Uchiha Fuka's hand trembled slightly as he gripped his katana, his crimson Sharingan eyes exuding a faint, ashen aura.
The Uzumaki clansman before him was monstrously strong. Fuka's taijutsu wasn't poor, but after a few exchanges, he was completely outmatched. Uzumaki Hanami's powerful fists could even withstand the refined steel of Fuka's blade.
Worse, Hanami's chakra reserves dwarfed Fuka's. Despite unleashing chakra for so long, Hanami showed no signs of depletion. He hadn't even used his trump card, treating the fight like child's play.
Yawning, Hanami seemed bored. "This is the famed 'Phantom Fuka'?"
He'd come with high expectations, only to find the fight nearly over before he'd warmed up. Only that genjutsu had posed a slight threat.
"Dull. If this is all you've got, step aside. I need to find little Mito."
With a casual wave, Hanami swatted away several shuriken Fuka had thrown. Seeing his projectiles effortlessly deflected, Fuka didn't falter. Instead, a cunning glint crossed his face.
With a sharp flick of his hands, the deflected shuriken, as if guided, veered back toward the stationary Hanami.
In an instant, the shuriken circled Hanami several times, perfectly avoiding all vital points.
"Is this the Uchiha clan's throwing accuracy?" Hanami mocked, unmoved.
The next moment, he felt a tightening around his body.
"Shuriken Manipulation Technique."
Fuka's fingers, entwined with threads like those Uchiha Gin used, subjected Hanami to the same binding trap as his sister. But Fuka wasn't done.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique."
A searing flame brewed in Fuka's mouth, erupting as a fiery dragon that surged along the threads toward the bound Hanami, engulfing him in flames.
Seeing Hanami ablaze, Fuka remained cautious. Raising his katana, he slashed toward the fire-wreathed figure.
As the blade neared Hanami's head, Fuka felt a surge of triumph.
But then, a chilling sight: a flaming arm firmly grasped his blade, immovable no matter how hard he pulled.
"A combination technique? Quite rare," Hanami's calm voice emerged.
Only then did Fuka realize that, despite being enveloped in raging flames, Hanami hadn't uttered a single cry.
Boom!
With a surge of chakra, Hanami shattered the binding threads and dispersed the flames, revealing his unscathed body.
Brushing off the faintly singed tips of his hair, Hanami praised, "Worthy of the fan-wielding Uchiha. Your fire techniques are dazzling."
Fuka's dry eyes struggled to focus, his throat tight. This Uzumaki's physique was absurdly resilient.
Despair crept in. On the other side of the battlefield, Uchiha Ryoichi and the others were still fighting, but their long-haired Uzumaki opponent seemed at ease. Defeat was only a matter of time.
Is this where it ends?
Fuka, a warrior his whole life, felt a pang of regret at falling in such a mission.
His chakra nearly depleted, his Sharingan faltering, he looked skyward. Memories of his life flashed like a carousel, settling on a curly-haired man with a warm smile. Nostalgia flickered in Fuka's eyes, then resolve hardened.
"I haven't burned out yet. If I can hold you even a moment longer, that kid's chances of survival increase."
With that thought, a new surge of strength coursed through Fuka. His closed Sharingan reactivated, its three tomoe spinning rapidly, almost merging.
Frowning, Hanami, with the Uzumaki's keen perception, sensed a sudden spike in chakra from the supposedly drained Uchiha. An eerie aura washed over him.
"What's this?"
Hanami had seen enemies burn their life force for a final stand, but the Uchiha had no such technique. Was this a bluff?
As Hanami's focus wavered, a strange chakra rose behind Fuka, slowly forming a bizarre shape.
Just as it neared completion, a figure darted in front of Fuka, wielding a kunai in one hand. Uchiha Gin landed in what he thought was a cool pose.
"Am I late?"
He flashed a grin he believed was dashing.
Fuka's transformation halted abruptly. He stared at Uchiha Gin in disbelief.
"You came back for what?! &%…!"
Fuka's frustration boiled over. He'd been ready to sacrifice himself to give Uchiha Gin a chance to escape, only for the kid to return and throw it away.
"Uh, shouldn't you be crying with gratitude?" Uchiha Gin blinked, stunned by the scolding. He'd come to help, yet got chewed out.
"You're here," Fuka sighed, calming down.
"I'm here."
"You shouldn't be."
"But I am."
"Can you two quit it? Padding the word count?" Hanami snapped, veins bulging, ignored for too long.
"Whoops, my bad," Uchiha Gin said, scratching his head with a sheepish grin, his dead-fish eyes half-hearted in apology.
"Despicable Uchiha, you dared come back. Where'd you hide Mito?" Hanami demanded, clenching his fists so hard they cracked, glaring at the Uchiha who'd "manhandled" his sister.
Eyeing Hanami's massive fists, Uchiha Gin swallowed hard, touching the artifact Mito had given him. Hope Mito's gadget works.
"Why didn't you follow my orders?" Fuka asked, now composed but anxious. What's this kid thinking, coming back?
"Captain, less talk, more fighting," Uchiha Gin replied, drawing his katana.
"You, without even a Sharingan—wait, when did you awaken it?" Fuka began, exasperated by Uchiha Gin's recklessness. Did he not grasp his own limits? Fuka couldn't beat this opponent—what could Gin do?
But then he saw the single tomoe spinning in Uchiha Gin's familiar dead-fish eyes. Fuka froze, a familiar figure overlapping with Gin in his mind.
"A single tomoe's useless against a taijutsu master. Your frail physique means certain death," Fuka said. Though pleased Gin had awakened his Sharingan, it wouldn't turn the tide.
"Test my patience no further, Uchiha. Hand over Mito, and I might leave you a whole corpse," Hanami said coldly, red chakra cloaking him, his refined features fierce like a lion unleashed.
"I'd say it's a misunderstanding, but it seems that won't resolve easily," Uchiha Gin replied, feeling Hanami's overwhelming chakra like a beast's stare, his muscles tensing.
"No more talk of misunderstandings. Once I break your limbs, you'll spill everything," Hanami snarled, rushing forward with a heavy punch aimed at Uchiha Gin's arm.
The thunderous blow came, but Uchiha Gin's Sharingan, fueled by adrenaline, spun faster. As the fist neared, his single tomoe became two. At the last second, he angled his katana toward Hanami's exposed underarm.
Hanami, with his keen senses, knew landing the punch would cost him an arm. He twisted, redirecting his fist into a nearby tree, which splintered under the blow and toppled.
As the dust settled, Hanami glanced at a small cut under his ribs, already healing thanks to the Uzumaki's freakish resilience. Still, he was stunned by Uchiha Gin's ruthless precision.
Uchiha Gin wasn't unscathed. Though Hanami had altered his punch, the wind from it tore the skin on Gin's right arm, blood flowing freely.
Yet, miraculously, within moments, the wound sprouted new tissue, and the bleeding slowed. The world through his eyes grew sharper.
"The Uzumaki's recovery is unreal. Just a trace of their bloodline, and I'm healing like this," Uchiha Gin marveled. Ten breaths later, his wound had fully closed, only a faint scab remaining.
Snake–Ram–Monkey–Boar–Horse–Tiger
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."
With his arm healed, Uchiha Gin formed hand signs for the first time, using the only ranged jutsu his original self knew. In the manga, this technique was jokingly called the "Mercy Jutsu" for its pitiful accuracy.
Feeling the searing heat in his mouth, Uchiha Gin couldn't hold it in. Taking a deep breath, he puffed his cheeks and unleashed the fire chakra toward Hanami.
The massive fireball hurtling toward Hanami made his eyes nearly pop out. Stunned, he looked up.
"You sure this is a Great Fireball and not Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame?"
Typically, an Uchiha's Great Fireball spanned a hundred cubic meters, with a range of about ten meters. Hanami was familiar with it, but this fireball, several times larger, defied belief. If not for seeing Uchiha Gin's hand signs, he wouldn't have accepted it.
This wasn't just for show. Hanami's sharp senses detected the immense destructive power within the oversized fireball. Unlike Fuka's weaker Dragon Fire Technique, this could overwhelm his physique. He scrambled to dodge.
No jutsu was inherently superior—its power depended on the caster. When Uchiha Madara used the B-rank Fire Release: Majestic Demolition or Majestic Destroyer Flame, it was cataclysmic.
Uchiha Gin, having expelled all his lung's air, stopped the jutsu and gasped, revitalizing his parched lungs. His chakra was nearly drained. Opening his eyes, he saw the forest reduced to a soccer-field-sized clearing. Rubbing his dead-fish eyes, he muttered, "Am I in a genjutsu?"
Uncertain, he glanced back at Fuka, whose expression mirrored Hanami's earlier shock, his Sharingan practically bulging.
Fuka swore he'd never seen such a terrifying jutsu, not even from the clan's strongest, Uchiha Tajima. Though shielded from the fire, the lingering heat and evaporated moisture made breathing harsh.
"What technique was that?" Fuka asked, snapping Uchiha Gin out of his thoughts.
Scratching his curly hair, Uchiha Gin hesitated. "Probably… Great Fireball?"
Though the hand signs matched his memory, something felt off. This fireball was absurdly massive, ten times larger than his original self's.
Was it the Uzumaki bloodline?
Uchiha Gin wondered if the Uzumaki bloodline had boosted his chakra, enabling such a destructive jutsu. But that didn't add up. He'd only gained a trace of their bloodline, doubling his chakra at most per the system panel—not enough for this.
If raw chakra volume could amplify jutsu this much, the chakra-abundant Uzumaki would've dominated the Warring States and unified the ninja world.
"System, what's going on?" Unable to pinpoint the cause, Uchiha Gin queried the system, but got no reply.
Since time flowed differently outside and in the system, he entered the system space.
The familiar arena was unchanged, the Heartsteel Chest still at zero layers, awaiting tomorrow's refresh. Turning to the arcade machine, Uchiha Gin noticed something odd.
The screen, once displaying "10," now showed a row of "" symbols. Where were his hard-earned ten points?
"Hey, system, you there? Say something!" Sensing a trick, Uchiha Gin called out.
"System loading…" A flat voice echoed after a few seconds.
"Where're my points? And what's with my jutsu?" Uchiha Gin pressed.
"Host strength increased. System loading speed +10%. Updating, please wait…"
Strength increased? Uchiha Gin recalled the fight. Hanami's movements had seemed clearer—had his Sharingan evolved?
"Ding! Update complete!" The "" on the arcade screen faded, replaced by a "0."
"What?! Where's my big 10 points? One-one-zero!" Uchiha Gin demanded, pointing at the machine with his dead-fish eyes.
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