"Mm. Tell me, where did you just go?"
As soon as he said this,
a figure appeared like a bolt of lightning.
The figure appeared so abruptly that Uchiha Tenshu, who had just emerged from the Heavenly Dimension, had no time to think. His body reacted on instinct, instantly throwing a punch with tremendous power and speed.
However,
the punch didn't hit its intended target. Instead, it landed squarely on something soft—Uchiha Sakurako. The sudden blow sent her flying, her body tracing an arc through the air like a kite with its string cut.
Seeing this, Uchiha Tenshu was startled and immediately realized he'd hit the wrong person. Fortunately, he'd also heard the voice when she appeared, so he'd instinctively held back.
And Uchiha Sakurako's vigilance as a Jonin had prompted her to rapidly channel Chakra and defend herself at the same time.
Otherwise, things would have turned out very differently.
Uchiha Tenshu had trained for years, and his reflexes were extraordinarily fast. Almost the instant the voice sounded, he'd prepared to launch a combo, planning to use a Body Flicker Technique followed by the Tenshu-Style Overlord Fist to send his opponent packing in one blow. It was a battle instinct he'd been born with.
Unfortunately, sometimes,
when faced with an unexpected situation, even excellent battle instincts could go slightly awry.
At last, Uchiha Tenshu's gaze fell on the figure he'd sent flying. He took one look and froze—he'd hit Uchiha Sakurako!
In an instant, a powerful wave of embarrassment and regret welled up inside Uchiha Tenshu. It was simple: she wasn't an enemy trying to ambush him. She'd come to protect him, and it wasn't hard to guess who had sent her.
Worried, Uchiha Tenshu rushed over, crouched down, and asked with concern, "Are you all right?"
Just then, Uchiha Sakurako had adjusted her position in midair and barely managed to steady herself. But when the pain hit, she crouched awkwardly on the ground, clutching the spot where he'd struck her. A pained expression crossed her face, and tears welled in her eyes.
Uchiha Tenshu hurried to her side, looking at her apologetically and silently regretting his recklessness. He quickly and carefully checked her injuries, and, finding that they weren't serious, finally let out a small sigh of relief. Then he began treating her with the pain-relieving effects of Healing Jutsu.
"Y-you pervert!" With tears in her eyes, Uchiha Sakurako glared fiercely at Uchiha Tenshu. After he'd treated her for a little while, she placed one hand over her ample chest and swiftly slapped away the hands he'd extended toward her.
Ever since Uchiha Tenshu had scanned her with those lecherous eyes like a pair of scanners, Uchiha Sakurako had felt nothing but disgust toward him.
On top of that, the elder of her branch of the family, Uchiha Raimon, hadn't passed the heir's position to the ever-loyal Lady Uchiha Lingyue. Instead, he'd chosen the man she despised, effectively stealing the young lady's inheritance.
For that reason, Uchiha Sakurako had carefully plotted to make him suffer through this mission.
But who could have expected that a small oversight would lead to her being so easily defeated by him? Had he taken some kind of miraculous medicine to become so powerful?
What Uchiha Sakurako didn't know was that, during the bloody slaughter earlier, Uchiha Tenshu had undergone a phoenix-like rebirth. He'd crossed the seemingly insurmountable gap between an elite Chunin and a Jonin, reaching Jonin-level strength. This was naturally thanks to the improvement in his character and the tempering of his spirit that came from his first taste of killing.
Although she was seething with resentment, when she saw him touching her body again in that outrageous, unforgivable way,
Uchiha Sakurako forgot all about her injuries. Like a furious lioness, she fixed him with a murderous glare. "You pervert! Have you touched enough? Or do you not want to keep that arm?"
"Uh! I was just treating you!" Uchiha Tenshu said awkwardly. His face flushed with embarrassment as he spread his hands to prove his innocence.
"Anyway, are you feeling better now?"
"I... I'm a little better," Uchiha Sakurako said, forcing herself to endure the pain. "Where did you just go? I couldn't sense you at all, so I didn't even have time to react. I came over to take a look."
It turned out that Uchiha Sakurako was an exceptionally rare sensory ninja, and one with the talent to sense over long distances.
That was why she'd been sent to follow Uchiha Tenshu, ready to provide support and protect him at any moment.
No wonder I didn't notice her earlier! She's a rare sensory ninja! Uchiha Tenshu thought. When Uchiha Sakurako questioned him, he had no intention of revealing his secret. After thinking it over, he came up with an excuse.
On top of that, she'd noticed the change in his strength.
He needed a good explanation.
Uchiha Tenshu scratched his head and explained sheepishly, "It's my Sharingan's ocular ability!"
As he spoke,
Uchiha Tenshu opened his Sharingan.
That was right.
Uchiha Tenshu's Sharingan had already awakened, back when his mother, Uchiha Ningning, passed away.
Unfortunately, Uchiha Tenshu was clear-minded and naturally strong-willed. Even the loss of his mother hadn't allowed him to make the leap straight to the Mangekyō Sharingan.
After all, as far as Uchiha Tenshu was concerned, though he remembered his mother from his childhood, the bond between them had only brought him sorrow; it hadn't stirred the kind of fiery feelings that could reach his soul. As a reincarnator, he'd already grown numb from the emotional toll of family ties and romance in his previous life, and no longer chased after feelings. The relationships he'd formed through socializing in this life still meant something to him, but they weren't indispensable or crucial—though they weren't entirely unimportant, either.
Thus, in the depths of his grief, Uchiha Tenshu had only awakened a One-Tomoe in each eye.
The One-Tomoe Sharingan had powerful perceptive abilities. To him, his opponents' attacks seemed to slow down. By channeling Chakra into his eyes, he could magnify every movement he observed. He could also see through Genjutsu to a limited extent and look into the distance, though in those latter two regards it was inferior to the Byakugan, so the advantages were negligible.
Furthermore, the Sharingan acted as a force multiplier: the stronger its user, the more powerful its effects.
That was why Uchiha Tenshu had almost never revealed that he didn't have the Sharingan before, and had never used it in the village.
He'd focused solely on training his fundamentals.
And now that the First was about to pass away and Tobirama Senju was preparing to take over as the Second Hokage, being a member of the Uchiha Clan and making a name for himself as a genius was dangerous enough. Not having awakened the Sharingan was fine, but once he did, he'd inevitably be labeled "born evil."
That would be enough to get him killed!
With his life on the line,
Uchiha Tenshu had kept his secret hidden as thoroughly as he could.
But now, he could use it as an excuse to cover up his sudden increase in strength. Otherwise, there'd be no way to explain how strong he'd become.
If someone at elite Genin level suddenly awakened the Sharingan, it made sense that he could break through to Chunin level, right?
Then it made sense that he could accidentally knock Uchiha Sakurako back when she caught him off guard, right?
"What kind of sense does that make? What ocular ability? Your Sharingan only has one tomoe. What do you think you are, a Mangekyō Sharingan?" Uchiha Sakurako laughed in disbelief. The Uchiha Clan didn't treat the Sharingan as a secret yet, unlike they would in the future.
So anyone with a little standing—or any powerful ninja in the clan, for that matter—knew all about it.
Naturally, they also knew that after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, the user would develop ocular abilities in their eyes.
And now you're telling me that your one-tomoe Sharingan has an ocular ability? Are you kidding me?
Uchiha Sakurako didn't believe a word of it.
Before you continue