Chapter 17

"I'm leaving, Clan Head! I hope you keep your son in line. Otherwise, next time... you'll never see him again!"

Liuyun turned and walked away, one step at a time.

Wherever he passed, the ice vanished, the ground returned to normal, and the ice sculptures became people again.

By the time Liuyun disappeared from Fugaku's sight, everything looked as it had before, as though nothing had happened.

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Basic Sage Body! (Part 1)

The Uchiha Bodyguards who had just awakened saw the look on Uchiha Fuchu's face and grew alarmed. "Clan Head, are you all right?"

Uchiha Fuchu clutched his side and shook his head, a note of dejection in his voice.

"I'm fine. Continue your patrol."

"Yes, Clan Head!"

The Uchiha Bodyguards murmured their assent. At a wave of a hand, they vanished from Uchiha Fuchu's sight.

They don't seem to have noticed anything wrong. Uchiha Liuyun is terrifying!

"Clan Head! What happened to me?" Uchiha Shentong asked, bewildered after waking.

"We fell under Liuyun's genjutsu as soon as we arrived. Everything you saw was fake."

"What?" Uchiha Shentong stared in shock.

"Are you two fully awake?" Uchiha Fuchu asked, looking at Shentong and Jitu.

"We are, Clan Head!"

"Don't tell anyone what happened just now. Understood?" Uchiha Fuchu instructed them.

"Understood!" Both men nodded.

"Go home and rest tonight. You've both had quite a fright." Uchiha Fuchu waved them off.

"As for Uchiha Zhongtong, we'll discuss him tomorrow."

"Yes, Clan Head!" they answered together.

Watching them leave, Uchiha Fuchu clutched his side and limped toward Uchiha Fugaku's room.

Having witnessed Uchiha Liuyun's strength, he had abandoned any thought of making an enemy of him.

Liuyun had grown this powerful in just one year. What would he be like in two years, three years, or even ten?

After all, Uchiha Liuyun was only ten years old.

He could live another thirty or forty years at least. If the Uchiha Clan had him...

For now, the priority was to comfort his son. They—no, we—were no longer on Liuyun's level.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing Option Three. You have obtained the Basic Sage Body. Use it now?"

The system's cold voice sounded in Liuyun's mind when he returned home.

"Use it!"

"Ding! Fusion in progress: 1%... 50%... 100%. Fusion complete!"

A gentle warmth flowed through him again. Liuyun could clearly feel his body brimming with life and his mind growing sharper!

He felt as though he had endless strength. A strange, cooling energy moved through his eyes, easing the aftereffects of using the Mangekyō Sharingan for the first time.

Chakra surged in his Dantian, swelling like a rolling snowball until it filled the entire space in the blink of an eye.

With a thought, Liuyun began rapidly compressing the enormous flood of Chakra.

Why could the same Ninjutsu produce wildly different results in different hands?

How could one of Madara's C-rank Fire Release techniques rival an A-rank technique?

A change in its nature was one reason. More important was the quality of his Chakra!

What expert didn't refine and purify their Chakra?

Talk-no-jutsu and Bragging Release were exceptions, of course! Those two were outright cheats. Ordinary people couldn't compare.

Back to the matter at hand.

At Liuyun's command, the surging Chakra proved unexpectedly obedient.

It began following his orders on its own, as though it were alive.

Liuyun had expected a grueling struggle. Instead, the process became almost effortless.

An hour later, he looked at the Chakra that now filled about half his Dantian.

Liuyun smiled in satisfaction. It occupied the same amount of space, but its quality was twice what it had been. And with today's surge in Chakra...

He glanced at the 30.4 Kakashi units of Chakra on his character panel and felt a rush of satisfaction.

He had gone from 6.5 Kakashi units to 30.4—an increase of more than fourfold!

His Chakra reserves had gone straight from poverty to riches!

Everyone knew that, powerful as the Uchiha Clan was, it had one fatal weakness: limited Chakra reserves!

Hadn't keeping just one Sharingan active drained Kakashi until he looked half-dead?

But now that Liuyun had the Basic Sage Body, a shortage of Chakra would no longer hold him back.

As he used his Mangekyō Sharingan, its two eye techniques gradually became clear in his mind.

One was Tsukuyomi, which let him use his eye technique and mental power together to construct a world that seemed real yet was an illusion!

He could draw multiple people into that illusory world and torment their souls.

Put simply, it was a multiplayer version of Tsukuyomi, though it could affect no more than five people at once!

His right eye's technique was a conditional enhancement to Ice Release!

Whenever he used Ice Release, its effects in every respect would double, with a maximum increase of tenfold!

For Liuyun, this technique was a perfect match!

It was far stronger than the Kamui or Amaterasu he had imagined getting!

With this eye technique and his continued development of the Ice-Ice Fruit's powers,

given enough time, he might even reproduce Mahapadma, the ultimate move of Esdeath, the sadistic Queen from Akame ga Kill!

That move could freeze even space-time. Among all the anime he had seen, it ranked near the very top.

The thought filled Liuyun with excitement.

He immediately created another fifty Shadow Clones and sent them to the usual place to develop the Ice-Ice Fruit's powers.

Liuyun stretched. Feeling a little sleepy, he vanished and reappeared in a familiar place.

Seeing Uchiha Mikoto's little brows drawn tight, his heart ached.

Without delay, he went to the Tatami and lay down, speaking softly.

"Mikoto, don't be afraid. I'm here."

Perhaps it was his voice that did it. Uchiha Mikoto's furrowed brow immediately relaxed.

Breathing in the sweet scent around him, Liuyun slowly closed his eyes.

In a little while longer, the little lamb would be ready for him to eat!

(Send flowers and Airi will take care of you tonight. Send rating votes and Tsunade will take care of you! Send both and they'll both take care of you!)

Uchiha Fuchu Came to Apologize! (Part 2)

Early the next morning, bright sunlight streamed through the window onto his face.

"Liuyun! Liuyun, wake up!"

Uchiha Mikoto wore an apron around her waist and held a small spatula. Her face was full of worry.

"What is it?" Liuyun opened his eyes and frowned.

"The Clan Head is here! He brought Young Clan Head Fugaku, too! They're in the living room. Come take a look!"

"Uchiha Fuchu and his son?" Liuyun frowned.

He still dares to come here? Wasn't last night's lesson enough?

He dressed in an instant and headed for the living room.

"Clan Head Fuchu, what brings you here?"

As soon as he entered, Liuyun dispensed with pleasantries and got straight to the point.

"Heh. I brought Fugaku here today to apologize to you both."

"His youthful ignorance has caused you a great deal of trouble."

As Uchiha Fuchu spoke, he unconsciously touched his side, then fixed Uchiha Fugaku with a stern glare.

Leaning on his crutch, Uchiha Fugaku hurried to his feet. He approached Liuyun and Mikoto with an earnest expression and bowed his head.

"I'm sorry. I deeply regret what happened last night."

"It's fine! Really, it's fine! I don't mind!"

Uchiha Mikoto quickly waved her hands, her milk-white face full of confusion.

"Our Mikoto isn't that petty. Just don't keep bothering her."

Liuyun looked at Uchiha Fuchu, who stood nearby, his expression cool.

"Don't worry. If Fugaku dares bother Mikoto again, I'll cripple him myself."

A smile appeared on Uchiha Fuchu's stern face.

He did not fear death, but he feared that Fugaku would be treated unfairly after he died.

After all, Fugaku had already lost the use of one leg.

As long as Fuchu was around, he could at least make sure his son was looked after.

There was another reason: Uchiha Liuyun's genjutsu was terrifyingly powerful.

Fuchu had not slept a wink last night. He had spent the night preparing Fugaku for what they had to do, then summoned the nearby Uchiha guards at dawn.

He had questioned them indirectly, asking whether anything unusual had happened the night before.

Every Uchiha on patrol gave the same answer with a shake of the head: everything had been normal.

Even the neighbors around their home said the same.

If his side were not still aching, Uchiha Fuchu would have believed them.

After dismissing everyone, he had hurried here with Fugaku to apologize to Liuyun.

He would have liked to mobilize the entire Uchiha Clan to kill Uchiha Liuyun!

Unfortunately, he did not rule the Uchiha Clan alone. There were three elders as well.

If they learned how strong Uchiha Liuyun was, they would certainly devote every resource to cultivating him.

Since he could not kill Liuyun, all he could do was reduce Liuyun's hostility toward them as much as possible.

He had to repair Liuyun's opinion of them and limit the damage.

That was why he had come.

"If there's nothing else, Clan Head, please leave. Our place is small, so we won't ask you to stay for breakfast."

"We'll be going. I just wanted to tell you that the two houses in the center of the compound will always be reserved for you both!"

Even as he left, Uchiha Fuchu did not forget to try to win Liuyun over.

"Liuyun, was that really our Clan Head?"

Uchiha Mikoto tilted her head, looking utterly puzzled.

"Who knows?"

Liuyun reached out and gently patted Uchiha Mikoto's head.