Uchiha Chen put his prosthetic eye back in its socket and slowly walked out of the basement, just in time to hear a loud shout from the living room:
"I represent Konoha! I'm here to destroy you!"
The TV was showing Konoha's hottest drama, Ninja Unrivaled Chronicles, a melodramatic ninja series that combined ninjas, war, amnesia, terminal illnesses, and all sorts of other elements.
The leading actors and villains in the show were mostly Konoha Chunin and Special Jōnin.
Of course, as part of Konoha's propaganda machine, whenever the protagonist unleashed his finishing move, the Phoenix Flower Jutsu, or his ultimate move, the Fire Dragon Bullet, he had to shout a few politically correct slogans.
Uchiha Hikari sat curled up on the sofa with her knees hugged to her chest, staring blankly at the TV. Her delicate, porcelain-white feet bobbed slightly to the rousing BGM that suddenly played onscreen.
Uchiha Chen opened the fridge and took out a bag of oranges he'd bought on his way home today. His gaze suddenly landed on a few bottles of cola.
Whoa, they didn't expire until tomorrow. They were still good!
Let's be real: Uchiha Cola, with its black tomoe on the label, was the GOAT. Sarutobi Cola was just dishwater. Only monkeys drank that stuff!
He gathered a few cans of cola in his arms and plopped down on the sofa. Setting the oranges and cola on the table, he sneaked four or five glances at Uchiha Hikari before asking quietly:
"Doesn't watching this make you feel like it's too fake?"
"Fake, but I want to watch it!" Hikari kept her eyes on the TV.
Chen picked up a can of cola and offered it to Hikari. "It's sweet. You can try some!"
"Mm!"
Hikari reached out and took it, examining the can carefully. She gave it a shake, then pulled the tab on top.
Pssht!
The strange black liquid churned and fizzed. Bubbles rose through the opening, and foam fizzed up to the top.
Uchiha Chen stared at the cola, which looked just like concentrated poison, and hastily tried to explain:
"Listen, let me explain first! This isn't—"
Glug, glug, glug!
Hikari tipped her head back and downed the cola in one go. Her chest rose and fell, and at last she let out a soft, brief burp. Only then did her beautiful eyes settle on the flustered Uchiha Chen, a hint of amusement glinting in them.
"Cola! I saw it on TV just now!"
Phew.
At least there hadn't been a misunderstanding.
Uchiha Chen relaxed against the sofa with a sigh of relief, then awkwardly picked up an orange and started peeling it.
I'll eat an orange to calm my nerves.
"Mm? Ah! Ha!"
Uchiha Chen's hands stopped peeling the orange. He closed his eyes, sensing the scene transmitted by his clone from a thousand miles away.
Hikari frowned and looked away from the TV.
She didn't understand why Uchiha Chen was so jumpy.
"Hmm."
She stared at Uchiha Chen's long eyelashes, her brow furrowed.
Hikari suddenly remembered that Uchiha Chen had been alone in the basement earlier. Then, for a while, she had suddenly felt that the "threat" he posed had dropped to almost nothing.
He'd been as weak as a Three-Tomoe Uchiha!
Could he have used his Mangekyō too much and be going blind?
Hikari considered it for a moment, convinced she'd found the answer. She couldn't help feeling worried.
The Senju and Uzumaki Clans had become history, but surely there were still descendants who'd inherited their bloodlines, right?
Maybe she should find a few and kill them, take their Chakra, and help Chen recover?
In a desolate corner of the Kamui Dimension, Uchiha Chen's clone stood before a row of cabinets, taking stock of the windfall in front of him.
The Kamui Dimension wasn't a world unto itself like Kaguya's Amenominakanushi, but it was still vast.
Uchiha Chen had kept his clones secretly probing every corner of the Kamui Dimension. At last, in the middle of this barren wasteland, they'd found Obito's storage space.
There were four or five towering bookshelves, piled high with decoded versions of countless ninjutsu passed down from the Warring States period. It was practically the Shinobi World's Huan Shi Water Pavilion.
Whenever Uchiha ninja encountered an unfamiliar jutsu, they would copy it with their Sharingan. Then they'd return to the clan and record their own knockoff version. The books on these shelves were clearly the accumulated work of the Warring States-era Uchiha, spanning hundreds of years.
Besides that, one shelf held several handwritten copies of Explanation of Fire Style: Izuna's Annotations, as well as a set of custom-made traditional Uchiha battle attire and a treasured sword.
These were probably Izuna's belongings, kept by Madara.
Finally, Uchiha Chen's gaze fell on a gourd-shaped fan. He couldn't tear his eyes away.
The fan's crescent-white surface was shaped like a gourd, with three tomoe arranged on either side. White bandages wound around its long handle, making it easier to grip.
The Flame Gunbai, also known as the Uchiha Gunbai.
Made by the Sage of Six Paths from a branch of the God Tree, it was a sacred artifact bestowed upon the Uchiha ancestor Indra.
It had witnessed a thousand years of Uchiha glory and history, and was also the symbol of the Uchiha Clan head.
Ever since the Battle of the Valley of the End between the Uchiha Clan's third-to-last head, Uchiha Madara, and Senju Hashirama, the artifact had been lost.
That meant all three clan heads since the Battle of the Valley of the End, Fugaku included, could be called illegitimate!
"A branch of the God Tree?"
Uchiha Chen gently stroked the Flame Gunbai's surface. He could feel its material—part gold, part iron, yet springy—and couldn't suppress the smile tugging at his lips.
If his main body were here, he'd definitely be unable to stop himself from roaring with laughter.
The God Tree and the Ten-Tails were two sides of the same coin: one symbolized the yang of plundering all things, the other the yin of Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Even if the Flame Gunbai was only a small branch taken from the God Tree, its essence was still part of a Six Paths-level life-form!
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Like a mouse that had fallen into a rice storehouse, Uchiha Chen's eyes practically glowed red.
He packed Madara and Obito's treasured possessions into Sealing Scrolls, one by one. At last, only the precious Flame Gunbai remained.
Uchiha Chen rapidly formed Hand Seals in front of the Flame Gunbai, sealing the Summoning Technique that Madara and Obito had left on it. Then he inscribed his own summoning mark.
"Shame I didn't find a Sharingan. Did Obito hide his somewhere else?"
Uchiha Chen sighed, greedy for more. He gave one last look over the cabinets, all knocked askew, and made sure he hadn't missed even a single scrap of paper. Then he waved his hand and vanished from the Kamui Dimension without leaving a trace.
Who knew how much time passed before a vortex suddenly appeared in the Kamui Dimension.
Obito had been riding high lately, and he was in an excellent mood.
First, Konan of the Akatsuki had recruited Sasori of the Red Sand, the assassin of the Third Kazekage, further strengthening the Akatsuki. Then he'd effortlessly used genjutsu to control the leader of Takigakure and claimed the Seven-Tails.
Now this was how a mastermind was supposed to operate! His earlier losses to Uchiha Chen had just been a fluke!
Huh?
Where was all my stuff? Where was the Flame Gunbai Madara had left me?
Uchiha Obito rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but the mess before him remained.
Had someone robbed my place?
The Mangekyō Sharingan had the keenest perception in the Shinobi World, but it couldn't see what had happened in the past, nor could it bring memories back to life.
"AAAAAAAH! No~~~!"
Obito slammed his fist into the ground, blood seeping from his knuckles.
It never rained in the empty Kamui Dimension. Yet now, the colorless world trembled faintly, as if it, too, were weeping.
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