Instant Kill Uncle

"Little Sosuke is here."

The uncle weighed the money pouch in his hand, his eyes barely concealing their malice.

Having suffered two consecutive major losses, he knew his son wouldn't be able to reclaim his footing anytime soon.

Even if misfortune had turned to fortune, and Uchiha Takeshi had awakened his Sharingan under the stimulus of defeat, he still didn't want his son to challenge the youth immediately.

From what he'd heard, the little brat had gone out with the Young Clan Head and killed a Captain-level powerhouse from the Senju Clan. With that kind of nerve alone, his son currently stood no chance against him.

To salvage his lost face, Uchiha Takeshi decided to lead his son onto the battlefield, using the crucible of life and death to accelerate his growth.

Either hold back and not fight, or strike hard enough to bury the little brat in the dust—the conflict between them had long since ceased to be a simple family dispute.

Before leaving, the disgraced Uchiha Takeshi wanted to personally teach the kid a lesson.

No need to follow the rules of the arena; he had plenty of ways to make a brat miserable.

He tossed the money pouch over, and when the Youth caught it on instinct, Takeshi sneered and instantly appeared behind him.

He placed his arm on Sosuke's shoulder, and the heavy force immediately made the Youth bend over, struggling to keep himself upright to avoid being forced to his knees under the pressure.

Passersby on the street couldn't see anything unusual between them—it looked like an elder caring for a sick child.

"He can take it." Uchiha Takeshi sneered inwardly, not increasing the pressure on his arm. He had come today to make the little brat feel the gap in their strength.

Let him deeply experience that despair and helplessness—maybe he could even crush Sosuke's confidence, sending a rising star tumbling into the dust.

As for fighting back?

The Youth couldn't even straighten his back. If he made the slightest move, he'd end up on both knees.

And he might never get back up.

Thinking this, Uchiha Takeshi's heart was nearly overflowing with a twisted sense of satisfaction.

He couldn't wait to see that scene unfold.

Just then, a pale blue arc of electricity flickered before his eyes.

Before Uchiha Takeshi could react, the terrifying lightning exploded right in front of him. Too close to dodge, he had no way to evade.

Chidori Stream!

This was the fruit of Sosuke's recent training. Thanks to his excellent Chakra control, he had become highly adept at the field of shape transformation for ninjutsu.

Having developed Chidori Stream, anyone bold enough to get close to him had better watch out.

The uncle, completely unaware, took the full brunt of Chidori Stream. Even with his strength, he couldn't stay on his feet.

His skin was torn and charred, a far cry from the scene he had imagined. Struggling to prop himself up, he glared at the Youth with unfocused eyes.

He couldn't understand why, even when he stepped in personally, the result was the same.

That jutsu was something he'd never seen before. He couldn't even guess how the Youth had developed it.

In that moment, he suddenly recalled a rumor that had circulated in the clan not long ago—that Uchiha Sosuke was a once-in-a-century ninjutsu genius.

At first, he thought it was just the clan head's usual method of creating legends, propping up so-called geniuses to keep the clan fighting with confidence.

But looking at himself now, Uchiha Takeshi felt nothing but regret for his earlier contempt.

If he had known the situation beforehand, he would never have stood so close to the kid. In the end, he had never truly taken the Youth seriously.

Though burning with shame, Uchiha Takeshi dimly understood one thing—why his son could never gain the upper hand against this boy.

"Heh. He didn't lose unfairly."

With that, the uncle's head lolled to the side, and he fell completely unconscious.

If Sosuke's strength were greater—if his Chakra had reached Chunin level—that one move would have been enough to kill him outright.

Of course, Sosuke wouldn't do something as foolish as killing the goose that laid the golden egg. He still had big plans for the uncle and his son.

This farce ultimately didn't stir up much of a commotion in the compound.

The reason was simple: on the front lines, with the help of the Hagoromo Clan, the Uchiha had achieved a decisive victory.

The invading Senju Clan had been driven back to their lair, and all lost territory had been reclaimed. It was the greatest victory in nearly two years.

Amid the clan's joyous celebrations, the uncle and his son quietly slipped away from the compound. Their exact destination was unknown, but it was likely one of the several small-to-medium battlefields still locked in stalemate.

The Uchiha's enemies were not limited to the Senju.

The Uzumaki overseas, the secret technique families to the south, and on the western front, medium-sized clans like the Fuma and Sarutobi watched with bared fangs.

None of them were pushovers. While their overall strength might fall far short of the Uchiha, they knew well the principle of striking when the enemy is weak.

Every time the Uchiha and Senju went to war, those families would start stirring up trouble in the shadows.

With insufficient troops, the Uchiha couldn't do much about them for the time being.

"Make allies far away, attack those nearby—that's the superior strategy. How did that fool Tajima manage to turn everyone into enemies?!"

To be honest, if the Uchiha weren't so powerful, any other clan would have been wiped out long ago.

But for Sosuke, the more chaotic the war, the easier it was for him to fish in troubled waters.

If everyone got along peacefully, where would he earn that mountain of points?

"Now that the Senju Clan has temporarily withdrawn, the next focus will be on encircling and eliminating the other families."

"This time, no matter what, I have to sneak into the reinforcement squad."

Hungry and thirsty for action, Sosuke had already made a quiet plan in his heart: if the Clan Head still forbade him from going out, he would slip away to those battlefields.

Even though Uchiha Tajima was strong-willed and usually had the final say, there were still some big shots within the clan who didn't have to heed him.

"It's settled."

Having made up his mind, Sosuke silently awaited the day the heroes would return.

Only when the main force from the front lines withdrew could arrangements be made to send reinforcements to other war zones.

After years of bitter fighting, not everyone was willing to continue slaughtering on the battlefield.

How to make the selection had always been a monumental challenge across generations.

"Sigh, I want to go." Sosuke looked up to the heavens with a long sigh, itching to prove his strength to the Clan Head right away.

In his anxious, waiting gaze, the victorious army from the Eastern War Zone finally returned in triumph.

Early that morning, the clan members went out on their own to welcome them. Uchiha Tajima walked at the very front, followed by a vast, surging crowd.

Yet, on such a joyous day, a group of people moved against the tide.

Each of their faces was taut with tension, forming a stark contrast to the surrounding celebration.

Judging by the direction this group was heading, if nothing went wrong, it should be toward the clan's most important location.

The Uchiha Academy.