Almost simultaneously, three of Shigure's shadow clones completed their hand signs.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!"
(Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!)
Three streams of fire erupted from their mouths, arching in synchronized patterns toward the enemy.
"Up! Get into the air, now!" Toyoshi shouted.
The three Uchiha leapt into the air in panic, narrowly avoiding the converging blaze.
But Shigure only smirked.
"Exactly as planned."
From the beginning, his real goal wasn't to hit them—but to force them off the ground.
With no solid surface beneath them, and no time to weave signs, they were defenseless.
"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm."
(Hakke Kūshō!)
Shigure thrust his palm forward, releasing a focused chakra shockwave invisible to the naked eye. A pulse of force tore through the air like a cannonball.
All three airborne Uchiha were struck mid-air.
"Wha—?"
BAM!
They hit the ground hard, coughing blood in unison, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Gah!"
"This can't be…"
"Was that Gentle Fist?!"
They lay sprawled across the dirt, groaning in pain, unable to comprehend how Shigure—a supposed outcast—had just dismantled them in seconds.
"An Uchiha… using Hyūga techniques?"
Shigure stepped forward but stopped abruptly. His Byaringan had already picked up movement in the distance—masked figures approaching at high speed.
"Tch. ANBU."
Five black-clad shinobi emerged from the rooftops, their porcelain masks glinting in the moonlight.
"This is ANBU Black Ops. You're all under investigation for using destructive ninjutsu within the village." One of them barked, scanning the scorched property.
The lead ANBU's tone turned cold as he pointed at Shigure. "All of you, come with us. Now."
Shigure's eyes narrowed.
"Wait… his chakra flow… it's not standard. It's familiar."
He activated his Byaringan again and instantly traced the chakra pattern behind the mask.
"He's an Uchiha."
Even under the ANBU gear, Shigure could tell. These weren't neutral operatives. They were plants—Uchiha clan members using ANBU status to cover for internal targeting.
Still, he didn't resist.
"Let's play their game… for now."
Konoha Military Police HQ – Interrogation Room
The four boys sat on the cold floor as one of the masked ANBU began his "interrogation."
"Let's not waste time," the ANBU said. "Tell me what happened."
"It was him!" Cape Uchiha immediately pointed at Shigure. "He attacked first! He used lethal jutsu!"
"Oh?" The masked man turned to Shigure. "Uchiha Shigure. Attacking your fellow clansmen? That's treason. Perhaps you need to be reminded of your place."
Shigure didn't flinch. "And I suppose this interrogation was authorized?"
The ANBU gave a twisted chuckle. "You're smart. Smart enough to know that smart people tend to die early."
He stepped forward and reached up slowly—then removed his mask.
Beneath it, a pair of glowing three-tomoe Sharingan stared down at him.
"This," he said, tapping the corner of his eye, "is the pride of the Uchiha clan. The real Uchiha bloodline."
"You," he sneered, "you're just the abandoned son of nobodies. You disgrace our name."
Shigure's face remained calm, but his fists slowly clenched. His heart thundered with rage, but he didn't let it show.
"They think I'm powerless. They think I'll back down. But I've been waiting… for this exact moment."
The ANBU leaned in, whispering:
"You'll never awaken true power. You're a mutt. Not even worth calling Uchiha."
Shigure's eyes gleamed.
"Now."
In one silent motion, he activated his Byaringan—three tomoe spinning within a white eye. The hybrid dojutsu flared to life.
He saw everything.
The chakra network. The tenketsu points. The heartbeat. The flow of chakra through the enemy's heart.
He moved.
"Gentle Fist!"
(Jūken!)
"Bang!"
The ANBU operative raised his arm in defense, but it was already too late — Shigure's palm had connected squarely with the man's chest, just above the heart.
"You… You little—!" the Uchiha ANBU gasped, stunned. He could barely comprehend what had happened — that a recently graduated Genin had landed a fatal blow on an elite ANBU member like himself.
Until his final breath, he couldn't fathom it: the eyes glaring at him were not ordinary Sharingan. They were white — a strange fusion of the Hyūga's Byakugan and Uchiha's Sharingan, each iris swirling with three tomoe. Something that didn't exist in Konoha's records.
Shigure's technique had struck the perfect point. He had channeled chakra with Jūken precision, striking directly at the heart's tenketsu. Though Gentle Fist was a Hyūga style, Shigure's mastery of chakra control and ocular clarity had allowed him to mimic the attack after seeing it once — an echo of how Kakashi once mimicked a thousand jutsu with his Sharingan.
The ANBU crumpled, lifeless.
Cape, and Ei — fellow Uchiha — stood frozen.
"He… he killed an ANBU!" Uchiha Ei stepped back, his voice trembling.
"That was a Konoha ANBU unit member! What are you thinking!?" Cape's shout cracked with panic.
"How the hell did he do that?! He's fresh out of the Academy!" Toyoshi muttered, sweat beading on his brow.
The ANBU were considered elite — even Jōnin had difficulty confronting them head-on. But this wasn't some fluke. Shigure's movement, timing, and execution were all deliberate. They realized now that the boy in front of them wasn't just another Genin — he was something else entirely.
Uchiha Ei looked around in desperation. "Where are the others!? Where's backup?!"
But no response came. The silence that followed was more chilling than the fight.
Shigure's voice rang out coldly. "You've seen too much."
Three of his shadow clones appeared beside him in a puff of smoke. Each had identical eyes — the rare white Sharingan glowing with silent menace.
"Then you'll die here."
The clones exploded into motion, movements fluid and lethal. With the clarity granted by his dojutsu, Shigure read every twitch of his opponents' muscles, every shift in stance, predicting their reactions before they made them.