Bright, clear eyes stared unblinking at Namikaze Minato, and the serious look on that face momentarily caught him off guard.
Seeing that Minato really did look like he was on his last legs—not faking it—Uchiha Kaien decided to let him off the hook.
With a casual flip, Kaien lay back on the grass as well.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy overhead, warm rays dancing down through the gaps and soaking into his skin. Kaien squinted slightly, enjoying the comfort.
During the break, he opened his system panel out of habit.
Compared to a year ago, there had been some impressive growth.
[Host: Uchiha Kaien]
[Current Status: Kekkei Genkai (Three Tomoe Sharingan) – Still Evolving]
[Ninjutsu: Mastery in various elemental techniques, genjutsu, and Summoning: Lightning Flash Blade Creation]
[Chakra: 3000]
[Spirit: 200]
[Body: 45]
[Strength: 60]
[Agility: 70]
[Chakra Attributes: Fire, Lightning, Wind, Water, Yin]
[Traits: [Affinity], [False Voice], [Vivid Performance], [Weakness Camouflage], [Illusion Immunity], [Combat Mastery], [Blade Mastery], [Alluring Gaze]]
The newly acquired traits—[Combat Mastery] and [Blade Mastery]—were easy enough to understand. They were essentially a further refinement of Kaien's natural talent. In simpler terms: his battle instincts had leveled up again.
[Combat Mastery: You gain new insights with every battle. The next version of you will always surpass the last!]
[Blade Mastery: Your understanding of swordsmanship deepens. Perception is slightly enhanced.]
Then there was [Alluring Gaze], another purple-ranked trait.
[Alluring Gaze: Your eyes now possess a mysterious charm. Prolonged eye contact can cause momentary disorientation. Genjutsu is significantly enhanced, and your ocular power will continue to increase over time.]
Despite the name sounding kind of sketchy, the ability was seriously useful—especially the part about his ocular power increasing over time. That alone made the trait invaluable.
Why? Because with the Mangekyō Sharingan, the main issue wasn't unlocking it—it was maintaining it. Most users ended up blind due to the extreme drain on their eye power. The stronger the dōjutsu, the faster it burned out their vision.
But if Kaien's eye power kept rising, wouldn't that mean he could actually sustain a Mangekyō without it ruining his eyesight?
And the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan? That wasn't just a power boost—it also restored lost ocular strength. In a way, [Alluring Gaze] had already granted Kaien a slice of that eternal ability early.
The external change? His eyes had gotten even more captivating. With Kaien's natural confidence and presence, they looked like starlit galaxies—mesmerizing and brilliant.
The term alluring really did fit.
Other gains came in the form of base stat increases.
His chakra had multiplied sixfold since last year. The rest—body, strength, agility—had doubled or more. Most notably, his spirit stat had shot up from 65 to 200. Kaien figured if he experienced a heavy enough emotional hit right now, he might actually awaken the Mangekyō on the spot.
Most of his recent system draws had boosted his base stats. He'd only gotten three new traits; the rest were either jutsu he didn't need or cash he didn't care much for.
Not that he minded. Kaien wasn't in any rush to unlock the Mangekyō.
He'd only just recovered from the hereditary illness tied to his bloodline. There was no way he was risking that hell again.
His current healthy, energized body was more than enough.
Thanks to the load of traits he'd accumulated—and the constant grind in both sword and spear arts—his control over his spirit energy had grown by leaps and bounds. Now, he could suppress the growth of his Sharingan and hold off on awakening the Mangekyō.
There was no need to rush.
Uchiha Itachi awakened his Mangekyō at 13. If Kaien did it around the same age, he'd be right on schedule.
Sure, it would be nice to hear people gasp, "Wait, you awakened it at eight?!"—but after that kind of thrill, it would just bring endless headaches.
Better to keep building up his ocular power and set a realistic goal: awaken the Mangekyō, and still retain perfect vision no matter how often he used it.
Besides, Uchiha Madara was already keeping tabs on him. A massive leap in power wasn't just unnecessary—it could be dangerous.
Even with the Mangekyō, Kaien couldn't take Madara down. If he tried to resist too soon, there was a decent chance he'd get skewered on the spot.
See: Sasuke and his Eternal Mangekyō getting one-shot.
And now the old fossil had given Kaien a new assignment, which was turning out to be a real pain.
Muttering things like, "A ninja must fight. The Uchiha are a clan born for battle," Madara had ordered Kaien to gain battlefield experience.
In other words—he was going to be part of the Second Great Ninja War.
Sure, his life probably wouldn't be in danger... but who wants to go struggle when you could just chill?
Why bother risking your neck when you could be enjoying all that sweet affection gain at the Ninja Academy?
Of course, Kaien couldn't exactly tell Madara, "I can get stronger just by lazing around." All he could do was complain a little.
"Hey, Minato," he said suddenly. "What do you think about us graduating early?"
Good news was meant to be shared—and there was no way he was going to graduate alone. The first person he thought of, naturally, was his best bro: Namikaze Minato.
"Huh?" Minato had just snapped out of his daze when Kaien hit him with that out-of-nowhere question.
"Think about it. Do you even have any worthwhile opponents left at the Academy?"
"Uh... besides you? No."
Minato thought about it seriously before answering. At this point, his combat level was on a completely different tier from the rest of the students. Kaien was the only one who could still challenge him.
"Exactly. And... you still got money left?"
Kaien didn't beat around the bush.
Minato was an orphan. His parents hadn't left much behind, and aside from the occasional handout from Jiraiya, his main source of funding... was Kaien.
Over the last two years, young Minato had blown through who-knows-how-much of Kaien's money. Daily herbal baths? Non-negotiable. High-quality meals? Absolutely necessary. Top-grade ninja tools? A must.
He could've lived frugally—but after two years living like a rich kid with Kaien, there was no going back.
"Right? And I'm about out of cash, too. Which means... it's time we started earning our own money."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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