[Defense Break detected in spy. Extracting spy-related abilities. The host may choose one of three options.
Option One: Earth-Nature Chakra;
Option Two: 0.3 Chakra Amount;
Option Three: Earth Style: Antlion.]
Looking at these rewards, this spy should be from Iwagakure.
Uchiha Ling first ruled out option three, an Earth Release ninjutsu that he did not currently need.
Option one was Earth-Nature Chakra, an attribute he currently lacked.
Option two was a Chakra Amount increase.
He hesitated between these two: whether to choose the Chakra Amount for an immediate and instant boost in strength, or to choose to consolidate his foundation and gain an additional chakra attribute.
In the end, he chose Earth-Nature Chakra.
He insisted on long-termism, solidifying his foundation first while planning for his chakra amount gradually over time.
With this, his chakra attributes were Fire, Wind, Earth, Yin Release, and Yang.
It seemed he was rapidly heading down the path of a ninjutsu professor.
When he made Hiruzen Sarutobi suffer a Defense Break, he could also get a five-attribute Five-Style Great Combo. That way, he wouldn't waste his full set of chakra attributes.
The method to make Hiruzen Sarutobi suffer a Defense Break was very clear: pull him down from his altar of power, and he would suffer a Defense Break immediately.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's Adamantine Staff was also very strong, even stronger than the Five-Style Great Combo.
We would see when the time came; there would eventually be a day to drive Hiruzen Sarutobi down from the Hokage's seat.
Just as Uchiha Ling's mind wandered, the spy's expression instantly shifted from terror to ferocity.
He lunged fiercely at Uchiha Ling. With his body bound by steel wire and his limbs unable to move, he bent forward, opened his mouth, and bit toward Uchiha Ling's hand and the wax-sealed small sphere.
Uchiha Ling looked at that mouthful of big yellow teeth. If he got bitten, wouldn't he have to go get a tetanus shot?
He quickly pulled his hand back.
The spy then jerked his upper body straight, trying to use his head to deliver a headbutt to Uchiha Ling's chin.
Uchiha Yashiro, whose hand was still covering Uchiha Ling's mouth, punched down fiercely, knocking the spy to the ground where he lost consciousness.
Uchiha Ling chuckled and handed the wax-sealed small sphere to Uchiha Yashiro.
Just as Uchiha Ling thought he was about to make a major contribution, his peripheral vision caught sight of a dark figure appearing nearby.
A hand grabbed at his wrist.
Without a single moment of hesitation, the chakra within the acupoints on Uchiha Ling's arm instantly erupted, and he thrust his hand sharply upward, dodging the hand that reached for his arm.
The rustling sound of clothes tearing through the air finally reached his ears.
He turned his head to look and saw an ANBU member wearing a mask and a black cloak.
Phew, good thing it was an ordinary ANBU member, not a squad leader draped in a white cloak.
Among the Hokage's ANBU, ordinary members were mainly elite chunin and special jōnin, while jonin could serve as squad leaders.
This ANBU member had used the Body Flicker Technique to arrive from who knew where, whereas Uchiha Ling only needed to raise his hand and make a fist to protect the wax-sealed small sphere.
When Uchiha Yashiro saw the ANBU member, he quickly grabbed Uchiha Ling's shoulders and shielded him behind his back.
"ANBU! What are you trying to do?"
When Uchiha Ling saw that Uchiha Yashiro actually dared to question the ANBU, he thought to himself that as expected of the Uchiha Clan, they were truly arrogant. So what if it was the ANBU? If they weren't happy, the ANBU wouldn't work either.
The ANBU member said in a deep voice, "Eliminating spies is the job of the ANBU.
We have tracked this spy for a month, wanting to use a long line to catch a big fish.
As a result, when you Military Police Force interrogated him, you acted clever and exposed his spy identity.
Do you know how much damage you have caused to the ANBU?"
Uchiha Yashiro didn't care about any of that; he retorted, "I think it's your ANBU that lacked the ability to discover the spy. When you saw us probe him out as a spy in just a few words during a routine inspection, that's when you rushed over to steal the credit, right?"
Uchiha Ling was anxious. Why didn't Uchiha Yashiro say a few more words, ruthlessly mocking Danzo who trained the ANBU, and then ruthlessly mocking the ANBU's leader, the Hokage?
Why was it ending right here?
A kunai slid out from the ANBU member's sleeve: "Don't get in the way! Uchiha! We are taking this spy, as well as the intelligence left behind by the spy!"
Both sides were at a dagger-drawn stalemate, and it looked like the ANBU intended to snatch the person by force.
Uchiha Ling didn't care about this or that, opening his mouth to spew:
"You ANBU guys arrived way too late, my neighbor's old grandma had already—"
His mouth was covered once again.
Uchiha Jing appeared behind him, cutting off Uchiha Ling's trash talk at the very first moment.
The movements of Uchiha Yashiro and the others while pursuing the spy earlier had been a bit too loud, attracting many Uchiha clansmen.
"I am taking the person. If you have issues, have your squad leader come to the Military Police Force to see me."
Hearing this voice, the ANBU member immediately took a step back.
Uchiha Fugaku had arrived, his arms crossed over his chest as he frowned at the confrontation.
Another ANBU member appeared via the Body Flicker Technique, and after exchanging glances with the first ANBU member, vanished using the technique once more.
Uchiha Yashiro came before Clan Head Fugaku and briefly recounted the entire process:
"Clan Head, during a routine inspection, I discovered something fishy about this spy.
The spy resisted arrest and engaged in a chase with us.
Uchiha Ling discovered that he had dropped a piece of intelligence—a wax-sealed small sphere—in a blind spot of vision.
Then the ANBU came demanding people, and you arrived in time to save us."
Uchiha Fugaku nodded and said, "Yashiro, continue to deeply dig into this spy's intelligence and produce a report by tonight."
"Understood! Clan Head!"
Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Ling, whose mouth was still covered:
"Alright, let him go. He just loves to mock people.
Throughout the history of our Uchiha Clan, many powerhouses have been enthusiastic about mocking their enemies—not only defeating or killing the enemy, but completely crushing the enemy's will.
This isn't any major flaw. Jing, remind Uchiha Ling to pay attention to the occasion."
"Understood! Clan Head!"
Seeing Teacher Fugaku turn and leave, Uchiha Tekka was in a terrible mood.
He had performed too poorly tonight; the spy wasn't captured by him, the intelligence wasn't discovered by him, and in the end, Teacher Fugaku didn't give him any special praise.
"Second Brother, Tekka-senpai said I went into the archives earlier and need to go fill out a registration form."
"Oh, I forgot in the rush. Come with me, we're heading back to the Military Police Force anyway."
The Military Police Force was brightly lit.
Nearing the Military Police Force, they encountered numerous suspects bound by steel wire and escorted by Military Police Force shinobi.
Nighttime in the Hidden Leaf Village was extremely chaotic.
There were shinobi causing trouble after drowning their sorrows in alcohol, shinobi whose mental illnesses had flared up and were committing crimes right out on the street, and shinobi whose private fights had led to bloodshed.
Uchiha Jing said, "Ling, whatever quirks you have in the future are fine, but you must never drink alcohol.
Over sixty percent of the various vicious incidents at night in the Military Police Force are related to alcohol.
Shinobi face heavy mental stress, and without some quirks or even weird habits, it's impossible to endure the negative emotions that constantly accumulate from killing people.
I can accept any other weird habit, but the one thing I cannot accept is you drinking heavily."
"Rest assured, Second Brother, my biggest quirk is roasting people, and I have zero interest in alcohol."
"Then—"
Uchiha Jing wanted to say "then that's fine," but upon second thought, it didn't seem all that great either.
After filling out the registration form, Uchiha Jing also brought him fifty kunai, filling up five ninja tool pouches.
"This is a reward from Clan Head Fugaku for your good performance tonight. Go to school and take your ninja tool throwing classes seriously; kunai and shuriken are fundamental abilities for a shinobi."
"Thank you, Clan Head! Thank you, Second Brother!"
Before you continue