"All right, unexpected things happen on missions. Don't get paranoid. Besides, you've got me, a Jonin, here to protect you!" Uenaka Masaki said.
"Right!" Hirai Mitsuteru finally nodded.
Uchiha Sora, however, silently kept his guard up. He remembered that in the original story, Itachi's teammate had died because Obito Uchiha had been pulling strings behind the scenes.
Obito had very likely engineered Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan awakening.
As for why Obito wanted to help Itachi awaken his Sharingan, perhaps he wanted to cultivate Itachi as a tool, planting a pawn for his future plans.
Uchiha Sora had graduated early alongside Itachi. As another Uchiha prodigy who had graduated at the same age, might he also have caught Obito's attention?
Looks like I need to find a way to get stronger faster, Uchiha Sora thought.
To guard against Obito, he had to become strong enough to make him wary.
During the missions that followed, Uchiha Sora became extremely cautious. Not only that, he also decided to develop the Rasengan himself.
Uchiha Sora already had a substantial amount of chakra. By his own estimate, he could probably rival an average Jonin.
After all, his Chakra Extraction Technique had been training automatically for nearly two years.
Moreover, his Sharingan could already reach the two-tomoe stage. Overall, he had everything he needed to develop an A-rank ninjutsu.
He had simply been focused on building his foundation before, rather than practicing more advanced ninjutsu.
Now that his foundation was solid, developing a few trump-card ninjutsu was essential.
Developing the Rasengan went remarkably smoothly. Following the detailed instructions given in the original story, Uchiha Sora had barely begun the first step when the system immediately displayed a notification:
"Ding! Rasengan ninjutsu project successfully established. Entering automatic training mode!"
About half an hour later.
"Ding! Thanks to your detailed instructions, your Rasengan's automatic training speed has increased dramatically! Training is complete!"
The moment the system's voice rang out, Uchiha Sora couldn't help laughing.
After developing the Rasengan, he immediately began setting up a training project for Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
However, the system soon gave him another notification:
"Your chakra reserves are insufficient. Automatic training for Wind Release: Rasenshuriken has failed!" "Your Chakra Extraction Technique has suffered a setback and resolved to train harder. Its automatic training speed has increased dramatically!"
Uchiha Sora immediately felt his maximum chakra capacity begin increasing at a noticeable rate.
At this rate, Uchiha Sora's chakra reserves would double in less than a month!
Although he hadn't been able to train Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, spurring his Chakra Extraction Technique's enthusiasm for training was still something to celebrate.
"Ding! Your physique feels it will become a burden on your Chakra Extraction Technique! It has suddenly resolved to improve, broken through its limits, and successfully evolved into an ordinary sage body!"
This message gave Uchiha Sora another pleasant surprise. He hadn't expected his physique to evolve into a sage body!
Now Uchiha Sora wouldn't have to worry about running short of chakra in the future.
With this tremendous improvement, Uchiha Sora's sense of danger finally eased a little.
A month later.
After completing a C-rank mission, Uenaka Masaki told the three of them, "Registration for the Chunin Ninja Exams opens next month. I think all three of you have performed very well, and you're ready to take the exams. If you're interested, I can register you."
Uzuki Yugao and Heping Hirai Mitsuteru both looked eager as they turned to Uchiha Sora. "What do you think, Sora? Why don't we give it a try?"
Uchiha Sora frowned slightly.
To be honest, he didn't want to take the Chunin Ninja Exams and become a Chunin so soon.
He knew all too well that the tallest tree caught the strongest wind.
Performing well at the Ninja Academy, or even graduating early, was understandable. But if he advanced from Genin to Chunin in just one year, that level of talent would likely bring trouble.
Moreover, as a member of the Uchiha Clan, he was bound to draw the vigilance and suspicion of the Konoha High Command.
Therefore, he absolutely would not become a Chunin so soon. He would even rather remain a Genin for life than advance rapidly and attract unnecessary attention.
Still, faced with his two teammates' hopeful gazes, Uchiha Sora thought it over and nodded in agreement.
First, the Chunin Ninja Exams traditionally required teams of three to register together. Individual registration was only permitted as an exception if someone's teammates had died on a mission.
Second, Uchiha Sora could easily hold back during the Chunin Ninja Exams to avoid standing out. He could even withdraw partway through.
All he needed to do was accompany his teammates through the process so they could take the exams. He could simply be there to support them.
"Great! Now that all three of us agree, we can register for the Chunin Ninja Exams!" Hirai Mitsuteru said eagerly after getting Uchiha Sora's agreement.
"All right. Since you all agree, I'll register you in the next couple of days," Uenaka Masaki said with a smile.
If Uchiha Sora and his teammates passed the Chunin Ninja Exams, he would also receive praise from the Hokage as their supervising Jonin. Naturally, he hoped all three would succeed.
The next day, Uenaka Masaki brought them word that their registration had gone through. He also gave them an extended break, allowing them to spend the nearly one month remaining before the Chunin Ninja Exams training hard and improving their strength.
The three also took the opportunity to ask Uenaka Masaki some questions about ninjutsu and request that he teach them a few powerful techniques.
However, Uenaka Masaki didn't have many trump-card ninjutsu himself, so there wasn't much he could teach them.
In the end, he used his connections to obtain a few scrolls from friends and gave Uchiha Sora and his teammates one each.
"Thank you, Masaki-sensei!" the three said gratefully as they received the scrolls.
Then they each opened theirs to take a look.
Hirai Mitsuteru's scroll contained a B-rank water release ninjutsu, the Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
Uzuki Yugao's contained the Shadow Clone Technique.
Uchiha Sora's scroll contained the B-rank Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
All three were B-rank ninjutsu, techniques that normally required Jonin-level ability to learn and master.
If Uchiha Sora and his teammates could master these three techniques, they would undoubtedly prove tremendously powerful in the Chunin Ninja Exams.
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