Uchiha Cai casually blocked Uchiha Yuan's attack, and instinctively used a genjutsu.
Yuan froze in place, standing dazed.
"Cai, didn't you say you wouldn't use genjutsu?" said Uchiha Yin, watching from the side.
"That was an unconscious reaction, not on purpose." As she spoke, Uchiha Cai tapped Yuan, disrupting his chakra and waking him up.
"Cai-senpai, you said you wouldn't use genjutsu!"
Unwilling to explain again, Uchiha Cai directly pointed out Yuan's shortcomings:
"Uchiha Yuan, your Body Flicker is very fast. Even my Sharingan couldn't track your movement—it really looked a bit like Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique.
But compared to Minato, you have one fatal weakness. Do you know how I realized you were behind me just now?"
Yuan shook his head.
"It was through the flow of air. Your attack movements are too exaggerated, causing air disturbance—which reveals your position.
Also, your attack speed isn't fast enough. Minato wasn't just fast at teleportation; his reflexes were beyond human limits.
His Flying Thunder God could place him behind his opponent before they could react, and then he would finish them off instantly—clean and precise.
Even if someone like me sensed the airflow and noticed his position, it would be too late to react."
"So the difference between me and Lord Minato is in the speed of the attack?"
"Pretty much."
"Then how should I improve?" Yuan asked.
"Yuan, aren't you often talking with that green spandex guy with thick eyebrows? His taijutsu training methods are pretty solid. You can learn from him—try using weighted gear," Uchiha Yin suggested.
Yuan's eyes lit up at that. He'd been stuck in his own head. In many anime from his past life, main characters boosted their speed through weighted training—like Goku and Piccolo in Dragon Ball.
"Perfect. I have some unused weighted gear—take it," said Uchiha Yin, opening her sealing scroll and pulling out a full set, tossing it to Yuan.
"These must be expensive, Yin-senpai."
"Don't worry about it. Yin-senpai only wore them once. Keeping them is a waste," Uchiha Cai said with disdain.
Yin flushed. She and Cai had bought the weights together—actually, it was her idea.
But after buying them, she only managed to train in them for less than an hour.
Meanwhile, Cai, two years her junior, had gritted her teeth and persisted.
Maybe it was that mental toughness that allowed Cai's strength to grow so fast.
Now, Uchiha Cai was only 21, yet already rivaled Uchiha Mei—she was clearly an elite jōnin.
By comparison, Yin lagged behind. At 23, she barely held the title of special jōnin with her double-tomoe Sharingan.
Without her genjutsu advantage and the insight from her Sharingan, her real strength was only on the level of a chūnin—among the weakest Uchiha in the camp.
But she was always lucky. During the last battle between Mist and Leaf, she didn't even get scratched.
She never ran into a chūnin-level or higher ninja on the battlefield—letting her rake in battle credit.
"Uchiha Yuan, Mei-senpai must've told you about the clan situation. Whose side are you on?" Uchiha Cai suddenly asked.
Yuan was stunned—he didn't expect her to ask such a question.
Yin tugged at Cai's sleeve, saying, "Cai, what are you doing? Yuan is just a kid."
"Yin-senpai, does he really seem like a kid to you? Besides, he's a ninja now. The moment he graduated from the academy, he stopped being a child."
Hearing that, Yin silently let go of her hold.
"Uchiha Yuan, just give a straight answer. Don't worry—there are no other village people nearby. Whatever you say stays between us three," Cai continued.
Yuan knew he couldn't avoid the question. He took a deep breath and said:
"Cai-senpai, thank you for helping me train today and pointing out my flaws. Because of that, I won't lie to you.
To be honest, I think both the hawks and the doves in the clan are problematic. The hawks are too arrogant, thinking our single clan can fight the whole village. The doves are too naïve, still clinging to hopes about the higher-ups.
I believe neither can change the fate of the Uchiha. What we need is a new path forward."
"A new path forward? Interesting way to put it. Then let me rephrase: What do you think is the relationship between the village and the Uchiha?" she asked.
"At the time of Konoha's founding by Hashirama Senju, our relationship with the village was one of shared glory and loss. But now..."
"That's enough. No need to say more." Cai cut him off. "I get your thinking now, kid. No wonder Mei-senpai was willing to take your place in that mission."
"Isn't Mei-senpai part of the doves?"
"That's only because some of his ideas align with them."
"What about you, Cai-senpai?"
"I'm with the doves. She's with the hawks." Cai pointed at Yin.
"Huh? Yin-senpai, you're a hawk?"
"I don't really have a stance. I just sided with my father," Yin explained.
"Oh right, there's something you probably don't know. All the Uchiha in the Bear Country camp are from the Konoha Police Force's Third Unit. Mei-senpai is the unit leader—and our local leader.
Originally, the Third Unit had 92 members. We left 12 behind in the village and brought 80 to the Bear Country front.
Later, due to the ongoing war, 16 more were severely injured and sent back to recover.
Right now, only 13 Uchiha remain in Bear Country. With you, it's 14. That one clansman who lost his arm was also sent back.
So in this war alone, we've already lost 51 Uchiha—just on this front."
"That many?" Yuan was shocked.
"Yeah. I didn't expect the war to be this brutal. I thought with our unit's strength, we could at least hold our own. Mei-senpai probably thought so too. But in the end...
Forget it. Let's not talk about it.
Uchiha Yuan, you're a genius—more talented than me or Mei-senpai. The battlefield is where geniuses grow the fastest.
Do your best. I hope you can carve out a new path."
With that, Uchiha Cai patted Yuan on the shoulder and turned to leave.
(To Be Continued...)