If You Can Do It, Bring It On!

A few minutes earlier.

After hearing the Chinoike Clan member's explanation.

Uchiha Genmei had a rough understanding of the situation.

The main family of the Chinoike Clan was nobility.

Strange, wasn't it?

A hundred years ago, being a ninja was a despicable profession.

Back then, the fact that the Chinoike Clan leader's daughter could marry into the Feudal Lord's household as a concubine showed that, aside from the Uzumaki, who had founded a country,

they were already far more successful than the relatives of the Uchiha, Senju, Kaguya, and Hyuga.

They weren't low-class ninjas, but bona fide great nobles of the Land of Lightning!

After losing a political struggle, they were simply exiled to Hell Valley.

Keep in mind, this was the Warring States period. The Feudal Lords hired the Uchiha

to suppress

the Chinoike Clan, who held power within the noble system.

But they hadn't asked the Uchiha to wipe out the entire clan.

They had merely been relocated from fertile land—a fief worth three hundred thousand koku—to the barren Hell Valley, worth only fifty thousand koku.

That was what they called exile.

Otherwise,

given Kumogakure's habit of stealing ninjutsu and kekkei genkai wherever it went, it would never have spared the Chinoike Clan.

The reason was that the current leader of the Chinoike Clan's main family held the position of Hell Warden.

The main family were nobles, so where did their power lie?

The answer was the Branch Family.

Oyashiro.

Gabimaru, the Oyashiro Clan's genius.

But after awakening the Ketsuryūgan, he had first lost his parents, and now his wife was about to die as well.

The clan's gossip branded him a jinx who had brought misfortune to his father, his mother, and now was about to kill his wife.

A man-eating demon!

Heh!

Something about this smelled like a conspiracy.

Uchiha Genmei had immediately found it interesting, so he followed Gabimaru along.

On a quiet street.

Genmei looked bemusedly at Gabimaru, who seemed lost in thought.

Hm?

His strength had increased?

Interesting. Had he really become dangerous enough to make me feel threatened?

Seeing Gabimaru's deathly expression as he raised a hand to gouge out his own eyes,

"Kid, you want to die, don't you?"

"Want me to grant your wish?"

Genmei's amused voice interrupted Gabimaru's movement.

He turned and looked at Genmei.

"An Uchiha? What do you want, sir?"

"Didn't I say it? You're ready to die. I can grant your wish."

Gabimaru frowned as the man opposite him took an iaijutsu stance.

A troublesome guy?

Annoying Uchiha.

Suddenly!

Gabimaru saw the Uchiha opposite him narrow his eyes.

Huh?

Why was my head flying through the air?

"Haah!"

Still shaken, Gabimaru cried out and reached for his neck!

His head was still there?

He stared at Genmei in shock!

So strong!

Just his killing intent could...

Genmei didn't care about Gabimaru's hesitation.

His figure vanished in an instant.

Clang!

His sword left its sheath.

A sharp flash of cold steel swept past.

"Why did you dodge?" Genmei's mocking voice rang out.

"Looks like you still have the will to live."

"Haah, haah, haah~"

Gabimaru dodged Uchiha Genmei's sudden attack and breathed heavily, trying to calm the tension of having just come within a hair's breadth of death.

Why had I dodged?

Yui was beyond saving!

Wasn't I supposed to die before Yui?

This man looked...

Like an unbelievably powerful Uchiha. He should be able to do it, right?

Gabimaru's thoughts churned in turmoil!

The white-haired boy before him had dodged his surprise attack.

He wasn't ordinary.

Although he hadn't activated his Sharingan,

ever since awakening his Mangekyo a month ago,

his chakra reserves and reflexes had been improving day by day.

He had about fifty cards of chakra, already half of Naruto's.

And his reflexes were even more impressive. Every Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyo experienced a tremendous improvement in both body and mind.

Without activating his Sharingan, he could still kill his month-younger self with a surprise attack.

Genmei sighed.

"Kid, come with me!"

Gabimaru frowned. "Why should I go with you?"

"Oh?"

"You felt it just now, didn't you? I'm strong enough to kill you."

Genmei's expression turned cold as he spoke. "Besides, think about your wife."

"Yui?" Gabimaru's eyes widened, and he asked in alarm,

"What do you mean?"

Whoosh!

Genmei vanished in an instant.

"Wait!"

Gabimaru shouted after the vanished Uchiha, then followed with the Body Flicker Technique.

Outside Hell Valley.

In a quiet forest.

Uchiha Genmei waited with his eyes closed.

Whoosh!

The white-haired boy arrived, his expression grim.

"Uchiha! What did you mean by that just now?!"

Uchiha Genmei opened his eyes. The magatama in his blood-red Sharingan rotated slowly.

"You want to know?"

"Then show me what you're capable of!"

Boom!!

The violent clash turned the ground and trees within a hundred meters into splinters!

The clang of clashing blows rang out!

In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged dozens of strikes.

Uchiha Genmei looked at the boy, who had transformed before his eyes.

Blood filled the whites of his eyes, and his pupils were shaped like the character "一."

So this was the Ketsuryūgan?

His perception wasn't any better than mine. During their clashes, the genjutsu woven through his Sharingan had actually been reflected back at him.

With that thought,

Genmei gave a shout in his heart:

[Phantom Body Lucid Lightning Fire Chakra Mode]

Flames roared, and thunder boomed!

"What?!"

Gabimaru stared at the transformed Uchiha with his Ketsuryūgan wide open.

Before he could even be surprised,

"He vanished?"

The Ketsuryūgan couldn't keep up?!

Rumble!!

A slash woven from lightning and flames suddenly appeared.

The world collapsed before Gabimaru's eyes. Before he could react,

the vast storm of lightning and fire sent him flying.

Uchiha Genmei stood off to the side like a god of lightning and fire.

He looked at the desolate scene before him, buried beneath sand and rubble by his single strike.

Then he spoke with proud disdain:

"If that's all you've got, I'm disappointed, Gabimaru."

A "crack" sounded from within the smoke.

Gabimaru emerged, his clothes the only thing damaged; he was otherwise unscathed.

As expected!

His body was absurdly tough. Even Kazunosuke, his formidable opponent from before, couldn't have withstood that strike.

But Gabimaru had!

"That was just a warm-up! Gabimaru, if you want to save your beloved wife, show me what you can really do!"

"I can tell your ocular power goes much further than this!"

"Oh, and by the way, my ocular technique can save all living beings~"

"Show me the unfathomable power of the Ketsuryūgan!"

Gabimaru lowered his eyes, his bangs casting a shadow over them.

He spoke softly. "If that's what you want, then watch closely!"

"Ninja Art: True Nature Fire Mage."

Blood and fire descended upon the forest. Crimson flames rose from Gabimaru's body, filling the sky.

At that moment,

he was like a god of blood and fire.

The "一"-shaped pupils in his eyes had vanished. A cross-shaped starburst bloomed in their place!

Hiss~

Gabimaru exhaled a hot breath.

"Let me use this power to humble your arrogance!"

"Then you'll tell me how to save Yui!"

Uchiha Genmei looked exhilarated.

"Subarashii!"

"So this is the realm beyond the ordinary Ketsuryūgan?!"

"Humble my arrogance? If you can do it, bring it on!"