Combat

It was certain that this strange world before him was an Illusion Space created by "Kurama Shion."

The fact that Susanoo could be seen here was thought-provoking.

Even stranger, as Uchiha Yuan's eyes met those empty sockets, the massive skeleton began to tremble faintly.

"Kurama Shion" quickly noticed the enormous skeleton that should not have been there.

"Impossible! This is a space entirely under my control. How could something like this suddenly appear?"

Uchiha Yuan had a vague guess in response to "Kurama Shion's" question.

Clearly, the Kurama Clan genjutsu he possessed, which shared the same origins as hers, had produced a subtle reaction with the Illusion Space.

Meanwhile, the core power of the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo, Susanoo, had been drawn forth.

In truth, the Kurama Clan was just as ancient as the Uchiha Clan. The origins of both clans could be traced back to after the Sage of the Six Paths founded Ninshu.

Presumably, the Kurama Clan's Kekkai Genkai Genjutsu and the Sharingan had already intersected at that time.

Uchiha Yuan held his breath and focused, not dwelling too much on that speculation.

The white-haired Kurama Shion flew into a rage, and the scene that had still barely resembled a laboratory slowly shattered like a mirror.

Susanoo's tremors intensified. Through the crystal wall, the faint sound of a heart pounding—thump, thump, thump—could be heard.

The two sides were locked in a contest of strength!

Uchiha Yuan watched as the surroundings turned into a desert. Behind "Kurama Shion," a tanuki with a single tail and earth-yellow fur threw back its head and roared.

Within the Illusion Space, the One-Tail Shukaku had actually been manifested!

"Kurama Shion" snarled, "Uchiha, no matter what you did to this place, as long as I kill you, she'll be mine! Everything will disappear!"

"Face the fear buried deep in your soul!"

With a wave of "Kurama Shion's" hand, the massive One-Tail Shukaku fully awakened.

When the Kurama Clan's genjutsu bloodline was developed to its depths, it could even easily manifest the entire Hidden Leaf Village within an Illusion Space.

Perfectly recreating all of One-Tail Shukaku's abilities was no challenge at all.

Waves of sand, embodying death and desolation, formed a massive vortex around Shukaku. Uchiha Yuan was like a small boat tossed by the waves, constantly being drawn closer to Shukaku.

"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"

Enormous compressed air raged around him. Blazing sand grains scraped across his face, drawing streams of blood.

Uchiha Yuan sighed.

Once the Susanoo beyond the crystal wall had stood on equal footing with "Kurama Shion" and reshaped the rules of the Illusion Space,

Uchiha Yuan was no longer a lamb awaiting slaughter without any power to resist.

On the contrary, with the Demonic Statue Fragment, he could receive Chakra from it at any time and break the genjutsu.

As long as he returned to the real world and woke Kurama Shion, everything before him would cease to exist.

Nor would he be killed within the Illusion Space, causing his body in the real world to die.

But Uchiha Yuan hesitated.

Over the past month, he had mastered every ninjutsu and Forbidden Jutsu he had intercepted from Obito.

Combined with absorbing the Chakra of the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, as well as seemingly awakening the Ice Release and Boil Release Kekkei Genkai,

Uchiha Yuan did not want to leave just yet.

With the aid of the golden Susanoo, he too could now control part of the Illusion Space's rules.

Perfectly reproducing the effects of the ninjutsu and Forbidden Jutsu he had mastered was no problem at all.

So why not use this place to hone some real combat experience?

The wound on his cheek silently healed. Uchiha Yuan laughed wildly and charged at One-Tail Shukaku.

He pulled out a handful of kunai and casually scattered them around, then leaped toward Shukaku with all his strength.

This manifested Tailed Beast possessed intelligence as well. Its tiny eyes narrowed, and an Air Cannon came crashing down at him.

"How laughable! Is this what an Uchiha is? If you want to die, I'll be more than happy to watch."

"Kurama Shion" stood with her arms folded, disdain flashing through her eyes.

"Bang!"

Uchiha Yuan's battered body, sent flying backward, turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished. A Shadow Clone!

Meanwhile, atop a sand dune before Shukaku, Uchiha Yuan's real body silently completed his Hand Seals.

"Uchiha Flame Formation!"

This was a barrier technique passed down through generations of the Uchiha Clan. By releasing fire-nature Chakra from all five fingers, it summoned flames from deep within the earth veins.

It surrounded whatever one wished to protect or trap from all sides. Its power was great enough to withstand attacks from Tailed Beasts.

After Old Madara left, the Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf Village had lost the inheritance of this B-rank barrier technique.

Yet within the Illusion Space, Uchiha Yuan used it with ease.

The massive Shukaku tried to tear through the wall of flames with brute force, but the blazing hellfire charred its fingertips to ash.

Left with no choice, the roaring Shukaku even attempted to leap out from above.

But the space inside the Flame Formation was far too small. There was not even room to move about, much less perform a difficult maneuver like jumping.

Uchiha Yuan folded his arms and lifted his chin.

"Well? Do you have any other tricks?"

"You shouldn't be limited to just this much."

The Kurama Clan's genjutsu could even manifest galaxies and stars, let alone a mere Tailed Beast.

Kurama Shion's face grew increasingly pale. On the sweltering, dry desert ground, snowflake-like ice crystals whirled around her.

They made her look ever more like the Snow Woman of strange legends.

In the unchanged timeline, Kurama Shion's niece, Kurama Yakumo, would develop the clan's bloodline to its depths.

She would manifest a blue-faced, fanged "yaksha" named Ido into reality.

Ido could spew poisonous mist and flames. It was the culprit behind the deaths of Kurama Yakumo's parents—Shion's older brother and sister-in-law.

Uchiha Yuan was rather curious whether his substitute teacher could manifest the "Snow Woman" into the real world.

Setting aside how much it would save on air conditioning during summer, simply assisting in battle would take a great deal of pressure off Kurama Shion, who specialized in genjutsu.

"Damn Uchiha! Stop being so arrogant."

The white-haired "Kurama Shion's" eyes turned crimson as she swiftly entered a state of rage.

The sandy ground, which had formed a massive vortex, churned up waves of sand. Amid violent tremors, the Flame Formation was continuously lifted higher.

Shukaku curled into a ball and drilled out from underground, surfacing at the edge of the sand vortex.

"Eehahaha! You think you can trap me? That hurts! Take this Tailed Beast Bomb!"

A massive lead-black mass of condensed Chakra rapidly gathered before Shukaku's open mouth.

"Kurama Shion" formed Hand Seals. The ice crystals spinning around her rapidly expanded, actually creating a blizzard in the desert.

This time, Uchiha Yuan did not act rashly. Instead, he calmly considered the situation.

Because of his lack of combat experience, Shukaku's escape from the Uchiha Flame Formation had made the battle even worse.

In fact, battles between ninja required more than ninjutsu and intelligence. They also demanded tactical thinking.

One needed to consider the enemy's condition, abilities, mindset, and more in order to make the most comprehensive judgment.

Uchiha Yuan possessed a whole arsenal of ninjutsu and Forbidden Jutsu, along with the Demonic Statue Fragment as a Chakra battery.

In terms of raw strength, while he was not yet a match for the Sannin, elite jonin were no match for him.

But when it came to combat experience, Uchiha Yuan understood that he still could not compare to those jonin who had survived war.

That was why this opportunity to fight within the Illusion Space was particularly precious to him.

Even as the blizzard wrapped around him layer by layer, Uchiha Yuan continued analyzing Shukaku and "Kurama Shion's" weaknesses and possible actions.

"Uchiha? So you're all bark and no bite. Frozen stiff in my snowstorm, do you think you can still evade a Tailed Beast Bomb?"

"Kurama Shion" grinned viciously.

Shukaku strained to straighten its thick, stubby neck and thrust its head forward, then spat.

The Tailed Beast Bomb, powerful enough to level mountains and sever rivers, shot toward Uchiha Yuan, whose entire body was covered in ice crystals, in the blink of an eye.

But Uchiha Yuan, who should have been frozen within the ice, had vanished.

Flying Thunder God Technique!

The Second Hokage's original space-time ninjutsu was also among Old Madara's collection.

At the very beginning of the battle, Uchiha Yuan had already scattered kunai engraved with the formula.