The Injured Uchiha Tetsuka

"Retreat! Forget those two Uchiha!"

"There's only one of them who can fight. We can take a gamble—he definitely doesn't have much chakra left!"

"Then you gamble! Don't you know gamblers always lose their houses? We need to go back and inform Lord Baki that Konoha has sent reinforcements!"

"Right, that's right. Intelligence comes first. Retreat!"

One of the Chunin shouted in panic. The six of them immediately turned and ran, trying to escape this battlefield filled with deadly intent.

Uchiha Lan snorted coldly, a glint of chill flashing through his eyes.

If they let these men pass on information about their group, the next time they met, they might be facing the siege of dozens of Hidden Sand ninja.

With a flicker, he vanished from where he stood.

"Trying to run? It won't be that easy!"

Uchiha Lan's voice echoed across the battlefield as his figure flitted ghostlike among the fleeing Hidden Sand Chunin.

His movements were astonishingly fast, and every strike was incomparably precise, as though he had completely grasped their paths of movement.

One Hidden Sand ninja tried to use a puppet to block Uchiha Lan's pursuit, but before he could even pull the chakra strings and make it attack—

Uchiha Lan had already appeared before him in a Body Flicker. His hands formed seals in an instant, and he unleashed his ultimate move point-blank.

"Lightning Release: Chidori!"

Dazzling blue lightning flashed across his palm like an invisible blade, piercing straight through the Chunin's chest.

Blood sprayed out. The Chunin's body was blasted apart by the powerful lightning energy. He did not even have time to let out a scream before dropping dead on the ground.

Having lost the control of its chakra strings, the puppet also staggered and fell to the ground, ending up face-to-face with that Hidden Sand ninja.

As one of Konoha's rare five-nature ninja, how could he possibly pass up a ninjutsu like Chidori, which was so well suited to the Uchiha Clan?

It was just that he had developed it together with Kakashi, who had graduated in the same class as him.

Though he had essentially plagiarized Kakashi's patent, Kakashi, one of Konoha's Twin Stars at the time, should have been thanking him for it.

The next moment, he appeared behind three fleeing Hidden Sand Chunin. Forming seals with both hands, he called out in a low voice:

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"

As his chakra poured forth, the surrounding air instantly turned scorching hot.

"Wind Release: Wind Formation Wall ×2!"

The three were not about to passively take the attack. They roared and activated their ninjutsu!

Whoosh—!

A whirlwind spun at high speed, forming a massive, translucent shield wall of wind that emitted a piercing, ear-splitting hum!

Yet the enormous torrent of flames surged forth like a roaring dragon, easily smashing through the wind barrier.

It instantly swallowed the three Chunin.

Scorching flames wrapped around their bodies, crackling loudly. They struggled painfully within the fire for a few moments before falling still.

The other two Hidden Sand Chunin were terrified out of their wits and ran even faster.

Uchiha Lan's gaze sharpened. With a light tap of his toe against the ground, he shot forward with the Body Flicker Technique like an arrow released from its bow.

He instantly caught up behind one Chunin. His katana swept out, a cold gleam flashed, and the Chunin's body split into two halves.

Seeing the last Hidden Sand ninja fleeing farther and farther away—

Uchiha Lan ignored the fact that he had already used up half his chakra and slammed both hands onto the ground, unleashing his ultimate technique.

"Barrier Technique: Uchiha Flame Formation!"

A thin wall of red flame containing immense energy rose from the ground, instantly blocking the Chunin's path.

"Argh—!"

The Chunin failed to react in time and crashed headfirst into it. With a scream, his body was consumed by flames and instantly burned into a bloody mess. His scream had barely begun before he collapsed to the ground.

Uchiha Lan stood where he was, staring at the burning corpses at his feet. A trace of gloom flashed through his eyes.

This fucked-up world was just like that. If one did not look out for oneself, heaven and earth would destroy them. Even terrorists longed for peace, yet those with vested interests were unwilling to allow it.

He turned and walked toward Uchiha Tetsuka, Uchiha Daosui, and Uchiha Inada, saying calmly:

"I hope all of you remember this lesson. The Uchiha Clan may place glory above all else, but that depends on your ability. Don't charge in recklessly when you shouldn't."

The three of them thought, Dear Captain, are you really in any position to say that? I told us to retreat back then. Weren't you the first one to charge in?

He briefly treated Tetsuka's wounds with the Mystical Palm Technique, then patted his shoulder.

"Don't be so impulsive next time. Chakra isn't unlimited."

Uchiha Tetsuka nodded, gratitude flashing through his eyes.

"Thank you, Captain Lan. If not for you this time, I would have been finished."

"But Captain, I'm just a Chunin. Facing a Jonin in my first battle—isn't that asking a bit too much of me?"

"Uh... Tetsuka, that's because I think you're the second strongest person on our team. Naturally, I had to let you face the difficult challenge!"

"Ah... is that so? Captain, I suddenly feel like this injury is nothing. I can still fight another round!"

Uchiha Daosui thought, Good thing I'm Captain Lan's trusted aide. Otherwise, he might sell me someday, and I'd still be counting the money for him!

In the past, they had never had an accurate understanding of just how strong their captain was. They only knew that he was a peerless genius, which was why they had been willing to follow him and accomplish great deeds.

But only after arriving on the battlefield did they realize just how enormous the gap was between them and their captain, Uchiha Lan.

The six Hidden Sand Chunin who had been able to overpower Uchiha Daosui and Inada had all been effortlessly dealt with by Uchiha Lan as easily as slaughtering chickens.

Even two Jonin had been no match for him. With their captain's strength, taking on two at once probably would not be a problem.

Uchiha Tetsuka thought, What? So I'm the only one who got hurt?

In the end, Uchiha Lan had Daosui and Inada seal all the corpses into specially made scrolls. He also used the Mystical Palm Technique to treat the severely injured Uchiha Tetsuka, and the group set up camp to rest for the night.

If Uchiha Lan had known the Yamanaka Clan's interrogation techniques, he would have wanted to learn at least some of Hidden Sand's latest intelligence. Charging straight in without information was still far too risky.

Soon, as the sun rose and the moon set, another day passed. The Uchiha team's pace slowed considerably.

That was because Uchiha Tetsuka had injured his spine and could not travel at high speed.

Though Uchiha Lan's Mystical Palm Technique could suppress and ease the injury, completely curing it would definitely require a professional medical ninja. Tsunade was naturally out of the question.

Another reason was that Uchiha Lan needed time to clear out the Hidden Sand ninja lying in ambush along the way.

His powerful Sharingan, Chakra Sensory Technique, and strength solidly at the level of an Elite Jonin made those Hidden Sand ninja suffer beyond words.

Those who could not beat him could not escape him, while those who could beat him could not find him.

He was like Hua Xiong before Hulao Pass. Without experts like Pakura or Rasa to stop him, those Hidden Sand Chunin squads that had infiltrated to sabotage Konoha's logistics were nothing more than fodder.