The Might of "Fierce Eye" Fugaku

At this moment, Uchiha Fucheng's eyes were fully active, the three tomoe spinning to amplify his observational prowess.

This allowed Uchiha Fucheng to more easily detect environmental details that would normally go unnoticed.

"Mikoto, adjust your heading. Sprint at high speed toward the northwest, thirty degrees off-center."

Fucheng signaled the group, "I will summon a Ninja Hawk shortly! Once it appears, you must take off immediately; do not linger on the ground."

Observing the vast expanse of shrubbery not far ahead, a hint of excitement flickered in Uchiha Fucheng's eyes.

Fucheng led Mikoto and the others in a rapid detour around the shrub-filled hollow, crossing a slope littered with jagged rocks.

Although the group was moving quickly, they were still being overtaken by the three fastest Sunagakure shinobi.

They were now less than a hundred meters away!

Fucheng observed the positions of the Sunagakure shinobi and decisively grazed his finger against a kunai.

Boar-Dog-Rooster-Monkey!

"Summoning Jutsu! Giant Ninja Hawk, Garuda."

Poof. A cloud of smoke erupted.

The giant Ninja Hawk, Garuda, spread its wings and stood before Fucheng and his companions.

Fucheng shouted, "Garuda, take the three of them up high. You don't need to participate in the coming fight."

Before the words had even faded, Uchiha Fucheng turned and leaped like a bolt of lightning.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"

Under the cover of the massive wall of flames, the giant Ninja Hawk, Garuda, hoisted Misaka Mikoto, Uchiha Hezi, and Hatake Jiangyi onto its back, flapping its massive wings to soar into the sky.

The three Sunagakure shinobi blocked by the Fire Style were all Jōnin from the Land of Wind.

Experienced as they were, they instantly grasped Uchiha Fucheng's intent.

"Watch out for a trap!"

The three calmed down, not rushing to attack.

"Something doesn't feel right."

The one who spoke was a young Sunagakure shinobi with a horizontal scar across his face.

A white strip of cloth hung from his forehead, slightly obscuring his left eye.

The other two Sunagakure shinobi also eyed Uchiha Fucheng with cautious gazes.

"The Sharingan? So, you're just a brat from the Uchiha clan. Why didn't you run just now?"

Uchiha Fucheng wore a smile, looking at the three with a lazy air, though his voice turned chilling, "If I weren't afraid that the five puppeteers behind you might get away, I wouldn't even have needed to summon the giant hawk."

Fucheng's words made the three even more suspicious.

They even felt as though the shadowy shrubbery around them was beginning to stir.

"No! These aren't shrubs!"

The patch of shrubbery closest to the three instantly shifted from green to an ink-like black.

The black shrubs transformed into a streak of dark light, flashing past the three of them at extreme speed.

"Sharingan: Genjutsu Binding!" ×2

Two identical genjutsu were cast!

A figure bearing a striking resemblance to Fucheng appeared, and together with Uchiha Fucheng, they pincered the three Sunagakure shinobi from front and back.

Two pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, their pupils locked firmly onto the three men.

The Sunagakure shinobi panicked instantly!

Only the scarred shinobi remained somewhat composed, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

He watched Fucheng's feet cautiously, not daring to look into either pair of Sharingan.

The other two Sunagakure Jōnin were not as fortunate; expressions of terror appeared on both their faces.

"Run!"

The two fled in different directions—one to the left, one backward—turning and bolting like frightened lambs, losing all sense of direction.

Body Flicker.

Horizontal blade slash!

The shinobi fleeing to the left, panicked, charged straight into the longsword as if he hadn't seen it at all.

The Konoha shinobi, who had appeared via Body Flicker, sliced through him from his left shoulder to his right ribcage.

Viscera and blood splattered across the ground.

The fate of the shinobi fleeing backward was even more miserable!

A kunai shimmering with blue light was driven with force by the Fucheng-lookalike, piercing through the man's face and straight into his brain.

In the perspective of Uchiha Fucheng's Sharingan, this nearly tenfold slow-motion effect made the death of this Sand ninja appear particularly brutal.

Fierce!

Too vicious!

The tip of the kunai plunged into the eyeball with a sickening squelch.

The metal hilt of the kunai violently punched through the eye socket.

Even the rough hand gripping the kunai was driven forcibly into the Sand ninja's left eye socket!

The eye socket shattered.

The entire face collapsed into a mangled mess.

This Sand ninja, as if blind to his opponent, could only scream frantically.

He was completely immersed in the virtual reality controlled by the genjutsu.

Splat.

Thud!

These two sounds were Uchiha Qingming's katana severing the corpse into two pieces.

Puff.

Snap!

These two sounds came from the miserable Sand ninja whose brain had been pierced and who was then flung away by Uchiha Fugaku.

One rise, one fall.

In less than two seconds, of the three elite Sand ninja, only the scarred Sand ninja "bowing his head in place" remained.

The scarred Sand ninja felt his legs trembling.

He dared not look at his opponents for even a second.

Under the intimidation of the Sharingan, he only dared to stare at the ground.

He shifted his feet rapidly, keeping his peripheral vision locked on the three pairs of feet belonging to his enemies.

The three Uchiha ninja surrounded him quite casually, not in a hurry to strike.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

Unwilling to sit and wait for death, the Sand ninja unleashed his most proficient Wind Style, launching an area-of-effect attack in all directions.

He did not know if he was under the influence of a genjutsu.

He could only use his most chakra-intensive, widest-range ninjutsu to hold off the three of them.

As soon as the Wind Style was released, the three Uchiha ninja pulled back in tacit agreement, as if they had planned it.

They dodged the wind blades and the massive air pressure impacts with ease, rendering the attack completely useless.

The B+-rank large-scale Vacuum Serial Waves were navigated by the three Uchiha, whose keen observation allowed them to stroll through the gaps with leisure.

Uchiha Fucheng's mind was no longer on the Sand ninja.

He stared at this newly appeared three-tomoe Uchiha, feeling a slight surge of surprise.

To think that the one lying in ambush here is Uchiha Fugaku?!

Although Fugaku was two years older than Fucheng, there was little difference in their height.

It was just that Fugaku had deeper tear troughs and nasolabial folds on his face.

In this regard, he looked very much like Itachi.

In terms of appearance, the two were the type of biological brothers who looked remarkably similar.

At this moment, Fugaku was wiping his right hand unhurriedly with a handkerchief.

"Qingming, go help Huoying. Just stall the five Sand ninja behind us; keep them occupied carefully, and watch out for poison since they have a puppeteer."

Until Uchiha Qingming departed, the scarred Sand ninja opposite the two dared not make a move.

Fierce Eye Fugaku, I actually ran into Fierce Eye Fugaku! The scarred jonin felt immense terror in his heart.

He kept his eyes fixed on the two pairs of feet in his field of vision, not daring to initiate an attack.

It was evident that Fugaku possessed a heavy killing intent on the battlefield, yet the gaze he turned toward Fucheng was filled with concern.

"Fucheng, I heard from Yashiro that you were injured?"

A perfect chance! Hearing Fugaku speak, the scarred Sand ninja was overjoyed.

Seeing these two Uchiha jonin relax their focus on him, the Sand ninja slowly backed away before turning and bolting.

A pair of three-tomoe Sharingan instantly appeared before the turning Sand ninja!

Fugaku's eyes made the Sand ninja feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Did I give you permission to run?"

The Sand ninja was terrified; the Fierce Eye Fugaku who had been speaking behind him just a moment ago was now standing right in front of him! That was a clone just now, I've been tricked!

The Sand ninja felt his body lose control, his entire field of vision occupied by the scarlet Sharingan.

The scarred Sand ninja's final sensation was a kunai churning frantically into his ribs from behind.

Bastard, the other pair of feet was a clone too...