[14] I Just Want to Borrow Something

"All-knowing"—now that was a bit much, even for Yuhara. He knew full well he wasn't some omniscient sage.

The reason he could come across as overwhelmingly insightful, with a perspective that seemed to exist on an entirely different level, boiled down to one simple truth: his education from his previous life.

In Yuhara's eyes, the education system in this world wasn't just inadequate—it was downright tragic.

After all, kids here graduated from "elementary school" after just eight years. What more could he really expect?

These ninja graduates had to gain knowledge on their own through life-or-death experience. And while that wasn't inherently wrong, the core issue was that their entire mindset had been limited by their indoctrination as "tools."

Their lack of education left them unable to think deeply, trapping them in a rigid framework.

That's how you ended up with someone like Itachi Uchiha—possessing one of the highest levels of perception in the entire ninja world, and still making decisions no one could understand.

The truth? His understanding just wasn't deep enough.

Not that Yuhara had anything to brag about.

In his view, any transmigrator from his previous country with decent schooling could do what he was doing now.

People like him came into this world carrying the mindset of: Why not me? Kings and nobles are just people too.

Sure, some transmigrators might try to play it safe. But if pushed hard enough, they'd say screw your Hokage and end up unifying the damn continent.

To be honest, Yuhara hadn't done much yet. If not for his system binding him to a path, he probably would've just disappeared into the background.

"So… was I kind of an embarrassment to transmigrators?"

He wasn't sure. But one thing was clear: Shisui was quickly turning into his number one fan.

Sometimes, Yuhara wondered what would happen if he actually sat down and compiled everything he'd learned in his past life and gave it to Shisui. What kind of impact would that have?

But after some thought, he let the idea go. That kind of effort would be exhausting.

Besides, trying to systematically organize all that forgotten knowledge after more than ten years? Even if it felt like it was in his DNA, some of it had long been left behind—like the math formulas he couldn't even remember anymore.

After a restful night, Yuhara and Shisui set out at dawn.

Raiga, their target, wasn't especially difficult to handle—unless he used certain troublesome jutsu.

The problem was, he was a Mist ninja. And he knew one jutsu in particular that countered the Uchiha well: Hidden Mist Technique.

It could obscure the Sharingan's effectiveness, making both Yuhara and Shisui cautious. But only cautious—no more than that.

Yuhara could just take to the skies with his Flight Technique and bombard Raiga from above with Fire Release. And Shisui? He might already have awakened the Mangekyō.

With that speed of his, Raiga would be lucky to even start an attack before Shisui countered it.

More importantly, this wasn't just one Uchiha—it was two. If they couldn't take out one rogue ninja, they'd have no business calling themselves shinobi.

Soon, they arrived at the village.

It was run-down and sparsely populated, mostly inhabited by fishermen from the looks of it.

After searching the area, they hadn't seen any sign of their target. Both of them started to have doubts.

"Think he already left?" Yuhara asked, standing on a small hill just outside the village.

"I'm not sure. The villagers confirmed he was here… but I don't know where he went after that," Shisui replied, shaking his head.

Yuhara could only nod. Intelligence was just that—intelligence. And theirs wasn't even real-time.

That meant it could easily become outdated or inaccurate, which happened often in the ninja world.

That's why adaptability and flexibility were essential skills for any ninja hoping to complete a mission.

"Let's wait a bit longer," Yuhara decided. "But let's prepare for both outcomes—try to track him and narrow down the direction he went while we also keep an eye on this area."

"Understood. I'll handle the tracking," Shisui replied immediately, turning on his heel and disappearing into the trees without another word.

Yuhara couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. Is this guy treating me like his commanding officer now?

Still, he didn't mind. It saved him the trouble, and Shisui's background in ANBU made him a top-tier tracker.

"Once we deal with Black Hoe Raiga, the mission's done. Then I can move on to the next phase of my plan."

That next step was to rapidly build support among the clan's lower ranks. If possible, Yuhara wanted to win over capable ninja—and maybe even some of the elders.

Two Mangekyō users and a wave of supporters? He was confident no one would dare oppose that.

"Hm?" Suddenly, Yuhara's brows twitched. He turned sharply to look behind him.

Someone was approaching—a lone figure heading toward the village.

The man had green hair and carried two strangely shaped swords on his back.

And the moment he saw the Uchiha crest on Yuhara's clothes, his eyes narrowed.

"Uchiha?" he muttered.

"Raiga?" Yuhara asked.

They spoke almost simultaneously as they came within ten meters of each other. The mutual recognition was instant.

Yuhara hadn't expected this. Shisui had barely left, and Black Hoe Raiga was already back.

He'd hoped to fight alongside Shisui for this one, but it looked like he'd be handling it alone.

But ninja weren't samurai—there were no codes of honor or duels to uphold.

A mission meant eliminating the target by any means necessary. That was what a real ninja did.

Raiga's frown deepened. He could sense trouble. "What's an Uchiha brat doing here? What do you want?"

Yuhara smiled lightly and replied in the most pleasant voice he could manage, "I just came to borrow something."

Before Raiga could even respond or get into a stance, Yuhara activated his Sharingan and vanished.

He reappeared right in front of Raiga.

"That is… your life."