Chapter 16: The Colossal Inferno Sphere

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Uchiha Fēnghuǒ's hand trembled slightly as he held his blade, his crimson eyes emitting a pale gray aura.

Before him stood a member of the Uzumaki clan, monstrously strong. Though his taijutsu wasn’t bad, after several exchanges, he was firmly on the defensive. Uzumaki Hanamichi’s powerful fists could even withstand the strike of his finely forged greatsword.

Moreover, the opponent’s chakra far exceeded his own. Despite releasing chakra continuously for so long, there was no sign of depletion. Yet, Hanamichi hadn’t even used his trump card; fighting him felt like toying with a child.

Yawning with boredom, Uzumaki Hanamichi glanced at the famed “Hidden God, Fēnghuǒ.”

He had initially held great expectations but found the battle nearly over before it began. Only that genjutsu had posed a slight threat.

“How dull. If that’s all you’ve got, step aside—I’m going to find Uzumaki Mizu.”

Without lifting his eyelids, Hanamichi waved his hand, effortlessly deflecting several shuriken thrown by Uchiha Fēnghuǒ.

Fēnghuǒ wasn’t discouraged; instead, he looked as if his plan was unfolding perfectly. With a sudden sweep of both hands, the scattered shuriken seemed controlled, redirecting themselves toward Hanamichi, who stood unmoving.

In an instant, the shuriken spun around Hanamichi, narrowly missing all vital points.

“Is this the Uchiha clan’s throwing technique? That’s it?”

Still indifferent, Hanamichi mocked. Suddenly, he felt a tightening all around him.

“Manipulating Shuriken Technique.”

With fingers entwined in silver threads of chakra, Fēnghuǒ bound Hanamichi in a restraint play reminiscent of his sister’s technique. But it wasn’t over yet.

“Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique.”

Fēnghuǒ summoned a scorching blaze from his mouth. A fiery dragon surged forth, flying along the chakra threads toward the bound Hanamichi, engulfing him in flames.

Watching his opponent burn into a blazing figure, Fēnghuǒ did not let his guard down. He raised his sword, slashing at Hanamichi, who was wrapped in fire.

As the blade neared his head, Fēnghuǒ’s heart surged with joy at the impending victory.

But in the next moment, a terrifying scene unfolded—a flaming arm firmly grasped his blade. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t break free.

“A combination technique? Now that’s rare.”

Hanamichi’s composed voice sounded.

Only then did Fēnghuǒ realize his opponent, engulfed in fierce flames, had not uttered a single cry of pain.

“Bang!”

With Hanamichi’s aura tightening, the binding threads and burning fire shattered, revealing his unharmed body.

Shaking off the faintly burning hair on his head, Hanamichi praised,

“As expected of the Uchiha with their paper fans; their fire tricks are truly splendid.”

Eyes dry and throat parched, Fēnghuǒ swallowed hard. This Uzumaki’s body was unbelievably resilient.

A wave of despair washed over him. On the other side of the battlefield, Uchiha Ryōichi and his comrades were still fiercely engaged.

The long-haired Uzumaki opponent looked at ease; defeat seemed only a matter of time.

“Is this really how it ends?”

Fēnghuǒ thought of his lifelong battles and felt a twinge of melancholy at the prospect of falling on such a mission.

As his chakra neared exhaustion and his Sharingan could barely function, he struggled to raise his gaze skyward. Memories of his past flashed like a revolving lantern.

The image froze on a smiling curly-haired man. Nostalgia flickered in Fēnghuǒ’s eyes, then his expression hardened with resolve.

“I’m not burned out yet. As long as I can stall you a little longer, that kid’s chance of survival grows.”

With this thought, a surge of power erupted within Fēnghuǒ. His previously closed Sharingan eyes quietly opened.

The three tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly, gradually linking together.

Furrowing his brow, Hanamichi, with the Uzumaki’s keen perception, sensed the Uchiha supposedly at their limit suddenly radiate a fierce chakra. A chilling aura swept over him.

“What’s this?”

Hanamichi had seen desperate foes ignite their life force to perish together, but the Uchiha clan seemed not to have such means—was this bluffing?

As Hanamichi’s attention wavered, a strange chakra rose behind Fēnghuǒ, slowly coalescing into an odd shape.

Just as the aura was about to take form, a figure dashed before Fēnghuǒ, landing with a self-styled cool pose, holding a single kunai.

“I’m late, huh?”

He flashed a smug smile.

With Uchiha Gin’s sudden arrival, the change in Fēnghuǒ halted abruptly. He stared in disbelief at the newcomer.

“What are you doing here?!” Fēnghuǒ exclaimed, voice trembling with frustration.

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Fēnghuǒ was livid. He had painstakingly prepared to sacrifice himself to secure a chance for Uchiha Gin, only for this fool to come back and throw his life away again.

“Uh, aren’t you supposed to be crying tears of gratitude, old man?”

Taken aback by the barrage of scolding, Gin was puzzled. Coming to save the day only to be berated made him unhappy.

“You’re here.”

After venting his anger, Fēnghuǒ sighed deeply.

“I’m here.”

“You shouldn’t have come.”

“But I came anyway.”

“Can you two stop? We’re not here to fill space!”

Irritated from being ignored, Hanamichi clenched his fists, veins bulging.

“Oh dear, so sorry,” Gin said awkwardly, scratching his head and rolling his deadpan eyes as a half-hearted apology.

“Despicable Uchiha, you dare come back? Where have you hidden Mizu Uzumaki?”

Seeing the sleazy Uchiha who had laid hands on his beloved sister, Hanamichi’s fists tightened with audible cracks.

Eyeing Hanamichi’s massive fists, Gin swallowed nervously and touched the sacred artifact Uzumaki Mizu had given him.

“Hope this little trinket from Mizu works well.”

“Uchiha Gin, why did you disobey the captain’s orders?”

Fēnghuǒ’s voice was stern now. He was anxious—what was Gin’s purpose in returning?

“Captain, enough talk. Let’s focus on fighting.”

Ignoring the question, Gin drew the greatsword on his back.

“You don’t even have your Sharingan… wait, when did you awaken it?”

Fēnghuǒ was speechless at Gin’s recklessness. Did he not understand his own limits? Adding another Uchiha to the fight wouldn’t help against an opponent he himself could not defeat.

But then he noticed the familiar tomoe spinning in Gin’s deadpan eyes. He paused, a familiar figure overlapping with Gin’s image flashing in his mind.

“What use is a single tomoe? The opponent is a taijutsu expert. You’re naturally weak. Against such a foe, you’re doomed.”

Though pleased Gin had activated his Sharingan, the situation was beyond what a single tomoe could change.

“Don’t test my patience, despicable Uchiha. Hand over Mizu, and I might just leave you with a whole corpse.”

A red chakra cloak enveloped Hanamichi. His sharp brows rose, like a lion unleashed from its cage.

“Though I’d like to say this is all a misunderstanding, it seems now it’s impossible to resolve.”

Feeling the overwhelming chakra, Gin stiffened, muscles tense as if stared down by a beast.

“At this point, forget misunderstandings. Once I break your limbs, you’ll spill the truth.”

With that, Hanamichi charged Gin, delivering a heavy punch to his arm.

The strike, like thunder, surged forth. Gin’s Sharingan spun rapidly, adrenaline pumping.

Just before the fist landed, two tomoe appeared in Gin’s eyes. In the nick of time, he slashed at Hanamichi’s exposed armpit from a tricky angle.

With his superlative perception, Hanamichi realized both would lose an arm if the strike landed.

He twisted his body, redirecting the punch into a nearby giant tree. The massive trunk, wide enough to embrace with three men, was shattered, toppling with a crash.

As smoke cleared, Hanamichi eyed the small cut on his side with lingering caution.

Thanks to the Uzumaki’s incredible physiology, the wound had already begun to heal. Still, he was shocked by the opponent’s ruthless decisiveness.

Gin also felt the pain in his right arm. Though Hanamichi had altered his strike fearing a trade injury, the punch’s force still tore the skin on the outer arm, causing heavy bleeding.

Miraculously, within moments, the wound sprouted fresh tissue, and bleeding slowed. At some point, his vision sharpened noticeably.

“Uzumaki healing is truly astonishing. Even with a trace of their bloodline, my recovery is this strong.”

About ten breaths later, Gin’s injury had miraculously healed.

Si – Wei – Shen – Hai – Wu – Yin

“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.”

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With his arm restored, Uchiha Gin formed hand seals to cast a ninjutsu—the only ranged technique he knew. In the original story, this jutsu was called “Mercy Technique,” and its accuracy was notoriously poor.

Feeling the heat building in his mouth, Gin felt a pressing urge to unleash it.

He took a deep breath, puffed his cheeks, and forcefully expelled the gathered fire-natured chakra toward Hanamichi not far away.

Hanamichi’s eyes nearly popped out, astonished as he looked up at the enormous fireball rushing at him.

“Is that damn thing a Great Fireball?”

Normally, the Uchiha’s Great Fireball was about ten cubic meters, with a damage radius of roughly ten meters. Hanamichi knew this technique well, but he had never seen a fireball dozens of cubic meters in size.

Moreover, this was no empty display; Hanamichi’s keen senses could clearly perceive the immense destructive power contained within the gigantic fireball.

Unlike the feeble Dragon Flame Technique used earlier by the weak Uchiha, Hanamichi’s body might not withstand this blast entirely. He had to hastily retreat.

Ninjutsu has no inherent ranking; its effectiveness depends entirely on the user’s strength.

The B-rank Fire Release: Great Fire Extinguishing Technique and the Great Fire Extinguishing Loss Technique released by Uchiha Madara were cataclysmic in power.

Closing his eyes and expelling all the air from his lungs, Gin ceased the jutsu, taking a deep breath to revive his parched lungs.

His chakra was nearly depleted. Gazing at the forest reduced to the size of a football field, he rubbed his deadpan eyes in disbelief.

“Am I under a genjutsu?”

Uncertain, he looked back at the perpetually lagging Fēnghuǒ, whose expression mirrored Hanamichi’s shock, both Sharingan nearly bursting out.

Fēnghuǒ swore since he could remember, he had never seen such a terrifying ninjutsu, not even from the clan’s strongest, Uchiha Tajima, who had never unleashed such a colossal Great Fireball.

Though still feeling the heat after the fire release, the terrifying residual warmth made the air dry and difficult to breathe.

“What jutsu is this?”

Fēnghuǒ asked, pulling Gin back from his thoughts. Gin scratched his curls uncertainly at the devastation before them.

“Probably… Great Fireball.”

Though the hand seals matched his memory, Gin wasn’t sure if something had gone wrong. The fireball was indeed outrageously large—ten times bigger than the original technique he had ever cast.

Could it be the Uzumaki bloodline?

Gin suspected the Uzumaki lineage within him caused his chakra to surge, enabling such destructive ninjutsu.

But then he reconsidered. Having only a trace of Uzumaki blood and a system panel indicating only a twofold chakra increase, he lacked the strength to produce such a massive Great Fireball.

If sheer chakra volume alone could amplify ninjutsu to this extent, the Uzumaki clan, blessed with immense chakra reserves, would have long dominated the ninja world in the Warring States era.

“System, system, what’s going on?”

Unable to explain the phenomenon, Gin tried to query the system but received no response.

Perhaps because time moved differently inside and outside the system, he decided to enter the system space next.

“***********”

The familiar arena appeared, unchanged. The Chest of Steel sat quietly, its floor count reset to zero, awaiting tomorrow’s refresh.

Turning to the right, he noticed the game console no longer displayed the number 10 but a series of asterisks. Where had his hard-earned ten points gone?

“Hey, system brother, are you there? Please respond!”

Sensing something was amiss, Gin called out to the system.

“System loading…” A few seconds later, the system’s emotionless voice echoed in the void.

“Where did my points go? And what’s with my ninjutsu?”

Hearing the system, Gin eagerly pressed for answers.

“Detected host power increase. System load speed +10%. Updating, please wait…”

Power increase? Had he grown stronger again? Gin recalled the confrontation with Hanamichi; his perception had been sharper. Had his Sharingan evolved?

“Ding! Update complete!”

With the system’s prompt, the asterisks on the console faded, replaced by zero.

“What? Where did my huge ten points go? The kind with a 1 and a 0!”

Gin glared with deadpan eyes, hands spread toward the console, demanding answers.