103 I am Fugaku Uchiha

He may have been bluffing, but his ability to break the enemy's will was unmatched.

The sand ninja's morale was crucial to the war effort, making it his priority to cast a shadow over their minds.

With his name and reputation preceding him, he only needed to stand tall on his battlefield to strike fear into the enemy's hearts.

In no time, he was able to take down a hundred of the three hundred sand ninjas they were up against. The remaining two hundred cowered before him, consumed by fear and dread; some even began to despair.

Although they should have run away, his words held them captive. If they fled, their comrades would perish, and those already grounded by his lightning or fire would surely die.

The fate of their companions hung in the balance, and they were not willing to sacrifice their friends or the hope of their clan.

Retreating would mean certain death for them all. They stood firm in the face of their adversary, unwilling to surrender their comrades at any cost.

"Don't bother running," he calmly declared, fixing his Sharingan and Eight Gates on the sand ninjas. "You cannot escape my reach! If you don't want your friends to die here, try to dodge."

The sand ninjas were taken aback, their confusion underscored by a lingering dread. Why did he announce his impending attack when he could have just incinerated them all? They didn't understand.

One of them dared to ask, trembling with fear, "Wh...what do you want?"

Despite their fear, the sand ninjas weren't cowards. They were human, too. But the gap in power was too vast, and they had no chance of winning. Even the Kazekage and his 300 men were defeated by his clones, leaving them defeated.

How could they hope to hold him off? The thought was daunting, even for these veteran ninjas. They didn't dare to fight back, for it would only arouse his resistance and cost even more casualties among their comrades.

He smirked, "Nothing much; just testing my fire release skills. Now bring out all your puppets that defend Fire Release!

ino-Shika- Cho had already retreated, but Orochimaru watched this farce with astonishment from a distance. Were they children playing ninja games? Testing his fire-release skills? What was he thinking?

"Testing your fire release skills?" A sand ninja repeated it in disbelief.

Did he treat them as his test subjects? How dare he? They glared at him with hatred, but none of them dared to respond.

His Sharingan could catch them, and if they made any move, maybe some of them could escape, but most of them would fall here. The Suna camp was about twenty minutes away from here. They couldn't count on reinforcements.

Even if they arrived, he was too fast and strong. His ninjutsu had a wide range, and he seemed immune to poison. They had no chance against him.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in killing you ants. I just want you to test your puppets," he smirked wickedly. "Hurry up, or this fire will burn you alive! Oh, and make sure to use two layers of puppets."

He spoke arrogantly, but that was the truth.

The sand ninja's faces paled, and they quickly set up their defense. More than twenty huge puppets with shields formed two layers of puppet walls, leaving no gaps.

The puppeteers stood behind them and channeled their chakras into the puppets. They had prepared these puppets specially for this battle, knowing that they would face an Uchiha. Their goal was to counter his fire release.

"You should take care of your wounded comrades. I won't warn you next time," he warns them.

Even Orochimaru, who was watching from afar, was surprised by him. He had the Sharingan, a forbidden technique that allowed him to move fast, and a huge chakra reserve as his base. He could unleash a barrage of Ninjutsu, his perfect tool on the battlefield.

He was like a jinchuriki with the Sharingan. Orochimaru smiled wickedly, feeling more and more interested in him. He was as tempting as the cells of the First Hokage.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation."

The moment the fire appeared, the world went silent. This was the Fire Release Ninjutsu that Madara used in the Fourth Ninja War. Fugaku used it. It covered almost fifty meters and was even more destructive.

"Impossible… This can't be real."

"What is this? What kind of ninjutsu is this?"

The Sand Ninjas, who had retreated far away, looked at the sea of fire in front of them and realized how wise it was for Kazekage-sama not to bring more men.

If he hadn't been warned to stay away, they would have been burned alive. The puppeteers behind the puppet walls felt the heat of the fire passing them by and sweated profusely.

They increased their chakra input, trying to keep their puppets' shields intact.

The fire continued to rage on, causing the once-solid puppet shields to burn away rapidly. The first and second layers of puppets began to crumble to the ground, one after the other.

Watching from a distance, Orochimaru couldn't contain his excitement. He eagerly licked his lips, unaware of Fugaku's hidden abilities. Had he known about Fugaku's wood release, he would have abandoned his research on Hashirama's cells.

He had previously kept his wood-releasing abilities concealed from not only Konoha but also the Sand Shinobi he fought near the Konoha camp. Instead, he relied on his speed and ninjutsu on the battlefield.

On the contrary, despite knowing about Fugaku's Wood Release, the Sand Shinobi failed to recognize its significance as they never believed it.

Finally, the fire came to a halt, and the puppeteers hiding behind the second layer of puppets felt some relief. Nevertheless, they were soaked in sweat, as their survival was a close call.

Fugaku felt uneasy and uncomfortable, taking several deep breaths to calm himself. However, he couldn't help but feel satisfied with the results, which verified his assumptions.

Fugaku realized that the shield had a limit to how much it could block his fire release.

"Uchiha Fugaku is my name, and I am the head of the Uchiha clan. You have made a grave mistake by invading our land.

Go and report to your daimyo and kazekage, and reconsider your actions before you dare to strike again!"

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Today Bi-annual Ranking = 38th

Today is Friday, the last day for chapter releases since I publish chapters from Monday to Friday. However, on Patreon, I post 7 chapters a week.

Since we didn't reach the target ranking, I am refraining from publishing a bonus chapter. I hope we make it next time. Thank you for your support, but worry not; even if the target ranking is reached on the last two days of the ranking, I will post the bonus chapter on the same day.

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