The Right Way to Use Him

The fear of insufficient firepower was etched into the bones of the people of this country.

As a transmigrator, Uchiha Shu was naturally no exception.

Even though he could increase his chakra reserves by overtaxing his chakra, the number of cells ultimately had a limit. Sixteen cards was already the limit for someone his age. To increase it further, he would either have to grow older or improve the quality of his cells.

Fortunately, while sixteen cards was not much, it was enough!

Uchiha Shu swept his gaze through the woods. Though he did not find Kurenai Yuhi, he still had a rough idea of her location.

"It should be... over there, right?"

Xiu muttered as he leisurely raised his hands. His middle, ring, and little fingers curled and overlapped in sequence, while his index fingers remained straight with their tips pressed together, forming the Horse hand sign.

For some reason, Kurenai Yuhi suddenly felt a faint sense of foreboding rise within her in the forest.

She tilted her head slightly and happened to see Xiu raise his hands to form a hand sign.

Another one-handed sign?

This brat's chakra control was a little too outrageous, wasn't it?

Tch, with just one hand sign, there was no way to tell what Ninjutsu it was...

Kurenai Yuhi furrowed her brows tightly as the ominous feeling in her heart grew clearer.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"

Boom—

Uchiha Shu suddenly spat out a streak of fire. It shot straight ahead for seven or eight meters before exploding with a boom, instantly transforming into a towering tidal wave of flames that blotted out the sky!

The flames covered an enormous area, dozens of meters high and over a hundred meters wide. They swept toward Kurenai Yuhi's hiding place at incredible speed, turning dozens of massive trees that would take several people to encircle into charcoal in an instant!

The terrifying sea of fire seemed capable of burning everything to ashes. At that moment, nearly all of Konoha saw the blaze rising from the training grounds.

"Earth Release: Hiding in Mole Technique!"

Kurenai Yuhi formed hand signs at high speed, her fingers moving so fast they nearly left afterimages. She only wished her parents had given her two more pairs of hands.

Then her figure sank and burrowed underground.

The instant Kurenai vanished, the terrifying sea of fire roared over the place where she had been standing.

Five meters underground, Kurenai Yuhi listened to the commotion above her and let out a long breath of lingering fear.

Thank goodness. She had been practicing chakra nature transformation lately in preparation for becoming a Jonin.

A Jonin could not have any obvious weaknesses in their strength, so aside from mastering one or two chakra nature transformations, they also had to be proficient in several basic Ninjutsu from the five elemental releases to meet the standard.

Especially functional Ninjutsu like Hiding in Mole Technique.

"You really saved my life, Kakashi!"

A trace of lingering fear flashed through Kurenai Yuhi's eyes. She had learned her Earth Release from Kakashi.

"But such a huge commotion is bound to cause trouble. Damn it, I was forced to flee so miserably, and now I even have to clean up that brat's mess..."

Though unwilling, Kurenai Yuhi still chose a direction, traveled several dozen meters underground, and slowly poked her head out.

The moment she emerged from the ground, a blade was held before her eyes.

"Don't move!"

A cold voice reached her ears. Looking at the masked Anbu members looming over her, Kurenai Yuhi could not help sighing.

"I knew it... such a huge commotion was bound to bring you people here."

"Identity."

"Kurenai Yuhi, number 010881..."

"Why are you here?"

"I was just appointed by the Third Hokage as a Jonin squad leader. I was sparring here with my team members."

"That little brat?"

The person asking the questions stepped aside. With a single glance, Kurenai Yuhi saw four masked Anbu members surrounding Xiu and Izumi.

Izumi stood behind Xiu, looking somewhat uneasy.

Uchiha Shu stood with his arms folded, gazing down at everyone in the same posture as before, his face practically screaming invincibility.

"Did you cast that Fire Release just now?" the leading Anbu ninja asked.

Xiu sized him up. He had a head of white hair, and beneath his mask, one eye was black while the other was red—the red one being the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan.

With such distinctive traits, Xiu recognized him at once.

The Shinobi World's top internet celebrity, Konoha's technician, Kakashi Hatake!

"I did. Is there a problem?"

Xiu swept his gaze over the group and spotted another familiar figure.

It was a small-statured ninja, more than a head shorter than the others, with smooth black hair tied in a low ponytail that hung down his back.

Though he wore a mask, Xiu still recognized him—Itachi Uchiha.

Xiu could feel the other man scrutinizing him, and he could not help frowning in disgust.

Itachi Uchiha: "???"

"Ahem... To be able to unleash Fire Release on that scale at your age, you are very talented. But you should still be careful within the village. Training Ground Three is a forest environment, after all, and starting a wildfire would be bad. If you want to practice Fire Release, I recommend Training Ground Eighteen. There's an artificial lake there, and it isn't far from the Uchiha clan grounds either."

Noticing Xiu's dislike for Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi spoke calmly and interrupted the dispute that might have arisen.

Hearing that, Xiu nodded slightly. "Ah, sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

"???"

Kurenai Yuhi's eyes flew wide open, her face full of disbelief.

This brat actually knew how to apologize?!

That vile, arrogant, overbearing, inherently evil Uchiha brat actually apologized to someone?!

Then what was the humiliation I suffered just now supposed to be?

Kakashi was somewhat surprised as well. If he had to describe the impression Xiu gave him, it would be an Uchiha among Uchiha—especially with that look of utter invincibility. He could not have looked more Uchiha if he tried.

Kakashi had thought he would be a troublesome brat, yet he was unexpectedly reasonable!

"Well... judging by your age, you must have only just graduated early. It's normal not to understand these things. Just be more careful in the future."

As Kakashi spoke, he gave a slight nod to the Anbu squad beside Kurenai Yuhi. Once they confirmed that it had merely been an accident, they all vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

Seeing this, Kurenai Yuhi climbed out of the ground, only to find that Xiu had already formed a hand sign. She hurriedly raised her hand. "Stop! That's enough! I surrender!"

Xiu lowered his hands and gave a snorting laugh. "Good. A wise man submits to the circumstances~"

Kurenai Yuhi shook her head helplessly. She had not expected to be thoroughly crushed head-on by a brat who had just graduated from the ninja academy.

Amid her helplessness, she could not help feeling curious. "You should have already mastered the nature transformation of Fire chakra, right? At your age, just how did you train?"

"Shadow Clones." Uchiha Shu's answer was concise. "Cut the nonsense. Since you lost..."

"Then as we agreed earlier, the team's decision-making authority will belong to you from now on. I'll only be responsible for acting as a tool to accept missions. Is that acceptable?" Kurenai Yuhi's attitude was unexpectedly calm.

"Good sense~"

Xiu nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Seeing that, Kurenai Yuhi fell into thought.

She felt as though she had grasped something, and a vague idea surfaced in her mind.

Then she suddenly smiled brightly. "In that case, let's call Izumi's mother and have a meal together later. How about I treat everyone?"

Xiu shook his head. "I should treat..."

"No, I'll treat this time. You two just graduated. If you want to treat someone, wait until next time, after you've earned some money." Kurenai Yuhi said.

Hearing that, Xiu did not insist further. "Mm... then I won't stand on ceremony."

So that was it!

Recalling the conversation between Xiu and Kakashi earlier, a faint glimmer flashed through Kurenai Yuhi's eyes.

She felt as though she had found the right way to use Uchiha Shu!