[Ding! Temporary Mission 1 issued: Improve your relationship with your teammates. Experience: 500] [Temporary Mission 2: Earn Obito's Recognition. Experience: 1,000]
The moment Ryosuke saw the two people inside, he heard the system notification.
Five hundred experience points weren't even enough to raise his chakra limit once. It seemed these two teammates really were unimportant.
Still, building a good relationship with Shisui was essential. He wasn't just Ryosuke's teacher; he might even be able to influence the main plot.
"Teacher, is this the third teammate you mentioned? Why is he a kid?" The boy inside stood up, folded his arms, and asked Shisui in a haughty tone.
"Mihawa, Ryosuke here managed to break my genjutsu."
One sentence from Shisui left the boy called Mihawa dumbfounded.
"What? He broke your Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique? How's that possible? You must have gone easy on him, Teacher!" Mihawa shouted.
"Hello, I'm Miyuki. What's your name?" The girl with her hair tied back walked over and politely asked Ryosuke.
"Ryosuke," he replied expressionlessly.
"Ryosuke, come sit over here. We're teammates now, so let's get along. By the way, I'm not very good at Medical Ninjutsu."
Uchiha Miyuki sat opposite Mihawa and spoke with a smile.
In Konoha's ninja teams, one person was usually trained in Medical Ninjutsu to improve the team's chances of survival. That person was usually a girl.
Although their Team One still followed Konoha's four-person team format, all of them belonged to the Uchiha Clan.
The Uchiha Clan was born for war. They weren't the sort to learn ninjutsu for healing the wounded.
Just as Ryosuke was about to speak, Mihawa said, "That means you'd better not get hurt on a mission. You'd only hold us back, and then you'd have to wait around to die."
"Don't worry. I'll protect you," Shisui said, patting Ryosuke on the shoulder.
With the High-Speed Regeneration provided by his Shinigami Template, Ryosuke would have a hard time dying except under extremely unusual circumstances.
But there was no need to reveal his trump card in front of these people.
He said nothing and sat down beside Miyuki.
Miyuki's eyes narrowed with a smile, but a cold murderous intent hung about her.
"If Teacher keeps protecting us like this, how are we supposed to grow? Don't you think so, Ryosuke?"
Miyuki placed a piece of burnt meat in Ryosuke's bowl.
"Make sure you eat plenty, Ryosuke."
"Haha, seeing you all so full of energy puts my mind at ease. All right, we'll start our first training session tomorrow. The focus will be on your teamwork."
Obito sat facing the door and spoke with a smile.
"Teamwork? With him? I can complete A-rank missions by myself," Uchiha Mihawa said dismissively.
"Mihawa, don't say that. We members of the Uchiha Clan should work together. There are plenty of people who want our eyes, after all, so we're bound to run into dangerous enemies outside of missions," Uchiha Miyuki said with a smile, her words ominous.
Ryosuke furrowed his brows. Neither of his teammates seemed quite right in the head.
He couldn't tell whether it was their upbringing or just their personalities.
Working with people like this would probably only bring him more trouble.
Shisui just laughed it off and played the good guy. It did nothing to bring the three of them closer.
Ryosuke, meanwhile, kept his head down and focused on eating. He barely had any income at the moment, so unless he caught something himself, he rarely got to eat meat.
It was past midnight.
The group split up at a street corner.
Ryosuke patted his belly. He was so full that he probably wouldn't be able to sleep for a while.
So he headed toward the western part of the village. There was a small river there, a perfect place to enjoy the night breeze and clear his head.
The village was unusually quiet tonight. The Uchiha were probably all at the shrine for a gathering.
Over the past six months, the gatherings at the shrine had become more and more frequent.
But Ryosuke was only a child, so he wasn't allowed to attend.
Maybe I should find a chance to sneak in and hear how far along they are with their plans.
If I were the Uchiha Clan leader, I'd consider leaving the village rather than starting a rebellion. Even if they won, it would only be a pyrrhic victory.
Shaking his head as he pondered the Uchiha Clan's situation, Ryosuke walked toward the river.
Soon, he could see the rippling surface of the water.
Just then, several rocks came flying at him from different directions.
"Sonido!"
Ryosuke vanished from where he stood.
Did I trigger some kind of trap? That doesn't make sense.
A contraption that only threw rocks could, at most, deal with wild dogs.
"Someone's there! Check the surroundings!"
Ryosuke immediately activated his Sharingan and used his skill.
In his eyes, the surrounding area instantly became a vast web.
A figure was hiding behind a large tree, peeking out.
The person's lips moved, and through the Sharingan, Ryosuke immediately "read" his words.
I'll teach that brat a proper lesson this time. He had the nerve to show off in front of Teacher.
Ryosuke realized at once that it was probably Uchiha Mihawa.
He hadn't expected Mihawa to be so competitive that he'd actually try to ambush him.
Looks like I'll have to teach him a lesson, or we'll never be able to "get along." Sonido!
The corners of Ryosuke's mouth lifted as he used the skill again.
Aside from Fire Release Ninjutsu, Uchiha Mihawa's best technique was Shadow Shuriken.
That was how he'd managed to throw more than ten rocks in a single burst just now.
What Mihawa hadn't expected was for Ryosuke to vanish in the middle of what should have been a sure hit.
And even after awakening his two-Tomoe Sharingan, he couldn't locate Ryosuke.
"What's going on? Where'd that brat go? Coward! I'll tell Teacher tomorrow and get him kicked out of Team One!"
Uchiha Mihawa angrily punched the tree trunk.
"Hey, it's not nice to badmouth people behind their backs."
Ryosuke's voice suddenly came from behind Mihawa. His body stiffened for a moment, then he immediately used the Substitution Technique.
"Whew. What's with that guy? How did he find me?"
"It's simple. Your technique was too crude. Who taught you?"
Ryosuke appeared behind Mihawa again and placed a hand on his shoulder.
That meant Mihawa had already lost. In a real fight, he would have been beheaded by now.
"Who are you, anyway? I've never seen anyone as strong as you among this generation of Uchiha kids," Uchiha Mihawa asked, his face filled with shock.
"You've never seen anyone like me because you haven't seen much," Ryosuke replied.
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