He wanted a breakthrough. He didn't expect an entire species to take it personally.
"Y-You're talking nonsense!"
Sasuke craned his neck stubbornly, his face fluhed bright red as he snapped back, his gaze flickering everywhere except Kaito's eyes.
"We're brotherrrrrrs…"
"Do we really have to calculate things so precisely…?"
Kaito rolled his eyes and decided not to continue arguing.
If he kept pushing, this kid might actually start crying little pearls.
"Come on. Take the dog outside to raise it."
"And bring me to see if there are any otherrrrrr puppies around."
Letting Sasuke keep a dog outside was a reluctant compromise.
From the moment Sasuke brought the puppy home, Fathe had probably already noticed.
It might have even been Fathe's doing in the first place.
Sasuke was delighted. Since Kaito was agreeing, that meant he acknowledged this new friend — and being able to share it with Kaito made him even happier.
But before long, Sasuke started hesitating again.
He remembered that he had promised Itachi to train togethe in the afternoon…
"If you don't move, give the money back!"
Kaito stood at the gate and turned back to urge the dazed Sasuke.
Right now, all he wanted was to finish the newbie quest and truly step onto the cultivation path.
Chakra and all that…
To hell with it.
Over the years, he hadn't slacked off in training. Even Itachi had once praised him as a genius of the Uchiha clan.
His chakra reserves weren't large — nothing like those late-series monsters who could clap their hands and summon disasters.
But because he carried memories from his previous life and possessed unusually strong mental focus, his chakra control was astonishing.
Even without deliberate training, his precision in chakra manipulation was already comparable to Itachi's.
Still…
When facing a true genjutsu prodigy like Itachi, Kaito finally realized just how terrifying that man really was.
At the very least, in every sparring match, Kaito could never even tell when Itachi had cast his genjutsu.
From that moment on, Kaito understood that only by awakening the Mangekyō would he have any chance of beating him.
Once he accepted that awakening the Mangekyō before the massacre night was unrealistic, his training intensity naturally dropped.
He focused more on enjoying life.
But now that he had a system — and the chance to cultivate immortality — no matter what, he had to fight for it.
As for why he needed Sasuke's help to complete the quest…
It was simple.
Puppies were easier targets.
The dogs in Konoha weren't stupid — they had intelligence comparable to humans, and they often moved in packs.
If things truly escalated into a fight, Kaito couldn't guarantee he'd come out unscathed against a group of ninja dogs.
"You wish!"
Sasuke snapped resentfully — but he still obediently picked up the puppy and followed Kaito out of the house.
The two walked one after the otherrrrrr through Konoha's streets.
After about ten minutes, they reached the outermost edge of the Uchiha district — also the boundary of the village.
"Kaito, it's over there."
"This is where stray dogs usually appear. I heard the Inuzuka clan's dogs often come around hee."
Those puppies might be young ninja dogs that slipped away from their handlers..
Kaito: "..."
Was there any chance those were actually Inuzuka ninja dogs' accidental offspring?
Sasuke was still young and had never really had friends. His thinking was far more innocent than kids his age.
Seeing Kaito stay silent, Sasuke assumed his brotherrrrrr also wanted to adopt a puppy — so he started enthusiastically helping Kaito pick one out.
"Kaito, what do you think about that black-and-white one?"
"If we raise it properly, later we could—"
Sasuke pointed toward several puppies frolicking in the distance, patiently describing each one's "advantages."
But mid-sentence, when he turned his head back toward Kaito…
Kaito was gone.
In the next instant, Sasuke saw Kaito already pinning several puppies to the ground, ferociously rubbing their bellies.
"Aow—! Aow!!"
Bullying one was bad enough — but Kaito even wore a vicious expression while doing it. Sasuke couldn't hold back anymore.
"Kaito! What are you doing?!"
"You—!"
"Do you even have any compassion?!"
Kaito ignored Sasuke completely.
All of his attention was glued to the system notifications.
[Sky-Rending Demonic Hound defeated. Quest progress: 2/10]
[Sky-Rending Demonic Hound defeated. Quest progress: 3/10]
[Sky-Rending Demonic Hound defeated. Quest progress: 4/10]
...
Fully immersed, Kaito transformed into a ruthless quest-grinding machine. Even when Sasuke ruhed over, he couldn't stop Kaito from continuing his merciless belly-rubbing campaign.
In the end, Sasuke had no choice but to cling onto Kaito's leg with his entire body — only then did Kaito finally stop.
Of course, the real reason Kaito stopped was because the quest was already complete…
[Congratulations, Host. Quest completed.]
[Reward: Physique enhanced. +100% chance to enter Qi Refining. +50% success rate for Foundation Establishment.]
As the quest finihed, Kaito slowly closed his eyes, waiting for the system's power to descend.
"Physique enhancement" sounded insanely powerful.
But ten full minutes passed.
Aside from two extra buff lines appearing in his [Status] panel…
Nothing changed.
No explosive muscle swelling.
No sudden growth spurt.
No dramatic bodily transformation whatsoever.
Just as Kaito was about to mentally curse the system's entire ancestral lineage, a new notification chimed inside his mind.
[Congratulations, Host. Achievement unlocked — Enemy of the Sky-Rending Demonic Hounds]
[Enemy of the Sky-Rending Demonic Hounds: Having continuously defeated Sky-Rending Demonic Hounds, you are now a public enemy of their species. Equipping this achievement title grants +200% cultivation efficiency.]
Uchiha Kaito: ?
He stood there, carefully rereading the achievement description again and again — still unable to make sense of it.
What made it even more absurd was…
Why did this achievement bonus feel stronger than the actual quest reward?
Look at that.
+200% cultivation efficiency.
So how exactly was he supposed to cultivate now…
Train chakra?
Practice ninjutsu?
Kaito hadn't even started worrying about how the bonus applied yet.
What he didn't realize was that across the entire village, stray dogs and ninja dogs alike were already surging toward their location.
"Awoooo—"
"Woof woof woof!!"
"Grrrawooo!!"
Thousands of canine paws thundered across Konoha's streets, the ground rumbling as if under a stampede.
Every single dog shared only one thought—
Teach that reckless bastard a lesson.
Let him learn…
That even dogs have dignity that cannot be trampled!
"Kaito, I really think you went too far just now."
Sasuke followed behind, still deeply dissatisfied with Kaito's bullying of the puppies.
"What's the big deal? I was just petting them—"
Kaito spoke casually — but then he suddenly noticed a massive cloud of dust rising in the distance, accompanied by endless waves of barking.
His expression changed instantly.
He grabbed Sasuke and bolted without hesitation.
"So this really follows cultivation world rules now…?"
"Beat the small ones, and the big ones come knocking?!"
The ninja-dog pursuit wasn't even the part that truly left him speechless.
Kaito suddenly felt the +200% boost he'd just gained…
Starting to kick in.
...
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