Kaguya Princess Bloodline (Fake)

Under this pressure, it was easy to imagine how anxious Salamander Hanzo must have been.

He had no choice but to abandon his steady, cautious strategy and begin sacrificing more Rain Ninja to increase their effectiveness against the Sand Ninja.

He would trade heavy casualties for a swift victory on the southern front against the Sand Ninja.

The Sand Ninja had no idea that Salamander Hanzo had this in mind.

The Sand Ninja and Rain Ninja had been trading blows, each side feeling that their strength was about equal.

But as Salamander Hanzo pushed the front forward at the cost of heavy casualties, the Sand Ninja were suddenly rattled, and instantly felt the terror of Hanzo.

"Old gas-mask geezer, don't push it! If you keep indiscriminately poisoning Sand Ninja troops, I'll infiltrate the major towns of the Land of Rain and poison their water supplies indiscriminately!"

Chiyo of the Sand Ninja controlled her puppet forces, carefully covering their retreat. Standing amid layers of protection from her puppets, she threatened Salamander Hanzo, though she sounded more blusterous than confident.

Salamander Hanzo found Chiyo a headache too.

Her puppet forces were extremely troublesome. These puppets, immune to poison and corrosion, kept him from bringing more than half of his advantages to bear.

Faced with Chiyo's threat, he knew the Land of Rain was his weak point. If the Sand Ninja were pushed too far, they would immediately go from having "shoes on" to being "barefoot."

Behind his mask, Salamander Hanzo's voice sounded somewhat muffled.

"Puppet Old Hag, your Sand Ninja have already lost. Why not surrender?

"You're fighting and dying for Konoha's strategic goals. The people you're sacrificing are your own Sand Ninja's strength."

Chiyo sneered. "We can retreat, even withdraw beyond the area of confrontation. The question is, do you dare to stop fighting? But you want us to surrender? You gas-mask geezer really are delusional!

"If you keep attacking, Konoha will sweep your Land of Rain clean, too.

"Don't think the Sand Ninja lack our own intelligence channels. You're dreaming if you think you can carve a chunk off us to replenish your strength."

The Sand Ninja and Rain Ninja entered a very strange strategic standoff. It seemed neither side had any intention of continuing the attack.

Meanwhile, thanks to the "Yellow-Gambling-Poison Trio" showing off their might, Konoha had already begun closing in on the heart of the Land of Rain: its capital, "Amegakure"!

As the chief leader of the "clearing" campaign behind the lines, Uchiha Fucheng also stepped up the occupation of towns and intensified the plundering of the Land of Rain's resources and wealth.

With a degree of foresight, Uchiha Fucheng knew what Sarutobi Hiruzen was thinking.

Hiruzen, who was determined to put his three students in power, would never let Uchiha Fucheng in the occupied territories or Konoha White Fang, who was in charge of general logistics, approach the Land of Rain's central battlefield.

The still-inexperienced "Yellow-Gambling-Poison Trio" had little chance of winning against Salamander Hanzo at the peak of his strength.

From Konoha's political perspective, pushing a ninja who surpassed ordinary Kage Level—someone like Salamander Hanzo—to the brink and making an enemy of Konoha was hardly the best option.

Given the current situation, the decisive battle in the Land of Rain would most likely unfold much as it had in the original story: Salamander Hanzo would defeat the Sannin with his poison, then allow Konoha to obtain some of the Land of Rain's resources, ultimately bringing about a ceasefire agreement between the two sides.

With that kind of foresight, Uchiha Fucheng naturally wouldn't hold back.

Plundering the occupied territories' resources and wealth, and gathering special talents and gifted orphans, had both become core tasks of the Uchiha Clan.

Blacksmiths, carpenters, prospectors, metallurgists, pharmacists, merchants, educators...

Even agricultural experts and culinary talent were on Uchiha Fucheng's list.

Orphans with a talent for ninjutsu were kept under the Uchiha Clan's close supervision.

When young war orphans were at their most desperate, the Uchiha Clan took them in and nursed them back to health. Naturally, this inspired gratitude and a sense of belonging toward the Uchiha Clan.

In this regard, Uchiha Fucheng's flexible approach immediately proved its worth.

Rescue and shelter, food and care, personal supervision, literacy education, and courses to foster Uchiha loyalty...

This series of measures turned a large number of gifted orphans from the Land of Rain into, in a sense, affiliated members of the Uchiha Clan.

Perhaps the "Uchiha education" for orphans included a lot about their clan leader, Fucheng. During this period, Uchiha Fucheng's [Recognition Points] began to surge.

He had "money" now!

Uchiha Fucheng planned to gamble big, spending 1,000 Recognition Points.

The [Fate Dice of Kaguya Kimimaro] he had obtained earlier had let Fucheng catch a hint of the Kaguya goddess's presence.

Take a gamble, and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!

Roll!

The [Fate Dice of Kaguya Kimimaro] tumbled over and over.

The number that finally came up was five Sharingan.

5 points!

"Excellent. A reward from the bloodline category!"

Fucheng felt that the 1,000 points had already paid for themselves.

Obtained [Kaguya Kimimaro's Kaguya Bone Release Bloodline Talent; physical recovery increased]

"So the word 'slight' is gone this time!"

Fucheng was overjoyed.

This reward made Uchiha Fucheng feel as if his bloodline had broken through the shackles of a small stage of its limits.

"Gene Lock? A talent ceiling? Or something supernatural?"

Fucheng wasn't sure.

Ever since he had received Nawaki's Senju bloodline enhancement, Itachi's Uchiha enhancement, and Nagato's Mutated Uzumaki Bloodline enhancement, Fucheng's body had reached a limit for a ninja's physical constitution.

His mental strength, chakra reserves, stamina, and recovery ability all far surpassed those of ordinary ninjas.

No matter how Uchiha Fucheng trained in his daily life, refined chakra, or practiced chakra shape and nature transformations, he could feel no obvious progress.

It seemed his genes and body were already close to—or had reached—their current peak.

Only after he obtained Kaguya Kimimaro's bloodline enhancement did he truly feel his body breaking free of its restraints and evolving toward a higher level.

"What should I call this state? Ōtsutsuki Kaguya Bloodline (Fake)?"

Fucheng smiled with satisfaction, opening and closing his fingers as he felt his body rapidly improve.

Even his strength, which hadn't increased much before, rose dramatically this time.

Before, Uchiha Fucheng's strength had been comparable to Might Guy's with the Three Gates open.

With this Kaguya Kimimaro bloodline enhancement, his body could now withstand the strength boost of Guy opening the Five Gates without any buildup.

Even without using Nintaijutsu to boost his strength, Fucheng's ordinary attacks were so fast that afterimages trailed them.

Ordinary ninjas could barely follow them with the naked eye.

This "strength makes miracles" style of speed could even rival Shisui Uchiha's highly unusual Body Flicker Technique.

Mikoto was envious just watching him.

When she asked about this Taijutsu ability, Fucheng got a little playful and called it the "Uchiha Brute Force Body Flicker Technique."

Just hearing the name gave you a sense of the beauty of overwhelming stats.

It was all about "the ultimate in technique": high power and speed, with no technique at all—just raw physical prowess.