Chapter 17: Tobi’s Gaze, The Orochimaru Defection Incident

After easily dealing with the two Amegakure Chunin, Reiji did not feel particularly surprised.

On one hand, he had severely injured both of them with genjutsu right from the start.

On the other hand, he had relied on the taijutsu techniques he had trained with Might Guy, combined with the Sharingan’s perception.

Against two injured Chunin, he could easily maneuver around them.

However.

From the perspective of everyone in the caravan, it was an entirely different matter.

A child not even ten years old had defeated two Chunin by himself!

"He actually dealt with them that easily? Those were two Chunin!"

"How old is he...?"

"He really is a genius of Konoha. He’s on another level entirely."

The caravan leader was especially cautious, afraid that his earlier contempt might have offended Konoha’s genius shinobi and caused him to hold a grudge.

Might Guy, on the other hand, had the smallest reaction.

After all, he had already recognized just how talented Reiji was.

Still, even he could not help being shocked when he saw Reiji activate the Two-Tomoe Sharingan again.

As for the reason behind the Sharingan’s evolution, however, Might Guy had guessed incorrectly.

Might Guy assumed that it had evolved during the battle.

Only Reiji himself knew that his Sharingan had evolved to the Two-Tomoe stage because of his disgust toward the daimyo.

A daimyo who cared only about his own enjoyment.

Rain shinobi who acted recklessly with little to no restraint.

People living in abject poverty.

Bandits everywhere.

No wonder this land had been able to give birth to "Pain."

The caravan continued toward the capital of the Land of Rain.

Meanwhile, beside the forest where the brief battle had taken place.

The air distorted invisibly, and a figure wearing a spiral mask appeared out of nowhere.

A strange creature with one half black and the other half white also emerged from the ground.

"Why not go and make contact with him? Aren’t we trying to attract promising Uchiha and have them join us to strengthen our forces?"

The white half of the creature said with a playful laugh.

"Well, not for now."

Uchiha Obito gazed toward the caravan disappearing into the distance.

"I was originally more interested in the other Uchiha who graduated early, Uchiha Itachi. But now it seems that this Uchiha Reiji, who has also awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, is a genius as well."

As he spoke, Uchiha Obito’s figure disappeared once again amid a spiral distortion.

"I’ll make contact with Uchiha Itachi first. This one already has the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, so it’s about time I gave him a little stimulation and let him awaken his Sharingan..."

...

"Whew, we finally left the Land of Rain!"

After stepping back onto the territory of the Land of Fire, Reiji could not help feeling an indescribable sense of security.

The mission was complete.

After delivering the daimyo’s supplies, the two of them had even been received by the daimyo and stayed in the capital of the Land of Rain for several days.

Compared with the dilapidated Land of Rain, the capital was extremely prosperous.

Especially certain forms of adult entertainment, which could be found everywhere.

However.

After seeing so many impoverished civilians and killing so many bandits and thieves along the way, Reiji had absolutely no desire to remain in the Land of Rain any longer.

He was afraid that he might lose control and simply cut down the daimyo himself.

Moreover.

The Land of Rain was simply too dangerous.

Hanzo, Pain, Tobi, Kakuzu, Sasori of the Red Sand...

Not one of them was someone he could afford to provoke at his current level.

Fortunately, he had not encountered a single one of them, and the mission had ended safely.

"Reiji, you’re being way too cautious."

Might Guy laughed as he patted Reiji on the shoulder.

"It was only a B-rank escort mission. The Land of Rain isn’t even a major country. What kind of dangerous enemies could we possibly run into?"

Reiji rolled his eyes but said nothing.

When it came to understanding just how dangerous the shinobi world was, he could probably claim to have one of the deepest understandings in the current era.

And the Land of Rain was definitely one of the most dangerous places in the entire shinobi world. It was no less dangerous than the Five Great Nations!

Still, it was fortunate that they had safely returned to the Land of Fire.

Not only that, but he had successfully awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan during this trip, and his strength had increased considerably.

From that perspective, he really ought to thank that potbellied daimyo of the Land of Rain.

Reiji checked his system panel.

[Overall Strength: Chunin (Intermediate)]

[Sharingan Pupil Power: LV2 (55/500)]

[Chakra Amount: LV2 (100/500)]

After awakening the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, his chakra reserves had nearly doubled!

Combined with the numerous hand-seal-less Fire Release techniques and hand-seal-less genjutsu he had mastered, as well as the rapid improvement in his taijutsu from sparring with Guy every day, his overall strength could now be considered quite decent even among Chunin.

In a life-or-death crisis, he could also barely open the Third Gate of the Eight Gates.

Even against a Jonin, he could rely on the Eight Gates to hold out for a while.

Eight years old, with this level of strength!

Compared with when the system had yet to awaken half a year ago, his strength had increased beyond measure!

Of course.

In this dangerous shinobi world, Chunin-level strength was still nothing special.

After returning to the village, he still needed to lie low and develop for a while.

At the very least, he needed Jonin-level strength before he could barely protect himself in the shinobi world.

However.

He had been worried all along that they might encounter danger in the Land of Rain, yet nothing had happened.

Instead, after entering the Land of Fire, they encountered an unexpected incident.

In a forest.

Reiji and Might Guy encountered several ANBU wearing animal masks.

One of the ANBU, wearing a wolf-faced mask, approached Reiji and Might Guy and directly issued an order.

"As the ANBU Commander, I am requisitioning any Konoha shinobi who are currently free of missions. You will accompany me in pursuing the defector Orochimaru!"