Fugaku's Guidance (Part 2)

Fugaku seemed to see the anger in his heart and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't think too much about it. What you need to do now is keep getting stronger. Only when you have enough power can you search for the truths that have been buried, and protect the people you want to protect."

Lan raised his head and looked at Fugaku.

This Uchiha clan leader usually seemed dignified, even somewhat cold, but when he was teaching him, he was unexpectedly patient and... warm?

"I understand." Lan nodded heavily.

Fugaku looked him over again. "Speaking of which, the nature of your chakra really is strange. What exactly is that energy?"

Lan had already prepared his answer. "I don't know either. After I awakened my Sharingan, this energy suddenly appeared in my body. It seems to make my chakra stronger and easier to control."

Fugaku pondered for a moment, a thoughtful look flashing through his eyes.

"Perhaps... like the legendary man, you're an Uchiha born with a special constitution. His name was Madara Uchiha. He was the clan leader before my father took the position."

"His chakra reserves and physical strength also far surpassed ordinary Uchiha clansmen."

"However, he is a taboo. His thoughts and actions ran completely counter to us Uchiha."

"You must never mention his name in front of others. In the end, he turned his back on us Uchiha and betrayed the Hidden Leaf Village as well. The First Hokage was gravely wounded while killing him, and died after treatment failed."

Hearing Madara Uchiha's name, Lan's heart stirred.

According to the memories of his past life, he had actually only faked his death to escape, though he had also been seriously injured.

Even so, he had kept laying out plans for a successor and his resurrection, gritting his teeth and holding on for the sake of achieving what he believed was a plan for "permanent peace in the ninja world."

"Develop this talent of yours well," Fugaku said. "The future of the Uchiha may depend on you someday."

Time flew by, and three months passed.

On this day, the sun was bright.

Deep within the clan grounds, on the training field, two figures were clashing fiercely.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sounds of fists and feet colliding rang out again and again. Force surged in every direction, and the ground around them trembled slightly from the impact.

One of the figures was Lan. After three months of special training, he had grown a little taller, and his gaze had become even sharper.

His movements were swift and powerful. Every punch and kick carried the sound of tearing air.

His Sharingan had already opened in silence. The single tomoe slowly turned in his eyes, catching every movement his opponent made.

And his opponent was naturally Fugaku.

Fugaku was still calm and unhurried. He had not activated his Sharingan, but with only his rich combat experience and superb technique, he neutralized Lan's storm-like attacks one by one.

"Not bad speed, but your strength is still lacking!" Fugaku easily dodged Lan's sweeping kick and struck a palm toward his back at the same time.

Lan reacted extremely quickly. His body lunged forward, narrowly avoiding the palm, then used the momentum to spin around. A Ki Blast gathered in his right hand and shot toward Fugaku.

"Parlor tricks." Fugaku gave a cold snort. Without dodging or blocking, he likewise threw out a punch and directly blasted the Ki Blast apart.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!" Seeing that the Ki Blast was ineffective, Lan immediately formed hand seals, and a massive fire dragon roared as it charged toward Fugaku.

Fugaku's eyes narrowed, and he formed seals as well. "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

The two fire dragons collided in midair with a thunderous crash, sending flames and thick smoke billowing outward.

Using the smoke as cover, Lan's figure vanished like a ghost. In the next second, he appeared behind Fugaku, a hand chop containing Saiyan Chakra slashing straight toward the back of Fugaku's neck!

"Hmm?" Fugaku seemed to have expected it. His body shifted slightly to the side, and at the same time, his elbow smashed backward.

"Bang!"

Lan's hand chop collided with Fugaku's elbow, producing a dull thud.

Lan only felt a powerful force come through, jolting his arm numb and forcing him several steps back.

The thick smoke dispersed. Fugaku stood where he was, his breathing still steady.

He looked at Lan, clear appreciation in his eyes.

"All right, let's stop here." Fugaku waved his hand, signaling Lan to stop.

Lan panted and came to a halt.

Although he felt somewhat unwilling, he also knew there was still a huge gap between him and Fugaku.

The other man was indeed a renowned powerhouse across the entire ninja world.

"How was it?" Fugaku asked.

"Not enough." Lan wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes filled with fighting spirit. "I can keep going!"

Fugaku smiled. "After these three months of training, your strength has already undergone a qualitative leap."

He paused, then continued, "With your current strength, even against a jonin, you'd be able to contend for a while."

Hearing Fugaku's praise, Lan felt no joy in his heart.

This level of strength, in the face of so many crises, would not even give him the chance to survive one episode.

"Your talent truly exceeds my imagination," Fugaku said sincerely as he looked at Lan. "I've basically taught you everything I can teach you. What remains will require you to explore on your own, and to accumulate experience through real combat."

Lan froze. "You mean..."

"My focused instruction ends here." Fugaku nodded. "The road ahead must be walked by you yourself. Experience in life-and-death combat is something no one can teach you."

Although he had expected it, hearing Fugaku say those words himself still left Lan feeling somewhat disappointed.

Over these three months, Fugaku's teaching, both like a mentor and a father, had let him feel a sense of belonging he had never had before.

"What? Can't bear to part?" Fugaku looked at Lan's somewhat downcast expression and, rarely, cracked a joke.

Lan immediately raised his head and returned to his usual proud demeanor. "Who can't bear to part? I just feel like I haven't learned all your skills yet!"

Fugaku burst into laughter. "You brat, you've got quite the mouth on you. You think my skills are that easy to learn? Wait until you open the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, then say something like that!"

After saying that, Fugaku stopped. After a moment of silence, he spoke again.

"You've already opened the One-Tomoe Sharingan, so I think you also understand what upgrading the Sharingan means. I hope the day never comes when you have to open the three tomoe."

"I'll accept your blessing, Teacher Fugaku." Lan nodded and, for the first time, took the initiative to call him "teacher."

Fugaku was slightly startled, then a gratified smile appeared on his face.

Watching Lan's departing back, Fugaku murmured to himself, "I hope you really can grow to the day when you change the fate of the Uchiha."

After Lan left the training field, he did not go straight home.

He found a secluded place, created several shadow clones, and had each of them go carry out different training.

His main body sat down cross-legged and looked inward at the surging Saiyan Chakra within him.

Three months of special training had made his strength advance by leaps and bounds.

Not only had his ki and chakra surged by another fold, the progress of his system template had also unknowingly risen to 35%, and he had unlocked one reward:

[Vegeta's Combat Experience (Elementary): An elementary combat experience reward designed based on Vegeta's combat traits, containing basic combat techniques, tactical awareness, and preliminary strategy accumulation for dealing with different opponents.]

It was precisely because of this reward that Lan could make such enormous progress in combat reactions in such a short time.

"Next comes true actual combat." Lan's eyes glittered with excitement. "I need to apply for early graduation. If I stay in the Ninja Academy any longer, it'll just be wasting my years."