Amano-Iwato

Boom, boom, boom.

Uchiha Chen held the Flame Gunbai in one hand and his long blade in the other, launching a relentless, sweeping assault against Fugaku.

Clang, clang, clatter.

Uchiha Fugaku widened his Mangekyō, throwing out a dazzling array of ninja tools. At times, he used the Shuriken Manipulation Technique to make them dance through the air; at others, he used steel wires to precisely guide his Fire Style attacks.

However, Uchiha Chen ignored all of this, having no intention of competing with Fugaku in terms of perception or traditional Uchiha craftsmanship.

Ninjutsu was deflected by the Flame Gunbai; as for shuriken, he dodged what he could and parried the rest.

He fought with aggressive, overwhelming taijutsu, weaving in Fire Style techniques during the gaps in their close-quarters combat, forcing Fugaku to scramble and retreat in a sorry state.

"That's it, that's it! That is exactly it!"

Outside the Four Violet Flames Formation, Uchiha Setsuna grabbed one clansman after another, pointing at Uchiha Chen with the excitement of a child, his face already streaked with tears of age.

"That is how Clan Head Madara and Cousin Izuna used to fight! This is the true Uchiha way of battle!"

Flashy shuriken to create interference, taijutsu to control space, and ninjutsu or genjutsu to deliver the finishing blow.

Fugaku's high-precision, low-chakra-consumption style had always been the mainstream approach for the Uchiha clan.

There were historical reasons for the formation of this combat style.

The Uchiha clan did not lack chakra; their reserves increased significantly every time their Sharingan evolved, trailing only the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan in total volume.

But who had the Uchiha clan been fighting for hundreds of years before the founding of Konoha?

As it happened, the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan.

Thus, through centuries of inheritance and evolution, the current Uchiha tradition of chakra-efficient, assassin-oriented combat was born.

"But, how many Senju and Uzumaki are even left in the Shinobi World now?"

Uchiha Chen performed a jumping slash, forcing Fugaku to pull hard on his steel wires to gain leverage and retreat, before immediately forming hand seals and shouting:

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Instantly, three massive flames erupted from Uchiha Chen's mouth, transforming into three lifelike fire dragons with distinct scales. They circled in the air, lunging at Fugaku from the left, center, and right.

Seeing the fire dragons flooding toward him and sealing off all his escape routes, Uchiha Fugaku had nowhere to run and was forced to form his own seals.

"Monkey-Rat-Dog-Ram, Fire Style: Fire Whirlwind!"

Uchiha Fugaku exhaled, using Fire Style chakra to create a rapidly spinning fire tornado around himself, neutralizing Uchiha Chen's three Fire Dragon Flame Bullets.

Amidst the sea of fire, Uchiha Chen raised his arms to form seals while laughing:

"That's right, clashing techniques is the romance of the Uchiha!

Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Uchiha Fugaku's expression turned even gloomier.

Even from dozens of meters away, he could perceive through the perception of his Mangekyō just how astonishing the amount of chakra currently gathering in Uchiha Chen's throat was.

This amount would be enough to power most S-rank ninjutsu.

Although Majestic Destroyer Flame was only B-rank in terms of learning difficulty, it was a rare technique whose power could increase infinitely with the amount of chakra injected!

The Mangekyō Sharingan in Uchiha Fugaku's eye sockets flickered constantly.

In the end, he chose not to counter with the same technique. Instead, the three black dots in his left eye began to spin, and a few drops of blood trickled from the corner of his eye.

Amano-Iwato.

In the myths and legends of the Shinobi World, the Sun Goddess once hid inside Amano-Iwato, leaving the world without sun or moon, and even the gods could not pull her out.

Amano-Iwato was the name of the ocular technique birthed in his left eye; it could manifest a chakra defensive barrier around his body, possessing an invincible defense even stronger than Susanoo!

"Chen!"

Uchiha Fugaku let out a desperate, guttural roar, abandoning all evasion and charging straight toward Uchiha Chen.

Boom.

The sky-filling flames converged into a massive, surging sea of fire, filling every corner of the Four Violet Flames Formation except for the space around Uchiha Chen.

Within this sea of fire, a seemingly small but unyielding 'boulder' pushed through, resisting the scorching flames as it rapidly closed the distance to Uchiha Chen.

Clang.

Blade met blade.

Fugaku severed the long blade in Uchiha Chen's hand and followed through with a strike to decapitate him.

Yet, Fugaku felt no joy; instead, his eyes were filled with confusion.

The sensation was wrong!

Bang!

Shadow Clone Explosion Technique.

The Uchiha Chen whose head had been severed exploded violently, spraying countless sparks.

Immediately afterward, the ground behind Fugaku split open, and Uchiha Chen lunged out, stabbing his blade toward Fugaku's back.

Clang!

After a piercing, sharp sound, Uchiha Chen revealed an expression of astonishment for the first time.

He used the recoil from his attack to leap high into the air, quickly jumping backward several times to put distance between himself and Uchiha Fugaku, observing him cautiously.

There was blood on his left eye; it was a dōjutsu.

His explosive shadow clone hadn't even scorched the hem of Fugaku's clothes, and his own attack had been blocked—what kind of dōjutsu was this?

Not wanting to capsize in the gutter, Uchiha Chen halted his offensive, observing with his Sharingan while analyzing the situation in his mind.

"Chen, you're going to lose!"

A face full of excitement, Uchiha Fugaku said smugly, "My Amano-Iwato is absolutely impossible to break with any attack; there is no way you can shatter my defense!"

"I thought your dōjutsu was some high-end ability like spatial barriers or attack absorption!"

Uchiha Chen curled his lip in disdain and mocked:

"So it's just a turtle shell?"

"Fugaku, the Mangekyō Sharingan is the eye that reflects the heart. What were you thinking about when you awakened your Mangekyō?"

Uchiha Chen tilted his head, as if he had thought of some joke, and chuckled, "Could it be that you were thinking about how to be a turtle?"

Under the protection of Amano-Iwato, Fugaku felt incredibly annoyed and resentful, even biting his lip until it bled.

"Huh? Don't tell me, don't tell me!"

Watching Fugaku's ugly expression, Uchiha Chen provoked him further, "Don't tell me I actually guessed it right?"

Garen buys Last Whisper, silent and armor-piercing.

Fugaku's expression was incredibly cold, his eyes practically spitting fire; clearly, Uchiha Chen had struck a sore spot.

During the early stages of the Third Great Ninja War, he had encountered the Third Raikage on the battlefield and was, unsurprisingly, heavily wounded.

To save his life, his close friend had hidden him in a hollow tree and faced the Third Raikage alone, only to have his head blown off by a single punch.

Fugaku had hidden helplessly in that tree, witnessing the scene with his own eyes. It was because of the terror and the desperate longing for safety at that moment that he had gained a defensive dōjutsu like Amano-Iwato.

"Chen, I didn't want to cross blades with you, but now you have truly angered me! I. Will. Kill. You!!!"

Uchiha Fugaku's scarlet eyes were filled with killing intent as he stepped toward Uchiha Chen. Accompanied by his roar, a purple-red Chakra phantom manifested into a clearly visible, massive purple-red skeletal frame.

"This is Susanoo!"

Fugaku gritted his teeth, yet his tone still carried a hint of arrogance and pride:

"The third power, the ultimate power, which can only be used by those who have mastered both Mangekyō dōjutsu and developed their Eye Power to a certain level!

Let me use this power to defeat you completely!"

At this moment, Fugaku's self-confidence had finally swelled to its peak.