But he was an elite Jonin of Root.
The man backing him was Shimura Danzō.
"Uchiha Xin!"
The masked man roared through gritted teeth, trying to conceal his inner panic with his voice.
"Don't get too arrogant! Lord Danzo is one of Konoha's higher-ups!"
"If you dare touch me, you'll be making an enemy of all of Root and Konoha!"
Xin stood on a tree trunk, looking down at the clown.
He couldn't help laughing aloud.
"Trying to use Danzo to intimidate me?"
Xin shook his head, his tone full of mockery.
"Do you think I'd care about that old dog?"
Seeing that invoking Danzo had no effect, the masked man grew utterly frantic.
His hands frantically formed hand seals as he mobilized all the chakra remaining in his body.
"Earth Release: Falling Clay!"
An enormous rift instantly opened in midair.
A vast amount of sticky mud poured down, attempting to bury Xin completely.
At the same time, the masked man changed formations again.
"Earth Release: Different Space Barrier!"
The surrounding ground shook violently, and four enormous stone walls rose from the earth.
They closed together in midair, forming a completely sealed, dark space.
He intended to trap Xin inside this barrier to buy himself time to escape.
Xin stood where he was without even making a move to dodge.
His Flying Thunder God Technique had already reached its maximum level of 5.
Now, he no longer needed any specially made kunai or tools to place technique formulas.
Anywhere within his sight or the range of his chakra perception, he could plant countless Flying Thunder God marks out of thin air.
There was no upper limit to the number of marks.
"Boring tricks."
Xin rapidly formed hand seals.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Technique!"
Xin took a deep breath and forcefully spat out four enormous fire dragons.
The raging flames carried heat capable of destroying everything as they slammed into the falling clay and surrounding stone walls.
Rumble!
Deafening explosions rang throughout the mountain forest.
The sturdy Earth Release barrier cracked apart inch by inch under the flames the instant it touched the fire dragons.
The clay filling the sky was vaporized directly into nothingness.
The sealed different space was shattered in an instant, and sunlight poured in once more.
The blast hurled the masked man away. He slammed heavily into the ground, vomiting blood.
He looked at the unscathed Xin in horror, sinking into utter despair.
"No... impossible..."
The masked man's voice trembled as he scrambled backward.
"I've had enough fun."
Xin looked coldly at the masked man.
The five-pointed star pattern in his right eye instantly began spinning faster.
"Amaterasu."
The instant his gaze focused, a mass of ink-black flames ignited on the masked man's body without warning.
"Aaaah!"
The masked man let out an agonized scream.
He rolled frantically on the ground, trying to put out the flames on his body.
But these black flames could not be extinguished at all.
Within just a few seconds, the masked man's voice abruptly stopped.
His body, along with his Root uniform, was completely burned into a pile of black ashes.
Xin looked at the ashes on the ground and stopped channeling his ocular power.
The black flames instantly went out.
With a thought, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, and his figure vanished on the spot.
A little over ten minutes later.
Three Anbu ninja wearing animal masks arrived in the severely devastated mountain forest.
The Anbu squad leader leading them drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the ravaged ground.
Deep craters scorched by intense heat were everywhere, along with remnants of the Earth Release barrier.
"Captain, there are traces of an extremely powerful Fire Style and Earth Release battle here."
An Anbu crouched down, carefully examining the chakra fluctuations left behind by the battle.
"Judging by the extent of the destruction, this was definitely an elite Jonin-level battle."
The squad leader knitted his brows tightly.
"Report the situation here to Lord Hokage immediately."
Inside the Hokage's office.
After hearing the Anbu's report, Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed away on his pipe.
He looked at the site investigation report on his desk and fell into thought.
"An elite Jonin-level battle, and no identifiable bodies were left behind."
The Third Hokage exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
"There have been many visiting ninja in the village lately. It was most likely ninja from some village settling a personal dispute."
He tapped the desk and gave orders to the Anbu before him.
"During the Chunin Ninja Exams, security in the village is our highest priority."
"Pass down the order. All Anbu are to remain vigilant and step up patrols."
"Yes!"
Meanwhile.
At the Root Base deep underground.
Crash!
An exquisite teacup was hurled viciously to the floor and shattered.
Leaning on his cane, Shimura Danzō fixed his single eye on the Root member kneeling before him.
"Kunihito is dead?"
Danzo's voice was icy cold.
"Yes, Lord Danzo. Lord Kunihito's life tablet has shattered."
The Root member delivered his report, trembling with fear.
Veins bulged on the hand Danzo clenched around his cane.
Kunihito was the most capable elite Jonin under his command.
He had gone to carry out the mission of bringing Uchiha Xin back, only to die under mysterious circumstances.
He barely had to think to know that Uchiha Xin was definitely involved.
"Just how much strength is that brat hiding?!"
Danzo gritted his teeth.
He wanted nothing more than to send a large force immediately to capture Uchiha Xin and torture him.
But he couldn't do that.
All the Anbu were now deployed, casting a vast net throughout the village.
If he mobilized Root on a large scale at this moment, Hiruzen would definitely notice.
"Have the watchers keep an eye on him. Don't act rashly."
Danzo forcibly suppressed his anger.
"Once the Chunin Ninja Exams are over, I'll personally deal with this Uchiha remnant."
Inside a single-occupancy apartment in Konoha.
Xin sat on the sofa and sneered.
Through Vision Resonance, he had heard Danzo's roars with perfect clarity.
That old bastard still hasn't given up.
Xin cursed inwardly.
He leaned against the back of the sofa, his mind racing as he began to consider how the situation would unfold.
The Chunin Ninja Exams had already reached the second stage.
The Konoha Crush Plan would soon erupt in full.
Orochimaru would seize the opportunity to attack the Third Hokage.
In the original story, the Third Hokage had died in this upheaval.
Xin tapped the sofa's armrest, weighing the pros and cons.
Although that old Third Hokage is a hypocrite, at least he openly acknowledges me and is willing to offer me protection.
If he dies, that woman Tsunade will succeed him.
Tsunade has no fondness for the Uchiha Clan, and then there are all those deeply entrenched interest groups in the village.
As a Uchiha survivor, I'll definitely be ostracized, or even used as a political bargaining chip.
Xin made up his mind.
I have to save the old Third Hokage during the Konoha Crush Plan.
Having decided, Xin stopped thinking about those complicated political struggles.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and concentrated on guiding the chakra within his body.
He would go all out to gain the last bit of proficiency for his Limit Sharingan.
The days passed one after another.
The Chunin Ninja Exams proceeded as scheduled.
The preliminary exam and the first written exam concluded one after the other, eliminating a large number of Genin whose strength fell short.
The brutal second exam was about to begin.