Fugaku's near-roaring obsession struck Mikoto Uchiha's heart like a heavy hammer.
She sat silently by Fugaku's bedside, her fingertips trembling slightly.
Brother Fugaku had never lost control like this before.
Since childhood, he had been the symbol of the perfect Uchiha - steady, talented, restrained, and proud.
But today, he had collapsed under the gaze of the clan.
And the first words he spoke upon waking were not about his injuries, nor resentment, nor denial...
But about the Uchiha.
The clan above all.
Honor above the individual.
Mikoto closed her eyes, her chest feeling tight.
Just then, restless murmurs suddenly arose from the square outside.
The third round match list had been announced!
The projection screen above the venue lit up, revealing a line of names:
Uchiha Mikoto VS Aburame Shibi
Kushina stared in shock: "Aburame Shibi? Not Shibi Aburame?"
Minato Namikaze explained beside her: "They're not the same person."
"Aburame Shibi is one of the three special participating chunin," he pointed to the note below the screen. "He's from the same year as Arashi, who I faced in my first match. They're all one year ahead of us, with more mature skills."
Aburame Shibi was Aburame Torune's father.
He specialized in poison bugs and nano-bugs.
Shibi Aburame was Aburame Shino's father, and was Minato and Kushina's classmate.
Kushina's jaw dropped further: "Mikoto is facing a chunin!?"
Minato nodded: "This match... will be very difficult for Mikoto."
Kushina gripped the railing: "How could this happen!?"
She turned to look toward Mikoto.
Uchiha Mikoto stood at the competitor's entrance,
Her slender figure like a bamboo stalk trembling slightly in the wind.
But the next moment, she raised her head, a flash of determination in her eyes.
Uchiha Mikito stepped lightly onto the competition stage, her red clan robes swaying gently in the light.
Her pace was neither hurried nor slow, but steady like an unsheathed blade.
Opposite her, Aburame Shibi appeared as well.
He was completely wrapped in black ninja attire, with only a pair of cold eyes visible - ruthless, unfluctuating, unmoving.
On the main platform, Danzo's lips curved into a sinister smile.
This was one of his Root's ace operatives, specially placed in the Uchiha matches.
Because the mission he received was not ordinary participation.
But a secret assassination order from Root.
"The Uchiha cannot grow a second sun."
"That girl... eliminate her quickly."
Members of Root never had the freedom to refuse.
So he had to kill Uchiha Mikoto.
During the match, before the audience, using his special nano poison bugs.
The Aburame clan had two lineages within the clan.
Aburame Shibi's lineage possessed special abilities within the clan.
His body hosted highly toxic nano-level poison bugs, and he had immunity to their toxins.
If others were infected with this toxin, they would die from cellular destruction.
These poison bugs could only exist within living cells, reproducing by destroying cells. Once the host died, the bugs would perish as well.
In the original work, Aburame Shibi opposed his son joining Root precisely because he would rather remain in Root himself than let his son follow the same path.
A pity for this branch of the Aburame clan...
"Uchiha Fugaku was just defeated by that Might Duy."
"This time they're sending a woman?"
"Though I heard she awakened some Sunlight power... Could the Uchiha have a female clan head? Ridiculous."
These biting taunts echoed across the arena.
Yet at that moment, Uchiha Mikoto raised her head, her phoenix-like eyes sweeping across the crowd.
Her voice was calm yet carried undeniable authority: "Silence."
Just two words.
BOOM!!
As she spoke,
The Chakra Air on the stage suddenly ignited into boiling turbulence!
A golden line gleamed between Uchiha Mikoto's eyebrows,
A miniature sun slowly materialized at the center of her forehead.
Blazing, dazzling, impossible to look upon directly!
Instantly, the stage temperature skyrocketed,
The stone floor seemed to scorch hot, the air distorting into crimson gold.
Chaos erupted in the spectator stands: "Such... such powerful Sun Power!"
"This energy... feels purer than even Fugaku's!"
Amid the exclamations, Vulpix gracefully leaped onto the stage's edge, its tails burning with orange-gold flames as if raising a battle standard for its master.
Shibi's eyebrow twitched slightly, but he showed no panic.
A true assassin's heartbeat never fluctuates.
Yet even so,
He still lifted his Bug Pouch slightly, the prepared assassination Nano-bugs ready to eliminate Uchiha Mikoto.
In the spectator stands, Hiruzen glanced at Danzo.
Danzo: "Hiruzen, why are you looking at me?"
Hiruzen: "Heh, nothing. The sun's just particularly bright today."
Danzo: "Heh."
Uchiha Mikoto slowly raised her hand, palm cradling that golden Sunlight.
As if holding the sun itself.
Her voice wasn't loud, yet it resonated clearly through the entire venue:
"My name is Uchiha Mikoto."
"Uchiha Fugaku's fiancée."
Many Uchiha clansmen held their breath nervously, clenching their fists.
Mikoto paused, then a faint smile touched her lips: "But in the future."
She scanned the audience with domineering presence: "I want you all to understand the Uchiha clan's honor."
She raised her hand.
The sun ascended!
Golden light flooded the stage, blinding all spectators.
"Just like this sun—it will never fall."
"Never inferior to anyone."
"And will never be insulted!"
Instantly, all Uchiha clansmen felt their blood surge with passion!
The elders in the clan head seating area flushed with excitement!
Even the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki Kushina and Minato stood stunned!
At the stage center, Uchiha Mikoto slowly lowered her hand, the Sunlight still burning fiercely between her brows.
She stood firm and unwavering, like the sun descended to earth.
Meanwhile, outside the stage, in shadowy corners unnoticed by anyone,
A viscous, writhing white lifeform clung silently to the wall.
It was White Zetsu's clone.
Its face remained blurred, but at the center of its forehead rested a bizarre eyeball.
Not White Zetsu's own eye,
But a live organ formed from condensed Chakra.
The eye quivered slightly.
The next moment, the image traveled through the Land of Rain's underground network,
Transmitting deep into a sealed, dark cavern.
Beneath the Gedō Mazō,
Uchiha Madara sat among countless tubes and Chakra vessels, eyelids half-lowered, his aura noticeably younger and more powerful than before.
As the image entered his vision, Madara's previously deathly still face gradually broke into a smile.
The smile carried scrutiny, even a hint of admiration.
"Heh... an interesting girl."
He stared at the Sunlight on Mikoto Uchiha's forehead,
at her overwhelmingly dominant presence throughout the arena, at her fearless disregard for mockery—even her audacity to silence the entire crowd.
Madara let out a low chuckle:
"Far stronger than Fugaku. At the very least... she resembles the Uchiha clan leader much more."
As he laughed, Drampa beside him exhaled a puff of white smoke, nodding like a benevolent elder.
"As for Fugaku, he's utterly unworthy of the girl."
Drampa merely smiled, offering no rebuttal.