I'll Cover the Rear

Uchiha Seiichi raised his head, the One-Tomoe in his eyes spinning incessantly as his heart filled with rage.

Hayato watched him quietly before glancing toward the woods outside the cave. "Take Rin and return to the clan."

"What?"

Seiichi's expression froze, and he stared at Hayato in disbelief.

Hayato turned to Seiichi, his tone steady yet cold. "Take Rin back. I'll stay behind to cover our retreat!"

Seiichi's eyes widened in shock. "What are you saying?! How could I possibly—"

Hayato grabbed Seiichi's shoulder, leaning in slightly to lock eyes with those scarlet pupils. "Anger and sorrow may have triggered your Sharingan, but what you possess right now is merely a spark that has just been ignited."

"Take Rin's body and leave. Use your fastest speed. Rin has family back home; we cannot let her body be abandoned here."

"You could take Rin back instead! At the very least, I've awakened the Sharingan, so I have a chance—!" Seiichi roared.

"You... have a better chance than me?"

Hayato cut him off, glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

A mocking smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. As he spoke, Seiichi watched as a scarlet hue bled into Hayato's eyes.

Two tomoe were rotating slowly within them.

"Two... Two-Tomoe!"

Seiichi was stunned. He could never have imagined that Hayato had also awakened the Sharingan, and a Two-Tomoe at that.

"Wait, you didn't just awaken it, did you?"

Seiichi realized something was wrong; Hayato hadn't been with them the whole time, so he must have awakened it earlier.

"Yeah. Go. I have a better chance of holding them off than you do."

After saying this, Hayato walked slowly out of the cave; he needed to make some preparations.

Staying behind wasn't about playing the hero; it was about further harvesting the Evil Intent Evil Fruit.

He couldn't let such an opportunity slip by, no matter what. Call him cold-blooded if you must, but that was exactly what he was thinking.

As for feeling sad over Rin, only the living had the right to mourn.

When Seiichi stumbled into the forest with Rin's body on his back and vanished from sight, Hayato withdrew his gaze.

BOOM!

The Explosive Tag trap was triggered, and an explosion erupted, sending flames soaring into the sky.

Seiichi, already far away, looked back at the commotion behind him, gritted his teeth, and sprinted forward with all his might.

"Rin! Don't worry, I'll definitely bring you home!"

The Root ninja who had bypassed the traps looked at Hayato standing alone and sneered, "Staying behind to stop us? No matter what you do, we of the Mist Village will take you all down."

"Root, stop the act."

Hayato wasn't surprised to see that the three of them had barely sustained any injuries.

Upon hearing this, the Root ninja's pupils constricted. "Kill him!"

Though he didn't know how this brat had guessed their identity, this guy absolutely could not be left alive.

Whoosh!

Three figures charged forward instantly.

[Detected that Root harbors evil intent toward the host and the Uchiha, intending to kill fellow village ninjas. Triggering Evil Intent Evil Fruit!]

Harvesting in progress...

[Harvest successful]

[Available reward options: Proficiency in Fire Style Chakra Nature Transformation, Chakra increased by 0.1 Kakashi]

0.1 Kakashi—it seemed Kakashi had become a unit of measurement.

Hayato chose the first reward again.

[Passive effect active, doubling. Reward updated to: Proficiency in Fire Style Chakra Nature Transformation+]

Memories of training in Fire Style Chakra Nature Transformation flooded his mind; just like the taijutsu before, the memories were incredibly vivid.

He flicked his wrist to cast several wires and rapidly formed the hand seals: Snake-Dragon-Hare-Tiger.

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!"

A linear stream of fire surged toward the three Root ninjas with immense speed and power.

BOOM!!

The Dragon Fire Technique exploded on impact, swallowing the three figures whole.

Hayato then exploded with power from his legs, spinning around to deliver a roundhouse kick, sending a hidden figure flying backward.

"Playing these tricks in front of an Uchiha—don't you find that laughable?"

Hayato landed and whispered softly.

Two figures had already landed on either side, rushing toward him.

As Hayato opened his eyes, he had already activated his Two-Tomoe. He could not allow these three people to leave alive, so there was no need to hide his strength.

Swish!

One of them arrived first, the short blade in his hand swinging down toward Hayato's chest.

Hayato dodged to the side in that instant and slashed out with his ninja sword.

The other Root ninja who had arrived raised his hand and blocked Hayato's blade.

Clang! The ninja swords collided, sparks flying from the friction.

Clang! Clang!

Sparks scattered everywhere. The Sharingan's kinetic vision allowed Hayato to withstand the attacks of both men while simultaneously launching counterattacks.

"Two-Tomoe! It seems your talent is quite good!"

The Root ninja who had just been kicked away by Hayato arrived, and upon seeing his eyes, he was shocked.

He assumed Hayato's eyes had been awakened by the scene from a moment ago.

"Konoha Whirlwind!"

Hayato kicked both men away again, then quickly formed hand seals: Rat-Tiger-Dog-Ox-Rabbit-Tiger.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

The flames spat from his mouth scattered in all directions, surrounding the positions of the three men.

"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"

A wall of water rose high, blocking all of the Phoenix Sage Fire.

As steam exploded outward, Hayato leaped onto a tree trunk, his gaze scanning the surroundings.

These guys had taken their act to the bone; ever since they surrounded Seiichi and Rin, they had only displayed Water Style.

Even now, after he had called them out, they remained the same.

"Right side!"

Hayato leaned down, chakra already surging into his legs, and delivered a kick that struck the incoming attacker hard.

Crack!

The sound of bone fracturing rang out. The Root ninja's face was still frozen in shock as he spat out a large mouthful of blood and flew backward.

Rumble!

He only stopped after smashing through several large trees along the way. His chest was sunken, and he appeared to be on the verge of death, his breathing shallow.

After delivering that kick, Hayato drew his ninja sword to block an attack; he had concentrated too much chakra into that single strike.

He couldn't manage a second kick for the moment.

Root ninjas were no mere nobodies; being able to take one out with a single kick was already a stroke of extreme luck.

Is the Uchiha clan truly this terrifying?

One of them looked at the dead Root ninja and decided to take down the Hayato before him at any cost.

Facing the desperate lunges of the two, Hayato blocked while searching for an opening.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball exploded outward, and Hayato used the shockwave to retreat backward.

Then, he vanished from his spot.

"Watch out for his Body Flicker!"

One of them had just shouted when, the next moment, a ninja sword pierced directly through his chest.

Looking down at the blade being slowly withdrawn, the Root ninja had only one thought left.

So fast.

Having dealt with another, Hayato raised his blade and headed toward the last one, his figure vanishing once more.

Clang!

This time, perhaps because his life was threatened, the last Root ninja unleashed his potential and blocked the strike.

Just as the corner of his mouth curled up, he realized something was wrong.

His body!

Steel wires had tightly bound the Root ninja, while Hayato had already finished his hand seals, taking a sharp breath before exhaling.

Boom!

A ball of flame exploded directly.

The raging fire roared as it swallowed his body, and the Root ninja fell straight to the ground.

"Ah—!"

[Harvesting Regret Bitter Fruit!]

[Selectable entry rewards: Uchiha bloodline purity increased by 1%, chakra increased by 0.1 Kaka.]

Hayato flicked the blood off his ninja blade and sheathed it.

I choose the 1% increase in Uchiha bloodline purity.

[Passive effect active, doubling in progress. Entry reward updated to: Uchiha bloodline purity increased by 1.1%.]

Regret? It was nothing more than the realization that they were about to die.

Hayato watched with cold eyes as the Root ninja's struggles faded amidst the flames, then tossed the other two corpses into the fire as well.

"I'm truly thoughtful, providing you all with a cremation."