It's Over

Akira knew that Fugaku was not bluffing; he was a cautious ninja. Despite this, he believed he could outmaneuver him using his skills.

As a Jonin Ninja, he quickly assessed the situation and concluded that if the clan head proposed that he needed to create a situation for him to step out of the circle to achieve his victory, it meant that the clan head could only defend and would not attack.

As he contemplated his plan, he created some distance between them, and his eyes glowed red with three tomoes spinning in each pupil.

He locked his gaze on Fugaku and flung three shurikens at him. He knew these weapons were not deadly, easy to avoid, or deflect for skilled ninjas, but he used them as a feint, like a chess player who sacrifices a pawn to lure out a point piece.

He wanted to see how Fugaku would respond, but Akira's shuriken attacks were naughty as Fugaku caught them with his bare hands.

Akira was bewildered for a moment. How could he do that? He looked closer with his Sharingan eye and saw that Fugaku's hands looked like earth.

"So you have improved the Earth Style Rock Fist?" Akira mumbled.

Fugaku smirked at Akira. "Come on, show me what you've got. But don't waste time with these kids' toys."

Akira smirked, confident that his opponent had no choice but to defend. He formed a seal with two fingers on one hand.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

With a loud bang, he created three clones of himself that appeared. Creating less than four clones was a common practice among Konoha ninjas, even in other countries besides the Sand Village.

But creating more than four clones was forbidden by the Second Hokage, as it was categorized as a forbidden jutsu.

"Let's go!" Akira said to his clones.

They nodded and quickly dispersed in different directions, encircling Fugaku in the middle. They began to form hand seals at a rapid pace. Fugaku's eyes widened as he saw him in action.

"This kid, he's not messing around!" he thought. Sharigan assessed the patterns of hand seals and recognized them.

"Two fires, one wind, and one lightning? He has three elemental affinities. That's impressive!" He heard the clones attack him.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

"Lightning Style: Thunder Waves!"

The Fire Style "Hot Flames", Strong Wind Style justu, and Lightning Style current attributes engulfed Fugaku.

"You can't block all of them. If you try to dodge, you'll have to step out of that circle," Akira thought smugly as he curled his lips.

But then he noticed something was off. There was no sign of Fugaku's movement, and there was a blue glow in the circle's center.

"He didn't dodge? He didn't use any jutsu. How is that possible?" Akira was surprised. How did he counter his ninjutsu attack barrage?

"You have some decent punch, kid. Better than those rogue ninjas," Fugaku voiced his opinion as smoke cleared.

Akira attacked with his katana, but Fugaku again caught his blade with one hand.

"Your brother should have told you that I'm not that weak, right?"

He said that and threw a punch. The punch landed, and Akira vanished with a puff of smoke. As expected, it was a shadow clone.

"Shuriken and jutsu won't work, huh? Then I'll try that." Akira, who hated being stuck in a stalemate, quickly came up with a plan.

He reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out a smoke bomb, which he threw in front of Fugaku.

The smoke obscured Fugaku's vision. He couldn't see clearly, but he knew that Akira would have trouble seeing him too.

As the smoke billowed around them, obscuring their vision, both Akira and his two clones charged forward, their senses heightened as they moved to engage Fugaku in close combat.

Fugaku, an experienced Uchiha, was prepared for such tactics. He had faced numerous opponents in his time, and he had an array of skills and techniques at his disposal.

Fugaku activated his Sharingan, allowing him to see through the smoke with enhanced clarity. He could sense the movements of Akira and his clones, making it difficult for them to catch him off guard.

One of the clones swung a katana at Fugaku, but he swiftly dodged the attack, leaning backward to evade the blade. At the same time, the second clone attempted a swift kick, but Fugaku blocked it with his arm.

The smoke cleared, and his clones were gone. Fugaku had grabbed Akira's kunai with his left hand, and Akira's Sharingan eyes met his.

"You think you can defend with genjutsu?" Fugaku discouraged him. "It's futile…"

He punched Akira in the chest, sending him flying. Akira rolled on the ground twice, then propped himself up with his kunai and knelt on one knee. He didn't disperse like a clone because he was the real Akira.

"It's over!!"

Akira clutched his chest and grinned as he asked. "Is it? Then it's a draw, right?"

As he spoke, another shadow clone snuck up from behind Fugaku, aiming a fist at his back.

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He had a plan when he threw the smoke bomb. He split one of his clones and used the Earth-style mole technique to hide.

He thought that his surprise attack would force his opponent to either dodge or take a hit. Either way, he would have to step out of that circle.

But Fugaku didn't budge. He just smirked: "I told you, it's over."

As he spoke, Fugaku released his genjutsu. Akira realized that he was still kneeling on the ground, gasping for air. His chest felt like it was crushed, but there was no wound.

"Is that... Genjutsu?" Akira asked. "How can that be? When…?"

He looked at his clan head in disbelief. He had fallen for a genjutsu. When did that happen?

"Since the first time you tried to use Genjutsu on me..." Fugaku sounded indifferent, as if everything that happened was a trivial matter.

"First time?" Akira furrowed his brow and remembered the fight. He was shocked: "Could it be... when I threw my shuriken?"

Fugaku continued: "Yes, I didn't plan to use Genjutsu, but you threw your shuriken and created some distance. Then you activated your Sharingan and tried to use Genjutsu on me. You made a mistake."

With his Sharingan, Fugaku had never fallen for any Genjutsu.

Akira felt frustrated. The Sharingan was supposed to be the ultimate Genjutsu weapon, but he had been caught in one without even knowing it.

But he had to admit it, because they both had the three tomoe Sharingan but had a huge strength gap apart.

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