The Uchiha Clan’s largest training ground, the Great Arena.
This massive open-air field, paved with hard bluestone, was usually the perfect place for clan members to spar with Ninjutsu and hone their Taijutsu.
On the broad grounds, only a few Genin were carrying out their daily Shuriken practice.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Several Shuriken thudded into a distant wooden post.
A Genin wiped the sweat from his forehead and prepared to retrieve the ninja tools.
Bang!
The two large gates of the Great Arena were pushed open from the outside.
Lu Ming stepped over the threshold with his hands in his pockets, looking composed as he walked straight to the very center of the Great Arena.
Before those Genin could react, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the gates again.
Uchiha Fugaku strode into the arena, followed by a tide of Uchiha Clan members pouring in behind him.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the once-empty Great Arena was packed to the brim.
Uchiha Shisui, the seven Great Elders, and the higher-ups of the Police Force, as well as the forty-three Three-Tomoe Sharingan elites led by Tekka, had all arrived.
Hundreds of pairs of scarlet Sharingan flickered within the crowd.
The massive Chakra pressure gathered together made the very air above the Great Arena feel heavy.
“Wha… What’s going on?”
The Genin in the arena were completely bewildered, their hands trembling as they held their Shuriken.
The Great Elder walked to the edge of the field leaning on his cane, planting it heavily on the bluestone floor with a sharp “thud.”
“Clear the area!”
The Great Elder’s aged voice rang out across the arena.
“All non-essential personnel, retreat beyond the high platform!”
The Genin fled as if granted a divine reprieve, scrambling to the high platforms at the edge of the Great Arena.
Not knowing what was happening, they could only huddle near a familiar Jonin senior and ask in hushed tones.
“Father, why did the Great Elder personally order the area cleared? What are Clan Head Fugaku and Lord Lu Ming planning to do?”
The Jonin watched the two men in the center of the field, his voice trembling.
“Watch closely. This is no ordinary spar.”
“Lord Lu Ming just publicly impeached the Clan Head at the Naka Shrine. This duel will directly determine who becomes the new head of our Uchiha Clan!”
“What?!”
Hearing this, the surrounding Genin gasped, their scalps tingling with shock.
A duel to decide the new Uchiha Clan Head!
These words were like a bolt from the blue.
They never expected that by just coming for daily training, they would witness the most significant power struggle in the history of the Uchiha Clan.
In the center of the Great Arena, the atmosphere had dropped to freezing point.
Fugaku’s hands hung at his sides, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan already active and locked onto Lu Ming ten meters away, every muscle in his body tensed to the limit.
Lu Ming, by contrast, hadn’t even activated his Sharingan.
He stood where he was, looking up at the sky.
“Fugaku, stop dawdling and be quick about it. After this fight, I still have to pick up Runa from the Ninja Academy.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd erupted into an uproar.
Facing the current Clan Head in a life-or-death duel that would decide the family’s fate,
Lu Ming actually had the mind to worry about picking someone up from school?
What utter contempt!
“Arrogant brat!”
Fugaku was incensed, his sense of humiliation finally boiling over.
“How dare you be so insolent before the head of the clan! Today, I will make you pay for your arrogance!”
Before he even finished speaking, Fugaku raised his hands.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Four Shuriken accompanied by piercing whistles flew toward Lu Ming’s vital points from four different, tricky angles.
But he wasn’t done; Fugaku’s hands became a blur of afterimages as he threw four more Shuriken.
The second set of Shuriken struck the first set mid-air.
Clang!
Clang!
A series of crisp metallic clangs rang out.
The Shuriken, which had clear trajectories, changed direction upon impact, carving several eerie arcs through the air and completely sealing off all of Lu Ming’s escape routes!
“What exquisite shurikenjutsu!”
“As expected of the Clan Head, such redirection techniques are truly peak mastery!”
The clan members on the high platforms cried out in surprise.
However, facing this inescapable killing move, Lu Ming didn’t even move his feet an inch.
He simply tilted his head slightly as two Shuriken grazed his cheek, severing a few black hairs.
He raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers darting out like lightning.
Snap!
The final Shuriken, the fastest one aimed straight for his throat, was caught effortlessly between his two fingers.
The entire arena went silent.
All the exclamations ceased abruptly.
The Genin on the high platforms stared with wide eyes, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.
“He caught… the Clan Head’s full-force redirected Shuriken with just two fingers?”
Lu Ming toyed with the Shuriken at his fingertips, shaking his head with utter disdain.
“Uchiha shuriken tricks have long been outdated. These flimsy hidden weapons are too dull even for peeling apples.”
“You!” Fugaku fumed.
“Giving it back.”
Lu Ming flicked his wrist.
Without using any complex throwing techniques, relying solely on speed and physical strength, he hurled the Shuriken back the way it came!
Boom!
As the Shuriken left his hand, a sonic boom erupted in the air.
That small Shuriken turned into a bolt of black lightning, its speed more than double what Fugaku had achieved.
Fugaku had no time to dodge and could only draw the blade at his waist, holding it across his chest to block.
Clang—!!!
A deafening boom echoed above the Great Arena.
Amidst flying sparks, Fugaku felt an overwhelming force surge through the blade, causing the webbing between his thumb and forefinger to split and bleed.
He let out a muffled groan, his feet carving two deep white furrows into the bluestone floor as he was forced back half a meter before barely steadying himself!
Hiss—
The sound of the surrounding clan members gasping rose one after another.
“Are you kidding me! A Shuriken thrown with just arm strength forced the Clan Head back half a meter?”
“Is this Lord Lu Ming’s Taijutsu? It’s terrifying!”
Fugaku steadied himself, his expression becoming grave to the extreme.
That strike had completely snapped him into focus; the man before him could not be dealt with by ordinary means.
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”
Fugaku did not hesitate.
His hands formed seals rapidly, his chest swelling high as he spat out a massive blast of flames.
A fireball over five meters in diameter appeared out of thin air.
Accompanied by heat that incinerated everything, it roared forward, completely swallowing Lu Ming’s position.
The scorching heatwave swept across the arena, forcing the clan members on the platforms to raise their hands in protection.
Just as the fireball swallowed him, Lu Ming’s figure blurred, and he used the Body Flicker Technique to vanish instantly.
“Did you think I couldn’t predict where you’d land!”
Fugaku let out a cold laugh.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly, capturing the Chakra fluctuations from Lu Ming’s Body Flicker.
Fugaku also used the Body Flicker Technique, appearing directly behind Lu Ming.
Gripping his blade with both hands, he lunged forward fiercely!
Squish!
The sound of a blade entering flesh rang clearly throughout the arena.
The blade in Fugaku’s hand pierced through Lu Ming’s back, skewering his chest and emerging from his front!
Tekka and the others turned pale with shock, reflexively taking a step forward.
Fugaku gripped the hilt, looking at the Lu Ming he had impaled, and let out a cold laugh.
“Lu Ming, you were too arrogant! Not even activating your Sharingan in a life-or-death duel—did you really think you were invincible? From the moment you dodged the Great Fireball, everything was under my control!”
However, the Lu Ming with a blade through his heart didn’t cry out in pain, nor did a single drop of blood flow.
He turned his head, looked at the Fugaku standing close by, and smiled.
“Is that so?”
As he spoke, strange ripples like water appeared on the surface of Lu Ming’s body.
His entire being turned into a phantom and completely dissipated under Fugaku’s shocked gaze.
“Genjutsu?!”
Fugaku’s heart constricted as an intense sense of crisis enveloped him.
Before he could react, he felt a piercing pain in his chest.
Fugaku stiffly lowered his head to find a blade had already entered through his back, piercing straight through his heart!
“This… this is…”
Fugaku’s eyes widened, his breathing becoming incredibly difficult.
“Kyōka Suigetsu!”
He recognized it; this was Lu Ming’s signature Genjutsu that was famous throughout the Ninja World!
“Impossible!”
Fugaku roared.
“I clearly set an Uchiha secret technique within my body to break Genjutsu before the battle started! How could your Genjutsu possibly work!”
Fugaku was going mad.
He knew Lu Ming’s Genjutsu was extremely powerful, so from the moment he stepped into the Great Arena, he had been using a special Chakra flow to protect his brain, ensuring he wouldn’t fall under any Genjutsu.
But now, he didn’t even know when he had been caught!
Lu Ming’s voice came from all directions, ethereal and filled with a sense of superiority.
“Fugaku, your understanding of Genjutsu is too shallow.”
“Did you think you were safe just because you broke the first layer of Genjutsu?”
“The reality you saw was merely a second layer of dreams I specifically wove for you. You only saw what I wanted you to see.”
Lu Ming’s words echoed in Fugaku’s mind.
Fugaku realized the truth.
This was a terrifying method of layering multiple Genjutsu on top of each other.
He thought he had broken the Genjutsu just now, but in fact, he had only shattered the outermost shell and fallen defenselessly into a deeper illusion!
“Seven layers… no, this is a multiple Genjutsu of seven layers or more!”
Fugaku bit his tongue, using the pain to forcefully stimulate the Chakra in his brain.
Poof!
Accompanied by a puff of white smoke, the Fugaku whose heart had been pierced vanished.
On an empty patch of ground dozens of meters away, Fugaku’s true body appeared, panting heavily.
His forehead was covered in fine beads of cold sweat, and the back of his clothes was completely soaked.
If he hadn’t been cautious enough to create a Shadow Clone as a decoy beforehand, he would have been the one with a pierced heart just now!
On the surrounding platforms, all the Uchiha Clan members were already stunned.
“Incredible!”
“My god, what just happened? I couldn’t even tell who was caught in the Genjutsu!”
“Is this the clash of top-tier experts? A perfect combination of combat and Genjutsu, one link after another—it’s simply breathtaking!”
The crowd marveled repeatedly; many of them had never seen a battle of this level in their lives.
To them, the exchange between the two just now was a back-and-forth, fraught with danger and showing equal strength.
In the center of the Great Arena, a gentle breeze blew.
Lu Ming’s true body emerged from the air.
He looked at the shaken Fugaku in the distance and stopped smiling.
“Let’s end the warm-up here.”
Lu Ming raised his hand, pointing straight at Fugaku, his voice echoing throughout the Great Arena.
“Show your true strength. Reveal your Mangekyō Sharingan.”