First Battle

Under the expectant gaze of Uchiha Chen, time ticked away second by second; in the silent night, even the faint sound of his heartbeat seemed audible.

The wind that had been howling outside the window ceased abruptly, and the surroundings grew unnaturally quiet. Even the chirping of insects, usually incessant, seemed to sense something amiss and gradually faded into nothingness.

A cold, murderous aura permeated the area around the house like a phantom, gently licking at every inch of the air.

The house felt like a nimble deer running across the plains, locked firmly in the gaze of a lion, unable to escape.

Yet, no one knew whether the creature inside was a trembling sheep or a dragon soaring through the nine heavens.

Uchiha Chen, keenly sensing that the atmosphere outside was wrong, did not sit and wait for death.

He took a deep breath, then resolutely lifted his feet and walked slowly toward the door.

The moment he stepped out, he looked up sharply, locking eyes with a figure in the woods.

The figure was hidden in the darkness, but the eyes flashing with Three-Tomoe were clearly visible.

"Clan Leader, you visit so late at night—is there some important mission you wish to entrust to me?"

A trace of confusion appeared on Uchiha Chen's face, but if one listened closely, a hint of mockery could be detected in his words.

At this moment, only a few minutes remained until the unsealing of Kotoamatsukami.

However, facing Uchiha Fugaku, who had arrived for unknown reasons, Uchiha Chen displayed an extraordinary calmness, which caused the anger Uchiha Fugaku had struggled to suppress to flare up once more.

Despite the turbulence in his heart, this powerhouse of the Uchiha clan remained composed, stepping closer to Uchiha Chen.

The distance between them closed until only a meter remained. Uchiha Fugaku's cold voice echoed in the silent night: "Chen, you actually dared to attempt to manipulate me to become the leader of the Uchiha clan?"

Just as Uchiha Chen was secretly surprised that his intentions had been laid bare by the man himself, this reaction was caught by the ever-observant Uchiha Fugaku.

Immediately, before Uchiha Chen could react, Uchiha Fugaku roared: "Want to replace me? Then go to hell first!"

Before the words had even faded, Uchiha Fugaku tore off his upper garment, revealing countless explosive tags plastered across his body like a swarm of locusts.

In an instant, accompanied by a deafening roar, a massive fireball surged into the sky. Caught off guard, Uchiha Chen was taken by surprise and could only scramble to manifest his Susanoo for defense.

The scorching heatwave and billowing smoke from the explosion rolled and rose into the pitch-black night sky.

Although Uchiha Chen had managed to manifest his Susanoo in time, he was ultimately a step too late.

His body was scorched in multiple places, the pain unbearable.

Before he could catch his breath, more fierce attacks followed in quick succession.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Following Uchiha Fugaku's roar, four massive fireballs, like meteors wreathed in raging flames, bombarded Uchiha Chen with lightning speed.

Uchiha Chen, who had intended to retract his Susanoo, could only grit his teeth and reinforce his defense.

Uchiha Fugaku knew well the terrifying power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, so he chose to maintain a safe distance, using ninjutsu to continuously drain his opponent's strength. After all, while the power of Susanoo was immense, its chakra consumption was even greater.

After a period of ninjutsu bombardment, Uchiha Chen, inside the Susanoo, finally reacted.

Although he did not know how Uchiha Fugaku had discerned his intentions, since he had been exposed, he decided to go all out. He closed his left eye, preparing to launch an attack.

A moment later, he snapped his eyes open, a line of blood streaming from the corner of his eye.

Following his movement, a streak of black flame was summoned from the void under the gaze of his Sharingan, instantly reducing all surrounding attacks and obstacles to ash.

As everything before him was swallowed up, the surrounding attacks ceased. It was as if the overbearing flames of Amaterasu had completely incinerated the attacker.

Uchiha Chen knew that Uchiha Fugaku would not die so easily, so he maintained his Susanoo, but waiting like this was not a solution; with such a loud commotion, someone would soon come to investigate, and he had to end this quickly.

At this moment, he had not yet realized that a barrier had been set up here. After some thought, he immediately shook his body, pretending that his chakra was exhausted and he could no longer maintain the Susanoo, quickly retracting it into his body.

He hoped to use this to lure Uchiha Fugaku into attacking again.

Uchiha Fugaku, hiding in the shadows, stared at the seemingly weak Uchiha Chen, who was struggling to retract his Susanoo, his heart filled with mockery and a flash of contempt in his eyes.

In the end, he was just a greenhorn; even if he had been promoted to Jonin, he had no real combat experience.

How could such clumsy acting deceive anyone?

Even with the most powerful eyes of the Uchiha clan, his strength was still laughably weak.

However, this was something he could exploit. Thinking of this, Uchiha Fugaku narrowed his eyes slightly and began to move slowly.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Chen, disguised as someone exhausted, could not help but feel anxious.

He knew that if he delayed any longer, his injuries would be healed by the Sage Body.

Just then, Uchiha Chen suddenly felt his ankles gripped tightly by a pair of powerful hands.

However, he showed no sign of surprise; instead, a trace of glee welled up in his heart.

Using the opponent's strength, Uchiha Chen allowed himself to be pulled into the earth.

He knew that even if he were buried, as long as Uchiha Fugaku appeared and he used Kotoamatsukami, all problems would be solved.

Thinking of this, he stared at the figure emerging from the ground, holding a katana and about to strike, and shouted excitedly: "Kotoamatsukami!"

In an instant, vast ocular power poured out like a surging torrent.

Unexpectedly, the figure in front of him, along with the weapon in his hand, exploded into a dense cloud of smoke the moment he attacked.

Uchiha Chen's expression turned extremely gloomy; this was the second time since his rebirth that he had been deceived by a Shadow Clone. Could it be that this skill was specifically designed to counter him?

Accompanied by the sound of rapid footsteps approaching, his chakra supply was insufficient due to the full-force activation of Kotoamatsukami.

The situation was critical, and this was no longer an act.

Just as he prepared to speak to buy some time, a cold, chilling light flashed across the night sky.

Following that, Uchiha Chen felt a chill at his neck, then the world spun, his consciousness blurred, and he finally plunged into darkness.