"This… is the eye technique contained within the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Uchiha Sen's face drained of color as he asked in despair.
Even a Kage-level ninja would never be able to simplify a jutsu that originally required hand seals to the point of no longer needing them.
Combined with that near-instantaneous movement like teleportation, the only explanation was that his opponent had activated the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan.
"That's right. This is the power held within the Mangekyō Sharingan,"
Uchiha Fugaku said coldly, staring at Sen.
"Kill me… please, just kill me!"
Despair filled Uchiha Sen's heart.
He had tried to defeat Fugaku, tried to escape—but all in vain.
He knew survival was impossible today. His heart was overwhelmed with hopelessness.
Now, all he wished for was a swift and merciful death.
"It's time,"
Seeing Sen's mental state crumbling, already broken and suffering the consequences, Fugaku decided to end the battle.
In the blink of an eye, Fugaku vanished from a distance and appeared right in front of Sen.
A sharp branch suddenly extended from Fugaku's right hand, piercing Sen's body.
Then it began to grow inside him—branches sprouting, piercing through his organs, emerging from all sides of his body.
"Wood Release, Kekkei Genkai?"
As an elite jonin, Sen's vitality was far greater than that of a typical ninja. Though blood trickled from his mouth, he was not dead yet.
He stared in shock at the branches piercing his body—Fugaku actually possessed the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai.
"That's correct. This is Wood Release, the Kekkei Genkai,"
Fugaku confirmed.
With the current concentration of his Wood Release bloodline, Fugaku couldn't normally use the ability.
However, within the realm of the Genjutsu's reality, the impossible becomes possible.
Inside the genjutsu, the concentration of his Wood Release bloodline increased, allowing him to use Wood Release despite normally being unable to.
"Please… spare my mother!"
At his final moment, Sen realized the depth of the clan leader's secrets—he even possessed the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai.
But that was no longer his concern. Now, he only hoped his mother wouldn't be implicated due to his role as a traitor.
"You need not worry about that. The Uchiha clan will not punish her because of you,"
Fugaku said coldly.
Sen is Sen, and his mother is his mother. He would not let his hatred for Sen's betrayal harm her.
Besides, harming Sen's mother could cause the Third Hokage to suspect foul play regarding Sen's death.
"Thank… thank you…"
Feeling some relief, Sen's body went limp.
He closed his Mangekyō Sharingan, ending the genjutsu's reality.
All traces of the battle disappeared—except the brutal wounds on Sen's body.
Multiple organs were pierced, his body riddled with holes. Death was absolute.
Fugaku approached, removing Sen's eyes, then destroyed his brain to prevent any memory-extracting ninja from accessing his memories.
With a swift motion, Fugaku vanished into the shadows.
Only Sen's eyeless corpse remained on the ground, beside a flickering campfire.
Sen's body could not be taken away—he wanted the Third Hokage to see that Sen had died under the "Wood Release: Piercing Technique," so the Uchiha clan would be cleared of suspicion.
They would never suspect the clan had discovered Sen's identity as a traitor and had assassinated him.
…
The next day at noon, Fugaku quietly returned to Konoha, swapping places with his shadow clone, concluding his mission to eliminate the traitor.
The mission took three full days—a duration most shadow clones could not maintain.
Fortunately, after reaching Kage level, his chakra reserves were massive, allowing his clone to persist without dissipating.
With Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Kusuri aiding in concealment, no one noticed his absence, and the Third Hokage remained unaware he had left the village.
"Father, you promised to train ninja techniques with me today!"
Footsteps sounded as young Uchiha Sasuke ran over.
"Don't worry, since I promised, I won't go back on my word,"
Fugaku smiled warmly.
The young Sasuke still had his black hair and eyes, his skin pale and smooth like a girl's.
If he grew his hair long and wore a skirt, he might even be mistaken for a girl.
Sasuke had asked to train yesterday, but to conserve chakra, Fugaku delayed the session to today.
After the shadow clone dissolved, Fugaku regained the memories of this time.
They headed to the backyard, where a special training ground had been set up for practicing ninja skills.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Standing about ten meters from a target, Sasuke formed hand seals, puffed his cheeks, and blew out a fireball.
The fireball hit the target.
Flames engulfed it, turning the target into a blazing torch, crackling loudly.
'Compared to Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's talent in ninjutsu is admittedly somewhat lacking,'
Fugaku thought to himself.
For low-level techniques, Itachi could master them flawlessly on his first attempt.
Sasuke, however, needed practice before achieving the same level of proficiency.
This clearly showed Itachi's superior talent in ninjutsu.
That was why his predecessor valued Itachi more.
However, it would be a mistake to dismiss Sasuke, assuming his talent was absolutely inferior to Itachi's.
In Fugaku's view, a ninja's strength depended not only on ninjutsu talent but also on taijutsu, genjutsu, and bloodline concentration.
While Sasuke's ninjutsu talent wasn't as strong as Itachi's, in other areas he was not inferior.
Especially in bloodline concentration, Sasuke far surpassed Itachi—after all, Sasuke was the reincarnation of Indra Chakra.
"Father, how was my Great Fireball Technique?"
Sasuke's eyes sparkled as he eagerly looked at Fugaku.
"Very well done, excellent execution. Today I will teach you a new technique as a reward!"
Fugaku smiled.
"Watch carefully and pay attention to my hand seals. The new jutsu is called Phoenix Fire Technique. It creates multiple fireballs to attack multiple targets."
As Fugaku formed the seals, one fireball after another flew out, striking target after target, burning them to ashes.
The rest of the day passed with Fugaku teaching and Sasuke practicing.
"Fugaku, Sasuke, dinner's ready!"
In the evening, Uchiha Mikoto came into the backyard, gently calling them.
Seeing her husband teaching Sasuke, she immediately understood that Fugaku had returned safely.
She sighed with relief, thankful that his absence had gone unnoticed and that he was back unharmed.
"Let's go, dinner's ready!"
Fugaku and Mikoto exchanged glances and nodded slightly, silently conveying, "I'm back."