Sharingan

"That's enough. There's no point in continuing." Soji slowly walked toward Uchiha Homura. He did not think the other boy would still have the strength to fight after taking that blow.

"No, I... I haven't lost yet. How can I surrender just like this?! Ah!" Intense negative emotions erupted from Uchiha Homura.

Soji suddenly sensed a cold, sinister Chakra erupting from Uchiha Homura's body, forcing him to stop.

Soji swallowed, as if he had thought of something.

"No way?"

Soji truly had not expected him to break through under these circumstances.

Those villains from the shows he used to watch had not lied after all. Now, it seemed he was getting a taste of that treatment himself.

He had played around too much and somehow caused trouble...

In the distance, Uchiha Homura, who had been lying on the ground and struggling even to move, had gotten back to his feet.

He suddenly raised his lowered head. The pupils in his eyes had turned blood-red, and a black tomoe was clearly visible within each eye.

Sharingan!

That was right. At this moment, driven by the intense unwillingness in his heart, Uchiha Homura had awakened the Uchiha Clan's treasured bloodline—the Sharingan!

Unlike the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, the Sharingan required not only training to awaken, but also intense emotional stimulation.

At the same time, the Sharingan possessed formidable abilities such as observation, copying, and hypnosis.

Every Uchiha who awakened the Sharingan could be considered a master of genjutsu.

There was a saying in the ninja world: never face an Uchiha ninja of the same rank alone.

That alone showed just how powerful the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan was!

Hyuga Soji's understanding of the Uchiha Clan was no longer as shallow as it had been two years ago.

Through his interactions with Homura over the past few years, he had learned that not every Uchiha awakened the Sharingan at the age of seven or eight like Sasuke Uchiha and his brother.

Most members of the Uchiha Clan could not awaken these eyes even in their entire lives.

Those who awakened the Sharingan before graduating from the Ninja Academy were all geniuses of the Uchiha Clan without exception.

Soji clearly remembered asking Uchiha Homura whether all Uchiha awakened their eyes at the age of seven or eight.

The other boy had stared at him like he was an idiot for a long time, even unconsciously taking a step away from him.

Then, Soji had received a harsh lesson on the history of the Uchiha Clan.

Because of that, Soji had never imagined that Uchiha Homura, who had never even been mentioned in the original story, could awaken the Sharingan at this age.

"Hahaha! So this is the power of the Sharingan? It feels incredible."

The awakening of the Sharingan seemed to have stimulated his body's metabolism, allowing Uchiha Homura to recover some of his strength.

"Hey, Soji, are you ready? The real show is only just beginning. Don't think about running away. I'll show you the power of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan. It's about time you showed your true strength too, isn't it?"

The awakening of the Sharingan instantly filled Uchiha Homura with confidence. He felt that his current self could completely crush the self from moments ago.

Even against Soji, he was confident he could win!

That arrogant tone had not come from Uchiha Homura's mouth in a long time.

At least in front of Soji and Minato, he had always believed himself inferior to the two of them.

But now, after awakening the Sharingan, he was different. He, Uchiha Homura, would reclaim the honor belonging to the Uchiha Clan starting today!

"Interesting. The awakening of the Sharingan seems to have given you a lot of confidence." Being stared at by the Sharingan made Soji feel slightly uncomfortable because of its cold, sinister aura.

However, Soji knew it had nothing to do with Homura himself. It was simply caused by his excessively vigorous Yin-nature Chakra.

The reason the Second Hokage considered the Uchiha Clan an evil clan was because, after awakening the Sharingan, Uchiha Clan members constantly radiated Yin-nature Chakra.

Yin and Yang Chakra were the two natures that best reflected a person's character.

Those with Yang-nature Chakra were generally sunny and cheerful, while those with Yin-nature Chakra often gave off a cold, gloomy feeling!

The practical manifestation was that people with vigorous Yang-nature Chakra generally possessed physiques far surpassing ordinary people. Representative figures included the First Hokage Hashirama Senju and Naruto Uzumaki.

Those with vigorous Yin-nature Chakra generally had more extreme emotions—or, it could be said, richer emotions. Representative figures included Madara Uchiha, the Shura of the Ninja World, and Sasuke Uchiha.

"Hmph. If you don't activate your Byakugan, you'll regret it." Seeing that Soji still refused to activate his Byakugan to fight him, Uchiha Homura's tone carried a hint of threat.

Whoosh.

With a soft sound, Uchiha Homura crossed the five or six meters between them in less than a second and appeared behind Soji. He immediately kicked toward Soji's back.

"Not bad. Your speed is nearly half again as fast as before, and your strength has increased by about a third."

Soji turned around and blocked the sneak attack with his left forearm.

Just as Soji was about to counterattack, he saw Uchiha Homura's cheeks swell.

His hand signs are so fast—more than twice as fast as before, and he's even forming them one-handed, Soji thought in surprise.

"Fire Style—Great Fireball Technique!"

Faced with a fireball even hotter than before, Soji desperately leaped to the left and narrowly avoided it.

Hiss.

The smell of burning reached Soji's nose.

Although Soji had dodged in time, the terrifying heat of the fireball—especially from such close range—had still set the corner of his sleeve ablaze.

Though Soji himself had not been hurt, compared to before, Uchiha Homura's attack had truly been unexpected.

If they had not seen it with their own eyes, no one would have believed the two were the same person.

Ten minutes ago, Uchiha Homura had been toyed with by Soji. Yet now, in their clash, he had gained the upper hand for the first time.

"It's not over yet. This time, you shouldn't have time to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu, right?"

After that strike, Uchiha Homura used the Body Flicker Technique again to close the distance between himself and Soji.

He raised a leg and kicked toward Soji's chest, just as Soji had done to him earlier.

Too late.

Soji made his judgment. He could not dodge it and could only take the blow head-on.

Soji crossed his arms in front of his chest and blocked the attack.

Hissss.

Soji slid five or six meters away. To Uchiha Homura, the sound of Soji's shoes scraping against the ground was exceptionally pleasing.

"How the tables have turned. I never thought I'd have a day like this." Soji lowered his arms and looked helplessly at Uchiha Homura's shoeprint on them.

It could only be said that Soji had been too reckless, perfectly acting out the role of a villain.

First came the verbal taunts, then the physical beating. Then he waited for his opponent to awaken the Sharingan, still refused to take him seriously, and finally suffered a major loss.

"Hehe. Now you'll get serious, right?" At this moment, Uchiha Homura was as delighted as a three-year-old who had received candy.

"Yeah. First, I apologize for my arrogance. But next, let's begin the third round."

As soon as he spoke, Soji activated his Byakugan. Veins bulged around the corners of his eyes, and a dark mark appeared within his pupils.

With the Byakugan activated, Soji looked even more ferocious and terrifying than Uchiha Homura with his Sharingan open.

Although it was not the first time he had seen Soji activate the Byakugan, Uchiha Homura still felt a wave of nervousness.

That was because every time they had trained in the past, Soji activating the Byakugan had meant his defeat.

But today, he believed the outcome would be different. He would prove to Soji that, after awakening the Sharingan, he was capable of keeping pace with him and Minato.

Thinking of the illusion that had flashed before his eyes before he awakened the Sharingan, he did not want to truly be left behind by the two of them someday.

The image of Soji and Minato Namikaze walking farther and farther away before his eyes, while he could never catch up no matter how hard he tried, had been the main reason Uchiha Homura awakened the Sharingan today.

This time, Hyuga Soji attacked first. He used the Body Flicker Technique to approach Uchiha Homura, then thrust a palm infused with Chakra toward Homura's chest.

I can see it. I can see Soji's attack trajectory, Uchiha Homura thought excitedly with his blood-red one-tomoe Sharingan wide open.

He remembered how, during past training sessions, every time Soji activated his Byakugan, he would use the Body Flicker Technique to close in and strike with a single palm. After that, there would be no more to say.

Bang!

How can this be? Uchiha Homura thought in disbelief.

He had clearly seen Soji's attack. Why had he still been hit?

At that moment, Uchiha Homura was sent flying through the air because Soji's palm strike had come from below.

"Are you wondering why, even though you saw my attack clearly, you still couldn't defend against it?" Soji calmly voiced Uchiha Homura's thoughts.

Uchiha Homura turned his puzzled gaze toward Hyuga Soji while suspended in the air. His chest felt tight, leaving him unable to speak.

Yet his expression clearly asked why Soji knew what he was thinking.

Soji did not keep him in suspense and directly explained the reason.

"Because even if your eyes can keep up with my speed, your body can't. Do you understand now?"

After explaining, Soji did not wait for Uchiha Homura to recover. He grabbed Homura's right hand and pulled him back, then clenched his other hand into a fist and punched him directly in an abdominal acupoint.

"Urgh!"

Uchiha Homura was not only knocked drooling, but even his Sharingan shut tightly as his eyes rolled back white.

That was right. Soji's punch not only disrupted the flow of Chakra inside his body, but directly knocked Uchiha Homura unconscious from the pain.

This time, he was truly unconscious. Soji had confirmed it—and this was the kind of unconsciousness where he would not suddenly power up and awaken the Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

"Whew, I guess I got a little too serious."

Soji dared to guarantee that this definitely was not revenge!

It was not that Hyuga Soji suddenly received a bug-like boost in strength after activating his Byakugan. Rather, it was because he normally sealed away part of his strength.

He had set limits on how much strength he would use without activating the Byakugan, and how much he would use after activating it.

He had decided that since the Ninja Academy already had an overpowered freak like Minato Namikaze, and he could not stand out alone, he might as well keep some strength hidden most of the time.

That was why Soji's strength increased so greatly after activating the Byakugan. Uchiha Homura had not even managed to withstand two moves.

"Damn it, I forgot the fire's still burning."

Suddenly, Soji remembered the tree nearby that Uchiha Homura had set on fire with the Great Fireball Technique. It was still burning.

Thinking of this, Soji shot another fierce glare at Uchiha Homura, who was still unconscious on the ground.

It was all this brat's fault. Why did he have to use Fire Style on a tree for no reason?

If the fire was not put out soon, the entire forest would probably catch fire.

Now Homura was unconscious, but Soji had to clean up his mess and put out the flames.

Suppressing the urge to kick Uchiha Homura, Soji began his fire-extinguishing operation.

Fortunately, the fire had been burning for less than fifteen minutes, and the other nearby trees were far enough away that they had not been affected by the blazing tree.

Soji put out the fire in less than five minutes.

Then Soji trained by himself while waiting for Uchiha Homura to wake up.