Uchiha Lieyang's Frustration

"Quit talking big, brat!" As his words fell, Uchiha Retsuyō became an afterimage and rushed at Hane with rapid slashes.

Hane snorted coldly and met him head-on without dodging.

In an instant, blades collided, sending sparks flying.

Uchiha Retsuyō used the most straightforward fighting style. Relying on his speed, he swiftly circled around Hane, his blade sweeping out in an endless storm of slashes.

Hane, meanwhile, was like a small boat drifting through a tempest. His movements were elusive as he sensed the flow of wind around him, blocking Uchiha Retsuyō's attacks without leaving the slightest opening.

The longer Uchiha Retsuyō fought, the more alarmed he became. He felt as though every attack he made had been completely seen through by the little brat before him. Hane could even use the force of his attacks against him, and every counterattack was incomparably tricky in both technique and angle.

The slightest lapse in attention would leave a deep gash on his body.

"Brother Retsuyō, is that all your glory amounts to?! Since we are opponents, then show your full strength in the name of the Uchiha Clan!" Hane blocked Uchiha Retsuyō's slash with his sword, then left a shallow wound across Uchiha Retsuyō's abdomen as he withdrew his blade.

Pain made Uchiha Retsuyō's face twitch slightly as he stared at Hane's earnest expression.

Uchiha Retsuyō looked as sick as if he had swallowed a fly. With his mind highly focused, he watched Hane charge in again. "What the hell made you think I haven't used my full strength?"

The instant Uchiha Retsuyō's concentration was disturbed, Hane bent backward to evade his attack, then spun with the motion. Before Uchiha Retsuyō's Three-Tomoe Sharingan could react in shock, a wound was cut into his thigh. Blood spurted out.

Enduring the pain, Uchiha Retsuyō immediately pulled away from Hane.

But how could Hane possibly let him leave so easily? His body was weightless as a phantom as he closely pursued him.

With his sword hanging low, Hane swiftly flicked it toward Uchiha Retsuyō's abdomen.

A sense of deadly danger surged through Uchiha Retsuyō's heart. His sixth sense, sharpened through years on the battlefield, frantically screamed at him. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes abruptly appeared and spun wildly as he desperately tried to evade the fatal strike.

"Slash!"

The sound of fabric tearing rang out. Uchiha Retsuyō narrowly avoided the fatal attack, though a bloody gash nearly half a finger deep was left on his abdomen. He stopped some distance away and watched Hane, whose expression had not changed at all, with wary eyes.

Uchiha Retsuyō glanced at the wound that was steadily seeping blood, and a bloodthirsty gleam flashed through his eyes.

"Brat, you have completely enraged me..." Uchiha Retsuyō tore off his clothes and swiftly wrapped them around the wound on his abdomen.

"I admit that this sparring match is unfair, that I am bullying someone younger than me. But for the future of the Uchiha Clan, this battle is not one fought for personal honor! It is a battle with the clan's future at stake."

"After I win this battle, I will sincerely apologize to you. But for now, let me show you my true strength!"

Uchiha Retsuyō fiercely spun his Sharingan. Empowered by it, his dynamic vision was drastically enhanced, and a dense killing intent locked tightly onto Hane.

Yet Hane felt nothing at all. Killing intent and murderous aura were forms of mental pressure, but Hane's spiritual strength had reached the point where, without exaggeration, no one in the Uchiha Clan could match him.

"Heh, seeing how serious you are, Brother Retsuyō, I thought you wanted to settle both victory and life or death with me! But fighting our own clansmen to the death is rather inappropriate. In that case, I suppose I should get a little serious!"

After saying that, in Uchiha Retsuyō's horrified gaze, Hane gently stroked the fire in his hand. At the spot he touched, blazing crimson flames instantly burst forth.

"Come, Brother Retsuyō!" Hane held the blazing sword diagonally in one hand and lightly beckoned Uchiha Retsuyō forward.

"Hmph, don't get cocky. I admit that you are a genius, but without awakening those eyes, everything about you will be exposed before mine."

Uchiha Retsuyō appeared incomparably confident. Although Hane's Fire Sword was intimidating, still...

"Hane, experience the pride of a true Uchiha! In the face of an awakened Sharingan, even the proudest genius will bitterly regret not possessing these eyes."

The corners of Hane's lips curved slightly. "Are you done? If you are, then I'm really going to begin!"

Under Uchiha Retsuyō's disbelieving gaze, Hane tossed the sword in his hand high into the air, then raised two fingers.

"Myriad Sword Technique!" The Fire Sword in the sky instantly seemed to split apart, and over a hundred densely packed Fire Swords stood suspended in the air.

This scene, which completely overturned their understanding, nearly left everyone present dumbfounded.

Hane spoke softly to the stunned Uchiha Retsuyō, "I wonder whether your eyes can observe the trajectories of all my Fire Swords!"

With that, Hane lightly moved his fingers. More than a hundred swords instantly sprang into motion, shooting toward Uchiha Retsuyō from all directions like missiles fitted with guidance systems.

Uchiha Retsuyō continuously dodged and weaved through the rain of swords, looking utterly miserable. Whenever he tried to charge at Hane, Fire Swords would form fierce attacks that forced him back.

As Hane's five fingers danced, Uchiha Retsuyō within the sword rain was like a clown being toyed with. If Hane made him jump left, he absolutely did not dare jump right. One wrong move, and he would face a mountain of blades and a sea of flames.

Itachi, sitting with his mother, watched Uchiha Retsuyō leap from side to side, and a trace of sympathy could not help flashing through his eyes.

Brother is truly terrifying. Even without those eyes, he is still terrifyingly strong! Can I really find a way to surpass a brother like this?

"Brother Retsuyō, please focus your attention and show your true strength. This time, my sword will cut through your right shoulder! Please do not lose focus. I do not want to take the life of a clansman."

"Damn it! Brat, don't think you have won just because of this!" Uchiha Retsuyō endured the pain from his wounds and roared furiously at Hane with a twisted expression.

He then endured the intense pain and swiftly dodged Hane's fierce attacks, searching for an opening. As a Three-Tomoe Sharingan genius, he had not encountered such a humiliating situation in a very long time.

Hane's attacks were simply too strange. The densely packed hundred-plus Fire Swords seemed to possess intelligence of their own. No matter what he wanted to do next, those swords could predict it in advance. They were even more Uchiha than a Uchiha with an activated Sharingan.

For a moment, he even doubted whether his own eyes were fake, while Hane's cold eyes, deep as the sea, were the true Sharingan.

No, I cannot let Hane completely control the battle. Calm down, observe carefully, observe carefully!

"Damn it! What exactly are these swords? Why can they even evade attacks on their own?" The more Uchiha Retsuyō observed, the more he wanted to curse out loud!