In Konoha: Three Choices at the Start

"C-Clan leader! Uchiha Liuyun is here!"

Uchiha Jitu got to his feet and stared at the world of ice crystals beyond the door, swallowing nervously.

"Hmph! Useless!"

Uchiha Fuchu grew angrier at the sight of Jitu. He strode outside.

A knife-sharp wind cut into the three of them.

Fuchu shivered despite himself.

"It's colder than the Land of Snow!" Uchiha Shentong frowned.

As they spoke, the three passed through the corridor and entered the courtyard.

A young man dressed in black stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the full moon. The bitter wind around him seemed to have no effect on him at all.

All around him stood lifelike ice sculptures, their faces frozen in bewilderment.

The ground and rockery alike were blanketed in white, as though the courtyard had become a world of ice.

At the sound of footsteps, Uchiha Liuyun turned.

A faint smile touched his lips. "It's been a while, Clan Leader Fuchu."

Fuchu glanced at the scene around him. Wariness flashed through his eyes, and he roared darkly,

"Uchiha Liuyun, do you know what you're doing? Are you rebelling?"

"Rebelling?" Liuyun shook his head. "In this world, strength has always ruled."

"I live by one rule: leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone. Come after me, and I'll wipe out your whole family!"

"I'm simply trying to snuff out a threat before it grows."

"What? Do you intend to kill me, your clan leader? Wipe out the entire Uchiha Clan?"

Fuchu held back his fury, his expression dark as water.

"No, no, no." Liuyun shook his head again, looking entirely serious.

"I came to repay you for recognizing my potential. After tonight, we'll be even."

A mocking smile curled Liuyun's lips. "Otherwise, after he went after my woman, do you think Uchiha Fugaku would have made it home alive?"

"Uchiha Liuyun! How dare you!"

Shentong roared and flashed to Liuyun's side.

A sharp kunai appeared in his hand, and he slashed it across Liuyun's throat!

Slash!

Blood sprayed, and Liuyun toppled backward.

"Hmph! That's it? What a waste!"

Shentong sneered, but every muscle in his body remained tense.

He knew someone who had wiped out the Uchiha Bodyguards could not be killed so easily.

"As a fellow member of the Uchiha Bodyguards, you're a little stronger than Uchiha Zhongtong. Still, it's a pity."

A detached voice sounded behind Shentong.

His expression did not change as he raised a hand to attack Liuyun.

Then his face shifted. Vines as thick as his waist had wrapped tightly around his limbs.

They coiled around him like striking serpents, enveloping him completely in an instant.

His limbs suddenly went rigid, as useless as if they had been crippled.

He could only watch as the vines swallowed him whole.

Liuyun looked at the lifelike ice sculpture before him and shook his head slightly.

Then he turned to Fuchu with a smile.

"Clan leader, show me every last trump card you have. If this is all you've got, don't blame me for what happens tonight."

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. But I will have to give you a beating."

"Bastard!" Fuchu could no longer contain his blazing fury.

His hands blurred through hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Mist billowed as an enormous fire dragon soared into the air and lunged at Liuyun.

The fire dragon radiated intense heat, warming the freezing air around it.

"Clan Leader Fuchu, do you think I would have come here without an overwhelming advantage?"

As Liuyun's calm words faded, he gave a slight flick of his index finger.

The howling wind swept up a storm of ice shards and engulfed the oncoming fire dragon!

Crack! Crack!

Ice formed and steam rose. The fire dragon vanished into the icy surge.

"How can that brat's Ice Release be so terrifying?"

Seeing his Fire Release extinguished at once, Fuchu's anger disappeared. His face turned grave.

"Clan leader! I'll use Wind Release, and you use Fire Release!" Jitu suggested.

"Good!" Fuchu nodded.

The two of them raced through hand seals!

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Scorching flames heated the air once more, and a massive fire dragon appeared amid the spreading smoke.

Fueled by the Wind Release around it, the flames surged. The dragon swelled with the wind and shot toward the sky.

Its immense body, blistering heat, and lifelike form inspired dread.

Roar!

The dragon spewed flames and soared upward, then plunged toward Liuyun like a meteor with overwhelming force!

"Uchiha Liuyun! Let's see you stop this one!"

As Fuchu watched, he activated his Sharingan. A smile appeared on his grim face.

"We did it!" Jitu exclaimed.

Just as they smiled, Liuyun slowly raised his left arm and extended one finger!

As the fire dragon fell like a flaming meteor, Liuyun pointed at it.

Fine cracks appeared across its body, like fractures in glass!

Liuyun pointed again!

Boom!

Like a dazzling firework, the fearsome dragon exploded.

Liuyun's expression did not change. A mocking smile lingered on his lips.

"Wait." Fuchu frowned, then his face changed. "No! We're caught in Genjutsu!"

His hands flew through hand seals, and Chakra erupted from him like a volcano!

The dense Chakra seemed almost solid, forming a blue barrier around him.

He shouted,

"Genjutsu: Release!"

Fuchu looked up. The scenery around him had not changed, and his face grew darker.

He formed seals even faster, and his Chakra surged again.

"Genjutsu: Release!"

"Genjutsu: Release!"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

"As expected of the Uchiha Clan's leader. You caught on quickly!"

Liuyun applauded and gave him a thumbs-up. Then his expression sharpened.

"But before these eyes, everything you do is futile!"

"Those... those are!" For the first time, shock showed on Fuchu's face.

Three Tomoe turned beside Liuyun's scarlet pupils.

Then they spun rapidly like a pinwheel, forming the shape of a sickle.

"Those are the same eyes as our ancestor Madara's! Impossible! How could someone so young have those eyes?"

Fuchu roared in disbelief.

"Just because you can't do it doesn't mean no one else can. Don't judge others by your own ignorance!"

Liuyun's eyes widened, and the scene before Fuchu changed.

A scarlet full moon hung above rows of Cross Tombstones scattered haphazardly across the ground.

Overhead, crows circled and wheeled, singing what they believed to be their sweetest song.

Before a huge Cross Tombstone, Fuchu was bound spread-eagled like Jesus, held fast by black ropes.

"Where am I?"

Fuchu's face darkened. His Sharingan spun wildly as he tried to break free of the Genjutsu.

"It's no use." Liuyun appeared before him, holding a long blade.

"This world is formed by my Genjutsu. I control its time, its space, and everything in it!"

"It can last up to seventy-two hours. Three days can pass here while only an instant passes outside!"

"To make sure you remember this, I'm going to put you through a full day of endurance training!"

As Liuyun spoke, he drove the blade straight into Fuchu's kidney!

Fuchu gritted his teeth. Cold sweat covered his forehead, but he did not scream. He was worthy of being the Uchiha Clan's leader.

"No rush. Consider what comes next your punishment for ignoring my warning!"

Liuyun pulled the blade free. Fuchu had barely breathed a sigh of relief before Liuyun plunged it in again!

"Fuck!" Even Fuchu, a clan leader, could not help cursing.

Stab a kidney! Stab a kidney! Let's stab kidneys together!

The full moon hung high, blazing with dazzling, icy light like a second sun.

On Konoha's streets, people in short sleeves laughed and played through the bustling night market.

It was the complete opposite of the Uchiha Clan Compound.

There, ice covered the ground, everything lay blanketed in white, and winter seemed to reign.

Among the lifelike ice sculptures, two figures stood facing each other.

Suddenly, one of them clutched his kidney. Bloody tears streamed from his eyes as he gasped for air.

Fuchu looked at the smiling young man before him, fear flickering in his eyes.

After a day inside the Genjutsu, only heaven knew how many times his kidney had been stabbed.

It might become a harrowing memory he would never forget.