery LV1, you can permanently cancel out the disadvantage against the water attribute."

After hearing the system's explanation, Chen nodded. Attribute mastery really was a good thing.

Besides canceling out attribute disadvantages, the across-the-board boost to ninjutsu of a single attribute was useful too.

For now, he only had the Great Fireball Technique, but once he learned powerful techniques like Majestic Destroyer Flame, the effects of Fire Style Mastery would become apparent.

Having gained a new ability, Chen wanted to try it out.

The Third wouldn't wake up for a while, so he started forming Hand Seals and released the Great Fireball Technique toward an open area.

As he completed the final seal, a massive fireball ten meters in diameter appeared. Uchiha Chen could feel the terrifying heat of the flames.

Although Fire Release was known as a benevolent flame, Chen was sure that anyone hit directly by this fireball would either die or be left severely injured.

However, Uchiha Chen had overlooked something extremely important.

That was the location where he was releasing the technique.

This had originally been a training ground, so using ninjutsu here should have been perfectly fine.

But the area had changed somewhat because of the "biological weapon" Uchiha Chen had just used.

And so, when the flames appeared—BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted, engulfing Uchiha Chen and knocking him unconscious.

"Where am I?"

It wasn't until noon the next day that Uchiha Chen finally woke up, groggy and disoriented. Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, Chen even wondered if he'd died again.

"Chen, you're awake?

"Thank goodness! You really need to be more careful when training. You actually got hurt by your own jutsu. It's a good thing the Hokage found you; otherwise, nobody would have known you were injured."

Uchiha Izumi sounded like she was scolding him, but it was clear she was worried about his safety.

"I hurt myself with my jutsu?"

Chen was confused. Although he'd been unconscious for nearly a day, his memory hadn't been damaged.

It had clearly been...

Blown away by my own jutsu? That feels...

But why was that guy, the Third, the one who saved me? Could it be because he lost to me?

Uchiha Chen tried hard to remember. It seemed that was the only explanation that made sense.

"Uchiha Chen, are you all right? Don't experiment with ninjutsu on your own in the future. If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me."

Just then, the Third walked into the hospital room with a warm smile. He even offered Chen a favor right off the bat.

Uchiha Chen wasn't stupid. He naturally understood that the Third didn't want anyone to know he'd been knocked out by the stench.

"Yes, Lord Hokage. I understand. I'll be sure to ask you for advice about ninjutsu in the future."

"Good. I have other matters to attend to. Get some rest."

Having successfully silenced Chen, the Third turned and left.

"Strange."

"What's wrong, Izumi?"

"Why do I smell something so foul?"

Uchiha Izumi looked puzzled. The smell seemed to have appeared along with the Third.

"Maybe you just imagined it."

Chen spoke with a guilty conscience. The stuff in those pottery balls had been fermenting for a long time. It would probably take the Third a few days to get rid of the smell.

But there was nothing he could do. This was the only way he could think of to beat the Third.

As for copying that guy Naruto, Chen really couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Ding. System notification..."