This Technique Is Called Substitution Technique: Second Stage!

Really? Madara asked with some doubt, wondering if his younger brother had that kind of skill. Besides, how many ninja knew how to cook? Wasn't this just messing around?

"Not focusing on proper work. With that kind of effort, wouldn't it be better to go train for a while?"

"Who knows about that." Izuna shrugged, feeling a bit strange inside. Since his younger brother cooked well, shouldn't they praise him? "Anyway, third brother doesn't frequently go to the battlefield. In fact, he spends more time at home than we do."

A dozen minutes later, they didn't keep the two chatting in the living room waiting long before wafts of food aroma drifted out from the kitchen.

"Mmm~" Izuna took a deep sniff. "I bet this dish smells like braised pork belly."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've eaten it before!"

Madara sniffed the scent. It was indeed meaty just as Izuna said, and the smell truly made one's appetite surge. He felt a bit surprised inside, not expecting his third brother to actually have this kind of attainment in culinary arts.

Are you kidding me? In his previous life, Uchiha Yuan was single for over thirty years, and only he knew who would pamper him—he learned that page by page, frame by frame, from a recipe book.

Besides, leaving other things aside, when it comes to delicious food, looking across the outside world, who dared to compete with China?!

"Hahahaha, chicken soup is here~"

Acting on the idea that lunch should be a bit more abundant, Uchiha Yuan cooked a few extra dishes, and he was also well aware of his family's appetite. There were five dishes, and every single one had large chunks of meat.

"Hey? Why are you looking at me? Eat up!"

"Hmph hmph, you're the one wielding the ladle. You take a bowl of chicken soup first to warm your stomach."

Saying that, without giving Uchiha Yuan a chance to retort, Madara scooped a bowl of chicken soup on his own and sent it right in front of Uchiha Yuan.

"Ah this, well alright then."

Uchiha Yuan wasn't overly modest either; it was chicken soup scooped by his eldest brother, and it was hard to refuse such kind hospitality.

Gulps~

"Ha, the taste is still authentic. Quick, let's eat together."

With both dishes and soup, and the three brothers sitting at the same table, Madara and Izuna looked left and right, then asked Uchiha Yuan:

"How come there's no wine?"

"...Wine, I'll go get it for you two."

Mentioning wine, Uchiha Yuan's stomach twitched and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He was truly a bit scared of it.

Shortly after, Uchiha Yuan came back holding only two bottles of cloudy sake. As soon as Madara saw it, his expression turned somewhat displeased.

"How come there are only two bottles?"

"I'm not drinking any. I'm still young."

"Nonsense!" Izuna swallowed a chunk of meat in one gulp and said indistinctly, "You're clearly about my age, only differing by a few months."

Uchiha Yuan stared with innocent, big eyes, constantly using his chopsticks and acting like he didn't hear.

In the afternoon, Uchiha Training Ground.

Uchiha Yuan used a headband to tie back his long hair. Nowadays, not only was his hair color different from the Uchiha Clan, but even his hair texture had changed.

An average Uchiha's hair stood straight up at every root, looking just like a spiky hedgehog head, while Uchiha Yuan's hair was pure white all over and exceptionally soft.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready!"

Madara stood between the two of them, hands tucked inside his chest, looked at his two younger brothers left and right, and shouted loudly:

"Start!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Uchiha Yuan and Izuna simultaneously used the Body Flicker Technique to leap up, running back and forth across the training ground and searching for the best opportunity to attack.

Before the sparring match, they had already agreed that neither side could use the Mangekyō Sharingan, so their insight was at the same level.

Izuna was seasoned in battle after all, and he was the first to find an opening. The shuriken hidden in his sleeve were continuously fired while moving.

Also because it was a sparring match, all of their weapons and edged tools were unsharpened. As for being accidentally injured by ninjutsu? Wasn't there still Madara standing by to oversee the battle?

Uchiha Yuan's ears twitched slightly. The subtle wind speed abnormality instantly made him perceive the movement trajectory of the shuriken, and his figure came to an abrupt halt while running.

"Fire Release! Fierce Tiger Flame!"

Fierce flames instantly spewed out in a sizable range, and the roar of a tiger faintly resonated within the fire.

"Good!"

Izuna wasn't afraid either, instantly forming hand seals right then and there.

"Fire Release! Great Fireblast!"

The two jutsus collided. Uchiha Izuna maintained the eruption of his ninjutsu, which lasted for only a single instant before he suddenly felt something was wrong and immediately dodged away using the Body Flicker Technique.

Bang bang bang!

Three kunai were instantly driven into the exact spot where Izuna had been standing just moments before.

"Fire Release! Twin Dragons Emerge from the Sea!"

Two lifelike fire dragons intertwined together, flying toward the estimated location of Izuna's Substitution Technique.

With a bang, an inconspicuous piece of wood revealed Izuna's true form, and his hands rapidly formed seals.

"Fire Release! Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

The three fire dragons collided, and then Izuna's expression changed once again. The Great Fire Dragon was actually strangled and absorbed in its momentum by Uchiha Yuan's twin dragons, and it came lunging right toward him!

Madara watched clearly from the side. After a few ninjutsu exchanges, his third brother Uchiha Yuan hadn't formed a single seal; all of them were seal-less releases. Right then, his heart was extremely shocked. He hadn't expected Yuan's chakra control capability to reach this level. He reckoned that in this aspect, Yuan had already surpassed him. It seemed Izuna was going to have a hard time now.

Time slowly passed. The two on the field crossed paths multiple times using ninjutsu, ultimately ending with Uchiha Yuan's seal-less ninjutsu coming out on top. At times, Uchiha Yuan could even continuously release three C-rank Fire Release jutsus within a single second.

The continuous barrage of attacks left Izuna dazzled and overwhelmed, his hands and feet barely keeping up. He hadn't expected that he would actually be suppressed and beaten by his younger brother, and his face flushed somewhat red at the thought.

The Uchiha were not renowned for their chakra reserves, and soon the chakra of both individuals was nearly depleted. Almost simultaneously, they chose close combat.

"Third brother! I admit you're slightly stronger than me in ninjutsu, but you're no match for me in close-quarters combat!"

Uchiha Yuan smiled slightly. He hadn't even revealed a single one of his trump cards yet; the real match was only just beginning.

"You'll know once we try."

Duang!

The two wielded kunai and collided, sparks flying in all directions. Uchiha Yuan's figure paused, and he was actually sent flying from the impact.

"Damn it!"

"I told you so!"

Izuna hadn't held back at all with that collision. Although they said it was a sparring match, seeing his younger brother be so outstanding stirred up a competitive spirit within his heart.

Uchiha Yuan retreated a dozen steps before steadying his stance. Seeing Izuna coming straight at him, he didn't linger in the exchange and chose to dodge once again.

Izuna's close-quarters combat skills were all honed between life and death, and every single move targeted vital points. After dozens of rounds, Uchiha Yuan was battered and covered in dust.

"Damn it! Taste this!"

Uchiha Yuan controlled his chakra to leave a Substitution Mark on a shuriken, flicking his wrist to throw three shuriken over.

"That kind of attack is useless. Playing with shuriken in front of an Uchiha is far too naive."

Izuna's lips curled up, revealing a confident smile as he slightly tilted his head to side-step and evade them.

However, his combat intuition caused him to pause for a fraction of a second, his peripheral vision catching a glimpse of the kunai. Among them, one kunai seemed slightly different...

"You lost, second brother!"

What?!

Uchiha Yuan's figure was clearly still ahead, but his voice rang out right behind Izuna.

Goosebumps instantly erupted all over Izuna. In that very instant, Izuna actually felt a sense of impending death.

Patter!

Uchiha Yuan stood holding a kunai right behind Izuna. Izuna raised a hand to touch the back of his neck, feeling a chilly sensation, and looked down at the ground where a tuft of black, shattered hair was floating softly down.