Uchiha

"Hey, wide forehead, were you the one talking just now?"

Inuzuka Mao was even more impulsive and crude than Nawaki. He deeply disliked the black-haired girl's gaze and immediately cursed as he questioned her.

The black-haired girl did not answer, but her gaze turned even colder.

"Mao, watch out!"

Kirito suddenly shouted at Inuzuka Mao.

As soon as he spoke, something black shot toward Inuzuka Mao.

It was a Kunai, moving incredibly fast as it cut through the air with a sharp whine.

As a member of the Inuzuka Clan, Inuzuka Mao possessed a beast-like instinct for danger. In truth, he had sensed the threat the moment the Kunai appeared, and with Kirito's warning, he instinctively tried to dodge.

Unfortunately, his body could not keep up with his reaction. Mao only managed to twist slightly, and the Kunai still slashed his right leg.

"Tch."

The black-haired girl let out an annoyed sound the next moment.

At the same time, her cold eyes fixed on Kirito.

Under her gaze, Kirito immediately felt uncomfortable all over, as though he had encountered a tiger or a bear deep in the forest.

Because this world possessed the miraculous energy known as Chakra, the beasts here were far larger than those he had seen in his previous life. The apex predators in particular were often two or three times bigger.

Kirito had been hunting wild beasts in the forest recently, so he had naturally encountered powerful predators. He was confident he could handle creatures like giant boars, wolves, and snakes, but when it came to tigers and bears, he still had to avoid their edge.

These apex predators possessed terrifying Strength. They could easily shatter rocks and knock down trees, and they were tough, durable, and incredibly fast.

If Kirito had not mastered using Natural Energy to instantly enhance his own Strength and Speed, he would likely have been in grave danger.

In short, Kirito had no good way to deal with those apex predators for now, nor did he have any desire to face them.

The black-haired girl before him was the same. He had no desire to become her target.

"Hey, what are you doing? How can you use a Kunai to attack a companion?"

While Kirito remained on high alert, Nawaki saw that Inuzuka Mao had been injured and immediately pointed at the black-haired girl, shouting furiously.

Nawaki had received a pure Will of Fire education. Since childhood, he had been taught that everyone in the village was a companion as close as family, that companions must never be harmed, and that they had to be protected even at the cost of one's life.

Therefore, he was extremely furious at the black-haired girl for hurting a companion.

"Companion? I don't want such weak companions. You useless trash from the Senju family."

The black-haired girl showed no remorse whatsoever as she sneered.

"Bastard!"

Nawaki shouted as he charged toward the black-haired girl.

Although Nawaki possessed Chakra—and a considerable amount of it—he did not know how to use it. He could not even use Chakra to climb trees. By the time he had painstakingly climbed halfway up the tree, he discovered that the black-haired girl had already jumped down from the branch and was smiling mockingly at him.

Nawaki's teeth itched with fury. He hurried down from the tree and chased after the black-haired girl.

But the black-haired girl brushed past him like a gust of wind, then stepped on the trunk and quickly returned to the tree, looking down at him as she continued to mock him.

Unwilling to let it go, Nawaki climbed the tree again. Yet when he reached halfway up, the black-haired girl came down again and toyed with him as though he were a monkey.

How pathetic.

"That idiot."

Shikaku said, covering his face.

"Damn it, stop running around! If you've got guts, stop running!"

Nawaki finally realized that he could not catch the black-haired girl and unconsciously tried to provoke her.

But the black-haired girl casually flicked out a Senbon.

The sharp black Senbon shot toward him, making Nawaki's hairs stand on end.

With a clear "ding," a small stone struck the Senbon at the critical moment, defusing Nawaki's crisis.

Nawaki immediately sighed in relief. Then, distracted, he fell from the tree and landed on his butt, clutching it as he screamed in pain.

The black-haired girl looked disdainfully at Nawaki's clownish behavior. She had already turned to face Kirito and the others, her eyes examining them one by one before finally settling on Kirito.

"Got you. Fall down!"

Suddenly, a figure raced across the ground on all fours and rushed before the black-haired girl in the blink of an eye.

It was Inuzuka Mao, who had successfully used the Four Legs Technique.

Thanks to Nawaki buying him time, he had finally succeeded after several failed attempts.

After using the Four Legs Technique, Inuzuka Mao's Strength and Speed instantly rose by a considerable amount.

In Kirito's view, Inuzuka Mao's Strength and Speed had both risen to around 2. He was already much stronger than an ordinary adult.

Facing Inuzuka Mao's sudden attack, the black-haired girl did not panic at all. Her eyes suddenly changed as she activated the One-Tomoe Sharingan. The tomoe spun rapidly in her eyes as she swiftly sidestepped Mao's strike, then chopped viciously into the back of his neck with her hand.

Inuzuka Mao was instantly knocked to the ground and passed out on the spot.

When Kuromaru, the little puppy, saw Inuzuka Mao fall, he was frightened, but he still rushed forward at once, barking at the black-haired girl and leaping at her, trying to bite her.

"Annoying stupid dog."

A flash of disgust passed through the black-haired girl's red eyes as she sent Kuromaru flying with a single kick.

Shikaku swiftly caught Kuromaru, then said coldly, "Uchiha, what exactly do you want? If you keep messing around, don't blame us for getting rough."

"That's right, we're not easy to bully."

"If you weren't a girl, I would've taught you a lesson already."

"Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're cute, you bastard."

With Shikaku taking the lead in making threats, the other children began shouting as well. With their numerical advantage, none of them showed the slightest fear.

"Hmph, then let's see how you plan to get rough with me."

The black-haired girl did not take Shikaku and the others seriously at all. She charged at them alone.

In the blink of an eye, the black-haired girl had rushed into the crowd. With swift strikes, she knocked the children down one after another. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio was no exception. Shikaku, who had been the loudest with his threats, had it the worst—he took two consecutive punches, leaving both eyes blackened like a panda's.

In less than half a minute, aside from Kirito and Nawaki, who stood stunned in the distance, every other child had been defeated by the black-haired girl.

Kirito had been in the crowd as well. The reason he had not fallen was not because he had blocked the black-haired girl's attacks, but simply because she had not attacked him.

"You're the one who hit my Senbon with a stone just now, aren't you?"

The black-haired girl's Sharingan fixed tightly on Kirito as she spoke in a cold voice.

Her One-Tomoe Sharingan granted her powerful observational abilities, allowing her to clearly notice how Kirito differed from the other children. For instance, there was not the slightest trace of panic in his eyes as he faced her.

"Who knows?"

Kirito replied with a grin.

The black-haired girl frowned, her mood turning sour again.

She instantly threw a Senbon at Kirito's right leg, but he quickly caught it barehanded. Then, with a forceful flick, he sent the Senbon shooting back at the black-haired girl even faster. She immediately tilted her head to dodge it, then performed a backflip to avoid a fist coming straight at her.

"Your reactions are pretty fast. How about this, then?"

Kirito said with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, he threw a small stone toward the black-haired girl in midair.

The small stone hit its target.

With a bang, a cloud of white smoke appeared, and the black-haired girl turned into a log.

Substitution Technique.

"Crap."

Seeing this, Kirito realized something was terribly wrong. A scorching current of air came from behind him.

He turned around—and froze.

A massive fireball was flying straight at him.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!

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