Inabi Uchiha Appears

Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Training Ground.

Whoosh, whoosh—!

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson."

Countless Shuriken shot through the air. Goenji formed hand seals with both hands, chakra clinging to the Shuriken and giving them scorching heat and explosive force.

The enhanced attacks struck the wooden targets with a series of bangs, instantly piercing and blasting them apart.

Whoosh—!

Goenji looked at the scene, his brow furrowing.

"The power is decent, and the speed is decent too, but in actual combat, it's less cost-effective than the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson condensed the power of the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique onto Shuriken, increasing their offensive strength and imbuing them with fire-nature chakra.

But its practical use in battle was still inferior to Phoenix Sage Fire.

The hand seal speed was the same, but Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson added the extra action of throwing Shuriken, slowing down the attack rhythm.

And the little extra attack power it provided was actually unnecessary in most battles. After all, even ordinary Shuriken could pierce a ninja's body.

It was only useful against ninjas who used defensive ninjutsu.

That was why it was less cost-effective than Phoenix Sage Fire.

"So, judging from the original story, Itachi Uchiha had gone easy on Naruto and the others when he used this."

After all, Naruto, Kakashi, and the others had no special defensive ninjutsu. There was no need to deliberately increase his attack power. Goenji believed that if Itachi Uchiha had used Phoenix Sage Fire, he could have dealt with Kakashi and the others more effectively.

Whether for feints or direct attacks, Phoenix Sage Fire was more useful.

The war was growing increasingly intense, so Goenji did not waste a moment and worked hard to improve his strength.

These were the only Fire Release techniques he knew at the moment, so he needed to develop better combat tactics within his own system.

He needed to continue integrating every ninja method he knew.

Although he had thought things through and put them into practice during battle on the battlefield before, it still could not compare to these quiet moments, when he could focus on how to improve himself more quickly.

There had been no time for that.

And it had been extremely dangerous.

Tap, tap—!

"I'd heard that you'd awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and grown much stronger. I didn't believe it at first, but now it seems the rumors were true."

A man dressed in Uchiha clan attire approached, about the same age as Goenji.

Goenji turned to look at him. "Inabi, you actually came back? Didn't they say the battlefield against Iwagakure was intense too?"

Inabi Uchiha was the same age as him and Tekka, and he was also one of the Uchiha's geniuses—a future Jonin.

Goenji knew him. In the original story, after Shisui died, Inabi had been one of those who questioned Itachi Uchiha.

But Inabi's previous mission had been on the battlefield against Iwagakure. Given the current situation, the war there was no less intense than the conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure.

"Hmph, I nearly got tricked by Iwagakure. Good thing I noticed in time, or I would've died there," Inabi Uchiha snorted.

Clearly, he had also encountered a battle on the battlefield where he had nearly lost his life.

Goenji said, "Forget it. It's good enough that you made it back alive. What did you want with me?"

He was practically a nobody within the Uchiha. Though he had some talent, he had never received much attention—at least not until he awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

It was probably related to his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Sure enough.

"I want to know how you awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan," Inabi asked directly.

That was a Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Even he had not awakened one, yet Goenji had.

Goenji said, "I'd rather not have awakened it. It took an enormous crisis—and the deaths of all my companions—to earn these eyes!"

That was obviously a lie. Better them than me.

He had no connection to those people anyway, and they were already dead. He was not about to dwell on them.

If he empathized with every single person, he would only exhaust himself to death.

Right now, all he needed was to become stronger and survive.

And along the way, he could do a few things he liked.

Such as brainwashing Itachi Uchiha so he would not do what he had done in the original story.

And preventing the Uchiha clan's annihilation. After all, if the Uchiha survived, his own life would be easier.

He also wanted to show Madara Uchiha what true Fire Release looked like.

Goenji had many goals.

"Ah! So even you don't know how you awakened it? Could it be that your talent really is better than mine?"

Inabi sighed somewhat dejectedly.

Goenji said, "What are you sighing for? That may not necessarily be a good thing."

"Showing off. This is blatant showing off," Inabi said, rolling his eyes.

"What, did you come all this way just to ask me that? I doubt it."

"Of course not. Actually, I was already prepared for that answer. I just wanted to see how strong you've become after awakening the Sharingan."

"Fine. I'll let you see my new ninjutsu."

After chatting for a while, the two stood facing each other.

They formed the Seal of Confrontation together.

Whoosh—!

The corner of Goenji's mouth lifted. His hand seals were incredibly fast—eight seals in a second, leaving afterimages behind.

Then he opened his mouth and spat out a Great Fireball three meters tall and five meters wide.

Boom!

"What?" Inabi saw his hand seals, but before he could react, a fireball had already shot toward him.

He had been about to rush forward and attack, but his Sharingan activated instantly, and he immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to evade.

"What incredible speed!"

That referred to his hand seal speed, attack speed, and Goenji's decisiveness.

Normally, ninjas used concealed weapons such as shuriken for feints before deciding whether to use ninjutsu afterward.

Chakra was limited.

Fortunately, Inabi was also an experienced battlefield veteran with solid combat experience, so the sudden attack did not throw him into disarray.

But...

The moment he dodged, a large spread of Shuriken shot out from behind the Great Fireball, sealing off every route he could take.

"Damn!"

Inabi formed hand seals with both hands as well and spat out a Great Fireball, blasting all the Shuriken apart.

He was an Uchiha too, so he naturally knew how formidable his clan's Shuriken techniques were. Thus, he chose to flip the table entirely and deny Goenji any room to show off.

"Watch out. Fire Release: Flame Tornado."

Just as he shattered the Shuriken attack, a voice sounded. Inabi looked up at Goenji, and the One-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes widened. How was he so fast?

And...

He watched as Goenji's right foot ignited with violent explosive flames, chakra gathering around it. Goenji's chakra pathway system also came into Inabi's sight.

"Is this a new Fire Release Goenji developed?"

Inabi's scalp tingled. He had never seen such a Fire Release before, and it looked incredibly powerful.

Whoosh—!

Having received Goenji's warning, Inabi naturally used the Body Flicker Technique at once to evade.

Rumble—!

When he turned to look back, he saw flames erupting skyward from where he had just stood, smashing into the ground like a meteor strike. The rock slabs in that area had been torn up and charred black by the explosive flames.

"Inabi, you lost."