An Unexpected Defense Break

Seeing Asuma Sarutobi utterly dejected, his friends became even more indignant.

Uchiha Ling's tongue was too vicious. After Kakashi, he had now roasted Asuma into shutting down as well.

Asuma's mouth drooped painfully.

But Uchiha Ling was thinking about something else. Could he break through the same person's defenses multiple times? Could he trade for rewards from the same person over and over?

He would test it in a few days and try giving Asuma Sarutobi another thoroughly satisfying dose of pressure.

People obsessed over different things at different stages of their lives.

Right now, one sentence—"Your father doesn't love you"—was enough to break Asuma Sarutobi's defenses. But in the next stage of his life, other things would break him instead.

Everyone was troubled by what lay before them, then troubled by the next thing. They were always jumping from one deep pit into another.

Amid Obito Uchiha and the others' rebukes, Teacher Yamano called Uchiha Ling aside.

"Uchiha Ling, Obito Uchiha and the others have been putting pressure on you lately. Don't take it to heart.

"What happened to Kakashi wasn't your fault. Kakashi went to the front lines to atone. The responsibility his father shirked must be borne by him."

Uchiha Ling knew that because of her older sister's death, Yamano held deep resentment toward White Fang and Kakashi. He asked, "Teacher, who is Kakashi's captain?"

A shadow crossed Yamano's face. "Kakashi is lucky. His captain is Special Jonin Minato Namikaze.

"Minato Namikaze is the disciple of Jiraiya, one of the Three Sannin. I really don't know what the village was thinking, letting the son of a criminal like Kakashi follow a young elite like Minato Namikaze."

Uchiha Ling no longer worried about Kakashi. It seemed Kakashi had followed Minato Namikaze first, only becoming teammates with Obito Uchiha and the others several years later.

Yamano said, "Enough about Hatake Kakashi. Ling, I have something to ask of you."

"What is it? Who are we putting pressure on this time? Leave it to me. I'll make sure they get pressured nice and clear!"

Yamano's eyelid twitched. How had he somehow become close with this student?

"We're not putting pressure on anyone. It's something else! Something serious!"

So you do know helping you pressure Kakashi wasn't serious business.

"My older sister just died on the front lines. She left behind a child. You're from the Uchiha clan, aren't you? Find a relative you know well and have them go to the Security Department to handle my niece's ninja registration."

The Konoha Security Department was an important part of Konoha Village. Much like the police bureau in his previous life, one of its duties was managing Konoha Village's household registrations.

The most important classifications were ninja registration and civilian registration.

When children were two or three years old, Security Department ninja would assess their talent. If they had ninja talent, they would be registered as ninja and sent to school once they reached the proper age.

If they lacked ninja talent, they would be registered as civilians and live in Konoha Village as ordinary civilians.

"Got it. I'll make sure it's handled properly for you, Teacher."

After school, Uchiha Ling went to the home of his cousin, Uchiha Jing.

Uchiha Jing was his eldest uncle's second son. He worked in the Security Department and was a three-tomoe Sharingan ninja.

A family portrait of his eldest uncle's family sat in the living room of his cousin's home.

The happy smiles of the family of four were frozen in the photograph.

His eldest uncle and aunt, like Uchiha Ling's parents, had died in the Second Shinobi World War.

His eldest cousin, Uchiha Jue, had died on a mission last year.

When Uchiha Jing saw Ling's gaze settle on the family portrait, grief flashed through his eyes. He stared at his older brother, Uchiha Jue, for a few moments before quickly steadying himself.

"Ling, have you spent all your living expenses for this month? I'll get you some more."

Uchiha Ling hurriedly said, "No, no, I still have more than 6,000 ryo. I came to see you, Second Brother, because I wanted you to make a trip for me.

"Teacher Yamano thinks highly of me. He wants the Security Department to register his three-year-old niece as a ninja as soon as possible.

"His niece is an orphan too. Her mother just died in that border defeat caused by Konoha's White Fang."

Uchiha Jing said, "Since it concerns your teacher, we should take care of it early. Come on, we'll go now."

Uchiha Jing put on his Security Department uniform and left with Ling.

When the little girl, Xiuxiang, saw Uchiha Jing's Security Department uniform, she backed away several steps in fright.

The Uchiha clan did not have a good reputation. Like she had done something wrong, the poor little girl looked at the two Uchiha with terror in her eyes.

Uchiha Ling said, "Don't worry. Your uncle asked us to come help test your talent and register your household status."

Xiuxiang said in a clear, childish voice, "O-okay... Please come in!"

She hurriedly turned around and went to the dining table. She first climbed onto a small stool, then onto a larger stool, before pouring water for the two guests.

Uchiha Jing looked around. Small stools had been placed in many spots throughout the house.

Even the broom in the corner had a short handle, suitable for a child.

This little girl was so sensible that it made one's heart ache. She had already prepared herself to live alone.

"Ling, clean up that filthy doghouse of yours when you have time. I don't even want to visit your place. I'm clearly the one raising you, yet you make it seem like I'm the irresponsible one. Look at you—you can't even keep your home as clean as a three-year-old can."

"Second Brother! I cleaned it last week! It was super clean last week!"

"What about this week?"

"This week's business can wait until next week."

Uchiha Jing shook his head, took out chakra test paper, and motioned for Xiuxiang to come over.

Xiuxiang brought over two cups of water, then obediently stood beside Uchiha Jing.

"Don't be nervous. Don't resist me. Let me see whether you have ninja talent."

Other than prodigies, very young children did not know how to refine chakra. Konoha's method was to have Uchiha Security Department ninja assist them with genjutsu.

The black pupils in Uchiha Jing's eyes turned into scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan.

Xiuxiang fell under the genjutsu and lost control of her body.

Uchiha Jing used the genjutsu to control the little girl, causing her physical energy and spiritual energy to merge.

More than ten seconds later, Uchiha Jing frowned.

Uchiha Ling sensed that there might be a problem and said, "Second Brother, let's talk before we decide."

After dispelling the genjutsu, the two left Xiuxiang's home and went outside.

"Your teacher's niece is right near the cutoff line. She'll be able to refine chakra in the future, but her talent is average. She might become a chunin around the age of forty, but that would be her limit.

"Her ninja registration can be filed or left unfiled. If you want, you can do your teacher a favor."

After thinking it over, Uchiha Ling shook his head and said:

"Forget it. Making a little girl like this become a ninja would only harm her. Second Brother, register her as a civilian."

Uchiha Jing said nothing more. He filled out the civilian registration and handed it to Uchiha Ling.

"I'll head out first. Give the copy of the registration documents to your teacher."

Uchiha Ling returned to Xiuxiang's home and waited with the little girl for Teacher Yamano.

He was six, and she was three. The little girl had become much livelier around him.

An hour later, Teacher Yamano came home.

He took the copy of the registration documents and froze where he stood.

It was the first time the little girl had seen her uncle's eyes widen so much. She did not understand what had happened.

[A ninja near the host has suffered a defense break. The Defense-Breaking System is activating...]

Uchiha Ling was stunned. There was an unexpected gain?