Glass Heart

Early in the morning, Lin Chongshu rolled out of his inn bed as usual, only to suddenly feel a slight pressure in his eyes, as if something were pushing against the backs of his eyeballs.

He picked up a mirror and looked. His eye sockets were slightly red in the reflection, and two tomoe floated over the irises of each eye. He had actually awakened them already—and they were Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

He opened the system panel and gave it a quick glance:

[Sharingan / Byakugan (26% / 8%)]

Progress had indeed been incredibly fast lately.

He focused and deactivated his Sharingan. The tomoe patterns slowly faded, and his pupils returned to their normal black. But when he leaned closer to inspect the mirror carefully, he noticed something else was wrong. There was still an extremely faint ring of white around the edges of his pupils.

He tested it with chakra. His Byakugan had not yet reached the point where it could be activated, but it had accumulated enough within his body to affect his appearance.

The Sharingan was fine. No one could tell when it was not activated.

The Byakugan was more troublesome. If he walked down the streets of Konoha with the same white eyes as the Hyuga Clan, even an idiot would know something was wrong. For safety's sake, he had to put acquiring the Byakugan on hold for now.

He put away the mirror, got dressed, and headed outside. Another ordinary, unremarkable day began, as always, with insulting the Uchiha Clan.

After observing for some time, he had already figured out the situation.

Most Uchiha Clan members patrolling the streets had Two-Tomoe Sharingan. Occasionally, there would be one or two who had only recently awakened Single-Tomoe Sharingan, while only the captains leading the teams possessed Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Now that he had awakened Two-Tomoe Sharingan, he could no longer attack indiscriminately. Spending an entire day insulting ordinary team members would only yield Fire Release. He needed to focus his firepower on the captains if he wanted to push his Sharingan proficiency higher.

The captain leading the Uchiha Clan patrol today was a man in his thirties.

Lin Chongshu squeezed his way to the very front of the crowd. Wherever the man went, he followed, tailoring every insult specifically for him and missing nothing from his stance to his gaze.

After following them through several streets, the onlookers began dispersing as usual when the patrol prepared to turn into the security office.

Lin Chongshu was also about to turn around and find Naruto. But the moment he reached the alley entrance, a black shadow suddenly darted out from the side and kicked him into a nearby alley.

His back slammed against the wall, and his first reaction was to raise his arms to block. But when he saw who it was, he lowered them again. It was the Uchiha Clan captain he had insulted all the way here, with two team members behind him.

This was inside Konoha. With the Uchiha Clan's identity being so sensitive now, they probably would not dare truly lay hands on him.

The man grabbed him by the collar and pinned him against the wall, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning rapidly in his eyes.

"Brat, I've had my eye on you for a long time. Why do you come here every day? Morning and afternoon, you're always here. What grudge do you have against us Uchiha? Why do you only target me with your insults?"

Lin Chongshu was famous in the Uchiha Security Force by now. Every morning, he arrived before them; every afternoon, he left after them. He was more punctual than the Security Force members themselves, and every day, he still seemed unsatisfied.

[Detected intense negative emotions from the Uchiha captain toward the host: anger, confusion, feeling targeted. Reward extraction complete.]

[Obtained: Sharingan +1]

Lin Chongshu nearly lost his composure. Wait, I actually insulted him into breaking down?

I didn't even perform unusually well today. I just followed him around and cursed him out for three hours like always. Brother, aren't you a little too glass-hearted?

[Obtained: Sharingan +1]

[Obtained: Sharingan +1]

Seeing the other man's agitation, Lin Chongshu heard the system notifications sound one after another in time with his breathing. He decided to drag things out a little longer.

He put on a frightened expression, mouth hanging open, eyes wide, shoulders hunched beneath his ears. He stammered without managing a complete sentence, repeatedly mixing and matching the words "I" and "you."

Only after the system notifications gradually slowed did he speak.

"My parents... were both killed by the Demon Fox during the Demon Fox Incident. I heard other adults say that the Demon Fox was controlled by you Uchiha Clan people. Only your Sharingan can control the Demon Fox..."

A younger Uchiha Clan member beside them cut in, "Your parents were killed by the Demon Fox, so go find that Demon Fox brat! Why do you keep following us around every day?"

Lin Chongshu answered righteously, "I did look for him! From twelve to two, and whenever you take breaks after finishing your afternoon patrol, I go find that Demon Fox brat. I was just about to go find him."

The alley fell silent for several seconds. Lin Chongshu's words rendered the Uchiha captain speechless.

He stared at Lin Chongshu's face for a moment, spat softly, then released him and threw him to the ground. He turned and left with the two team members without looking back.

Lin Chongshu got up from the ground and dusted himself off. Rather than going to the Hyuga Clan, he decided to take a detour and find Sakura first.

It was not because he wanted to extract anything from Sakura. Sakura was not a ninja yet. She had no secret techniques, no Kekkei Genkai, and nothing worth extracting.

He simply wanted to build some favorability with her.

Sakura's looks had not developed yet when she was little, but she would be very attractive once she grew up, ranking ninth.

And together with Uchiha Mikoto, who ranked seventh, she also had a perfect complementary synergy effect.

He first went to Ino's family flower shop and bought a bouquet. Little Ino was actually prettier than Sakura, but Ino had an energetic, outgoing personality. At present, he had no good way to bully her without exposing his identity.

After paying, he stopped by a general store and bought a red ribbon.

When he found Sakura, she was being pushed to the ground by a group of children, who were shouting at the top of their lungs, "Big-foreheaded ugly freak!"

"Stop right there! Don't bully her!" Lin Chongshu shouted.

The ringleader turned and saw Lin Chongshu. His expression immediately fell. "Ugh, why is it you again?"

Lin Chongshu recognized him too. This was the same group of children who had bullied Hinata before. "You really have a broad range of business, huh."

Then Lin Chongshu took a running start.

The ringleader skillfully stepped aside, leaving Lin Chongshu a perfect opening for a flying kick. Last time, Lin Chongshu had done exactly this—he had said, "Don't bully her," then kicked Hinata flying.

The children behind him all showed knowing expressions as well, waiting to watch Sakura get sent flying.

Instead, Lin Chongshu kicked the ringleader in the chest, sending his whole body rolling twice across the ground.

All the surrounding children were dumbfounded. "Did you kick the wrong person?"

They pointed at Sakura, who was still sitting on the ground. "She's over here!"

Lin Chongshu brushed the dust from his pant leg and swept his gaze over them.

"Trying to predict me? I kick whoever I want. That is my Ninja Way. Now get lost!"

The children, who had long experienced Lin Chongshu's fists, did not dare say a word. They all ran off in a flash.

Lin Chongshu extended a hand to Sakura and said against his conscience, "Your forehead is really beautiful!"