The Pride of the Uchiha

As the Phoenix Sage Fire streaked outward, Uchiha Yuji felt the pressure on both sides suddenly plummet, and he made his judgment immediately.

Susanoo rested its hands against the rock wall, sliding rapidly downward until it landed steadily on the ground, whereupon the pitch-black Susanoo quietly dissipated, revealing Uchiha Yuji inside.

Uchiha Yuji acted as if nothing had happened, taking a bite of rabbit meat; however, even with seasoning, the taste of wild rabbit that wasn't quite cooked through was truly hard to describe.

But it was still much better than Military Ration Pills, so he quickly took a few more bites.

"Did you arrive so quickly? We've only been resting for a short while, and you're already so impatient to come here and throw your lives away?"

In front of him was a semicircular scorched rock wall; the attack power of the Phoenix Sage Fire wasn't particularly strong, merely leaving traces of its existence on the stone.

The observation lasted only a moment before two figures dashed out from the squad; the White Fang Short Blade, flickering with faint lightning, and a fist wrapped in azure chakra struck the rock from the left and right simultaneously.

The chakra-reinforced rock was as soft as cake under the impact, and the sealed wall was shattered, yet there was no sign of the ninja who should have been inside.

The ninja lurking beneath the rock and soil saw the earth wall smashed by that single punch, and his heart skipped a beat.

He had been the one to declare that this person's youth would end here, but if he had been just a fraction slower in his infiltration, the one whose youth would have truly ended would have been him.

Quickly adjusting his mindset, he said in a deep voice, "White Fang, an unknown master of taijutsu, and a group of Uchiha possessing Three-Tomoe Sharingan—no wonder the front lines were breached so quickly."

The figure was completely invisible, yet the voice wandered across this open, rocky ground; this was the disadvantage of having no sensory ninja.

"Pure Earth Style. Based on this chakra volume and the sound of your voice, I can barely judge your age—you must be Ōnoki's son, Kitsuchi, right?" Hatake Sakumo identified the newcomer's identity immediately.

Young and impetuous, daring to launch a surprise attack on an elite squad all by himself—one could only say he was worthy of being a young man.

"But how could a guy like Ōnoki have such a foolish son? It's too stupid; after seeing our squad's composition, you actually initiated the attack first."

Hatake Sakumo's eyes scanned the surroundings rapidly.

His right hand, gripping the White Fang Short Blade, tightened slightly; he was waiting for an opportunity, waiting for this impetuous young man to launch an attack, to erupt the moment a flaw appeared in that strike.

He sought a kill in one blow.

The rocky ground suddenly twisted slightly, and the White Fang Short Blade, held high, slashed downward instantly; at the same time, Hatake Sakumo moved his feet, his waist twisting as the short blade followed his rotation.

Spikes of earth and stone were severed at the waist.

Between the cover of night and the unique stealth techniques of the Iwagakure Ninja, Hatake Sakumo couldn't see a single figure.

The Azure Beast over there had merely destroyed a stone pillar, and his intuition couldn't locate the enemy either.

"Move!"

A loud, resonant shout came, and the group jumped up without a second thought, or quickly put distance between themselves and Uchiha Yuji.

Their bodies had only just left their original positions when a terrifying shockwave swept across where they had been.

The reverse airflow generated by the force turned into pale waves of air that surged into the sky; the hammered ground shattered like building blocks, and the debris, wrapped in the airflow, instantly shot into the night sky, the speed at which the cracks spread completely exceeding visual capture.

This caused the shattered ground to spread rapidly outward in a circular range—ten meters, a hundred meters, a thousand meters.

The shockwave was slightly faster than the shattering of the ground, and environmental factors had almost no effect on it; the wild white line continued to fly toward the distance at high speed.

Hatake Sakumo clutched his waist, grazed by a stone, and looked in disbelief at the terrain that had been completely altered.

I can understand you changing the terrain by summoning a giant, after all, that's no longer a conventional ninjutsu.

But what is this!

Changing the landscape with a single punch as if the earth dragon had turned over—could Tsunade even do this with her super strength?

The shockwave generated by the airflow even made my chest feel stifled. Are you really not a hybrid born from a secret marriage between the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan?

"Cough, cough."

Kitsuchi, who had been hiding by digging into the ground, suffered double the earthquake damage; even though he had hardened his body at the first moment, the vibrations still caused severe damage to his internal organs.

His lungs felt a stinging pain with every breath.

Kitsuchi crouched on the ground, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, but he had no time to wipe it away.

A group of Uchiha had already surrounded him, their Three-Tomoe Sharingan staring at him from every direction; as soon as he looked up, they would hit him with a set of genjutsu.

This posture clearly indicated they intended to take him alive.

The son of the Third Tsuchikage—this identity made his value while alive far greater than his value dead.

Kitsuchi admitted that he had been young, impetuous, and careless before; he had thought that by being on that high, dangerous ground, a single clap of his hands would be enough to crush this group into meat paste.

He hadn't expected the Uchiha clan to possess that kind of technique, a chakra giant made of extreme Yin-style chakra.

Nor had he expected this team, which lacked sensory ninja, to adopt such a destructive attack to force him to appear.

Too many accidents had occurred, but since things had reached this point, he could only do what an Iwagakure Ninja ought to do.

Fearless of the raging storm! Undaunted by the impact of the vast ocean torrent! Resolutely and unyieldingly fighting to the end!

"I am the son of the Third Tsuchikage—Ōnoki of Both Scales, Kitsuchi."

He kept his eyes tightly shut, his rock-like face solemn; even with the knife-like pain in his lungs, his sturdy body made him appear all the more heroic.

"I bear the name of the Shadow's son! I am the successor to the Will of Stone! Come! Konoha ninja! I bet my life on this! Let me show you the tenacity of our Iwagakure Ninja!"

As an enemy, he was worthy of respect.

The short blade aimed at a certain indescribable part behind Kitsuchi was slowly moved away by Hatake Sakumo, the pure white blade turned upward to aim at the back of Kitsuchi's neck.

Uchiha Yuji deliberately took each step with a crisp, rhythmic sound, ensuring Kitsuchi could track his position and face him.

"A commendable will, but you are too young and too weak."

"It would be a pity for a young man with your resolve to die here."

You're younger than him, so why are you calling him a young man!

"If the future Shinobi World lacks interesting opponents, I shall be quite lonely. So, I will leave a mark upon you."

A streak of red light suddenly shot out from his fingertip. Kitsuchi instinctively turned his head, but the beam still tore a small patch of flesh from his cheek.

The thick, acrid scent of charred skin was nauseating.

The enemy's power was chilling.

"Remember today's disgrace, remember this humiliation, and grow stronger!"

"Once you have grown stronger, die gloriously by my hand!"

This was the arrogance of the Uchiha, the pride of the Uchiha! I am the strong! And I shall remain strong forever!