Chapter 15 : Jiraiya!!

With a loud crash, the wall shattered as a fireball slammed into it.

"Uchiha Sogetsu, what do you think you're doing?!" Uchiha Fugaku shouted, his heart racing and his body tensing up. The shock made him nearly faint.

He could hardly imagine what would happen if that stone tablet got destroyed. The clan elders would tear him apart if they didn't get a chance to vent their rage!

In his mind, Fugaku saw his position as clan head slipping away.

"Lord Fugaku, there's someone behind that wall!" Sogetsu explained quickly, holding back Fugaku's anger. "This intruder is trespassing on Uchiha territory without permission. He might be one of Danzo's men!"

"What?!" Fugaku's eyes went wide at the mention of 'Danzo,' instantly focusing on the source of the commotion. The smoke from the shattered wall cleared enough for him to spot a glowing chakra presence within.

Meanwhile, Black Zetsu was in shock, too.

How did they find him? With his stealth abilities, even the legendary sages of the Three Great Sage Region wouldn't easily detect him. How did this Uchiha kid see through his disguise?

But before Black Zetsu could figure it out, Fugaku charged forward like a leopard, intent on capturing him alive. If this was indeed a spy sent by Danzo, and he got away, it could spell disaster for the Uchiha clan. Fugaku's immediate priority was containment, regardless of the stone tablet's fate.

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Fugaku was renowned for his fire techniques, and it showed. His version of the Dragon Fire Technique was far more potent than usual, turning a basic B-rank jutsu into something with the power of an A-rank.

BOOM! 

A giant fire dragon roared into life, the heat in the secret chamber soaring with its arrival. It surged forward with unstoppable momentum, striking the wall with intense force. 

The resulting explosion sent a shockwave through the room, powerful enough to push Sogetsu back several steps, the hair on his arms curling from the heat.

Black Zetsu didn't hesitate. Like a viscous blob, he slipped through the cracks in the wall, escaping into the shadows. It wasn't that he feared Fugaku and Sogetsu; he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve to evade capture. However, being discovered at this stage could ruin all his carefully laid plans.

Sogetsu had no intention of letting Black Zetsu get away. As he threw his shuriken, he shouted to Fugaku beside him, "Lord Fugaku, he's there!"

"Damn you, Uchiha brat!" Black Zetsu cursed angrily as he was intercepted again.

"You're not going anywhere!" Fugaku shouted, his anger boiling over as he stamped his foot hard on the ground.

**Boom!**

The burst of chakra shattered the floor like a spiderweb, debris scattering in all directions.

In an instant, Fugaku vanished, leaving behind only an afterimage and a shockwave that resembled a sonic boom.

**Boom!**

Fugaku's punch slammed into the wall where Black Zetsu was hiding, knocking him out. The Uchiha clan leader was not only skilled with ninjutsu but also formidable in taijutsu. 

Before Black Zetsu could react, Fugaku twisted in mid-air, delivering a sweeping right leg that whipped through the air with a loud whoosh.

"Konoha: Strong Tornado!"

The powerful kick struck Black Zetsu squarely in the face, sending him flying like a cannonball. He crashed heavily into another wall of the secret room.

Seeing his escape route, Black Zetsu turned into a pool of soft mud, attempting to slip through the wall's cracks.

"Lord Fugaku, he's getting out through the secret room!" Sogetsu shouted, not missing a beat.

Fugaku chased Black Zetsu, his chakra flowing freely. He unleashed a barrage of ninjutsu without hesitation, focused on stopping Black Zetsu's escape. He was relentless.

"If it wasn't for that annoying kid, I wouldn't be in this mess," Black Zetsu grumbled to himself as he ran, trying to escape from the barrage of attacks. 

But Fugaku's ferocity was unmatched. He unleashed wave after wave of Fire Release techniques, ensuring no place was safe for Black Zetsu to hide.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Fire Release: Storm Dance!"

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Jutsu!"

"Ahhh!" Black Zetsu screamed as he tried to escape the relentless onslaught of flames. But the intense heat and widespread fire left him with nowhere to hide. His whole body caught fire, and he could do nothing but flee in agony.

Black Zetsu had lived for thousands of years, and aside from those two ungrateful sons, he'd never hated anyone as much as he hated Uchiha Sogetsu. 

Rage and animosity burned in his eyes as he muttered under his breath, teeth clenched so hard they almost cracked: "Uchiha Sogetsu! When I return, I'll make Madara kill you!"

After what felt like an eternity, Black Zetsu finally broke through to the surface, escaping the underground. But just as he did, he heard Fugaku's furious voice behind him.

"Fire Release: Fire Extinguishing!"

The air filled with a violent surge of chakra, intensifying the already heated atmosphere. Fugaku's chest swelled to its limit as he gathered chakra in his throat, channeling it through his seals. 

The resulting burst of flame from his mouth lit up the night, the flames so intense that they created shockwaves across the flat terrain.

The massive wave of fire could be felt even from dozens of meters away. In the darkness of the night, half of the Uchiha clan could see the flames burning bright in the direction of the shrine, turning night into day.

"Uchiha Fugaku! Uchiha Sogetsu!" Black Zetsu was enveloped by the flames, his eyes filled with seething hatred. "I'll remember this. We'll settle the score later!"

The intense flames began to melt and crystallize the ground, but Black Zetsu's body sank into the burning earth, disappearing into the ground as if he were melting.

Fugaku's expression was grim as he stared at the spot where Black Zetsu had vanished. "He got away," he said, irritation evident in his voice. 

"I've never seen ninjutsu like that before. His chakra felt odd. Could he be one of Danzo's spies? No, it's very unlikely. Who would send someone like him to keep an eye on us?"

Sogetsu, standing nearby, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why couldn't it be Danzo's doing?"

Fugaku glanced at him with a serious look, his tone low. "Would you trust someone like that if you were the Third Hokage? Would you give someone like that to Danzo?"

Sogetsu nodded slowly, understanding the implication. Although Danzo and the Third Hokage seemed close, they likely had hidden agendas and might have been scheming against each other behind the scenes.

"Keep today's events under wraps for now. Don't let anyone find out."

Fugaku frowned, contemplating for a moment as he gazed at the moving figures in the distance. He turned back and warned, "If anyone asks, just say I'm conducting a training exercise with you."

"I understand, Lord Fugaku," Sogetsu replied with a nod. "Don't worry, I'll keep it secret."

Meanwhile, Black Zetsu, having narrowly escaped, was resting on a tree outside Konoha Village.

"Damn Uchiha Sogetsu! How dare he make me suffer such a heavy loss?" 

Black Zetsu clenched his teeth in frustration. "This guy can actually detect me. I can't allow him to live; I've got to get Madara to eliminate him as soon as possible!"

"Planning on killing someone, are we?"

A voice suddenly broke into Black Zetsu's thoughts, catching him off guard. How was this possible? Someone else was here? He quickly turned toward the sound.

Under the moonlight, a tall, muscular figure crouched above him. His wild mane of white hair flowed down like a lion's, and a scroll about half a man's height hung from his waist. The forehead protector bore the character for "oil."

"Just got back to the village and already bumping into strangers," the man said with a grin, rubbing his chin as he stared at Black Zetsu with curiosity. "Since we met by chance, why not come with me?"

Damn it, it's Jiraiya!

Black Zetsu silently cursed Sogetsu a hundred times over in his mind.

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