Tempered a Thousand Times

Cosmic Fist Technique was known as the greatest fist technique in the universe. Whenever someone mentioned it, people thought of a certain prince who'd been chased by a jeep.

Training in Cosmic Fist Technique mainly started with a jeep. (I'm serious.) In his previous life, as an Alien Baltan who had joined the Land of Light, Uchiha Yuji had only wanted to quietly smoke a cigarette.

There were no jeeps in the Land of Light, only spaceships.

The Uchiha Clan's advantage was indeed their innate Sharingan. But Uchiha Yuji knew that the body was the foundation, and had combined his previous life's knowledge as an Alien Baltan with constant physical training.

How could a body constantly stimulated and strengthened by Lightning Release Chakra Mode compare to mine?

Flesh and blood tempered a thousand times over!

Uchiha Yuji was immersed in the thrill of landing solid punches. He held his striking pose and didn't move for a long while.

His streamlined muscles weren't as explosively defined as the Third Raikage's, but they possessed a harmonious grace and strength.

"I never expected your Taijutsu to be so refined, too!"

The Sharingan was known as the Copy Eye. It could replicate both Taijutsu and ninjutsu, yet under normal circumstances, Uchiha Clan members didn't choose to specialize in Taijutsu.

Taijutsu specialists were physically much tougher than ordinary ninja.

"This is nothing like the Uchiha I know. Is the Uchiha Clan about to produce another demon?"

The Third Raikage slowly rose from the dust, glaring at him with a vicious look, like a ferocious beast ready to devour its prey.

The Uchiha Clan really was favored by the heavens. Every generation produced a new powerhouse.

Uchiha Yuji was so young, yet already powerful enough to change the course of a war. If he kept growing, how would the next generation of Cloud ninja ever deal with him?

"I'm not a demon yet."

Uchiha Yuji slowly lowered his stance, a smile on his face. "You destroyed my Gundam, so now I'll show you my strength."

What was this Gundam business? He couldn't make heads or tails of it!

The Third Raikage shook his head, clearing away the distracting thoughts, and swiftly formed hand seals.

"Lightning Release: Black Panther!"

A black lightning bolt shaped like a leopard raced forward. The lifelike black panther bounded across the ground like a real creature.

But the attack wasn't limited to the black lightning. In Uchiha Yuji's view, dust suddenly billowed outward as the Third Raikage charged once more.

In the time it took to draw a breath, the Third Raikage was already before him.

The Third Raikage was faster than even a ninjutsu. His thrusting hand once again shot toward Yuji's waist.

At the same time, Black Panther closed in, attacking from both sides and forming a perfect pincer.

But this time, Uchiha Yuji had no intention of dodging.

His right arm, from the shoulder down, instantly became a blur. His clenched fist struck from the side, hitting the Third Raikage's arm with pinpoint precision.

Despite moving at high speed, despite being covered in Lightning Release Chakra Mode, despite unleashing all his strength—the immense power that could pin the Eight-Tails to the ground was easily redirected by the Uchiha before him.

The Third Raikage could only watch as his balance was broken and his body tilted in the direction of Uchiha Yuji's blow.

Uchiha Yuji had expected to send him flying just like that, but the burly man suddenly twisted at the waist, executing a clean turn. An elbow wrapped in bright yellow lightning shot toward Yuji's head.

With the Third Raikage's terrifying strength, a direct hit would turn his brain to mush.

Or leave him a headless Uchiha?

But Uchiha Yuji was already used to sudden attacks like this.

The power from his waist traveled up his spine to his shoulder. With a slight shake, he deflected the Third Raikage's right arm. His right fist abruptly turned, changing the direction of its force.

A spiraling force shot forward, and the approaching elbow quickly recoiled.

In midair, the Third Raikage twisted his waist. The surrounding scenery rushed backward, and Uchiha Yuji's distant figure rapidly shrank from view.

Even with Lightning Release Chakra Mode covering him, his right hand still throbbed faintly after the clash.

He'd actually lost to an Uchiha in Taijutsu!

But it didn't matter. At that distance, Yuji couldn't summon that chakra giant!

And just as the Third Raikage had expected, although he'd been driven back in close combat, his ninjutsu continued along its previous trajectory. During the brief exchange with Uchiha Yuji, the black panther had kept charging and had already reached his side.

The pitch-black lightning panther opened its jaws, leaped, and pounced down at him.

And then there was nothing more. The black panther vanished in midair!

Across the distance, all that remained was a pair of rapidly spinning crimson eyes, etched deeply into his memory.

Uchiha Yuji was still standing where he'd been, yet it was as if an invisible barrier separated them.

That powerful figure seemed no longer to exist in the same world as the rest of them.

"You and I have terrible compatibility, Third Raikage."

His voice rang beside the Third Raikage's ear. The figure he'd been watching had blurred and vanished at some point.

The Third Raikage didn't even have time to think before Uchiha Yuji appeared before him again. In that instant, Yuji had crossed the space between them.

A chakra-filled iron fist rapidly grew larger. The crushing pressure made the rushing air burst into white ripples.

The shadow of death suddenly spread through his heart.

The Third Raikage's mind couldn't keep up, but his body, instinctively terrified of death, launched a counterattack.

His fist, as large as a cooking pot, slammed into the slightly more delicate-looking fist.

The instinctive reaction surprised Uchiha Yuji, while the Third Raikage himself was just as stunned.

But his shock lasted only an instant. The moment their fists collided, a terrifying impact surged from his knuckles through his arm and rapidly spread across his upper body.

His body, tougher than rock, was sent flying like a scrap of cloth.

Trees and rocks couldn't stop him. By the time the rumbling ceased, he had reached the other side of the forest.

The heat from the friction of his rapid flight gradually set the forest ablaze.

The wildfire spread especially quickly in the warm breeze. In moments, it had dyed the sky a rosy red, like the evening glow.

The blaze also gave the Shadow Guard chasing after the Third Raikage a precise landmark.

Or rather, the clash between the two was the clearest landmark of all.

The Land of Moon's once-familiar landscape had been utterly reduced to scorched earth. The Red and White Fan cloak snapped in the searing waves of heat. Even amid the gale, it hung perfectly smooth, without a single crease.

Not far away lay the Third Raikage, his arm bent at a bizarre angle.

"Pops!"

The worried cry cut through the roar of the flames.

"Don't come over! You're no match for him!"

"Go back!"