The smell of gunpowder mixed with blood, like the choking scent of a cheap cigar, suddenly assailed Lin Yue's nostrils.
He abruptly opened his eyes, his brain feeling like it had been stuffed into a high-speed paper shredder—countless memory fragments that didn't belong to him surged in.
The hand seals for "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique" practiced repeatedly in the Ninja Academy, the blood-stained forehead protector when his parents fell on the Third Great Ninja War front, the bumpy carriage three days ago when transporting wounded supplies with Tanaka's squad, and the blood blister on his left index finger from setting traps... These memories belonging to "Uchiha Yue" were violently colliding with his twenty-eight years of life.
"Uchiha Yue... the original body's name," Lin Yue murmured to himself, letting the memory fragments piece together in his mind.
He gradually saw the original body's life clearly: as a member of the Uchiha Clan, the original body had shown a talent for the Sharingan from a young age, but due to the clan's decline and the hostility of Konoha's higher-ups, he was marginalized in Konoha and didn't reveal it.
"I must revive the Uchiha Clan... I must make those who look down on us pay the price!" These were the words the original body silently recited every day, and the only belief that sustained him.
"So that's how it is..." A complex emotion flickered in Lin Yue's eyes.
He could clearly feel that in the original body's memories, besides pain and unwillingness, there was a deeper affection for his clan—a kind of obsession etched into his bones, which hadn't dissipated even in death.
In a daze, Lin Yue felt as if he was back in the office building's meeting room—the projector shone with dazzling light, a thick project progress chart lay before him, and five department heads under him were arguing around him.
"Manager Lin, the technical team hasn't cleared all the bugs yet, the launch time has to be postponed!" "The operations team disagrees! Missing this event node will increase user churn by at least 20%!"
At that time, he merely tapped his fingertips on the table and calmly prioritized: "Three people from the technical team will work overnight to fix core bugs, the rest will cooperate with operations to create an emergency plan. I'll monitor the progress; it must be launched by 8 AM tomorrow."
That instinct to coordinate dozens of people and grasp key points amidst chaos now became his anchor in dealing with this unfamiliar situation.
"So I'm not in a dream where I died from overwork..." Lin Yue pinched his arm, the stinging pain from the wound on his left arm was incredibly real.
He looked down at the ground outside the camp, the tips of the ground spikes faintly visible under the fallen leaves were the traps that "Uchiha Yue" and Sato and Takahashi had spent half an hour burying this morning.
Inside the unfamiliar body, the original body's calmness remained—he didn't panic, but instinctively moved his fingers, trying to recall the hand seals from memory: "Tiger - Rat - Dog..." Three basic seals were performed consecutively, and a faint Chakra fluctuation actually appeared at his fingertips.
Although it was as clumsy as a novice touching a computer for the first time, it at least proved that this body's abilities were controllable.
[Ding—Host consciousness stable, original body memory fusion complete, Uchiha Rise System binding successful!]
[Current World: Naruto (Konoha Year 49, Third Great Ninja War)]
[Host Identity: Uchiha Yue (12 years old, Uchiha Clan, Konoha Genin)]
[Core Functions: Uchiha Legion Summon (100 summon points / person for Genin, points need to be acquired through missions), World Travel (Cooling Down), Shop Function]
No sooner had the system prompt sounded than a hurried "rustling" of footsteps suddenly came from the distant forest, like a sudden warning of thunder.
Sato, guarding the camp entrance, suddenly tensed his body, his hand gripping a paper bomb tightened abruptly, and he called out in a low voice: "Takahashi! People are coming from the east!"
Takahashi immediately leaned close to a tree trunk and listened, his face instantly changing: "More than one! At least five or six people! Their footsteps are heavy, like they're carrying Ninja tools!"
Lin Yue didn't follow with an exclamation, but immediately activated his Chakra according to the method in his memories—a crimson one-tomoe slowly rotated in his pupils.
The figures of the Iwagakure Ninja slowed down in his vision; 5 Iwagakure Genin led the way with kunai, their steps tight but hurried;
1 Chunin carrying a bulky Ninja tool bag followed behind, the sheath of his short sword at his waist reflecting a cold light, his gaze frequently sweeping towards the injured tent behind the camp, his target obvious.
He slowly walked over to Tanaka, who was changing dressings for the injured, and said in a steady voice: "Uncle Tanaka, the Iwagakure Ninja are here. Their target should be the injured and supplies.
The Chunin's Ninja tool bag is very thick, he might have a lot of paper bombs, and they will deliberately avoid raised areas, their vigilance is very high." There was no trace of panic in his tone.
Tanaka suddenly stood up, his rough palm pressing on Lin Yue's shoulder, with a steady force honed by long experience on the battlefield: "Good boy, you observed very carefully! Stick to the original plan!
Sato, Takahashi, come with me to the ambush point. Make sure they enter the trap area before we act! Yue, you watch the injured, don't let those Iwagakure Ninja pull any tricks—be sure to protect yourself!"
"Understood." Lin Yue nodded, his gaze always fixed on that Iwagakure Chunin—catching more details.
The Chunin occasionally turned back to gesture to the Genin behind him, his hand movements clearly indicating commands, as if he was assigning attack routes;
Lin Yue pondered, his fingertips again attempting to form hand seals: "Boar - Ox - Tiger..." This time, the Chakra fluctuation was more obvious than before, although still very clumsy, it could at least ensure that he could use Ninjutsu at a critical moment.
Soon, under Tanaka's deliberate guidance, the two foremost Iwagakure Genin rushed to the front of the camp. They clearly didn't take this crude camp seriously, and stepped directly into the pile of fallen leaves—"Detonate!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Three explosive tags detonated simultaneously, the shockwave instantly sending gravel and broken branches flying, the firelight illuminating the dense forest as if it were daytime.
"Ah!" The screams were particularly piercing on the empty battlefield; two Genin struggled on the ground, blood instantly staining the ground.
The remaining 3 Genin stopped in fear, but were sharply reprimanded by the Chunin behind them: "Useless! You can't even avoid these traps? Go around! Whoever rushes into the camp first and kills the most people will get more rewards when they return!"
Lin Yue's heart pounded—that short sword-wielding Chunin, though fierce, deliberately kept half a meter away from the Genin; and every time the short sword-wielding Chunin took a step, he would first glance at the ground, clearly afraid of stepping on another trap.
"His movements are half a beat slower than before!" Lin Yue thought, at the same time gripping the kunai in his Ninja tool bag—he was just a Genin, and still unfamiliar with using Ninjutsu, so he definitely couldn't beat a battle-hardened Chunin head-on; he could only wait for an opportunity.
Tanaka's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly threw a scroll of paper bombs towards the Iwagakure Ninja, then immediately performed Ninjutsu: "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!" A low earth wall rose in front of the camp, the paper bombs exploded with a "boom," and thick smoke instantly enveloped the battlefield.
"Charge! Take them down!" The short sword-wielding Chunin shouted, being the first to rush out of the thick smoke, his short sword thrusting directly at Tanaka. Tanaka was prepared, pulling out his short sword to block, and with a crisp "clang," the two instantly became entangled in combat, sparks flying amidst the sword glints.
Another Genin carrying a Ninja tool bag circled to the side, pulled out a few shuriken, and threw them at Sato and Takahashi. Sato hastily blocked with his kunai, but was cut on the arm by a shuriken, gasping with a "hiss"—he immediately felt something was wrong, it was poisoned, and the effects were very fast, his arm began to feel numb.
"Takahashi, cover Sato's retreat to the back!" Tanaka shouted, distracted, but the short sword-wielding Chunin seized the opening, his short sword slashing Tanaka's right arm, blood instantly flowing down.
The situation instantly worsened. Lin Yue hid to the side, watching the battlefield: Tanaka was gradually losing ground in a one-on-one fight, Sato was poisoned, Takahashi had to protect him, the Genin carrying the Ninja tool bag was still throwing poisoned shuriken, and the remaining two Iwagakure Genin were also preparing to circle around... "I must help Uncle Tanaka!" Lin Yue gritted his teeth, his gaze falling on the short sword-wielding Chunin—every time he slashed, there was a small pause when retracting his sword, and combined with his fear of traps, this was an opportunity!
Lin Yue quietly circled out from the other side of the camp. The thick smoke hadn't completely dispersed, conveniently obscuring his figure. He gripped his kunai tightly, watching the short sword-wielding Chunin's movements—once, twice, thrice... Finally, after the opponent slashed again, at the moment of retracting his sword, Lin Yue suddenly rushed forward!
Now was the time, "Uchiha Throwing Technique!"
As the Iwagakure Chunin fought, a flying kunai flew towards the short sword-wielding Chunin's back. The Chunin instantly noticed, wanting to turn and block, but was firmly entangled by Tanaka's short sword—Tanaka had clearly also noticed Lin Yue's movement!
As the Iwagakure Chunin was distracted for a moment, "Pfft!" Tanaka accurately stabbed the Chunin's heart, blood splattering on Lin Yue's clothes. This Iwagakure Chunin let out a scream, and Tanaka immediately swung his sword at the Chunin's throat. A moment later, the Chunin's body softly fell to the ground, completely devoid of breath.
[Ding—Assisted in killing 1 Iwagakure Chunin, first kill Chunin mission reward: 100 summon points, Chakra Recovery Potion (Basic) x2]
The Genin carrying the Ninja tool bag saw his comrade killed, his face instantly turning pale. He stopped throwing shuriken, turned and ran, but was stopped by Tanaka's shout: "Trying to run? Not so easy!"
Lin Yue was about to give chase when he found that the remaining two Iwagakure Genin had already rushed near the injured camp! His Sharingan locked onto the targets—these two Genin were about to attack the injured!
"Stop!" Lin Yue shouted as he rushed over, but it was too late—one of the Genin had already raised his kunai and thrown it at an injured person on a stretcher!
Just at this critical moment, a loud shout suddenly came from a distance: "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
An orange fireball flew towards the two Genin, forcing them to quickly retreat. Lin Yue looked up and saw a girl wearing Uchiha Clan clothes running towards the battlefield, still forming hand seals...