Identity Exposed

Time flies, and the years slip away. Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Three years were enough for the bitter cold and hunger of the deep mountains to fade into a blurred backdrop, replaced by a routine so rigid it bordered on mechanical, the silent yet solid back of their teacher, and a growing, unspoken rapport between brothers.

Ten-year-old Uchiha Sakuya had grown taller, shedding some of his childhood roundness for sharper, more defined lines. He was currently in a forest clearing performing his daily mandatory lesson—without using hand seals, relying solely on intent and precise chakra control to change the shape of a small flame in his palm, shifting it from a scorching sphere to a fine needle, and finally back into nothingness. This was the training in ultimate chakra control demanded by his teacher. His two-tomoe Sharingan rotated slowly against a blood-red backdrop, capturing the most minute flows of chakra.

Suddenly, a rush of panicked footsteps shattered the silence of the forest, accompanied by heavy, ragged breathing.

"Bro... Brother!"

It was Uchiha Ren! Sakuya instantly dispersed the flames, his Sharingan scanning the source of the sound with razor-sharp intensity. He saw seven-year-old Uchiha Ren, his face deathly pale, scrambling into the clearing. He was covered in mud and grass, clearly having run at his absolute limit.

"What happened?!" Sakuya caught his brother, who was nearly collapsing from exhaustion, his heart sinking violently. He had never seen Ren this terrified.

"People... so many people! They have weapons... just like the ones from before!" Ren gasped for air, his small hands clutching Sakuya's sleeve tightly, his eyes filled with the terror of the pursuit from three years ago. "They're coming this way! There are so many! Far more than last time!"

Sakuya's pupils contracted sharply. Pursuers! And a large-scale force at that!

He immediately sensed his surroundings—his teacher's presence was absent. Early this morning, the man had left to gather rare medicinal herbs in a deeper part of the forest.

An immense sense of crisis gripped him, but the mind honed by three years of brutal training forced him to suppress his panic. He took a deep breath, his Sharingan becoming cold and focused.

"Hide, Ren, the usual spot!" Sakuya ordered quickly, drawing a kunai from his ninja pouch. "I'll draw them away!"

"No! It's too dangerous!" Despite his fear, Ren shook his head violently, drawing his own kunai, his expression turning stubborn. "I'm going with you! Teacher said we have to fight side by side!"

Looking at the same resolve in his brother's eyes that he felt in his own, Sakuya knew he couldn't persuade him. Time was short, and he gritted his teeth: "...Stay close to me! Use the second tactical formation!"

Like two agile leopards, the brothers vanished into the dense forest, actively heading toward the direction of the incoming enemy.

Soon, more than ten mercenaries wearing standard-issue ninja armor and murderous expressions appeared within their perception. The enemy was clearly prepared, moving with speed and coordinated precision, spreading out in a fan formation to thoroughly seal off the area.

The battle erupted instantly!

Sakuya's Sharingan spun wildly, precisely predicting the trajectories of the enemies' shuriken and dodging by a hair's breadth, while counterattacking with the most concise and lethal techniques. Kunai sank precisely into throats, and flames scorched the enemies charging at them. Ren moved like a ghost in his brother's shadow, setting up simple tripwire traps that caught the enemy off guard, while his own precise shuriken targeted legs and eyes, perfectly fulfilling his role of interference and support.

They worked in seamless harmony, actually managing to take down three or four enemies in a short time.

But there were simply too many of them! And they were seasoned veterans. They quickly realized that Ren was the weaker link, and the focus of their attacks shifted instantly.

"Take out the little one first!" a mercenary who appeared to be the leader sneered, leading two others in a fierce assault on Ren.

"Don't you dare!" Sakuya roared, trying to provide support, but he was pinned down by two other enemies. His Sharingan could see through everything, but his physical reactions were beginning to fail to keep up with the dense rhythm of the attacks.

Rip!

A dull sound of a blade cutting through flesh echoed.

Sakuya whipped his head around, just in time to see a mercenary's katana smash through the kunai Ren had hastily raised to block, carving a terrifying, bone-deep wound across his small chest! Blood splattered like spilled ink onto the emerald grass.

"Ren—!!!"

In that instant, time seemed to freeze.

Sakuya watched helplessly as his brother fell backward like a broken leaf, the breath of life fading rapidly. The extreme fear of nearly losing his brother three years ago, the reliance and warmth of the three years they had spent together, the warm blood spraying before his eyes now... all these emotions erupted like a tsunami, instantly shattering his sanity!

A pain far more violent and scorching than the one from three years ago exploded from deep within his eyes! It felt as if his very eyeballs were being crushed by this power!

"Aaaaaahhhhh—!!!"

Amidst his piercing scream, the two tomoe in his eyes spun, deformed, and stretched at an unprecedented speed... finally stabilizing into three black, cold tomoe, emitting a heart-stopping, eerie glow against that sea of blood!

Three-tomoe Sharingan, awakened!

Power! Unparalleled insight! The movements of every enemy around him slowed to a crawl, appearing riddled with openings!

"You bastards! Go to hell and repent!!"

Sakuya had completely lost his mind, his chakra burning in a way it never had before. His speed, strength, and reaction time increased exponentially! Every strike of his kunai brought forth a spray of blood, and his Fire Style ninjutsu came easily, yet with far more concentrated and terrifying power!

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball exploded. He was like an Asura returned from hell, trading injury for life, fearless of death, actually suppressing the remaining mercenaries single-handedly!

However, the consumption of the three-tomoe Sharingan was immense, especially for a nine-year-old child. The violent emotional fluctuations and the overdrawn battle quickly drained his stamina and chakra. After the initial burst, exhaustion and his wounds surged in like a tide.

Thwip!

A kunai shot from his blind spot, pinning itself precisely into his thigh.

The searing pain caused his movements to stutter.

Immediately after, more attacks followed. The crisp sound of ribs breaking, the stinging pain of blades slicing through skin... his vision began to blur, and the blood-red world began to spin and darken.

"Damn brat... finally finished!" The mercenary leader panted, raising his blood-stained blade toward the neck of Sakuya, who was stumbling to his knees, nearly losing consciousness.

Am I... going to die? I'm sorry, Ren... I'm sorry, Teacher... In the end, I still couldn't...

Just as the blade was about to fall—

"Wood Style: Violent Spear Tree!"

A low, deep roar filled with monstrous rage exploded like a thunderclap from the depths of the forest!

The next moment, the earth rumbled! Countless massive, sharp, and hideous wooden vines and tree trunks, like enraged beasts possessing life, erupted from the ground, growing and piercing at an incredible speed!

Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip—!

The remaining five or six mercenaries didn't even have time to scream before they were pierced, torn, and crushed by these sudden wooden spears in an instant! Blood and severed limbs splattered everywhere, and the forest clearing, which had been filled with murderous intent just moments ago, instantly transformed into a purgatory of rapidly growing trees and death!

The mercenary leader, who was about to kill Shuoyue, was pierced from bottom to top by an especially thick wooden spear, lifted into the air, his eyes frozen in shock.

Dying, Shuoyue looked towards the source of the attack with his last blurry vision.

Amidst the swirling dust and flying wood chips, a familiar figure slowly emerged. He still wore the old Uchiha robe, his face bearing scars. But now, he exuded a palpable, icy killing intent and terrifying pressure.

And most importantly—what he had just used was the Kekkei Genkai famous throughout the ninja world, belonging to the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama—

Wood Release.

All the clues, his teacher's power, his mystery, his knowledge of the Uchiha, the occasional fragments of his past, and the undeniable power before him, belonging only to the legendary "spokesperson for that Uchiha Madara"...

The truth, like lightning, struck Shuoyue's fading consciousness.

"...Wood...Release..." He coughed up a mouthful of blood, using his last ounce of strength, looking at the man who quickly approached him, knelt down to check on him and Lian's injuries, and uttered the name with a voice that was weak yet incredibly clear:

"Uchiha...Obito..."

Then, he completely lost consciousness.

The last image he saw before sinking into darkness was the swirling, incredibly complex emotions in Uchiha Obito's exposed Sharingan—anger, lingering fear, deep guilt, and a hint of... relief and resolve after his identity was revealed.

The secret of the deep mountains was, on this day, revealed in the most bloody manner.