Fugaku was only fourteen, and while his skills were sharp, Jin’s strength and experience gave him an edge.

Jin seemed to realize this as he pressed his advantage, driving Fugaku back with powerful, well-aimed strikes. Fugaku’s defenses held, but he knew that if this close-quarters battle continued, he wouldn’t last long.

“If I can’t overpower him, I’ll outsmart him,” Fugaku thought. His strength lay not only in his Sharingan but also in his ability to think and adapt. As Jin advanced, Fugaku wove subtle illusions into their surroundings, crafting a convincing false landscape.

Leaves shook loose from the branches as they clashed, some of which were illusions Fugaku had added. The fake leaves blended so smoothly with the real ones that Jin didn’t notice. Fugaku knew Jin’s Sharingan had likely scanned the area at the start, so creating illusions directly on the trees would have seemed strange. But falling leaves in the heat of the battle would go unnoticed.

Insects scattered from the battlefield, though some were illusions made by Fugaku’s Sharingan. By subtly mixing illusions with real elements, he crafted a complex trap, designed to fool even a skilled Uchiha’s eyes.

Jin, unaware of the illusions, spoke between strikes. “You’ve come a long way, Fugaku. I didn’t think you’d improve this quickly after unlocking the three-tomoe Sharingan. Most people in Konoha don’t see your potential yet, but they won’t overlook you for much longer.”

Fugaku replied calmly, “You’re giving me too much credit, Jin. There are many in Konoha far stronger than I am.”

He was sincere. Despite his recent progress, Fugaku knew that some of Konoha’s true powerhouses—figures like the three legendary Sannin or Sakumo Hatake, known as the “White Fang”—had yet to reach their peak.

The two traded blows in fast, skillful hand-to-hand combat. As Uchiha, they both knew the clan’s techniques well, making it a test of pure skill. Without an advantage in ninjutsu or illusions, they were locked in a battle of taijutsu alone.

But Fugaku hadn’t stopped using illusions. Slowly, Jin’s Sharingan absorbed more of Fugaku’s subtle tricks. The ground around them grew littered with pits and marks, some real and some crafted by Fugaku’s illusions.

Jin noticed what he thought was a pit behind Fugaku’s right leg, seemingly unnoticed by him. Jin’s eyes gleamed with a plan; if he could push Fugaku into that hole, he’d have an opening to strike.

Seeing Jin’s intent, Fugaku used it against him, positioning the illusionary pit in Jin’s line of sight, drawing him in. As Jin lunged forward, Fugaku sidestepped, leaving Jin to strike at empty air.

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“Impressive,” Jin acknowledged, stepping back. But he didn’t realize he had already begun reacting to Fugaku’s illusions without realizing it.

Sensing the battle shifting in his favor, Fugaku pressed forward, guiding Jin toward another fake pit. This time, Fugaku pretended to dodge it, reinforcing the illusion’s believability.

Seeing another chance, Jin attacked, aiming to catch Fugaku off-balance. But Fugaku smoothly moved aside, making it seem like he was just barely avoiding another pit. Jin’s attacks grew fiercer as he tried to trap Fugaku.

Finally, Fugaku forced Jin into a real opening, catching him off-guard. Their kunai clashed, Jin’s strike barely missing as Fugaku’s blade sliced toward his chest. Jin blocked just in time, but the force threw him off-balance.

CLANG! The sound of metal rang out, followed by another rapid exchange. Realizing Fugaku had used illusions to mislead him, Jin retreated cautiously, re-evaluating the situation. But Fugaku’s trick had worked—Jin’s movements slowed, and the tide of the fight shifted.

In that moment, Fugaku seized the opportunity. Jin’s stance faltered, leaving a gap in his defense. He blocked one of Fugaku’s kunai near his ribs, but the other kunai hovered close to his leg, signaling the match’s end. If this had been a real battle, he’d have suffered a serious injury.

Jin exhaled, realizing he’d been ensnared in Fugaku’s illusion. “I lost,” he admitted calmly. Reflecting on the fight, it dawned on him. “From the start, you’d been setting up small illusions. The pits and leaves... all carefully laid out to trap me. My eagerness to win just made me fall into it.”

Fugaku nodded. “Yes. You didn’t see me as a true rival at the start, which let me build the illusion piece by piece. By the time you aimed to finish the fight, you were already caught in my trap.”

Jin chuckled to himself, realizing he’d come here planning to remind Fugaku not to get too wrapped up in his studies of sealing techniques—yet, in the end, he was the one who’d walked away with a lesson.

“It seems you’ve got a better understanding of the Sharingan than I do,” Jin admitted, shaking his head with a wry smile. “You pulled me right into your trap with just a few clever illusion. I didn’t even see it coming.”

Fugaku replied thoughtfully, “The Sharingan has many uses. It’s not just about copying jutsu or seeing through illusions; it can be applied in so many ways—genjutsu, taijutsu, ninjutsu. Each user finds their own unique way to use it.”

Jin scratched his head with a smile. “Maybe you’re right. Either way, your illusions are impressive. I underestimated you.” Realizing Fugaku had indeed been training hard, Jin no longer worried about his focus.

With Jin’s approval, Fugaku resumed his sealing experiments in the following days, testing his skills on larger animals like wild boars and a giant centipede. He noticed that the stronger a creature’s chakra, the harder it was to seal effectively. He could trap a creature temporarily, but more advanced techniques were needed to compress or expand objects within a seal’s space.

Some of the more powerful seals, like the Four-Symbol Seal used by the Fourth Hokage on Naruto, could create their own space between reality and the spiritual world. But these techniques were complex and required intense chakra control.

The Uchiha clan didn’t have such advanced sealing methods. What they did have was enough for basic containment, but Fugaku knew that mastering sealing would need much more study and practice.