"Jackpot! A real jackpot!"
"Hahahaha! Faster—faster!"
"Who would've thought a great clan with a hundred years of history could be this careless!"
By the Naka River, within Konoha's outer restricted zone.
A scar-faced man bearing the insignia of Kumogakure was sprinting wildly beneath the moonlight.
From time to time, he glanced down at the small blue-haired girl tucked under his arm.
His face was filled with agitation and excitement.
"Hahahaha! The Hyūga clan's eldest young lady!"
"If we can successfully analyze her, the Byakugan on future battlefields will be nothing to fear!"
Thinking of the impact this child would have on the front lines, the Cloud ninja grew even more exhilarated.
A low, ugly chuckle escaped his lips.
It was as if he could already see the Byakugan clan being completely suppressed on the battlefield.
But right in the midst of his Manic laughter, a shadow suddenly appeared in the corner of his vision!
"Who's there?!"
His expression changed instantly as he twisted his body to face the shadow.
Crackle!
Threads of lightning chakra spread across his body in an instant.
His heart jumped.
The Hyūga clan's eldest daughter was of enormous strategic value—
He absolutely could not afford to lose her!
But when he realized the figure was just a child, the tension in his body relaxed immediately.
"Phew, scared me…"
"Just a kid—hm? Wait, that fan crest is—!!"
"An Uchiha child?!"
The moment his gaze landed on the fan-shaped clan crest, a dazzling light burst into the scar-faced man's eyes!
It was the thrill of a hunter stumbling upon unexpected prey—
Like an angler suddenly reeling in a ten-kilo fish.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
"What incredible luck today!"
"Two of Konoha's great bloodlines—just handed to me on a silver platter!"
"Hahahahaha! As expected, Kumogakure is the true king!"
He could no longer restrain his excitement and threw his head back in manic laughter.
The manic roar even crackled faintly with lightning.
First the Hyūga's Byakugan—
And now an Uchiha's Sharingan, delivered straight to his door!
He couldn't even imagine what kind of protagonist-tier script could produce luck like this.
As for resistance?
A kid who looked barely older than the girl in his arms—what could he possibly do?
From the very beginning, he had already claimed Uchiha Arata as his prize.
As he passed by, he casually reached out with his other arm to grab him as well.
Whoosh!
His arm swept through—
But grasped nothing but air.
"Hm? Body Flicker?"
The scar-faced man's expression shifted slightly as he came to a stop.
Looking more carefully, he said in surprise,
"To think such a young kid would have talent for Body Flicker!"
"The Uchiha really are blessed by speed techniques!"
In his mind surfaced an image from the battlefield—
That shinobi who appeared and vanished like a ghost.
Shisui of the Body Flicker!
Young, yet already carving out a fearsome reputation in war.
Some in the village even predicted that if left to grow freely, he might become the second Yellow Flash.
The White Fang of Konoha.
The Yellow Flash.
Shisui of the Body Flicker.
Thinking of this, the scar-faced man couldn't help sighing.
"Whenever Konoha is at a disadvantage, geniuses like this always emerge."
"It really is an enviable place."
"But luckily—"
"The more talented you are in Konoha, the shorter you tend to live!"
By the end, he even laughed.
As a ninja who carried out special missions, he usually didn't laugh—
Unless he truly couldn't help it.
If Konoha's prodigies could actually survive to adulthood,
Would Kumogakure dare threaten them so casually?
Let alone kidnap people right off their doorstep?
"Tch. See? I told you Konoha's full of idiots—no wonder they got discovered."
Uchiha Arata, for his part, found this assessment entirely agreeable.
He even nodded.
A small child, expressing wholehearted agreement.
After laughing, the scar-faced man scanned his surroundings.
Once he confirmed no one was in pursuit, he waved his hand.
"Alright. Since we've met, that's your good fortune. I'll take you somewhere else."
Crackle!
In the next second, his entire body transformed into lightning as he shot forward!
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
His speed was several times faster than before!
But—
He still came up empty.
Jin merely hopped backward half a step and dodged the grab.
Hoo—
The night wind swept past.
Moonlight fell, dyeing the Forest of Death a silvery gray.
Uchiha Arata brushed his fingers over a tree trunk carved with a Flying Thunder God formula, shaking his head lightly.
"Uncle, you're a bit impatient, aren't you?"
"How about we chat for ten minutes first?"
The Kumogakure envoy: ...
He took a deep breath.
When he looked at Jin again, the frivolity in his eyes faded—
Replaced entirely by excitement.
"So you're a little genius too. My luck today really is outrageous!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Snake!"
He abruptly set Hinata down and began forming hand seals!
Inside his body, chakra surged violently.
Crackle!
A purple lightning serpent materialized out of nowhere and lunged straight at Jin without warning!
Fast. Precise. Ruthless.
"Oh? Lightning Release?"
Jin's eyes shifted slightly, suppressing the urge to activate Body of Light and Gold.
Instead, his Sharingan began to spin.
Since transmigrating, this was his first true battle against an enemy.
Was he nervous?
Maybe a little.
But not much.
The enemy in front of him was, at best, a special jōnin.
And Jin had an immortal golden body as his safety net!
In other words—
He couldn't die anyway, so why not go wild?
Whoosh!
His figure flickered among the treetops, evading the lunging lightning serpent.
At first glance, it looked like Body Flicker—
But anyone proficient in space-time techniques would notice that with each movement, the surrounding spatial nodes subtly shifted.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
With over a million chakra at his disposal, Jin could practically weave spiderwebs of chakra through the air.
"So fast!"
The scar-faced man's expression darkened.
He realized he couldn't keep up with Jin's movements at all!
A sense of danger crept into his heart.
He couldn't drag this out—pursuers were coming!
Taking a deep breath, he formed the Boar seal.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Clone!"
Crackle!
A second, identical figure appeared beside him.
The two immediately formed seals together.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Snake!"
Two lightning serpents appeared simultaneously, even faster than before!
They surged forward like living lightning, crackling violently.
"Good!"
Jin halted his Flying Thunder God, excitement flashing across his small face.
Flying Thunder God was too broken—time to try something else!
The black of his pupils bled into crimson.
Sharingan—three tomoe spinning wildly!
With Dynamic Vision layered on top, he could clearly track the lightning serpents' trajectories!
Crackle—crackle—!
Zap!
In his vision, the serpents' paths were broken down into slow-motion frames.
Left side!
At the moment of approach, Jin leapt sharply to the right.
Boom!
The lightning serpent missed and slammed into the rock behind him.
"Three-tomoe Sharingan?! When did Konoha produce another genius like this?!"
Seeing the three tomoe in Jin's eyes, the scar-faced man's expression turned ugly.
On the battlefield, three tomoe already meant at least squad-leader level.
In other words—
This child, who looked no more than six or seven years old, already rivaled a special jōnin?!
No.
He couldn't allow this to continue!
He inhaled sharply, a ruthless gleam flashing through his eyes.
In the next instant, chakra surged violently through his body!
Crackle!
Purple lightning spread out like a spiderweb, covering the area.
If the kid was fast—
Then he'd saturate the surroundings with lightning!
In other words, he could afford countless mistakes—
But Jin only needed to make one to be caught!
"Huh? You caught up already?"
Jin glanced behind him and stopped testing.
He had no intention of fully exposing himself under the watchful eyes of Konoha's higher-ups just yet.
With a flick of his wrist, he hurled twelve shuriken!
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Each flew from a bizarre angle.
Just as the scar-faced man prepared to dodge, a powerful gust suddenly struck from behind!
"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!"
Four years of "hard training," and a technique obtained by chance—
Finally paid off at this very moment!