The Spirit Fire received its command and slowly stood up straight. In the moonlight, its gigantic shadow completely engulfed the Uchiha clansmen.
The Uchiha clansmen's eyes widened. They were astounded by its sheer size.
Before they could contemplate it further, the monster took a step and mercilessly stomped down.
The Uchiha clansmen scattered in different directions.
Having missed its target, the Spirit Fire stomped its foot, and the ground shook.
"So fast."
The Uchiha clansmen who dodged were terrified. A body that massive moved so quickly. Thankfully, they had their Sharingan and reacted in time.
Unbeknownst to them, the only reason they were able to dodge was because Tōshirō was holding back, wanting to test the current generation of Uchiha.
Normally, an attack from the Spirit Fire, which was on par with a Susanoo, would not be so easy to evade.
One Uchiha clansman gathered chakra in his mouth and spat out a flame, which he molded into a fire dragon. With fiery fangs, it rushed toward Tōshirō, the one controlling it.
They didn't know who this person was, but someone who attacked them without a word was definitely not a good person.
Tōshirō smirked.
The Spirit Fire opened its palm, blocking the fire dragon from reaching Tōshirō.
"Boom."
After the explosion, the hand slowly moved away, revealing an unharmed Tōshirō.
"Is that all you've got? The Uchiha clan has really fallen..."
One Uchiha clansman used the cover of the previous attack to get behind Tōshirō and launch a surprise attack. He leaped from a tree like a cannonball, throwing shuriken with explosive tags attached.
If the enemy dodged the shuriken, his follow-up attack would land as soon as he touched the ground.
Tōshirō shook his head, looking disappointed.
The Spirit Fire reached out, grabbed Tōshirō, and protected him within its palm, shielding him from the explosive tags.
"W-what—!"
Seeing this, the Uchiha clansman who was ambushing Tōshirō panicked. In an instant, a fist came hurtling toward him.
It was too late. Getting hit by a fist this large would surely cause serious injuries.
A sad thought flashed through the ninja's mind: he should have been more cautious.
Tōshirō was just playing around and didn't intend to kill them. He held back, turning his punch into a flick of his finger, which sent the ninja flying.
But even that was enough to put the man out of commission.
The Uchiha ninja flew a great distance and just happened to land next to a certain person who was observing from the shadows.
Itachi's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the Spirit Fire.
He wanted to ask Uchiha Madara if he knew anything about this.
However, the other person didn't seem to want to act with Itachi and had chosen to hide and observe alone, so Itachi had no one to ask.
"What is that..."
As he was mumbling, the Uchiha clansman who had been flicked by the Spirit Fire's finger landed beside him.
"Damn it, how dare you underestimate the Uchiha."
The flick of the index finger was not very damaging, but it was extremely insulting. For a man as proud as him, it was worse than being killed.
The Uchiha clansman who was cursing suddenly noticed Itachi standing next to him. "Huh? Itachi... What are you doing here?"
Itachi: ...
"Never mind. Itachi, it's good you're here. Hurry up and help me deal with this guy."
Although the Uchiha clansman usually didn't get along with Itachi, he had to admit that the guy was strong. In the face of a great enemy, he had no choice but to put their personal grudges aside.
Itachi's lips parted. He hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded. "I understand..."
Fate was playing a terrible joke on him.
He was supposed to kill all his clansmen today, except for his brother, but now he was helping them fight an outside enemy.
Just for today, let me fight as a member of the Uchiha clan.
Itachi comforted himself and quickly joined the battle.
After another brief exchange, Tōshirō's gaze settled on the new Uchiha clansman.
Hmm?
Interesting...
He was much younger than the other Uchiha clansmen, looking around twelve or thirteen years old, yet his strength was surprisingly high.
Tōshirō's playful attitude vanished, and he became serious.
With that, the Spirit Fire showed its true power, and its speed increased dramatically.
By the time everyone reacted, the Spirit Fire was already in front of them, looking down on them. It raised its arm and opened its five fingers, ready to slam down.
Everyone was shocked.
How did it get so fast? Was that monster not even using its full power before?
The Spirit Fire's palm came down so quickly that by the time they reacted, one of their companions had already been grabbed and held in its palm.
"Itachi—!"
A voice filled with worry echoed in the air.
Itachi?
Hearing that name, Tōshirō's relaxed expression showed a hint of surprise. His gaze focused on the young boy being held in the Spirit Fire's palm.
He had a delicate face with two faint nasolabial folds.
I see. No wonder he's so strong at such a young age...
Itachi, who was being held in the palm, stared at the white-haired boy's red, snowflake-patterned eyes with his three-tomoe Sharingan.
There's no mistake. This feeling... it's the Mangekyō Sharingan...
For various reasons, the other clansmen might not have felt it, but Itachi, who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, would not be mistaken.
Thinking this, Itachi understood. No wonder all his genjutsu had no effect on this boy.
Who in the world is this man—!?
"You bastard, let go of Itachi! The Uchiha compound is nearby! Everyone will be here soon!"
The enemy was too powerful. The Uchiha clansmen didn't dare to act recklessly and could only threaten Tōshirō to keep him from doing anything.
Tōshirō smiled and ignored them. He stood on the Spirit Fire's other hand.
The Spirit Fire held Tōshirō and slowly brought him closer to Itachi, their gazes now at the same level.
Itachi remained calm and spoke. "Who are you!"
Not only Itachi but also Uchiha Madara, who was secretly watching from the shadows, was equally confused.
"This guy... his power is on a completely different level."
There's no mistake. This feeling is the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Who is he?
He actually has the Mangekyō Sharingan.
And that deep-blue giant just now...
Could it be a Susanoo?
The Susanoo does look like that. If it really is a Susanoo, then having that kind of power wouldn't be so surprising.
He wasn't really Uchiha Madara; otherwise, he would have recognized Tōshirō at first glance, even with his hair changed from black to white and his body from adult to child.
His real identity was Uchiha Obito. He was an agent handpicked by Uchiha Madara to carry out his plan.
Obito scrutinized the white-haired boy, constantly guessing who he was.
An Uchiha clansman I don't know?
No, if he were an Uchiha, his hair should be black.
Meanwhile, Tōshirō looked at Itachi with interest, his eyes crinkling into a smile. "You're pretty good..."
Itachi frowned slightly.
As he was thinking, he suddenly felt the pressure on him vanish.
The deep-blue giant in front of him was engulfed in blue flames and then dissipated in an instant.
Tōshirō deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan. He had achieved the effect he wanted, and a continuation of the Spirit Fire would bring about the side effects.
His body was different from others, and the Mangekyō's side effects had been greatly reduced, but they still existed.
He was still a long way from the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Both Itachi and Tōshirō landed on the ground.
The clansmen ran over to Itachi and asked, "Itachi, are you okay?"
Unknowingly, the animosity between them had lessened a bit during the battle.
Itachi nodded, indicating he was fine.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good..."
After that, they all turned their attention back to the white-haired boy sitting on the ground, his hand resting on his chin, with a composed expression.
Through the previous fight, they vaguely felt that the guy in front of them wasn't hostile. He was just playing with them. Otherwise, they wouldn't all be standing here in one piece.
Tōshirō smiled. "The current Uchiha clan leader... I assume it's Fugaku?"
Everyone was surprised to hear that.
From his tone, it sounded like he knew Fugaku.
Itachi couldn't help but ask, "You know my father?"
Tōshirō glanced at Itachi, feigning surprise. "Oh? You're Fugaku's son?"
Itachi nodded.
Tōshirō laughed. "He had a good son..."
Hearing this, everyone became even more confused about Tōshirō.
It felt like Tōshirō and Fugaku were old friends.
But judging by Tōshirō's appearance, he couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen years old. He didn't look like someone who had known Fugaku for a long time.
And it didn't seem like the Transformation Jutsu.
Could it be some other jutsu they didn't know about that made his actual age much older than he looked?
Given Tōshirō's monstrous power, this was a strong possibility.
Just as everyone was guessing Tōshirō's identity, he revealed it himself. He had no intention of hiding it. "My name is Uchiha Tōshirō..."
"W-what!?"
Everyone thought they had misheard him. "You said your name is Uchiha Tōshirō?"
Tōshirō confirmed. "That's right."
Everyone was still in disbelief. "But Uchiha Tōshirō died many years ago. Even the Five-Tails inside him was reborn and sealed back into a new host..."
It was no secret that when a jinchuriki dies, the Tailed Beast inside them also dies.
So, by extension, Tōshirō must have died then, at least physically.
Hearing that the Five-Tails had been sealed back into a new host after all these years, Tōshirō felt a little guilty.
Back then, after Tsunade died, his mind was filled with a huge amount of negative chakra and extreme emotional fluctuations. His mind was not in a normal state, and he ended up killing the Five-Tails as well.
If Little Five isn't getting along with that jinchuriki, I'll just free it from the host.
Tōshirō thought to himself.
Whether this would cause a conflict between the two countries was not a concern for Tōshirō.
If they had the guts, the Konoha elders could come and punish him themselves.
With his mind made up, Tōshirō was no longer confused. A smile they couldn't decipher appeared on his face. "Go get Fugaku for me. Tell him I want to see him."
Everyone looked at each other. Then one of them said, "I'll go..."
With that, he disappeared.
Itachi kept glancing at Tōshirō, wanting to say something but holding back.
He didn't know if Tōshirō's sudden return was a good or bad thing for the Uchiha.
Soon, the Uchiha who had left returned with a group of people. Most of them were clansmen who had been drawn by the explosion caused by the Spirit Fire's landing.
Tōshirō noticed one of the middle-aged men and smiled.
Fugaku also saw the white-haired boy.
He was stunned for a moment. Then, his memories slowly overlapped, and he gasped in disbelief. "You... you're..."
Tōshirō walked up to him and grinned. "Yo, Fugaku. I heard you became the Uchiha clan leader and the Police Force captain. You've really made a name for yourself..."
Fugaku: ...
(End of Chapter)
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