Suspicion Dispelled

"You've been training with these?"

After looking through the things Uchiha Chen had taken out, Uchiha Shisui seemed a little surprised.

The notes were useful, sure, but they only offered the simplest explanations.

"Yeah. Whenever there's something I don't understand, I ask Big Sis Izumi, but most of it I've figured out on my own.

"I've been practicing ninjutsu lately. Unfortunately, I haven't succeeded yet. Otherwise, I'd have a better chance of challenging Big Bro Shisui and Big Bro Itachi."

Chen had obtained the Great Fireball Technique through the system. If he used it out of the blue, it would inevitably raise suspicions.

Now that he'd said he was studying it, using it successfully later wouldn't seem so suspicious.

"You're practicing ninjutsu? What's your chakra nature?"

Hearing that Uchiha Chen was practicing ninjutsu, Uchiha Shisui asked him.

Only then did Uchiha Chen remember that he still hadn't tested his chakra nature.

He had to admit, that was a pretty big oversight.

Seeing Chen's expression, Uchiha Shisui guessed that he didn't know about chakra natures.

So he took out some Chakra Paper and explained chakra natures to him.

The five natures—earth, water, fire, wind, and lightning—could all be tested with the paper. Usually, a person was born with one nature, and with effort, they could develop two or three more later on.

Uchiha Chen took the Chakra Paper and infused it with his chakra.

As the chakra flowed into it, the paper split in two. Then one half burst into flames, while the other crumpled.

"Wind, fire, and lightning? Three natures?"

Uchiha Shisui looked surprised. Even most jonin only had two chakra natures.

Even Uchiha Shisui, as an adult, only had wind, fire, lightning, and yin.

For that reason alone, Uchiha Chen was undoubtedly a genius.

At the same time, Uchiha Shisui dismissed the possibility that Uchiha Chen was a spy.

After all, someone born with three chakra natures would inevitably grow into a jonin, barring any mishaps—and a powerful one at that.

No other village would be willing to send such a genius into enemy territory. Even Konoha lacked the nerve to do something like that.

After all, the emergence of a genius was something every village could only hope for.

"I didn't expect you to have three natures, and all of them are clearly suited for attack.

"Chen, may I call you that?"

"Of course, Big Bro Shisui."

"Don't tell anyone that you have three chakra natures. Not even Izumi.

"Standing out too much can make people jealous. If anyone asks, just say you have a fire nature."

As he spoke, Uchiha Shisui took out a scroll.

"This has the Great Fireball Technique written down, along with some of my own insights. I've also written down a few things about chakra control. For now, train according to this.

"If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me, or you can ask Itachi."

Setting aside the question of his identity, Uchiha Shisui actually liked Uchiha Chen, the gutsy little kid who dared to charge into a fight.

Now that his identity had been confirmed, Uchiha Shisui's remaining hostility disappeared.

"Thank you, Big Bro Shisui."

Uchiha Chen accepted the scroll and silently resolved to save Shisui and the others during the Uchiha Clan Massacre a few years later.

"All right, go ahead and train. I have some things to take care of."

"Wait, Big Bro Shisui."

"What is it?"

Shisui was a little surprised when Chen called him back.

"Don't go see Big Bro Itachi yet, Big Bro Shisui. Let Big Bro Itachi and Big Sis Izumi spend some time together first."

Shisui paused at that, then smiled and nodded.

"Got it. You're quite the little schemer."

After Shisui left, Uchiha Chen let out a long breath.

It was obviously a good thing that the other boy's hostility had disappeared.

With no one around, Uchiha Chen opened the system panel.

Host: Uchiha Chen

Age: 4 (18)

Abilities: Ninjutsu: Three Body Technique LV1, Great Fireball Technique LV1.

Taijutsu: Basic Taijutsu LV1.

Genjutsu: XXXXX.

"Damn it, System, what are those mosaics under genjutsu? What kind of system keeps throwing mosaics everywhere? Are you trying to become the ultimate censorship system?"

Seeing the mosaics left Uchiha Chen speechless. It was nice that the status panel had become more detailed, but what the hell were the mosaics for?

"I do what I want. If you don't like it, come bite me."

The system sounded unbearably smug. If he could hit the system, Uchiha Chen swore he'd give the rotten thing a serious beating.

"What do the levels mean?"

Uchiha Chen didn't want to keep talking about the mosaics. He felt like he'd get so angry he'd drop dead if he did.

"It's simple. The lower the level, the weaker the ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu. LV1 means you've only just learned it.

"Most people in the world of Naruto only have LV1 abilities. Only a few powerful individuals have different levels."

"So it's like how Sasuke's Great Fireball, also a Fire Release technique, can only burn wooden posts, but Madara can overpower the Allied Shinobi Forces?"

"More or less. For Fire Release, the level affects the range and temperature of the attack, as well as certain changes in its form. So work hard and level up."

"Then how do I level up?"

"With this system around, all you need to do is use your abilities regularly and raise their proficiency."

Hearing that, Uchiha Chen thought the rotten system had finally grown a conscience. But when he looked closer, he saw the proficiency read 0/1000.

In other words, he'd have to use the Great Fireball Technique at least a thousand times to go from LV1 to LV2.

It didn't take much imagination to realize that relying on the number of uses alone to level up at higher levels would take a lifetime.

"Besides proficiency, is there any other way?"

"Besides using them regularly, you can study the techniques themselves. If you develop a higher-level technique, the lower-level ones will gain a lot of experience.

"You can also level up by completing missions."

Uchiha Chen could understand the first part, but the last part gave him a bad feeling.

"I refuse!

"You're definitely thinking of ways to screw me over!"

"How could a considerate system like me want to trick you?

"That's a blatant slander, so I've decided to increase the difficulty of your missions."

"You bastard!"

"What did you say? Believe it or not, I'll issue a mission to kill Danzo right now."

"You..."

Uchiha Chen was utterly speechless. What kind of system was this, so damn rotten? What had he done in a past life to end up with such an infuriating system?

"Ding! System notice: Hunt mission activated. Target..."