Ninjutsu Inventor (False)

"I'm going to use a new ninjutsu, Big Bro."

Uchiha Yuan's voice came from somewhere among the crowd of clones.

Along with these words, the attack speed and frequency of the clones increased rapidly.

Madara frowned, sensing that something was wrong. He felt that these clones were getting stronger and stronger.

Thud!

The solid impact brought Uchiha Madara back to his senses. He locked onto the clone and unleashed a combo, but the surrounding clones kept harassing him, and he took several punches to the body.

"Victory is decided!"

Spotting an opening, Madara punched the clone in front of him in the stomach. The expected solid feeling did not come, and the clone simply popped and vanished.

What?

It was still a clone? How was that possible! Where was Yuan's real body?

Uchiha Madara looked at the surrounding clones, whose number still remained at over a dozen, and habitually wanted to activate his Mangekyō Sharingan, but forced himself to hold back.

"Pretty tricky, Yuan! I'm going to release a ninjutsu!"

"Got it, Big Bro!" *15

"...Fire Release: Overblaze Wind!"

Whoosh!!

A scorching heatwave roared past, and popping sounds rang out. Uchiha Yuan looked left and right, and all the clones kicked the bucket.

Well, this move is way too cheap against clones that can't take damage.

"Small tricks are useless in front of a truly strong person, Yuan!"

"Well..."

Yet Uchiha Yuan was not discouraged; the Substitution Technique was merely an appetizer.

Although he needed to handle clan affairs within the clan and spare time to remotely control a human tool, he still had enough time to cultivate.

By now, his Breathing Technique had reached mastery, and although his cells still could not compare to Hashirama Senju's, injuries that an ordinary person needed a week to recover from only took him a day.

Moreover, in terms of ninjutsu, he had intensively cultivated three other chakra nature transformations, and leveraging the power in his hands, he had wildly studied all the ninjutsu of the clan.

Yet he had always kept a low profile; no one knew the true strength of the Uchiha.

"Next, I'm bringing out my trump card. Big Bro, be careful not to get hurt."

"Rest assured, just come at me."

Madara was not overconfident; in combat experience, age, strength, and status, he was superior to Uchiha Yuan, and he still had the Mangekyō Sharingan as a trump card.

Huu—Uchiha Yuan took a deep breath, and the Total Concentration Breathing within his body felt like new fuel added to a blast furnace. His heart rate rapidly broke five hundred beats per minute, and his skin turned a pale red due to the excessively fast blood flow.

"Earth-Style: Earth Wall!"

Uchiha Yuan called out the first ninjutsu directly, which could also be considered a reminder to Madara that he had started.

An earth wall rose, blocking the view of the actions behind it. Madara quickly closed in, slapping the wall with a palm, yet the attack imbued with chakra failed to break this low wall.

"The quality of the chakra is clearly higher. This is really interesting."

Amid a slight pause, the ground where Madara stood suddenly softened and sank, causing him to reflexively jump away.

The moment he landed, a dirt-colored hand reached out from beneath his feet and grabbed Madara's ankle.

"Oh? Is the casting range this wide?"

Bang!

Madara's figure burst into a cloud of smoke, and a moment later, hundreds of meters away, his figure appeared on an inconspicuous tree branch high in the air.

"Fire Release: Fire Flow Arrow!"

In less than a second, dazzling hand seals formed a ninjutsu, and dozens of small fireballs spewed from Madara's mouth, scouring the Training Ground at extreme speed.

Following explosions reminiscent of carpet-bombing by a bomber, craters were left across the field, yet Uchiha Yuan was nowhere to be seen.

Outside the Training Ground, Izuna watched with an itch to join in, not expecting that the seemingly unremarkable third brother could now fight evenly with Big Bro. Although Big Bro had not used his full strength, the third brother likewise possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.

On the field, Madara's ninjutsu exerted absolute suppression, forcing Uchiha Yuan into evasion.

Tch, continuing like this is no good. There's not a shred of winning a clash of jutsus right now. It'll be easier once I have Sage Chakra in the future.

Uchiha Yuan's thoughts raced as he scooped up a clump of stones from the ground and threw them at Madara like kunai.

Yet now, as long as it was something thrown by Uchiha Yuan, neither brother would let down their guard again. Madara keenly sensed that those stones were wrong.

Old moves were never out of date, and Uchiha Yuan did not expect to cause any effect; he simply wanted to close the distance.

"Close combat again?"

Madara frowned. Did this guy Yuan rely on his speed and think he could take advantage of him by using the unique Three-Body Technique? That seemed a bit presumptive.

"Having fought the Senju so many times, I've learned a bit of their stuff too."

"Super Strength!"

Boom!

The approaching Uchiha Yuan was directly beaten into smoke, then instantly appeared beneath Madara's fist to launch an attack.

Bang, bang, bang!

Madara struck fast, his thrown punches kicking up sonic booms. Yet every time he attacked Uchiha, the blows were offset by the Substitution Technique, and for a moment the two fought to a complete draw.

I see.

Madara's observational skills were sharp, and he instantly understood Uchiha Yuan's operational method. He truly mastered the Substitution and Clone Techniques, actually using the clone technique itself as a medium to fine-tune his body position with the substitution technique.

"Rasengan!"

Mid-combat, a chakra sphere suddenly appeared in Uchiha Yuan's hand. Madara forcefully changed the trajectory of the fist he was about to swing, his body twisting into an incredible angle to dodge the attack.

"Rasengan? Did you invent it? The destructive power feels pretty good!"

Madara directly voiced his praise. If not for dodging quickly just now, his Susanoo might have been triggered.

"Heh heh, not bad."

"Let's stop here for today. I've got a rough understanding of your strength; spend the remaining time showing off all those wild, imaginative ninjutsu of yours."

"Alright!"

Seeing that the two had stopped fighting, Izuna immediately ran over.

"Big Bro, Third Brother! Which of you won?"

"It's just sparring, no need to be so petty," Madara reprimanded out of habit. "Our younger brother might truly be a once-in-a-century genius when it comes to ninjutsu. Today, the two of us will study hard."

Uchiha Yuan nodded at Izuna, briefly tidying his messy hair, and found a patch of ground that was still relatively intact.

"The Three-Body Technique—I've explained it to both of you brothers before, but there are still some minor tricks I haven't mentioned."

"The Clone Technique's principle is an auxiliary ninjutsu for luring and deceiving. However, when I add excessive chakra and a small portion of Yin-style chakra into it, my consciousness can clearly feel the difference in this clone. Unfortunately, I don't have all that much Yin-style chakra, so this ninjutsu is still in development."

What Uchiha Yuan was actually describing was the Shadow Clone Technique, but the real reason wasn't a lack of Yin-style chakra as he claimed—it was mental focus.

To a certain extent, the Shadow Clone Technique split away a portion of the caster's true consciousness, which was why memories and sensations were brought back upon dispelling, thereby achieving the effect of proxy cultivation.