Popping Champagne at Halftime

The Iwa-nin swarmed forward, surrounding the figure, their eyes filled with confusion and disbelief.

"At that height, is he a child?"

"Hey! Brat, hurry home and drink your milk. This isn't a place for little kids."

"Wait, that forehead protector... a Konoha Ninja? Is that brat a Konoha Ninja? Doesn't he see there are sixty ninja here?"

"Perfect, isn't this an intelligence source delivered right to our doorstep? Capture the brat. Don't let him escape. Break his arms and legs if necessary..."

The Iwa-nin eyed him like tigers watching prey. At the center of the crowd, Ōnoki's expression shifted slightly, seemingly carrying a hint of mockery.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen truly has grown old. I never thought he would send children who have not even come of age to die on the battlefield. Has Konoha's fighting force become this depleted..."

"You should surrender early. That way Konoha will not be left without successors, and a brat your age might survive."

Surrounded by enemies, everyone fixed their gaze on the youth wearing a Three-Eyed Demon Fox Mask, dressed in a Black Cloak and black robe, with the cape behind him snapping in the wind. They could rush him at any moment.

"That crest... Are you a brat from the Uchiha Clan? Didn't the adults in your family teach you that the Sharingan is not very useful when facing many opponents alone?"

Faced with Ōnoki's question, Uchiha Huayue chuckled and answered loudly.

"They had no time—or perhaps I should say, no lives left—to teach me how to use the Sharingan. My mission is merely to hold you here and, while I am at it, experience the legendary Dust Release."

"What? So you're an orphan brat. Then you will not have to suffer. Once we torture the intelligence out of you, we'll send you to reunite with your father and mother right away!"

In an instant, blades flashed. Huo Guang, an Iwa-nin with reaction speed far beyond that of ordinary Taijutsu ninja, lunged forward. The blades in both his hands gleamed coldly as they instantly reached for Huayue's limbs.

"It's over!"

The next second, when the sensation of passing through nothing traveled up his wrists, Huo Guang froze. Staggering, he passed straight through Huayue's body.

"Who said it was over? You?"

Slash!

A kunai swept past, and droplets of blood gathered on its sharp edge. The crimson blood and pain reminded Huo Guang that the presence behind him was not Genjutsu.

"Not bad Taijutsu. You would count as an expert even among jonin. Though I dislike Sarutobi Hiruzen, I dislike rude people even more."

"Since he sent me to restrain the Third Tsuchikage, I suppose I will play ninja games with the old man for a while. Could I ask you all to stay where you are and not move?"

The Iwa-nin looked at one another. Huo Guang's attack had clearly struck its target just now, yet his blades had bizarrely passed through the other boy's body.

"So you are not an ordinary brat? If you want this old man to obediently listen to you, show me what you can do. But..."

Ōnoki flashed before Huayue in an instant. Within the transparent cube between his hands, a pure white core shone with dazzling light.

"Even if you bear the Uchiha name, you are not the first person I fought who bore that name—the one hailed as the God of Shinobi. Die without pain, brat. Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique."

The transparent barrier abruptly expanded, completely enclosing the place where Huayue sat. A terrifying explosion and brilliant radiance flashed, driving away the sunlight for a moment before wisps of dust and smoke scattered in every direction.

"The Dust Release of the Second Tsuchikage and myself can break down any existence into atoms. It is an absolute forbidden technique that reduces all things to ash, impossible to resist."

"A Kekkei Tōta, a level above Kekkei Genkai. Judging from that Body Flicker Genjutsu earlier, you are also a genius brat of the Uchiha Clan."

"But talent that cannot bloom is ultimately nothing more than a flower in a mirror, a moon reflected in water. At the very least, I should let you leave your name behind. It has been a long time since I encountered a brat from the Uchiha Clan."

Ōnoki slowly shook his head, his voice brimming with pride, as though he had already decided that Huayue had vanished from this world completely.

"As expected of Lord Third Tsuchikage. Dealing with a brat like that was effortless. What a pity we did not get any intelligence out of him."

"Tch. If that arrogant brat had activated his Sharingan, perhaps we could have taken his Sharingan for ourselves..."

"Idiot. The Sharingan's power requires a physique compatible with the Sharingan. Even if it is transplanted into someone else, an incompatible body will be burdened by it."

The Iwa-nin talked noisily among themselves, seemingly utterly confident in the Third Tsuchikage's ninjutsu. Some had already begun popping champagne at halftime, imagining what they would gain after conquering Konoha.

"Uchiha Huayue. That is my name. The ninja of Kirigakure and Sunagakure like to call me Body Flicker Gengetsu. Do you want to know why?"

The faint whisper at his ear instantly made Ōnoki's pupils contract.

He turned his head with difficulty. Beneath that Three-Eyed Demon Fox Mask, those exquisite, intricate Mangekyō eyes awakened memories long buried in Ōnoki's mind.

"Those eyes... you..."

"Is it false, or is it real? Like flowers blooming in a mirror and a waning moon reflected in water, how could you know whether they are real or false without experiencing them yourself?"

A terrifying immobilizing Genjutsu instantly bound more than sixty Iwa-nin. A clear, youthful voice echoed across the empty plateau, its tone indifferent.

"Sharingan Genjutsu does not need to be cast only when gazes meet. It seems you once fought someone with similar eyes somewhere. Uchiha Madara?"

His hands and feet went cold, while sweat streamed down his forehead. That terror, sealed away for so long, was quietly replaying itself at this moment.

Only, the youth from his memories had now become the leader of a village, while that godlike being from his memories, so powerful he could not be looked upon directly, had become a young boy.

"I never expected that I would be careless for a moment and fall under your Genjutsu. Was the figure inside the Dust Release just now also Genjutsu?"

"No, that was not Genjutsu. As expected of a Kekkei Tōta technique. If not for these eyes, I might truly have died if I had taken that attack head-on."

A smile rested on Huayue's lips, while his exquisite Mangekyō and Sage markings were obscured by shadow.

He was fortunate. Among the randomly drawn ocular techniques of the Mangekyō Sharingan, he had drawn an ocular technique that could be considered SSR-tier.

At the same time, he was unfortunate. This ocular technique consumed far more than even Dual Kamui, not to mention Huayue had not yet transplanted Hashirama Cells.

Only after learning Sage Mode in Ryūchi Cave and obtaining the exclusive Sage (Snake) trait did he dare to use it slightly outside his Inner world.

"From the sound of it, this old man's Dust Release is not entirely worthless. Your eyes contain power similar to Uchiha Madara's. What exactly are they?"

"Want to know? Even if you knew, you would have no way to break it. I'm leaving. Target: Iwagakure."