After a farce, Uchiha Kei ultimately still hadn't made a move.
Still, the pressure he'd put on everyone had earned him a wave of Shock Value.
He lay face-down on his desk, fuming. Everyone except Naruto had kept their distance.
"Don't be mad, Kei."
Naruto looked a little sheepish. After all, Uchiha Kei had stood up for him.
Kei had only been trying to help, but Naruto had held him back.
"Get lost. I don't want to talk to you."
Uchiha Kei turned his head away, still fuming.
In his first year in this world, Naruto had helped him work through his confusion and decide to try to fit in.
Uchiha Kei genuinely considered Naruto a friend, a brother, and he'd put in plenty of effort for his sake.
"Let them say what they want. I'm used to it."
Naruto wore a goofy grin.
"You, honestly..."
Uchiha Kei couldn't do anything about Naruto, so he just lay on his desk and sulked.
He checked his Shock Value. 1,980—just 20 short of two draws.
Uchiha Kei had a bit of a compulsive streak, so he looked around and spotted Sasuke sneaking glances at them from nearby.
Sorry, Sasuke...
Uchiha Kei lifted his head and stared straight at Sasuke.
Sasuke had only been sneaking a look. When Kei caught him, he quickly turned around and stared at the blackboard with a proud expression.
After a while, Sasuke couldn't help himself and turned back to sneak another look at them.
But the moment he turned, his heart nearly stopped.
A pair of scarlet eyes, their Three Tomoe turning eerily and slowly, seemed to seize his very soul.
"Holy shit! Holy shit!"
Sasuke sprang to his feet, mouth agape, pointing at Uchiha Kei in disbelief.
"Ding, received Shock Value from Sasuke Uchiha: +99."
"Ding..."
"Ding..."
In an instant, wave after wave of Shock Value poured in. Uchiha Kei was so pleased his eyes narrowed.
"Sasuke, is there something you don't understand?"
At the front of the classroom, Iruka looked at Sasuke, puzzled.
"He... he..."
Sasuke stammered, pointing at Uchiha Kei, the shock still written all over his face.
Iruka frowned and turned to look at Kei.
Uchiha Kei deactivated his Sharingan and shrugged innocently at Iruka.
"Enough. Pay attention in class and stop fooling around."
Sasuke sat back down, disgruntled, but kept his eyes fixed on Uchiha Kei.
He was sure he hadn't imagined it!
That had been...
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan!
Uchiha Kei had already awakened the Sharingan!
And not just any Sharingan—the Three-Tomoe Sharingan!
Ignoring Sasuke, Uchiha Kei contentedly started making an exchange.
"Ding, 2,380 Shock Value. You can exchange it for two random basic ninjutsu. Exchange now?"
Uchiha Kei chose to exchange without hesitation.
"Ding, exchange successful. 2,000 Shock Value deducted."
"Obtained Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Obtained Swordsmanship Mastery."
In an instant, that familiar swelling pain gathered around his eyes.
With some experience now, Uchiha Kei quickly lowered his head onto the desk and let the tears stream down.
He'd actually gotten the Mangekyō Sharingan so soon!
Uchiha Kei hadn't expected that.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was undeniably powerful, but it was more than he could handle right now.
The Sharingan was notorious for burning through chakra. Just look at Kakashi, who was so powerful—after getting the Sharingan, he ran out of chakra after only a couple of moves.
Besides, he only had the chakra reserves of a Genin right now.
He could forget about Susanoo. He'd be lucky to use his Mangekyō abilities once or twice.
The swelling pain in his eyes gradually faded. Uchiha Kei lifted his head and discreetly activated his Mangekyō.
Its intricate, symmetrical polygonal pattern formed the shape of a long sword, its faintly visible edges seeming razor-sharp.
Uchiha Kei immediately understood the abilities contained within his Mangekyō: Amaterasu, Amenotokotachi, Omodaru, and Uhijini.
Amaterasu was easy to understand: the ultimate Fire Style technique, whose flames burned everything. Though in the original story, they'd never actually killed anyone...
The other three, however, gave him an incomparable surprise.
"Uchiha Kei!"
A furious shout interrupted his thoughts.
Uchiha Kei deactivated his Mangekyō and looked up, bewildered.
Iruka hurried over to him. "You got a perfect score on your Shuriken yesterday, but becoming a ninja takes more than just shuriken!"
"Ah, I understand, Iruka-sensei."
Uchiha Kei was still a little dazed.
"Then why aren't you paying attention? Are you and Naruto planning to sleep through the whole year at the Ninja Academy?"
Uchiha Kei turned to look beside him.
Sure enough, Naruto had succumbed to the deadly illusion: sleep.
"Uncle Teuchi's ramen is the best..."
At just the wrong moment, Naruto muttered in his sleep.
"You two!"
"Get outside and stand in the hall!"
Iruka's thunderous roar rang out. Uchiha Kei grabbed Naruto and bolted outside.
"Huh? What happened?"
As they ran, Naruto woke up and looked at Uchiha Kei in confusion.
"What happened?" Uchiha Kei gave a wry smile. "Whatever it was, we're not going back to school anytime soon."
As he spoke, he set Naruto down and headed out of the school first.
"Kei, what did you do to make Iruka-sensei so angry?"
Naruto chased after Uchiha Kei, chattering away.
Uchiha Kei stopped and took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to turn around and punch him.
The two of them went to the woods where they often hung out. Naruto tossed shuriken, bored.
Uchiha Kei had planned to test his Mangekyō's abilities, but on the way, he'd noticed something interesting.
"That chakra... must be two Chunin and three Genin. Tch, they're really going all out."
"Kei, what are you talking about?"
Naruto heard him and turned to look.
"Ah, nothing. Just talking to myself. I was saying it for the dog's sake."
Uchiha Kei casually plucked a blade of grass and put it in his mouth. A bitter taste spread across his tongue.
"Whoosh!"
A black Kunai shot straight at Uchiha Kei with a rush of air.
"Tch, couldn't wait, could you?"
Uchiha Kei sneered. His Three Tomoe activated in an instant, and he shifted aside to dodge the Kunai.
"Who's there?!"
Naruto was startled and gripped the Shuriken in his hand.
"Who else? Didn't I just say? The dogs."
Uchiha Kei rushed in front of Naruto and yanked him aside. A Kunai sliced across Naruto's chest as Kei's hands flew through the seals.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
A thin stream of flame shot from Uchiha Kei's mouth. Three meters out, it swelled into a fireball one meter in diameter and surged upward, its scorching heat sweeping toward the two of them.
"Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!"
"Water Style: Water Rope Jutsu!"
The two on the other side worked together seamlessly. One blocked the Fireball, while the other tried to restrain them.
"Hiss!"
A cloud of steam rose in an instant. At the same time, two ropes of water burst from the ground beneath them and tightly coiled around their ankles.
Uchiha Kei discreetly activated his Sharingan. He watched every subtle movement.
"Whoosh!"
Several Shuriken flew from his hand, collided with each other midair, then plunged straight into the water ropes.
The water ropes vanished at once.
Five figures suddenly appeared around the two of them, forming a ring.
Looking at the animal masks on their faces, Uchiha Kei smiled.
"So even the Anbu attack people from their own village. Learn something new every day."
The five Anbu members didn't respond. To them, completing the mission was what mattered most.
Everything else was irrelevant.
"Did the Third Hokage send you? Or was it Danzo?"
His words seemed to strike a nerve. Without a word, they all attacked Uchiha Kei at once.
Ninjutsu of every nature came pouring down.
Before you continue