"System, raise my constitution to 100."
Ding! Consumed 50 evolution points. Current constitution: 100. Ding! Congratulations, host. You have met the conditions for Sharingan evolution. Proceed?
"Cut the chatter. Evolve it."
Evolution successful. Congratulations, host. Your Sharingan has evolved into the Two-Tomoe Sharingan.
As the notification ended, Yechen felt an aching numbness in his left eye. He could clearly sense the energy in his body gathering there.
"Aah!"
With a roar, his Sharingan and Byakugan manifested on their own.
At the same time, the single tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly, gradually becoming two.
The instant the Two-Tomoe Sharingan formed, the pain vanished. Yechen looked ahead and found that both his vision and his perception were several times sharper than before.
Although these were support abilities, they could often play a major role in battle.
The only regret was that he had not unlocked a new innate ability.
"System, raise my strength to 100."
Ding! Consumed 70 evolution points. Current strength: 100. Ding! Congratulations, host. Your Byakugan has evolved into its second-stage form.
Likewise, the Byakugan's basic abilities had grown threefold. Previously, he could see one kilometer away and focus as far as three kilometers. Now, he could see objects three kilometers away, with a focused range of nearly six kilometers. This ability alone made the second-stage Byakugan unbelievably powerful.
Just then, the Primordial Chaos Devouring Heaven Technique began circulating on its own, and a divine eye seemed to slowly open between his brows.
By cultivating the first layer of the Primordial Chaos Devouring Heaven Technique-Illusion-Piercing Eye: Profound Energy Perception-to its ultimate state, he could develop the Illusion-Piercing Divine Eye.
With all three of his attributes reaching 100, the divine eye's perception had attained a microscopic level, further improving his efficiency at absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Meanwhile, primordial origin energy had begun nourishing his body, making him immune to illness and doubling his lifespan.
Yechen felt utterly refreshed, as though he were soaking in an ocean of spiritual energy.
Over the next three days, all the ninja at the outpost rested and recovered, waiting for the next rotation to arrive.
Yechen remained immersed in cultivation, spending the evolution points he had earned little by little while his strength rapidly increased.
The third day arrived.
Dawn was just breaking.
Yechen ended his cultivation, having spent all the evolution points he had earned.
Character panel: Host: Uchiha Ye Chen Rank: Chunin Cultivation technique: Primordial Chaos Devouring Heaven Technique Combat power: 38.2 Strength: 126 Constitution: 130 Spirit: 128 Energy: 1280 Bloodlines: Sharingan (two tomoe), Byakugan (second stage) Innate abilities: Energy Conversion, Amaterasu (level 1), Space Compression (level 1), Illusion-Piercing Divine Eye Skills: Advanced Three Body Technique (level 9), Fire Release-Wildfire: Flame Waves Soaring to the Heavens (level 13), Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique (level 5), Rasengan (level 3), Lightning Release-Divine Thunder: Nine Transformations (level 2) Evolution points: 0
"Illusion-Piercing Divine Eye?" Yechen was somewhat surprised. This was an innate ability too.
Only after examining it carefully did he understand its effects.
The Illusion-Piercing Divine Eye could not only help him perceive the true nature of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but also see through the world's deceptive appearances.
In other words, the Illusion-Piercing Divine Eye could accelerate Yechen's comprehension of heaven and earth and allow him to see through falsehoods. Any illusion would be rendered useless before it.
Of course, that also depended on Yechen's cultivation level. If an enemy's cultivation far exceeded his, the Illusion-Piercing Divine Eye could, at most, weaken their illusion techniques.
Ultimately, it still came down to his own strength.
Even so, it was already formidable. At the very least, he would no longer have to fear enemy illusion techniques.
Near noon, the ninja arriving to relieve them reached the town outpost amid the rumble of wagon wheels.
Once the two sides completed the handover, Yechen and the others were free to return to the Main Camp.
More than thirty people had come with him, but there were hardly any familiar faces on the return journey. Most belonged to the teams that had arrived later as reinforcements.
Even among the survivors, most were Chunin or Jonin. Only a handful of Genin remained.
There was a reason Genin were called cannon fodder on the battlefield.
On the journey back, the entire group was subdued. Many of their teammates and brothers had been left on the battlefield forever. How could they possibly feel happy?
Yechen glanced at Ito Miyuki beside him. After three days, her emotions had stabilized considerably, but she had grown quiet and withdrawn.
Clearly, she had yet to emerge from the shadow of her teacher's and companions' deaths.
Yechen had no good solution for that. He could only hope time would wear away the scars.
Time passed little by little as the group continued at a steady pace. Without supplies to escort, they could have traveled faster, but there were still many wounded among them, so they had to slow down.
Even so, they returned to the Main Camp early the next morning.
Submitting the mission report was not something Genin like them needed to worry about. Yechen was happy to be spared the trouble. After saying goodbye to Ito Miyuki, he devoted himself entirely to cultivation.
In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.
At the southern training ground of the Main Camp.
Yechen sparred with Ito Miyuki, blade in hand.
They had been fighting for half an hour, though Yechen had really been acting as her sparring partner the whole time. He had been the one to suggest it.
Since then, Ito Miyuki had become quiet and dispirited. Abe Rō's death had likely dealt her a heavy blow.
Yechen did not want Miyuki to remain so despondent. The only way to reignite her fighting spirit was through training.
To his surprise, the method worked quite well.
On the training ground, Ito Miyuki panted heavily. Sweat had long since soaked her clothes, and the hair over her forehead clung messily to her face. Yet she seemed to be doing much better overall.
Though she was exhausted, the dejection in her eyes had been replaced by a trace of resolve.
"Miyuki, let's stop here for today. Go back and get some rest. Everything will be all right."
"Mm... thank you, Yechen."