The next day!
After a night of rest, Uchiha Chen slowly awoke to the pleasant sound of birdsong in the early morning, then gradually sat up in bed.
As usual, he went to the river in the morning to practice controlling his power. At noon, he guided Izumi in her training and deliberately teased her a little. Watching the increasingly bold yet bashful girl, Uchiha Chen couldn't help feeling a surge of delight.
After all, that was the joy of watching someone grow.
In the evening, he lounged lazily in a chair, listening to the useless tidbits Mikoto brought him while taking every opportunity to touch her, drawing soft gasps from her again and again.
Time slipped by without a sound. Tomorrow would be the day Kotoamatsukami fully recovered.
Over the past month, Izumi and Uchiha Chen had grown closer and closer. She seemed to have completely forgotten Uchiha Itachi.
As for his physical intimacy with Mikoto, apart from that crucial final step, Uchiha Chen had experienced everything else.
Next, once Uchiha Chen successfully took control of Fugaku, no one would be able to stop him from losing the virginity he had kept all his life—not in either of his two lifetimes.
After all, a moment this meaningful deserved to be witnessed to make it perfect! At the thought, Uchiha Chen couldn't help wearing a smug grin.
Meanwhile, in a secluded room, with the news sent back by his Shadow Clone, Uchiha Fugaku felt himself sinking little by little into an endless abyss.
His eyes were wide with rage, his face full of disbelief.
He had discovered that his wife—the most esteemed woman in the Uchiha Clan—seemed to have betrayed him!
And what he found even harder to accept was that her affair was with someone from his own clan, a man under his command!
A wave of sorrow surged through him, and Fugaku's thoughts spun into chaos, as if dozens of Fireballs had been hurled at his head one after another.
He couldn't understand how this could have happened. In terms of power, strength, status, and standing, wasn't he superior to that arrogant young brat in every way? Was it simply because the other man was young?
But in all their years together, his wife had always been the very model of a noblewoman. Her graceful bearing, her fine manners—everything about her set the standard among Konoha's noblewomen.
The thought sent Fugaku spiraling further. His mind grew more and more confused. He recalled how, over the past month, Mikoto had paid increasing attention to maintaining her appearance, as well as the coy expressions that suddenly appeared on her face each night... Every memory now cut into his heart like a sharp blade.
Fugaku unconsciously tightened his grip on the sword until even its hilt cracked and crumbled, as though it were a sign that he would crush that man to pieces just like it.
He clenched his teeth so hard they gave a faint grinding sound. Through his tightly shut teeth, he forced out the name he hated most: "Uchiha Chen!"
His voice seethed with boundless fury and hatred, as if he meant to chew the name to pieces and swallow it. Then he continued through gritted teeth, "I'll kill you with my own hands! And Uchiha Mikoto..." His jaw clenched even tighter, as if he were struggling to keep his surging emotions in check.
As the anger in his heart burned hotter, his once-calm eyes suddenly changed. The eyes that bore the Uchiha Clan's curse opened against his will, and the patterns in his pupils swiftly transformed from three Tomoe into the splendid Mangekyo Sharingan.
The power in his eyes churned like a roaring sea, seeming ready to burst forth at any moment.
"Susanoo," he murmured, his voice low and restrained. The Mangekyo Sharingan ability he had kept hidden for so long had finally been revealed, though no one knew of it.
With a low growl, a line of bright red tears slowly ran from the corner of Fugaku's eye.
As if he had understood something, he murmured, "So that's it, Mikoto. I see..." His heart gradually settled, but his bloodstained eyes grew a deeper crimson, like flames.
Under the moonlight, his eyes were scarlet, yet darkness shrouded his form. He looked like a demon returned from hell, a sight that sent chills down the spine.
Night fell, and all was silent.
Only an hour remained before Kotoamatsukami was unsealed the next day. Dressed in plain clothes, Uchiha Chen sat cross-legged in his room.
The Kunai in his hand spun nimbly between his fingers, whirling so fast that it formed a dazzling blur. The seemingly simple motion revealed the excitement he could barely contain.
At that moment, a shadow like a ghost appeared about a hundred meters from Uchiha Chen's house.
A closer look revealed the newcomer to be Uchiha Fugaku. His expression grave, he swiftly formed Hand Seals, and with a thunderous "Poof!" three Shadow Clones identical to his original body appeared.
Uchiha Fugaku then took four palm-sized miniature scrolls from inside his vest and handed them to his Shadow Clones.
Each of the four figures held a scroll. After receiving theirs, the Shadow Clones flashed away like lightning, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Once the four of them had taken up positions a hundred meters apart to the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest of Uchiha Chen's house, they knelt on one knee in unison. Each placed one hand lightly on a scroll, held the other upright before them, and whispered, "Release!"
At once, chakra flowed gently through the hands resting on the scrolls. As if sensing something, the scrolls began to expand at an astonishing speed.
In just a few seconds, the scrolls, which had originally been no bigger than a palm, had grown to a meter tall.
When they unfurled completely, their surfaces revealed densely packed symbols of strange shapes. At the very center of the intricate markings, one large character, "Barrier," glowed faintly.
Without a doubt, these were secret barrier scrolls passed down through the Uchiha Clan since the early, war-torn days of the Warring States period. As time passed, this inherited treasure had begun to show its Warring States-era prowess. Tonight, it would help the Uchiha Clan's leader eliminate his enemy.
The scrolls had been developed during the Warring States period to ambush enemies. They came in hundred-meter and thousand-meter varieties. Once unfurled, the barrier operated automatically, absorbing every vibration, scent, sound wave, and chakra fluctuation within it.
Even if a battle raged inside, the shinobi outside couldn't detect it. But after the barrier had been used successfully many times, its flaw inevitably came to light: it couldn't block sight, so it was countered by the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan.
The more intense the fighting inside, the more chakra the barrier absorbed. Yet its exterior remained fragile. After the clan was ambushed several times in turn, the barrier gradually fell into obscurity.
Who knew which forgotten corner our esteemed clan leader had dug it out of?
Uchiha Chen, still inside his room, had no idea danger was closing in. He waited anxiously for Kotoamatsukami to recover.