"I used Sharingan genjutsu to hypnotize him, then coordinated with Aoki's shuriken to finish him off,"Uchiha Yoichi explained.
The interrogation unit could extract the general sequence of events from the Iwa ninja Jonin's mind anyway. At the time, when Yoichi swung his blade, the Iwa Jonin had uncontrollably raised both hands to block.
What do ninjas rely on to kill their enemies?
Ninjutsu.Taijutsu.Genjutsu.
But under the superpower [Catching a Blade Barehanded], the Iwa Jonin's ninjutsu and taijutsu were rendered completely useless. He became nothing more than a lamb awaiting slaughter.
Of course, Uchiha Yoichi was in the same position.
Fortunately, Yoichi reacted quickly enough and allowed his teammates to kill the Iwa Jonin in time. Otherwise, the one who would have died would have been him.
"Sharingan genjutsu?""Your one-tomoe Sharingan?""You managed to hypnotize an Iwa Jonin with that?"
To Uchiha Mabayashi, this sounded utterly unbelievable.
Jonin weren't cabbages growing everywhere. They were ninjas who had passed countless tests, with almost no obvious weaknesses in ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu.
How could a Jonin possibly be incapable of dispelling genjutsu?
Besides, this wasn't even a three-tomoe Sharingan—just a single tomoe.
Regardless of whether Mabayashi believed him or not, Uchiha Yoichi simply shrugged.
"That's how it happened, Mabayashi-senpai. Maybe that Iwa Jonin wasn't good at dispelling genjutsu, and I happened to catch a tiny opening."
"Just consider yourself lucky this time," Mabayashi sighed. "Your luck is always like this. This makes the third time already."
Uchiha Yoichi was regarded as a talented junior within the clan. Chunin were already relatively rare in Konoha, not to mention someone who had awakened the Sharingan.
Originally, they had wanted him to join the Police Force. However, Yoichi disliked the rigid schedule of the Police Force and refused, choosing instead to join Konoha's mission teams.
"Mabayashi-senpai, what should I do next?" Yoichi asked. "Will I still be assigned to a mission team?"
"Don't even think about it," Mabayashi shook his head."I doubt anyone would want to be your teammate. Three mission teams have effectively fallen apart in half a year. The survival rate of people who team up with you isn't even fifty percent. Otherwise, why would the village investigate you?"
As he said this, even Mabayashi began considering whether he should recruit Yoichi into the Police Force—just in case another clansman teamed up with him and suffered losses.
Although he didn't truly believe Yoichi was cursed, the precedents were right in front of him. Every unlucky mission seemed to end up in Yoichi's hands.
"For now, go back and wait for notice," Mabayashi said. "I'll also ask the clan head for you."
Yoichi nodded.
"If it really comes down to it, I'll just take missions solo. I can still handle some C-rank missions—as long as the mission department doesn't shove S-rank missions into the C-rank category again."
C-rank missions didn't involve enemy ninjas. With Yoichi's current strength and status as a Chunin, he could accept C-rank missions on his own.
Of course, some C-rank escort missions had strict requirements on the number of personnel. Aside from those, taking missions solo was actually quite convenient, and there was no need to obsess over forming a team.
In two years, Kakashi would become the most disliked youngest Chunin—just like Yoichi—someone no one wanted to team up with, forced to accept missions alone.
It was currently Konoha Year 42.
Kakashi had just graduated from the Academy as the youngest ninja ever, possessing Genin-level strength at the age of five, making his name known throughout the village.
In two years, the White Fang would commit suicide.
In four years, the Third Shinobi World War would begin.
In six years, the Third Shinobi World War would enter its most intense phase, with the major ninja villages taking turns slaughtering one another. Not to mention Chunin—even Jonin faced the constant risk of death on the battlefield.
Thinking of this, Uchiha Yoichi couldn't help but sigh.
If things proceeded step by step, he would have had a chance to become a Jonin, and his Sharingan might have awakened the three tomoe.
But that was all it amounted to.
Even being a member of the Uchiha clan only increased his chances of survival on the battlefield. It didn't guarantee he would live.
There were plenty of Uchiha names engraved on the Memorial Stone—including more than a few powerful three-tomoe users.
"Don't overthink it, Yoichi," Mabayashi said. "I'll ask the clan head tomorrow whether you can join the Police Force."
Hearing Yoichi's sigh, Mabayashi assumed he was worried about not being able to find a mission team and immediately felt that he shouldn't refuse a fellow clansman over such an unrealistic possibility.
"No need, Mabayashi-senpai," Yoichi replied. "I'll rest for a couple of days first and wait for the village's decision."
He still didn't really want to join the Police Force. The main reason was freedom.
When he was in a mission team, he served as the team leader. When there were no missions, he could rest or train.
Joining the Police Force meant daily patrols and dealing with the village's endless trivial matters.
"I'll head back and rest now, Mabayashi-senpai. Good night."
After returning to the clan compound, Yoichi said goodbye to Mabayashi at a crossroads and went his own way.
He had a house within the clan compound, though the original body's parents had died in the war.
Once home, Yoichi was still a little hungry. The interrogation unit provided food, but not enough to fill him up. He had no choice but to cook something himself—fortunately, he had plenty of instant noodles stored away.
While boiling the noodles, the time hit exactly midnight.
He had been using [Catching a Blade Barehanded] for a full month now, and the superpower roulette wheel refreshed and spun once more.
"Let me see what kind of bizarre ability it is this time… X-ray vision?"
When Uchiha Yoichi saw the ability appear on the illusory roulette wheel, his expression went through a dramatic shift—from surprise to disgust—in just two seconds.
[Two-Way X-ray Vision]Nothing can block your vision.However, when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.Note: The target and distance of the X-ray vision are randomly activated. Once a target is locked, it cannot be controlled. The effect lasts for one hour after activation.
A true two-way street, indeed.
Yoichi's lips almost twitched.
Another useless ability.
It might be somewhat useful when encountering enemies, but right now he just wanted to rest at home. By next month, this ability would be overwritten anyway.
X-ray vision alone would have been bad enough—but random X-ray vision?
What if he ran into an old man on the street and the ability suddenly activated?
Would that mean he and the old man would be staring at each other naked?
Just imagining the scene made Yoichi feel nauseous.
He made up his mind: tomorrow, he wouldn't go out at all. He'd stay inside the clan compound and train.
He had already used twelve superpowers in total. Nine of them were completely useless.
For example:[Eating speed increased fivefold through the nostrils],[Stomach defense and weight increased tenfold],[Able to eat extreme spiciness but unable to eat sugar],and so on.
All kinds of bizarre abilities—most of them unusable.
This [X-ray Vision] ability was the same. If it were similar to the Byakugan, it would have been incredibly powerful. But giving the target a "buff" as well, combined with uncontrollable activation, instantly crippled its usefulness.
After finishing his instant noodles, Uchiha Yoichi retrieved a scroll from a hidden box in his house.
Inside was the training method for Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
"I'll start training tomorrow," he muttered. "Jonin need to master more than one chakra nature transformation. I'll choose Lightning Release."
Like most members of the Uchiha clan, Yoichi only possessed Fire Release, and most of the ninjutsu he knew were Fire Release techniques.
Since he couldn't accept missions for the time being, he might as well train in the village.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode was a secret technique of the Hidden Cloud Village, generally mastered only by a handful of elite Jonin.
Once successfully learned, it provided comprehensive physical enhancement and greatly improved one's chances of survival.
If he mastered it, Uchiha Yoichi's survival rate in the Third Shinobi World War would increase by at least thirty percent.