Before long, the goblin village fell silent.
Aside from a few that had fled in chaos, every goblin lay dead. Only Baili An remained standing.
"This was way too easy… It was basically a one-sided massacre."
He slowly sheathed his Tang blade, unable to hide his amazement.
It was absurd.
Completely absurd.
Even though he had only been half-trained before, with just basic knowledge of combat and swordsmanship, the Sharingan's exceptional perception and dynamic vision allowed him to move effortlessly even while surrounded by dozens of goblins.
This was despite the fact that he had only just awakened the Sharingan.
His control over it was still shallow.
His use of genjutsu had no finesse at all, relying purely on brute ocular power.
And yet, every goblin that met his gaze was instantly dragged into an illusion, reduced to helpless prey.
Even the Goblin Shaman, whose mental strength stood out among third-tier monsters, failed to notice his crude genjutsu.
It could be said that Baili An achieved this overwhelming result with no technique at all.
Purely because the Sharingan itself was that powerful.
"Just awakening it already gives me this level of strength… If I truly master it, how strong will I become?"
Baili An looked at his right hand and slowly clenched it into a fist.
"And this is only the three-tomoe Sharingan. I can't even imagine what the Mangekyō would feel like."
He recalled how, in his previous life, he used to casually dismiss the early stages of the Sharingan while reading fanfiction. Back then, he thought anything below the Mangekyō was insignificant, and even the Mangekyō itself came with too many drawbacks.
Now that he was experiencing it firsthand, he realized how wrong he had been.
After glancing around once more, he deactivated the Sharingan.
The vivid, almost omniscient perspective disappeared instantly, returning the world to something ordinary.
The sudden loss left a faint sense of emptiness.
For a brief moment, he found himself longing for that overwhelming clarity.
Baili An paused, then quickly shook off the thought.
"No wonder most Uchiha grow arrogant. Once you know the difference between having these eyes and not having them, it's hard not to."
But ordinary Uchiha were only strong because of the Sharingan.
They relied on it completely, unaware of how deeply they had become dependent on it.
Baili An did not intend to walk that path.
To him, someone who relied entirely on the Sharingan did not deserve it.
True strength came from growing alongside it, not hiding behind it.
"Enough thinking. Time to head home and eat."
He stretched lazily, his body finally relaxing.
After three years in this world, the constant pressure, the unfamiliar environment, the fear of survival… all of it had kept him tense.
Now, for the first time, that tension eased.
"I've pushed myself long enough. Time to take a proper break."
After nearly a year of nonstop hunting, he was also starting to worry about his mental state.
Back when he first tried killing monsters, the smell of blood and the act of taking a life had nearly made him vomit.
Now, it felt no different than routine work.
The more he hunted, the more he valued his own life, and the less he cared about others.
…
That evening, back in his spacious apartment.
The place was quiet, far too quiet for a home that large.
After taking a shower, Baili An sat down with his delivery meal.
As he ate, he scrolled through the latest news.
Reports from the Abyss front lines appeared stable, which was a relief.
Then, he began thinking about his next steps.
"My spiritual energy has jumped several levels. I need to improve my fine control. I'm decent at that, but I don't know if this chakra-converted spiritual energy can still do things like tree-walking or water-walking."
"The newly awakened fire ability also needs practice. And those modified fire techniques…"
"My physical combat should improve quickly with the Sharingan."
"And genjutsu… that's the most important part."
"Brute forcing with eye power won't be enough forever. There's no guide for this either, so I'll have to figure it out myself."
"There's a lot to do. It'll take time to fully absorb everything I've gained."
Baili An remained calm.
He did not let this sudden power go to his head.
He had a clear understanding of himself and viewed things objectively.
Compared to truly powerful Uchiha, he was still far behind.
"For now, I'll focus on training. Hunting can come naturally along the way."
Sharpening the blade first makes cutting easier later.
Besides, in just over seven months, the national selection for senior high school ability users would begin.
The "Spirit Realm Dungeons" had been on his mind for a long time.
Not only could he gain Source Essence there, but defeating monsters would directly strengthen him.
There was even one such dungeon in Huiping City.
Unfortunately, it was sealed off, far beyond his current reach.
Only students selected to represent the city in the national competition were granted temporary access.
…
That night.
For once, Baili An did not train.
Instead, he sat in the living room watching a movie.
If he was going to rest, it meant resting properly, both body and mind.
Three years had passed since he arrived in this world.
He had watched fewer than five movies in total.
Entertainment had barely existed in his life.
After finishing one classic film, he still felt unsatisfied, but lacked the energy to start another.
So instead, he downloaded a MOBA mobile game called "King's Rift" and bought a fully unlocked account.
Without a ranked peak mode available, he jumped straight into ranked matches.
He locked in the solo lane, choosing a hero called Puppet Master.
All four of its skills felt similar to a character he used to play in his previous life.
Confident, he requested an early pick.
Three minutes into the match, his score was 0-2.
Baili An fell silent.
"Damn it! Puppet Master, can you stop showing off? Their jungler is ganking you and you still won't back off? You think you can win a 1v2?"
His jungler shouted angrily over voice chat.
"And when you're low HP, just recall! Why are you diving a full-health tower? Are you throwing on purpose?"
"Relax. I'm just rusty. Haven't played in three years. Even if I give him two kills, I'll still crush him," Baili An typed calmly.
The jungler exploded even harder.
"Are you kidding me? This hero only came out last year!"
"…"
Baili An had no response.
He quietly muted him.
Then…
He activated the Sharingan.
Ten minutes later, right in front of the enemy support, Baili An solo-killed the marksman under their base tower and went on to achieve a godlike streak.
He unmuted the jungler and typed:
"So? What now?"
"Dad! My bad, my bad! It's all the devs' fault for releasing this hero two years late!" the jungler immediately shouted.
"Want to queue up together next game?" the marksman asked.
…