Due to the influence of his clan, Tōshirō, despite possessing the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, had always been fascinated with honing his Fire Release techniques.
Back when he fought Kakuzu, he had observed through his Sharingan that despite its impressive power and large area of effect, Kakuzu's Fire Release technique actually consumed very little chakra—at least compared to its range and destructive force.
The principle behind the jutsu was to refine and compress fire-natured chakra before releasing it as a small fireball. Once it hit the ground, the flames would spread rapidly without requiring additional chakra to sustain them. This made it a highly efficient Fire Release jutsu, perfect for prolonged battles.
Of course, this technique came at a cost.
The Iwagakure ANBU responded swiftly. Pressing their hands to the ground, they raised towering earth walls.
The fire waves crashed against the earthen barriers, sending thick black smoke billowing into the air. Tōshirō was instantly enveloped in the darkness, as if night had fallen.
But this was exactly what he wanted.
Using the smoke as cover, he quickly created several shadow clones, each fleeing in different directions.
Facing so many enemies at once, Tōshirō knew better than to engage head-on—his priority was escape.
However, this was where his lack of experience became evident. Against a single opponent, this strategy would have worked fine.
But the enemy outnumbered him and his clones combined.
"Too naive."
The Iwagakure shinobi saw through Tōshirō's plan. Pressing their hands to the ground once more, they raised earthen pillars in all four directions—north, south, east, and west.
Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall.
Watching the walls suddenly rise around him, Tōshirō stopped in his tracks. His escape routes were completely cut off.
"Nowhere left to run."
A loud voice echoed through the canyon-like enclosure. Tōshirō looked up—standing atop the towering walls were countless figures, their silhouettes forming an inescapable ring.
His face turned pale.
So this is what it means to be a cornered beast.
Tōshirō clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms. A sharp pain flared on the inside of his cheek—he had bitten down too hard in frustration, and the faint taste of blood spread through his mouth.
Was this really where he would die?
Try as he might, he couldn't think of a way to escape this siege.
Just give up.
If you surrender, the pain will only last a moment.
A sinister voice seemed to whisper in his ear, feeding on his despair.
But just as the thought of giving up crossed his mind, the soft, bell-like voice of a girl echoed in his memory, rippling through his consciousness like waves in a pond.
A moment of warmth.
A reminder of something precious.
He grit his teeth—as long as there was even the faintest glimmer of hope, he couldn't give up.
Earth Release: Rock Iron Cannon Jutsu.
Dozens of Iwagakure ANBU gathered chakra in their mouths, forming small stones that shot out like peas from a pod. The moment they left their mouths, the stones rapidly expanded in size.
Each of these projectiles carried enough force to shatter solid rock.
A storm of deadly stones rained down. With nowhere to dodge, Tōshirō quickly formed a seal and created a thick, dome-shaped ice shield around himself, covering all angles.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Under the relentless barrage, the ice wall cracked and splintered, but it held.
Breathing heavily, Tōshirō reinforced the barrier, continuously injecting chakra to mend the fractures. If he had stopped even for a moment, the ice dome would have shattered completely.
As the smoke cleared, the Iwagakure ANBU finally saw the icy wall standing amidst the devastation. Their eyes, visible through their masks, showed shock.
Ice Release?
Wasn't that a Kekkei Genkai from Kirigakure?
How does an Uchiha have Ice Release?
"This is quite surprising." One of the Iwagakure ANBU remarked, noticing that Tōshirō possessed not just the Sharingan, but also Ice Release. He turned to the others. "We shouldn't kill him. Let's capture him alive—he might be valuable for research."
Hearing this, a chill ran down Tōshirō's spine.
They wanted to experiment on him.
One by one, the Iwagakure ANBU leapt down from the walls, closing in on him. The confined space meant that even with his Sharingan, he wouldn't be able to evade their attacks for long.
They weren't going to give him a chance to breathe.
As they charged in, Tōshirō timed his counter perfectly—forming a seal, he filled his cheeks with chakra and spewed out a scorching hot cloud of dust. The moment it hit the ground, thick black smoke exploded outward, blanketing the entire area.
By the time the smoke dispersed, the Iwagakure shinobi realized that Tōshirō had vanished.
Only a hole remained where he had been standing.
"He's underground!"
A sensory ninja among them immediately located him—Tōshirō had tunneled through the earth and was now escaping beneath the walls.
Not only that, but he had also created multiple shadow clones, each running in different directions to mislead his pursuers.
"That little brat tricked us!"
The Iwagakure ANBU were furious.
If a whole squad of them failed to capture a single kid, they'd be a laughingstock.
They immediately formed seals and unleashed another barrage of the Rock Iron Cannon Jutsu, their mouths firing stones like machine guns, aiming at the escaping Tōshirōs.
Soon, all of the shadow clones were destroyed, and even Tōshirō's real body had sustained some injuries.
When he climbed back to his feet, he realized that everything had returned to how it was at the beginning—he was once again surrounded, as if nothing had changed.
The Iwagakure ANBU, confident in their victory, taunted him: "Kid, there's no way you're escaping. Just surrender and save yourself some pain."
Tōshirō furrowed his brows.
This was the most frustrating battle he had ever fought.
Facing so many opponents at once already put him at an extreme disadvantage, but the fact that they specialized in Earth Release—perfect for defensive combat—made it even worse for someone like him, who relied on Fire and Ice Release.
As for combination jutsu, Tōshirō was still in the early stages of experimenting with them, so they were not an option.
"Enough nonsense. There's no way I'm surrendering."
Tōshirō knew that whether he gave up or not, his fate would be grim. So, he might as well fight until the end.
"Hmph, stubborn fool."
One of the Iwagakure ANBU raised his arm and waved it—at his signal, the squad attacked in unison, no longer testing the waters as they had before.
Tōshirō quickly formed hand seals, attempting another escape, but this time, his enemies were prepared.
They immediately hurled shuriken, interrupting his jutsu.
Forced to restart, he lost his window of opportunity. The enemy shinobi closed in with Body Flicker, closing the distance instantly.
At first, Tōshirō managed to hold his own using his Sharingan's predictive abilities. But there were simply too many opponents.
Moreover, due to his young age, his taijutsu was not significantly superior to theirs. Before long, he began to falter, unable to keep up.
Seizing an opening, an Iwagakure ANBU slipped behind him with the help of his comrades' cover. By the time Tōshirō realized the danger, it was too late.
"Damn it!"
His hurried counterattack left him completely exposed.
A powerful punch sent him flying several meters. As he struggled to rise, another enemy leaped toward him, slamming both hands onto the ground.
Immediately, massive rocks erupted around Tōshirō, rapidly growing and sealing him within a near-perfect stone dome. The enclosure was so tight that even light could barely seep through.
Tōshirō gathered ice-natured chakra, forming a massive ice fist on his arm, and smashed it against the walls.
However, the earth barrier was incredibly sturdy. His ice fist barely made a dent—and worse, his chakra was being drained.
"It's useless. This Earth Release barrier—Earth Prison Hall—not only restricts movement but also absorbs the chakra of whoever is trapped inside."
As if to prove the words true, Tōshirō felt his chakra rapidly depleting.
He refused to sit and wait for death.
Summoning a shadow clone, he gathered chakra into his right palm, forming a spinning blue sphere—
Rasengan.
With a single strike, he blasted a massive hole in the barrier and escaped through it.
The Iwagakure ANBU were shocked.
They hadn't expected their jutsu to be broken.
But even if he had escaped, it was only a matter of time before they defeated him.
Tōshirō had been using chakra extensively for too long. His body was reaching its limit.
Soon, exhaustion slowed him down, and he exposed a critical opening.
One of the Iwagakure ANBU took the opportunity—landing a solid punch to his abdomen.
Tōshirō collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
Staring at his unconscious body, one of the ANBU finally let out a sigh of relief.
Even though they had held back to avoid killing him, they hadn't expected it to take so much effort.
With that thought, he pulled out a small bottle filled with an unknown liquid.
The liquid inside would preserve freshly extracted eyes, keeping them in prime condition for an extended period.
Just in case, he decided to take the kid's eyes first.
After all, if they were going to use this kid as breeding stock, it didn't matter whether he had eyes or not. As long as that part was intact, it would be enough.
Besides, every Sharingan held immense value.
The villages had coveted them for ages.
Eyes were fragile—even the Sharingan was no exception.
To ensure their preservation, many battlefield shinobi carried bottles filled with this special liquid, preparing for moments like this.
The Iwagakure ANBU crouched beside Tōshirō, flipped him over, and uncapped the bottle.
Everything was ready—only the final step remained.
He reached out—
But just as he was about to gouge out the eye, another hand grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
The ANBU hesitated for a moment, then looked up at his comrade, silently waiting for an explanation.
"His eyes… are not something you people can touch."
A deep, aged voice echoed in the air.
The masked figure's eyes glowed crimson, mysterious patterns spiraling in his pupils.
Madara Uchiha had orchestrated everything.
Now that the time was right, these Iwagakure shinobi had outlived their usefulness.
It was time to clean up.
And after that—
He would seal the Five-Tails into Tōshirō.
(End of Chapter)
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