It was Konoha's fiftieth year.
News of Itachi Uchiha's promotion to Chunin had spread throughout the Uchiha Clan Compound.
The ten-year-old prodigy was drawing ever closer to ANBU.
To everyone else, it was simply another prodigy emerging from the Uchiha Clan. To Uchiha Lieyang, it sounded like a death knell drawing closer.
Time was running out.
If he waited until Itachi Uchiha joined ANBU and the Konoha High Command tightened its surveillance of the Uchiha Clan, leaving Konoha would become ten times harder. A hundred times harder.
Three years ago, he had arrived in this world.
In those three years, he had grown from an ordinary Uchiha clansman into a Special Jōnin and awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
In Konoha, that kind of progress was enough to earn him the title of prodigy.
But Lie Yang wasn't satisfied.
Not even close.
A Special Jōnin couldn't withstand Root or ANBU, much less the bloody night destined to engulf the Uchiha Clan.
By training step by step, he would never catch up to those who truly stood at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World.
Let alone leave this world and pursue the true miracle.
Branches flashed past beneath his feet.
Lie Yang kept pace with the team, his gaze sweeping the surroundings with apparent vigilance, though his thoughts had drifted back three years.
When he first arrived, he had heard a voice whose source he couldn't identify.
It had given him no system, no Kekkei Genkai, and no power to destroy heaven and earth.
It had granted him only one privilege.
The privilege of pursuing miracles.
For three years, Lie Yang had gone over that hazy message again and again before finally reaching a conclusion.
The Gene Lock.
A power that could only be unlocked by breaking free of life's instinctive limits in a genuine fight for survival.
And the Gene Lock was far from the end.
What he truly wanted was the ultimate miracle spoken of in legends across the multiverse.
The Light of the Soul!
"Lie Yang."
Takeno Sota suddenly stopped up ahead.
Lie Yang planted his foot on a branch and came to a halt.
Takeno Sota wore a Konoha Forehead Protector, his right hand already resting on the ninja tool pouch at his waist. He said nothing at first, merely stared at Lie Yang for two seconds.
Ayakawa Yukina stood on the other side.
Slender and cold-faced, she had pulled her collar over most of her face, leaving only a pair of nearly emotionless eyes visible.
"You've lost focus seven times since we left the village."
Takeno Sota said gravely, "This is an infiltration mission. A single lapse could get the entire team killed."
"Sorry."
Lie Yang's answer was calm.
Takeno Sota frowned.
But Ayakawa Yukina spoke up at once. "An apology doesn't remove the risk. Captain, I recommend aborting the mission and taking him back to the village for questioning."
Lie Yang looked at her.
Yukina held his gaze.
"Uchiha Lieyang, you're not fit to carry out this mission in your current state."
"We've come this far. If we turn back now, the target will move anyway."
"That's still better than continuing with an unpredictable liability."
Their gazes locked.
Takeno Sota raised a hand to cut them off.
"Enough."
"This intelligence was hard to obtain. We can't abandon it lightly. We proceed as planned."
He spread out the map and placed a finger on the mission area.
"Yukina, take the advance position. Confirm the outer guards and patrol routes."
"Lie Yang, take the rear position. Watch for anyone circling behind us and cut off the enemy's retreat."
"I'll infiltrate the central area. Once I confirm the target, Yukina will join me. Lie Yang will remain at his post. When the mission is complete, we'll withdraw at point three."
"Understood."
Yukina acknowledged the order.
Lie Yang nodded as well. "Understood."
Takeno Sota put away the map but did not leave immediately.
"Lie Yang, this is the last time I'll warn you."
"Put those distractions aside while we're on the mission."
Lie Yang met his gaze. "Captain, don't worry. I won't drag you down with me."
Takeno Sota's frown deepened.
There was nothing wrong with the words, yet for some reason, they left him uneasy.
Before he could press further, Ayakawa Yukina turned away.
"I'll go ahead."
With a few leaps, she vanished into the depths of the forest.
Takeno Sota gave Lie Yang one more look, then headed toward the central area.
The forest fell quiet again.
Lie Yang stood where he was, listening as their footsteps faded.
Ten breaths.
Twenty.
Only when even his Sharingan could no longer detect traces of their Chakra did he slowly exhale.
Finally, the moment had come.
Defecting from Konoha had never been as simple as turning around and leaving.
The Uchiha Clan was under the watchful eyes of both the Konoha Police Force and ANBU. Ninja needed mission papers to leave the village, patrols guarded the border, and countless Konoha informants watched the roads.
The moment his defection was confirmed, the hunt would begin.
But that hunt was exactly what Lie Yang wanted.
Without a real threat of death, talk of unlocking the Gene Lock was a joke.
He needed enemies.
Enemies who knew him.
Enemies who could push him to his limit, perhaps even kill him!
Lie Yang formed Hand Seals.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Poof!
White smoke dispersed, and another Uchiha Lieyang appeared before him.
The Shadow Clone rolled his shoulders, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly turning.
"You're sure about this?"
"I've thought about it for three years."
"If it fails, you die."
"If I stay in Konoha, I die anyway."
The Shadow Clone fell silent for a moment, then grinned.
"Then let's take the gamble."
Lie Yang drew the short sword at his waist and handed it to the Shadow Clone.
The Shadow Clone took the blade and headed for the rear position.
"Make plenty of noise."
"Don't worry."
The Shadow Clone waved without looking back.
"I'll make them believe you've completely lost your mind."
Lie Yang watched his clone disappear, then turned and ran in the opposite direction from the mission site.
From this moment on, he was no longer a Konoha Special Jōnin.
He was a rogue ninja: Uchiha Lieyang!
A moment later, an explosion tore through the rear position.
Boom!
Flames surged skyward, swallowing several large trees.
"Konoha Ninja!"
"An intruder!"
"Catch him!"
Rogue ninja hidden throughout the area rushed out.
Lie Yang's Shadow Clone made no attempt to conceal himself. Standing on a burning branch with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan in plain sight, he flung several Shuriken.
The Shuriken collided and changed course, flying toward different positions.
Two rogue ninja dodged in haste, their patrol formation falling apart.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball slammed into the forest.
Heat rolled outward, and flames lit up half the woods in an instant.
With a disturbance that obvious, not only the nearby rogue ninja but everyone in the central area could see it clearly.
"Bastard!"
A rogue ninja rolled out of the flames and roared, "He didn't come to infiltrate us! He came to start a fight!"
At the same time, Takeno Sota stopped dead.
The distant blaze reflected in his eyes.
Ayakawa Yukina landed beside him, her voice cold.
"Something's happened at the rear position."
"Lie Yang was assigned there."
Takeno Sota's expression darkened. "With his experience, he couldn't have made a mistake like this."
"So it wasn't a mistake."
Yukina made her judgment without hesitation.
"He exposed himself on purpose."
Takeno Sota fell silent.
The target had been alerted, and the rogue ninja in the central area were relocating. The original infiltration plan was now useless.
More importantly, Uchiha Lieyang had not come to meet them.
"Captain."
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