Izanagi

The Fujiwara Clan had collected the Chakra Metal and stored it in scrolls as soon as they discovered it.

After obtaining the scrolls, the Uchiha elite jonin immediately killed the jonin who had led the way. Just as he was about to leave, a man ran up to him and dropped to his knees.

"My lord, I'm Fujiwara Koji, the one who sent word to you. Take me with you. I'm willing to swear my life's loyalty to the Uchiha Clan."

Fujiwara Koji's words instantly enraged the Fujiwara Clan. They had long wondered why the Uchiha had come after their small clan. So there had been a traitor among them.

"Fujiwara Koji, you're the clan head's son, yet you've done something like this. Are you even human?!"

"Your father and uncle were killed by the man standing right there, and you're wagging your tail at him like a dog. Is this your way of the ninja?"

"You're not fit to be a ninja, let alone bear the Fujiwara name!"

"Having a brother like you is humiliating."

"I have no son like you!"

Fujiwara Koji's face darkened with each insult. Then he roared:

"What gives you the right to judge me? My father wanted to make my older brother clan head and give him everything!"

"What about me? I got nothing, and I still had to cheerfully help him manage the clan so he'd have time to fool around with women. I was the one who discovered the Chakra Metal, mining it day after day, but he got all the credit!"

"Just because he was born a year before me, I have to give him every good thing? Giving everything to that useless man is what's kept our clan stagnant all this time."

Fujiwara Koji grew more and more agitated as he spoke, but soon he calmed down. A trace of murderous intent surfaced in his eyes.

"If you're all too foolish to see the truth, then I'll find my own way out..."

The Uchiha elite jonin watched it all with amusement.

"Koji? What a coincidence. We have the same name."

Fujiwara Koji fawned over him.

"It's my honor, sir..."

"Fine. You can come with me, but first, kill everyone here."

"My lord, I prepared for this long ago. I planted Explosive Tags all around here. They'll bring down the cave and take care of these people."

Uchiha Koji smiled faintly. "Good. Work hard for me, and you'll have your share of ninjutsu, money, and women."

"Yes, sir."

Elsewhere, Hiugo kept punching Izuna until he looked like a pig's head. Izuna eventually opened his eyes, but his earlier injuries hampered his movements, leaving him unable to do anything but take the blows.

Izuna's katana had long since been knocked away, so he could only fight hand to hand.

Both of their armor was damaged, partly from clashing ninjutsu and partly because others had joined the fight.

The battlefield wasn't a simple series of one-on-one fights. Ninjutsu swept across it, Kunai and Shuriken flew everywhere, and sometimes Explosive Tags went off... All in all, it was utter chaos.

That was the only reason Hiugo hadn't taken Izuna down yet. As the son of the Uchiha Clan Head and Madara's younger brother, Izuna had been sent on a mission, but others were still looking out for him.

Attacks kept appearing out of nowhere, interrupting Hiugo's assault.

Izuna himself was in a bad way, his mind churning with emotion.

He was frustrated that he hadn't been able to use his full strength. He was furious that "Tobirama Senju" had ambushed him. He couldn't accept that, on his very first mission, his clanmates had to keep protecting him.

The pent-up emotions kept building until they reached their peak and burst forth.

Izuna's eyes turned scarlet, and much of the boyishness vanished from his face.

"Is it really that easy for the Uchiha to power up?"

Hiugo couldn't help grumbling. He remembered the first Uchiha he had killed. That man had been at least ten years older than Hiugo, so it wasn't strange that he'd awakened his Sharingan on the brink of death.

But Izuna had only been tricked by Hiugo's "low-down" move, then fought for a while before awakening his Sharingan. It was pure cheating.

Sigh, whatever. There's still Sarada, who awakened her Mangekyo for love. Compared to that, this is nothing.

"Tobirama Senju! You'll be the first to die beneath these eyes!"

Feeling the power in his eyes, Izuna was instantly filled with confidence.

Hiugo's mouth twitched. He had experienced the feeling of awakening, too. The surge in power felt good, but it hadn't made him this overconfident.

All right, I'll help you calm down.

The two clashed again. With his One-Tomoe Sharingan, Izuna could see Hiugo's moves clearly. Attacks that had been difficult to deal with now seemed several times slower.

Too bad you weren't born with the Sharingan!

Izuna thought as he punched toward Hiugo's eye. He wanted revenge, to repay him for the injury and take his life.

But at that moment, lightning flashed across Hiugo's body, and his speed surged. He punched Izuna in the forehead.

Lightning Release Cell Activation: activated.

This technique used Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate the cells in the body, enhancing a ninja's speed and Taijutsu.

However, because Hiugo was only five years old, he rarely used it. A ninja had to be eleven or twelve before they could use it casually as a buff.

The One-Tomoe Sharingan let Izuna see the fist coming, but he couldn't keep up with Hiugo's sudden burst of speed. The moment the punch connected, dizziness washed over him.

A blow to his face sent Izuna stumbling backward. He looked as if he were drunk, and two teeth flew from his mouth.

Before he could steady himself, Hiugo landed an uppercut on his chin. Izuna was sent "flying" a few inches into the air before crashing to the ground, unconscious.

Lightning Release Cell Activation: ended.

Hiugo let out a light breath, drew a Kunai, and looked at Uchiha Izuna. In a voice only he could hear, he said:

"There are a few things I want to confirm. Can these key figures of yours actually be killed...?"

Hiugo's move seemed to spur the scattered members of the Uchiha squad into action. They charged at him as if they'd received an order.

The Senju ninja reacted at once and tried to stop them, but one Uchiha jonin broke through.

Water gathered along the Kunai's edge, forming a blade that plunged into Izuna's chest.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The Uchiha jonin spat out a fireball that engulfed Hiugo and Izuna.

"Destroying the evidence?"

Hiugo furrowed his brow. The Kunai had just pierced Izuna's heart. He didn't believe Izuna could still be alive. Add the fireball, and Izuna was surely dead.

The Uchiha jonin showed no expression. He silently formed Hand Seals. He was a man in his thirties, long-lived by the standards of an era when the average lifespan was only thirty.

"Why is a ninja this old only a jonin?"

Confusion surfaced in Hiugo's eyes. The next second, his pupils narrowed.

One of the Uchiha jonin's Three-Tomoe Sharingan had lost its light, and the supposedly dead Izuna was in his arms.

The Uchiha Clan's forbidden technique: Izanagi.

A jutsu that altered fate, at the cost of at least one Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

"They actually raised a ninja specifically to give others another chance at life. The Uchiha Clan really is generous."

Hiugo spoke, keeping his eyes fixed on the jonin.

The Uchiha jonin strapped Izuna to his back and said calmly:

"You're wrong. The clan head can't make a clan member give up a Three-Tomoe Sharingan. This was my decision alone."

"..."

"I was just an ordinary ninja, but an accident awakened my Sharingan. It also cost me my comrades. I grew afraid of death, and when the clan head saw me like that, he left me to fend for myself in the clan's territory. Then Izuna came along and gave me the courage to carry on."

"I hated my cowardly self back then. Someone like me surviving was worth less than giving Izuna one more layer of protection."

Fire Release: Hidden Ash

Without warning, the Uchiha jonin unleashed a jutsu. It didn't do much damage, but once mastered, it could be used without Hand Seals.

Though everything he'd just said was true, it had all been meant to distract the boy while he used the jutsu. A flash of cold steel appeared in the thick smoke and struck Hiugo.

The Uchiha jonin looked startled.

"When did he form the Hand Seals? With this kid's Chunin-level abilities, he shouldn't be able to use ninjutsu without Hand Seals."

But beneath the katana, Hiugo had already turned into a wooden post in the white smoke.

Talking during a fight is just asking to be ambushed. If I couldn't form Hand Seals with one hand, who'd stick around to listen to you blabber? I'd have been gone already.

Hiugo had already escaped some distance away. He didn't know whether the jonin would come after him or flee with Izuna. He could only hope his old man would hurry up and finish the fight.

As he thought, he spotted two furtive figures. How did the Uchiha and the Fujiwara end up together?