An Insignificant Death

Uchiha Shunichi wandered aimlessly through the town, like a nobleman's son who rarely left home.

He had never intended to put much effort into the mission. He only wanted to observe the environment here and see what kind of lives the common people of this world lived.

By coincidence, just as he headed toward a particularly rundown part of town, he ran into the mission target head-on.

He was a middle-aged man who looked somewhat different from his photograph. He resembled an ordinary commoner living at the bottom of society, with none of the bearing he had once possessed as a ninja.

Still, Uchiha Shunichi recognized him at a glance. The man was clearly vigilant at all times as well; after Uchiha Shunichi followed him for barely a dozen meters, he was discovered.

Perhaps he had not spotted Uchiha Shunichi himself, but the sensation of being followed still made him tremble with fear.

A ninja's sixth sense could be a remarkable thing, especially for those who lived in dangerous regions.

There was no doubt that this missing-nin's former work had been extremely dangerous. Even after so much time had passed, he had not forgotten that feeling.

"If you don't want to fight here, how about we go somewhere farther away?" The moment the man's behavior changed, Uchiha Shunichi knew he had been discovered.

So Uchiha Shunichi simply walked up beside him and said it openly.

A bitter smile appeared on the man's face. He did not reply, but led Uchiha Shunichi out of town.

"You must be a ninja sent by the village. You're so young, yet your killing intent is this strong." Once outside town, the man spoke with a helpless laugh.

What surprised Uchiha Shunichi was that the man had no intention of resisting. He had assumed that even without many ninja tools on him, the man would at least try to flee.

"You're not going to resist?" Uchiha Shunichi asked curiously.

"I only hope you'll spare my family. I've never revealed any secrets to them." A trace of relief appeared on the man's face as he spoke.

A long time had passed from the war years to now. Such a long life as a civilian had caused the man's body to deteriorate considerably.

Moreover, he was not carrying any ninja tools at all. Unarmed, he had almost no chance of winning.

"I'm sorry, but that isn't for me to decide." Uchiha Shunichi's voice was exceptionally cold.

At the same time, Tenzō, having received the signal, rushed over. He seemed somewhat surprised when he found that the mission target had no intention of resisting.

"Void, what's going on?" Though the situation appeared clear enough, Tenzō remained on guard.

"The target has no intention of resisting. I'll leave the rest to you." Uchiha Shunichi spoke.

Clearly, he did not want to involve himself in this matter.

First, he was only a genin. Although he had entered the Anbu as an exception, he was still a genin and had no authority to judge the mission on his own.

Second, matters like this were difficult to distinguish between truth and lies. Uchiha Shunichi would not choose to believe him based merely on his words.

"Give up resisting. I'll take you back to Konoha." Tenzō hesitated before speaking to the man.

The man's expression changed when he heard Tenzō's words. Without hesitation, he immediately ran. He seemed to use some strange ninja technique, and his speed was incredibly fast.

But no matter how fast he was, Uchiha Shunichi quickly blocked his path.

His earlier retreat had not merely indicated to Tenzō that he did not wish to participate. It had also subtly placed the man within an encirclement.

In this situation, no matter which direction the man ran, Uchiha Shunichi or Tenzō could stop him immediately.

The blocked man revealed a ferocious expression. He had no weapon in his hands, but his fingernails were harder than any weapon, and they were covered in a layer of blue chakra.

Clearly, this was also a special ninja technique.

Special Jonin generally did not possess the overall strength of a jonin, but one of their skills was exceptionally outstanding.

This missing-nin had evaded Konoha's pursuit for so many years. Naturally, he possessed his own unique abilities.

However, choosing Uchiha Shunichi as his direction of escape was truly far too careless.

The instant Uchiha Shunichi's eyes met his, the Special Jonin immediately lost all ability to resist.

Then a blade flashed down, severing the man's arm outright!

"Uchiha..." Seeing Uchiha Shunichi's somewhat strange eyes, the man instantly recalled a legendary figure.

On the battlefield, every enemy of the Uchiha Clan understood one principle: never make eye contact with an Uchiha!

Because he had revealed his Sharingan, Uchiha Shunichi's Transformation Technique failed. When the man saw the clan crest on Uchiha Shunichi's clothes, he completely abandoned any thought of resistance.

His remaining hand went straight for his own throat. Blood sprayed forth... and only a corpse remained where he stood.

Uchiha Shunichi looked indifferently at the corpse on the ground and said nothing.

"This mission is over. You performed exceptionally well. Things should be easier for us from here on." Tenzō offered a few words of comfort.

In truth, Uchiha Shunichi did not care about it at all. Though he did not quite understand some of the man's actions, such matters were unimportant.

Only after everything was over did Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate arrive leisurely. Compared to Tenzō, the two of them were like police officers arriving late in a movie.

"The mission ended this quickly? The little guy's pretty capable!" Seeing the man's corpse on the ground, Uzuki Yugao immediately knew Tenzō had not acted.

"He killed himself!" Uchiha Shunichi said. Though the man had died in the end, his performance just now had stirred a trace of pity in Uchiha Shunichi's heart.

Tenzō fell silent for a moment, then used Earth Release to bury the man. The bloody stench in the area faded considerably, and the traces on the ground disappeared as well.

It was as though nothing had happened.

"Void, you did well. Being able to do this at your age is already remarkable. You exceeded my expectations."

"However... our mission isn't completely over yet. Next, we need to follow Kakashi and the others from a distance until their mission is complete."

Only after Tenzō finished handling everything did he speak to Uchiha Shunichi.

"Mm, I know." Uchiha Shunichi nodded, checked that there was no blood on the blade, and only then sheathed it.

"It's just an ordinary transport mission. I doubt there'll even be..." Uzuki Yugao had not finished speaking when her expression abruptly changed.