At this moment,

the arena was silent, with even the sound of a pin dropping audible.

The members of the Uchiha clan looked horrified, not daring to breathe a word.

They feared that if they let out even a single breath,

Uchiha Shana would slice Uchiha Shi in half right on the spot!

As everyone stared at Uchiha Shana, his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Faced with Uchiha Shi’s reckless challenge, even his usually good temper was starting to fray!

Uchiha Shana’s eyes glinted with a cold, blood-red light, the three tomoe in his Sharingan slowly rotating as he fixed his gaze on Uchiha Shi.

An oppressive killing intent gradually spread throughout the hall.

It was as if, in the next moment, this elder would draw the long knife on his back and slice Uchiha Shi apart like cutting fruit!

However, Uchiha Shi, under the intense scrutiny, was completely oblivious to this pressure.

At that moment, he was staring blankly at the subtitles appearing before him.

【Ding!】

【You bravely confronted Uchiha Shana and acquired a random skill from him: Uchiha Style - String Manipulation Shuriken Technique (Mastery).】

【Your Heart of Steel level has increased.】

In that instant,

Uchiha Shi was momentarily dazed as a massive influx of knowledge flooded into his mind.

From various shuriken styles to the material of the wire, to the throwing methods, techniques, hidden power, and clever strength—all this knowledge flashed through his mind.

In the blink of an eye, he understood, analyzed, mastered, and became proficient, crossing one hurdle after another that typically required time to hone.

He once again crossed barriers that needed to be inscribed in muscle memory through life and death,

until—

he reached a state of transcendence!

Uchiha Shi had mastered the transcendental level of Uchiha Style - String Manipulation Shuriken Technique!

“Hmm?!”

“What, what is going on?” Uchiha Shi was stunned.

No joke, this level of shuriken technique was something even the childhood version of Sasuke, who played with windmill shurikens in the original story, wouldn't be able to match.

There are no shortcuts in training shuriken techniques; it can only be accumulated over time.

This level of shuriken technique would require a skill level comparable to that of a one-armed Sasuke who fought against Otsutsuki Kinshiki to even be a contender.

Yet here he was, having just faced off against the elder Uchiha Shana, and he actually received it!

However, recalling Uchiha Shana’s terrifying track record of having assassinated the Second Hokage and still being alive, Uchiha Shi felt relieved.

Is this the confidence of the old generation of Uchiha artists?

This, honestly... it truly lives up to the Heart of Steel, possessing a kind of numerical beauty!

Awesome!

But why hasn’t the elder cut me down yet?

In the arena,

after a full three minutes of silence, Uchiha Shana turned his head away, somewhat speechless.

He finally confirmed that this Uchiha Shi was just a fool who didn’t know what fear was.

Under his terrifying killing intent, this kid seemed completely unaffected, staring back at him.

If this continued, the situation would become a bit awkward...

Uchiha Shana then snorted coldly:

“Since you’re so eager to die for Konoha, I have no way to stop you.”

“You, step forward!”

Uchiha Shi suddenly jolted, coming back to his senses and looking up at the elder, his face showing no joy for receiving a mission, but instead a look of shock.

Wait, this script isn’t right!

Uchiha Shi had just approached Uchiha Shana with the mindset of sacrificing himself on the spot to say these words.

He was just short of cackling madly...

But elder, why do you want to have me cut down?

Why not just swing your knife and finish me off?

As a hawkish big shot, can’t you show a bit of masculinity?

“Shi-kun...” Uchiha Shisui couldn’t help but feel emotional.

Seeing Uchiha Shi’s expression made it clear how dangerous war truly was; this young man understood it very well.

Look, Shi-kun’s face turned pale with fear.

Yet even so, he still bravely stepped forward.

Since that’s the case...

Uchiha Shisui activated his Sharingan and stepped out from the crowd, gravely addressing Uchiha Shana:

“Elder, the mission still lacks one genin; please allow me to participate in the battle.”

Uchiha Shana looked at Uchiha Shisui, who had come forward, slightly furrowing his brow, his gaze landing on Shisui’s crimson Sharingan: “You’re Mikoto’s grandchild? Shisui?”

“Yes, and allow me to be a bit willful; I wish to choose the mission to the Land of Rain.”

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Shana said nothing, only casting a faint glance before skipping over Shisui and continuing to assign tasks to the other ninjas.

This was tantamount to tacit approval.

As the leader of the hawkish faction within the Uchiha clan,

he had a natural opposition to the dovish faction, and he didn’t need to worry about Shisui’s development.

The dovish faction would naturally provide full support for a genius like him—who graduated early from the ninja academy, awakened his Sharingan, and was the grandson of the former clan leader.

Compared to Shisui, Uchiha Shana was currently more troubled by the issue of Uchiha Shi.

Even though the hawkish faction's philosophy in training talent was to throw the children off the cliff,

the ones that could fly would naturally become soaring eagles with free will.

Those that couldn’t fly would fall to the bottom and become worthless; perhaps in this increasingly chaotic era, that could be considered a kind of luck.

But Uchiha Shi...

He hadn’t even fully matured yet and was already thinking about taking flight; his bullheadedness was astonishing.

Even he, a very extreme hawkish leader, thought this kid was a bit too extreme...

#

Soon, the personnel assignments were complete. Uchiha Shana cast a cold glance over the crowd and indifferently announced:

“The battlefield in the Land of Rain will have Jonin Shinichi as the team leader, with Special Jonin and Genin Shisui forming a squad. They will be the first to arrive at the border camp and await further instructions. The eagle courier has already been sent; there will be Uchiha members to assist you at that time.”

“For you all, I must emphasize one thing: your lives belong to the Uchiha, to yourselves, and not to Konoha. You’d best make sure you understand this!”

“The Hell Valley in the Land of Soup will have me as the team leader, with Chunin Seiichiro and Genin Shi forming a squad to reinforce the stationed troops in Hell Valley.”

“Squad members, gather at the village entrance tomorrow morning at eight o'clock.”

“That’s all, dismissed!”

Uchiha Shana was always swift and decisive; after announcing the tasks, he immediately vanished in an instant.

The ninjas present exchanged glances for a moment, not lingering any further; the Security Department did not keep idle people.

Soon, only Uchiha Shisui and the contemplative Uchiha Shi remained in the hall.

Uchiha Shi frowned slightly.

Due to Shisui’s interruption, he had ultimately received the assignment to go to Hell Valley.

In contrast, he wanted to go to the battlefield in the Land of Rain, which was a meat grinder.

The battlefield in the Land of Rain fought continuously from the eve of the Ninja War until its end, lasting a full five years, during which the forces of Iwa, Suna, and Kumo worked together to push the front line, advancing from the Land of Rain all the way into the Land of Fire.

In the end,

it erupted into the most devastating battle for Konoha during the Third Ninja World War—

the Battle of Kikyō Mountain.

That’s why Uchiha Shi wanted to go to this place, as it was a genuine battlefield, truly comparable to a meat grinder.

However, being able to get a mission at all was already a stroke of luck for him.

He could only accept the result of the task assignment; there was no other way.

What he was thinking about was another issue.

In the original story, without his participation, Uchiha Shisui would only be able to choose to go to the Land of Soup, then integrate into the front lines against the Mist.

Without Uchiha Shi proactively seizing a slot, the dovish faction would not allow Shisui to make a willful choice; even if Shisui took the initiative, he would definitely be assigned to the relatively safer Mist front.

In the end, he would emerge with the name “Shunshin no Shisui.”

Now,

because of his appearance, the plot line had begun to quietly shift, like a butterfly flapping its wings.

Would Uchiha Shisui thus die in the Land of Rain?

Without Shisui, would Uchiha Itachi then awaken the Mangekyō and become the insane murderer who killed his entire clan?

Uchiha Shi suddenly realized

that his very existence, his intent to cheat fate, and the choices he made had silently changed many things.

Ahead, it seemed to be shrouded in a fog so thick that he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

This sent a chill down his spine.