Following Uchiha Sakurako

"Well, speak up—where did you just go!"

Following these words, a figure appeared as if by lightning.

The arrival was so abrupt that Uchiha Tenshu, having just emerged from the Heavenly Dimension, had no time to think. His body reacted on instinct, lashing out with a punch that carried his immense strength and speed.

However, the blow did not strike its intended target. Instead, it landed squarely against a soft object—Uchiha Sakurako. She was sent flying by the sudden impact, tracing an arc through the air like a kite with a snapped string.

Seeing this, Uchiha Tenshu felt a jolt of alarm. He realized instantly that he had struck the wrong person. Fortunately, he had heard her voice the moment she appeared, and his subconscious had caused him to pull his punch.

Furthermore, Uchiha Sakurako's vigilance as a Jonin had allowed her to mobilize her Chakra for a quick defense.

Otherwise, the outcome would have been far worse.

Uchiha Tenshu's reflexes, honed by years of training, were lightning-fast. Almost the instant the sound occurred, he had prepared a starting combo, intending to use a Body Flicker Technique followed by the Tenshu-Style Overlord Fist to dispatch the intruder—a natural combat instinct.

Alas, sometimes, when faced with sudden situations, such excellent combat instincts can suffer a slight deviation.

At this moment, Uchiha Tenshu's gaze finally fell upon the figure he had sent flying. He froze, stunned to discover that the person he had struck was none other than Uchiha Sakurako!

In an instant, a wave of intense embarrassment and regret surged through him. It was simple: she was not an enemy attempting an ambush, but a target sent to protect him—and he didn't need to guess who had sent her.

Filled with concern, Uchiha Tenshu lunged forward, crouched down, and asked anxiously, "Are you alright?"

Uchiha Sakurako had managed to adjust her posture in mid-air and barely stabilized herself. But as the pain set in, she crouched on the ground in a disheveled state, clutching the spot where she had been hit, her face twisted in agony as tears welled up in her eyes.

Uchiha Tenshu hurried to her side, looking at her with a face full of apology, inwardly berating himself for his recklessness. He quickly reached out to carefully check her injuries, and upon finding nothing serious, he breathed a sigh of relief and began to apply the pain-relieving effects of a Healing Jutsu.

"You... you pervert!" Uchiha Sakurako glared at Uchiha Tenshu with tear-filled eyes. After a moment of treatment, she used one hand to cover her chest while the other swatted away Uchiha Tenshu's hands.

Ever since Uchiha Tenshu had scanned her with those lecherous eyes like a scanner last time, Uchiha Sakurako had harbored nothing but disgust for him.

Moreover, Elder Uchiha Raimon of her faction had not only failed to pass the position of heir to the loyal Lady Uchiha Lingyue, but had instead chosen that man who so displeased her—effectively stealing the family legacy from her mistress.

For this reason, Uchiha Sakurako had been plotting to make him suffer throughout this mission.

Yet, who could have foreseen that due to a tiny lapse in judgment, she would be so easily defeated by him? Could it be that he had consumed some miraculous elixir to become this powerful?

In reality, what Uchiha Sakurako did not know was that during the recent bloody slaughter, Uchiha Tenshu had undergone a rebirth, crossing the insurmountable chasm between an elite Chunin and a Jonin. This was all thanks to the refinement of his spirit and the elevation of his mindset after his first taste of killing.

Though her heart was churning with resentment, when she saw him once again perform that outrageous, unforgivable action upon her body, Uchiha Sakurako could no longer care about her pain. Like an enraged lioness, she glared at Uchiha Tenshu with a murderous gaze: "You lecher, have you touched enough? Do you not want that arm anymore?"

"Uh! I was just helping you heal!" Uchiha Tenshu said sheepishly, 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, gritting her teeth against the pain. "Where did you go just now? I couldn't sense you anymore, and before I could even react, I came over to check."

As it turned out, Uchiha Sakurako was a rare sensory ninja, gifted with the ability for long-range perception.

That was why she had been sent to follow Uchiha Tenshu, to provide support and protection at any time.

No wonder I didn't notice her before! She's a rare sensory ninja! Uchiha Tenshu thought. Facing her inquiry, he had no intention of revealing his secrets, so he quickly concocted an excuse.

Besides, since his change in strength had been discovered, he needed a good explanation.

Uchiha Tenshu scratched his head and explained with a bashful expression: "It's my Sharingan ocular technique!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Tenshu activated his Sharingan.

Indeed, Uchiha Tenshu's Sharingan had already been awakened, having manifested at the time of his mother, Uchiha Ningning's, passing.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Tenshu, possessing a sound mind and a naturally strong will, had not been able to evolve it directly into the Mangekyō Sharingan, even after the loss of his mother.

After all, to Uchiha Tenshu, while he had memories of his mother from childhood, the bond was merely one of sentimentality, lacking that scorching heat that could touch the soul. As a reincarnated soul, his past life had left him numb from the exhaustion of various familial and romantic entanglements; he no longer chased after such emotions. These feelings that came with his current life, while still carrying some weight, were not indispensable—important, yes, but not to an extreme degree.

Thus, under such sorrow, Uchiha Tenshu had only awakened a One-Tomoe Sharingan in both eyes.

The One-Tomoe Sharingan possessed powerful observational abilities. In his eyes, all of an opponent's attacks seemed to slow down. By activating the Sharingan, he could channel Chakra into his eyes to magnify the opponent's every movement and perform basic Genjutsu dispelling and long-distance viewing, though the latter two were inferior to the Byakugan and could be considered negligible.

Furthermore, the Sharingan acted as an amplifier; the stronger the user's own strength, the more potent the Sharingan's effects.

Therefore, Uchiha Tenshu had almost never revealed that he lacked a Sharingan, nor had he used it in the village.

He had simply focused on training his foundations.

Moreover, with the First Hokage about to pass away and the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, preparing to take the throne, he, as a member of the Uchiha clan, knew that if he showed signs of being a genius without a Sharingan, it was one thing—but once he awakened it, he would inevitably be branded as "naturally evil."

That would be a death sentence!

For the sake of his own life, Uchiha Tenshu had kept it hidden perfectly.

But now, it was the perfect excuse to cover up his sudden increase in strength; otherwise, there would be no way to explain his current power.

It should be perfectly normal for an elite Genin to suddenly awaken the Sharingan and achieve a breakthrough to the level of a Chunin, right?

In that case, it should also be considered normal for someone with this level of strength to catch Uchiha Sakurako off guard and unexpectedly push her back, right?

"Normal my foot! What kind of dōjutsu could your Sharingan possibly have? Your Sharingan is only a One-Tomoe; do you think you have the Mangekyō Sharingan?" Uchiha Sakurako was so incensed she let out a dry laugh. The Uchiha clan of this era did not yet treat such things as secrets to be hidden away like they would in the future.

Therefore, anyone with a bit of status, or rather, the powerful ninjas within the clan, knew everything there was to know about it.

Naturally, they were aware that after an Uchiha awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, they would develop dōjutsu within their eyes.

And now, you're actually telling me that you, with a mere One-Tomoe Sharingan, have awakened a dōjutsu? Are you trying to make a fool of me?

Uchiha Sakurako did not believe this explanation for a single second.