"Show me your true strength. Show me your Mangekyō Sharingan."
Ren's words rang through the Great Arena, sending a shock through the crowd.
On the training ground, more than a hundred Uchiha Clan members stood frozen. Every eye widened, every mouth fell open.
"The... the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
On the raised platform, the grand elder's hand trembled around his cane.
With a clatter, his rosewood cane fell to the ground. His aged eyes fixed on Fugaku Uchiha at the center of the arena.
In the crowd, Itachi Uchiha reacted sharply.
He raised his head, lips parting.
Father... awakened those legendary eyes of a god? How is that possible?
Itachi roared inwardly.
He had always thought he understood his father. He thought Fugaku was a clan leader who held the family together, whose strength had stopped at the Three Tomoe.
But he had never imagined that the father who so often backed down was hiding a trump card capable of overturning the Shinobi World!
Uchiha Inabi, Uchiha Yashiro, and the other senior members of the Military Police Force stood dumbstruck.
"Lord Clan Leader... has the Mangekyō?"
Yashiro swallowed, his voice shaking.
Under the eyes of the entire arena, Fugaku stiffened slightly.
He stared at Ren across from him, brows drawn tight.
I've hidden this for years. I never breathed a word to my wife or sons. Where did Ren hear about it?!
There was no point hiding it now.
"Whew—"
Fugaku breathed out and closed his eyes.
When he opened them, the Great Arena fell silent.
The three black Tomoe in Fugaku's eyes began to spin rapidly, weaving together.
As Chakra surged skyward, the three Tomoe joined at last, forming a windmill pattern.
The Mangekyō Sharingan—awakened!
The moment that pattern appeared before everyone, the Great Arena erupted!
"It really is the Mangekyō! My god, it's the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"Lord Clan Leader hid it this well? That's the godlike power only Madara Uchiha possessed!"
"This is incredible! Besides Lord Shisui, we have a second pair of Mangekyō!"
"With power this invincible, why should we fear the Konoha Leadership?"
The crowd went wild!
The clan members who had swung to Ren's side after his show of strength wavered at the sight of those eyes—the very symbol of Uchiha faith.
To the Uchiha Clan, the Mangekyō Sharingan meant invincibility!
"Lord Ren is in danger..."
A Genin who had been shouting his support for Ren turned pale, his legs trembling.
"The Mangekyō's power isn't something a Ninja can stand against. Lord Ren hasn't even activated his Sharingan. He's bound to lose now!"
"Exactly! No matter how strong Lord Ren's Taijutsu is or how refined his genjutsu, it's all useless against the Mangekyō's overwhelming ocular power!"
Listening to his clansmen, Fugaku felt the power within him and gave a cold laugh.
"Ren, I never wanted to reveal these eyes. You forced me to." Fugaku stared at him. "Now that you've seen this power, you should understand. Before the Mangekyō, your tricks are nothing but a sideshow!"
Despite the crowd's doubts and Fugaku's pressure, Ren's expression did not change.
"Godlike power?"
Ren scoffed and drew the short blade from his back, pointing it straight at Fugaku. "Don't flatter yourself, Fugaku. They're just a pair of eyes. You really think they'll keep you in the clan leader's seat? Today, I'm putting you under my boot!"
Before his words had faded, Ren moved.
The bluestone beneath his feet shattered to dust, leaving a deep crater. Ren charged, launching a fierce assault!
"So fast!"
Uchiha Shisui rose from his seat on the platform.
Ren's burst of speed with the Body Flicker Technique rivaled his own!
"You overestimate yourself!"
Fugaku snorted and pushed the perceptive power of his Mangekyō Sharingan to its limit.
In his eyes, Ren's movements slowed. He predicted the path of the attack and raised his Kunai to catch the descending short blade.
CLANG!
The blade struck the Kunai with a deafening crash!
A ring of force spread outward from the two of them.
Several Genin nearby were thrown off their feet and rolled across the ground before coming to a stop.
"What?!"
Fugaku was driven half a step back on contact.
Immense strength surged through the Kunai and into his arms. His Chakra defenses crumbled before it.
The blow sent Fugaku sliding backward. He dug his feet into the ground, but could not stop. His legs plowed two trenches through the bluestone before he finally came to a halt!
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Y-you've got to be kidding!"
Uchiha Inabi cried out.
"Lord Clan Leader has activated the Mangekyō! How could he be knocked back in a clash of strength?!"
"No human could have that much strength!"
Yashiro sucked in a breath.
Before Fugaku could steady himself, Ren was on him again!
"Is that all you've got, Fugaku? Is your Mangekyō just for show?!"
Ren laughed as his short blade became a web of strikes. Every cut carried devastating force and targeted a vital point.
Steel rang against steel in a rapid volley, sparks flying across the Great Arena.
Fugaku gritted his teeth!
His Mangekyō Sharingan could predict Ren's attacks, and his mind could tell him how to respond, but his body could not keep up in close combat! Ren's blade was too fast!
Fugaku swung his Kunai and barely held on. He could not find even a moment to form Hand Seals and use ninjutsu. Each blow split the skin between his thumb and forefinger a little more, and blood ran down his wrist.
Crack!
Under Ren's next strike, a fracture appeared in Fugaku's Kunai!
"Damn it!"
Cold sweat broke over Fugaku as he looked at the weapon on the verge of breaking. Using the force of Ren's blow, he rolled backward several times and opened up some distance.
The clan members stared in disbelief.
Their clan leader, who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, had been suppressed and driven onto the back foot in a clash of Taijutsu and blade work!
I can't let him get close again!
Fugaku panted. His hands blurred through Hand Seals, his chest swelled, and he converted the Chakra within him into fire.
"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
BOOM!
Fugaku opened his mouth, and a torrent of flame poured out.
It became a sea of fire! Scorching flames swallowed the training ground where Ren stood!
The heat warped the air. Even dozens of meters away on the platform, the clan members felt the wave of heat.
"What terrifying Fire Release! Is this what the Mangekyō's Chakra can do?"
"Lord Ren's been swallowed! There's nowhere to hide from flames on that scale!"
Just as everyone thought Ren would be reduced to ash in the inferno—
Shing!
The ring of a blade sounded from the heart of the fire. It pierced the roar of the flames and reached every ear.
A flash of steel shot upward into the sky!
Slice!
Before everyone's eyes, that single slash split the sea of fire in two!
The flames rolled back to either side.
Through the passage cut between them, Ren walked slowly across the scorched earth, short blade in hand. Not even the hem of his clothes was singed. Every strand of hair was intact!
"He... he cut through the flames?!"
Fugaku stared at Ren as he emerged. He knew ordinary Taijutsu and ninjutsu would do nothing against the monster before him.
"It's over, Fugaku."
Ren gave Fugaku no chance to catch his breath. He drove off the ground and leaped into the air.
Chakra flooded into his short blade, and lightning flickered along its edge.
"Die!"
Ren gripped the blade with both hands and brought it down toward Fugaku's head!
The strike carried tremendous power!
At the brink of death, blood welled from the corners of Fugaku's eyes and ran down his cheeks. He threw back his head and roared.
"Susanoo!"
Chakra erupted from Fugaku's body!
As it gathered around him, an enormous skeletal arm took shape!
Ren's blade struck the arm.
Sparks scattered, and shockwaves rolled outward!
The skeletal arm stopped the slash without so much as a crack!
A shockwave swept out from the two fighters, grinding the weapon racks and wooden posts around the Great Arena to powder.
"It... it blocked it!"
"What is that monster?! His Chakra turned solid and became a skeleton!"
The clan members stared at the skeletal arm, whipped into a frenzy!
"This is the Mangekyō's ultimate power! This is the power of a god!"
"Lord Clan Leader is invincible!"
The clan members erupted. Their worship of the Mangekyō sent Fugaku's standing soaring back to its peak. As they gazed at the skeletal arm, the same thought filled every mind: against power like this, Ren was certain to lose!
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