Rising Dance

Lightning Style: Earth Flash!

Within the thick mist, blinding lightning raced along the damp ground, darting precisely toward the spot where Uchiha Shin stood.

The counterattack had begun.

"Brat..." Uchiha Shin let out a soft huff. Chakra erupted beneath his feet, and with a flicker of his body, he leaped into the air, easily evading the lightning strike.

Taking advantage of his time in the air, the second wave of attacks descended: Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

Dozens of scorching fireballs rained down like dancing balsam seeds, sealing off all room for evasion from every tricky angle.

"Showing off before an expert."

Uchiha Shin adjusted his posture with ease mid-air and formed hand seals: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

As if to demonstrate that ginger is indeed spicier when old, this veteran Uchiha deliberately chose an element that was countered by fire.

A violent gale erupted from his mouth, not only scattering the majority of the Phoenix Sage fireballs but also fueling the flames to enhance their power, following up with:

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet."

The wind bolstered the fire, and three streams of searing white flames split off like sentient fire dragons, lunging from different directions!

Facing this combination ninjutsu, Uchiha Xiu, who had perceived the opponent's integration of shape transformation, remained expressionless as chakra surged within his body.

—It was far more vast than what he displayed on the surface.

—At least five Kakashi-units.

I need to put on an impressive performance to gain a voice within the clan, but I cannot be so shocking that it disrupts my subsequent plans.

He chose not to meet the attack head-on, retreating rapidly instead.

An old trick, but effective: Earth Style: Earth Wall.

"BOOM!"

The ninjutsu collided, kicking up a sky full of dust and smoke.

Before the dust could settle, Uchiha Xiu's figure vanished, burrowing underground.

"Not a fool; he didn't blindly trade blows with me, knowing how to use ninjutsu to create tactical cover."

Uchiha Shin landed, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning as he attempted to peer through the dust and into the earth.

He could sense that Uchiha Xiu's position was shifting rapidly, but the specific trajectory was being cleverly concealed.

Just then, a low shout echoed from within the smoke:

"Lightning Style: Four Pillar Bind!"

A Shadow Clone?

A movement-restricting ninjutsu, its power lying in binding and paralysis.

Poof!

Uchiha Shin, caught in the center of the lightning pillars, transformed into a log.

Swish, swish, swish! Several shuriken tied with explosive tags flew out from the mist, accurately striking the areas Uchiha Shin had been eyeing.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

The explosive tags detonated in succession, the firelight and shockwaves echoing throughout the training ground.

This entire sequence of offense and defense had occurred in a mere dozen seconds.

Flames burst, lightning hissed, water surged, earth and stone shattered, and a mixture of dust and steam filled the air.

It had already alerted half of the Uchiha clan compound!

The first to arrive were members of the Konoha Military Police Force; a Uchiha jonin and two chunin happened to be patrolling nearby, and they quickly leaped onto the high wall at the edge of the training ground.

Seeing the intense battle within, everyone wore expressions of shock.

"Is that... Elder Shin and Xiu?"

"What an intense exchange. Hiss, the scale of this ninjutsu battle..."

"That brat Xiu, to think he could fight Elder Shin to this extent? Elder Shin is a veteran master of all five elements! He awakened his Three-Tomoe twenty years ago!!"

Following them, more figures arrived.

Within the Uchiha compound, every jonin who heard the commotion rushed over. Clan Leader Fugaku looked calm, his Three-Tomoe slowly rotating as he carefully observed every detail on the field.

With a flash of green, the figure of Body Flicker Shisui appeared beside Fugaku.

The two Mangekyo wielders had arrived!

Both were hiding their true strength from everyone—true Kage-level power...

"Shisui, what do you think?" Fugaku asked in a low voice.

Shisui's Sharingan was also active. He looked down from above, focusing for a moment before speaking with a tone of admiration and a hint of surprise:

"Xiu-kun... is progressing at a terrifying speed."

"Pure taijutsu burst, very strong."

Ignoring the crowd, the ninjutsu confrontation in the dueling arena transformed into close-quarters combat.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Uchiha Shin brandished his kunai, fighting against thin air.

If not for the occasional sparks and the sound of clashing metal, the two-tomoe Uchiha onlookers would have thought the Elder was performing gymnastics by himself.

Of course, in a certain sense, that impression was correct!

The Sharingan greatly enhances insight and dynamic vision, allows for the copying of taijutsu and ninjutsu, makes close-range combat as graceful as gymnastics, turns shurikenjutsu into a flashy yet practical art, significantly strengthens genjutsu, and improves one's appearance...

But, this old man is being toyed with!!

Uchiha Shin was frantic inside. Several times, his three-tomoe eyes had only narrowly managed to capture the attack trajectory, barely avoiding being kicked away by a Leaf Whirlwind.

Low whispers from the clan's jonin drifted into his ears from time to time.

"Compared to Itachi... how is he? Didn't Itachi go to take the final Anbu assessment today?"

"The styles are different. Itachi's genjutsu and shurikenjutsu are more exquisite, and his talent is perhaps more astonishing. Of course... Xiu's solid foundation in taijutsu is impressive enough; he's suppressing the Elder in this close-quarters exchange."

"Don't put Itachi on too high a pedestal. Xiu is only this age; his body hasn't even reached its peak. As he ages, his taijutsu will only grow stronger."

"Rather than saying Elder Shin is here to instruct him... it looks more like they are sparring and verifying each other's skills."

"..."

Having shifted from offense to defense after entering melee range, Elder Shin sighed inwardly. He raised his evaluation of Uchiha Xiu a notch higher and stopped holding back.

Knowing that this battle was meant to quickly master high-level ninjutsu, Uchiha Xiu retreated with a Body Flicker after briefly gaining the upper hand, returning to the stage of long-range bombardment.

"It seems ordinary ninjutsu combinations can't stump you. Then, try this!"

Lacking any jealousy and instead feeling a sense of gratification, Elder Shin pressed his palms together, his chakra fluctuating violently:

"Combined Ninjutsu: Earth Dragon Flame Flow!"

As the ground rose to form an earth dragon, scorching flames coiled around it. The combination of earth and fire created a composite attack possessing both crushing force and high-temperature burning, its momentum terrifying.

"Not bad."

He pushed his Sharingan to the limit, rapidly analyzing the chakra flow and structure of the technique.

Synchronization.

"The combination of earth and fire, I'll try it too."

Pupillary power approaching the Mangekyo, combined with the deep reserves of Kage-level chakra within his body, gave Uchiha Xiu the confidence.

An identical Earth Dragon Flame Flow collided head-on.

"Rumble--!!!"

An unprecedented, violent explosion erupted in the training ground. Earth and flame intertwined and annihilated each other, the resulting shockwave cracking the walls of the training hall.

"Good... good!!"

Uchiha Shin's voice carried a hint of excitement, "Xiu, your talent far exceeds my expectations."

Following that, Fire Style: Searing Migraine, Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame, Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Technique, and others were added to his personal skill library.

Water Style: Water Wall.

Water Style: Water Dragon Biting Explosion.

Water Style: Water Wall.

Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique.

Earth Style: Earth Flow River.

Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet.

His means of engaging the enemy increased crazily!

Among them, the one that amazed Uchiha Xiu the most was the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique.

He truly didn't know which clan jonin had successfully replicated it while fighting experts from the Land of Earth's Iwagakure during some past war!

It could significantly reduce the weight of objects, serve to increase speed, and also lighten one's own weight to achieve free flight in the air.

Floating in mid-air—a very useful ability.

"You brat, are you a monster? This old man is exhausted. No more, no more, I concede."

With his clothes tattered and burnt, Elder Shin called for a surrender with a nonchalant air. He had squeezed out every drop of chakra in his body; some of the ninjutsu had been released just for the sake of releasing them, without regard for power.

Even so, he was still drained.

Opposite him.

Uchiha Xiu stood composed, his clothes at most slightly dusty. It was clear he hadn't had his fill and still had plenty of chakra to spare.

"Whatever else you want to learn, go roll off to the clan's secret grounds yourself. You have no pity for this old man's bones."

In the eyes of Elder Shin, it was not just the various sealing techniques that were worth mastering, but Izanagi and Izanami that were the forbidden arts most deserving of deep study by Uchiha at the jonin level.

One was a technique that rewrote reality to alter fate, while the other was a technique of cyclical illusion that determined one's destiny.

As for Wood Release?

The clan did not possess it.

Wood Release was a fleeting Kekkei Genkai that had manifested only in Senju Hashirama and could not be replicated; the Uchiha archives held only a few scrolls of related information, personally penned by the ancestor Madara back in the day.