Chapter 27: Yusuke vs. Shisui
"The battle begins now! Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
As soon as the match began, Shisui swiftly formed hand seals and launched a massive fireball toward Yusuke, using it as a means of tactical suppression.
"Blaze Style: Flame Reversal."
In response, Yusuke formed his own hand seals. Like a whale inhaling water, the great fireball Shisui had spat out was sucked entirely into a sigil formed in Yusuke's hand.
Moments later, Yusuke opened his mouth and expelled a massive crimson-gold fireball toward Shisui. It was visibly larger than Shisui's and radiated far more heat. Wherever it touched the ground, the terrain blackened and sunk into scorched ash.
Realizing the intensity of Yusuke's Blaze Style technique, Shisui quickly leapt back and into the air, narrowly dodging the oncoming blaze.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire!"
While airborne, Shisui unleashed a barrage of flaming, spinning shuriken toward Yusuke. But it didn't end there—he quickly followed up with Genjutsu, multiplying the number of projectiles severalfold and rendering the real ones indistinguishable from illusions.
Faced with a wave of fiery shuriken filling the sky, Yusuke knew the best approach was to eliminate them all at once. His hands blurred through a sequence of seals, casting a jutsu no one had seen before.
"Blaze Style: Scorching Wind."
A massive crimson whirlwind formed in front of Yusuke, surging toward both Shisui and the shuriken. Any shuriken caught in the wind were instantly drawn in and incinerated. The ones that remained were illusions—lacking substance or lethality.
The display left the spectators in the arena stunned.
"Unbelievable... I didn't know Uchiha Yusuke had such mastery over Ninjutsu—he's even wielding Blaze Style," Asuma said, eyes wide.
"Indeed," added Genma Shiranui. "His control over fire-nature chakra has always been exceptional, but somehow he's even achieved a change in chakra nature to unlock Blaze Style. He was originally a Ninjutsu specialist."
"It was during that battle with one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Kurosuki Raiga, that he first revealed his flame-based sword technique. Ever since, his moniker 'Blazing Blade' began to spread."
"Wait a sec," Guy interrupted. "Isn't every member of the Seven Swordsmen supposed to have a name related to fruit or nuts? Kurosuki Raiga doesn't really fit."
Everyone blinked at the sudden change in topic. No one had expected Guy's attention to fixate on something like that.
Kakashi let out a sigh and rubbed his temple.
Back in the arena, the crimson whirlwind swallowed up what looked like Shisui's body, prompting gasps from the audience. But naturally, it wasn't his real body.
Shisui had already used Body Flicker Technique to reappear behind Yusuke, drawing his katana in a sudden strike toward his back.
But Yusuke, alert as ever, swiftly turned to meet the attack. A gleaming katana appeared in his hand, parrying the blow. It was none other than Ryūjin Jakka, still in its sealed form.
Their blades locked, the two Uchiha met each other's gaze. Shisui's eyes were burning with fierce determination, while Yusuke's remained calm—detached, even.
Shisui suddenly broke the lock with a forceful swing, using the recoil to leap backward.
"Uchiha Style: Blazing Sword Leap!"
Flames erupted along Shisui's katana, forming a fiery arc that he slashed toward Yusuke.
Yusuke raised a brow—it was the first time someone had attacked him with a flaming blade. He sidestepped the strike and responded in kind.
"All things in the universe… to ash."
With those words, Yusuke unleashed the Shikai of Ryūjin Jakka.
Just then, Shisui performed another hand seal with his left hand and vanished again, appearing right in front of Yusuke to unleash another assault.
"Uchiha Style: Whirlwind Blade!"
Shisui's blade danced, sending out four massive arcs of fire. Oddly enough, Yusuke noticed there was nothing particularly "whirlwind-like" about this move.
A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
There's no way Shisui's flames can match Ryūjin Jakka—not even close, he thought.
With a single horizontal swing, Yusuke released a red blade of fire that swept away all four of Shisui's fire arcs like they were nothing.
"As expected from someone called 'Blazing Blade'—when it comes to combining fire and swordsmanship, Shisui doesn't stand a chance," Asuma commented. The nearby shinobi nodded in agreement.
"But Shisui isn't known for his Fire Style," Kurenai pointed out. "His title is 'Shisui of the Body Flicker.' I'd say the real battle hasn't even started yet."
Seeing Kurenai speak up, Asuma eagerly nodded in agreement. "Well said!"
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On the training field, Shisui frowned slightly as he watched the blazing flames engulfing the longsword in Yusuke's hand. He quickly realized that the principles behind Yusuke's flame technique were fundamentally different from his own—both in origin and in sheer intensity.
"As expected… I can't defeat you without using my Body Flicker Secret Technique," Shisui said calmly.
Even now, he didn't regard Yusuke as an equal. To Shisui, the Body Flicker was more than enough to handle this opponent—and that wasn't even considering his hidden trump card: the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Perfect. I've always wanted to see for myself just how powerful the famed 'Shisui of the Body Flicker' really is," Yusuke replied evenly.
The moment Yusuke's words fell, Shisui's figure blurred and vanished. As he moved, afterimages of him materialized with each instant, indistinguishable from the real body. It became impossible to tell which was the original.
Every single one of these afterimages was both real and fake—Shisui's true body could flicker to any of them in an instant to strike or evade. At the same time, he could teleport between them seamlessly if under threat.
When sixteen identical illusions had filled the battlefield, even Yusuke was impressed. Against ordinary shinobi, this move would be utterly overwhelming.
Facing Shisui's incoming swarm, Yusuke didn't retreat. Instead, he advanced with Ryūjin Jakka in hand, the crimson flames trailing behind it like streaming banners of fire.
It was the same move he had once used against Uchiha Obito.
But Shisui was far more experienced in combat than Obito had been.
He immediately noticed the troublesome nature of those flaming trails lingering in the air. If he accidentally teleported his real body into one of them—even brushing against a stray ember—it could ignite instantly, given the power behind Yusuke's fire release... or perhaps it was something more, like Blaze Release.
Sixteen afterimages surrounded Yusuke, but no matter where they moved, Yusuke would always anticipate their positioning, slashing arcs of fire to hem them in.
By observing which illusions passed harmlessly through the fire trails, Yusuke was able to quickly eliminate them as decoys and narrow down the possible location of the real Shisui.
On the battlefield, Yusuke's wide, sweeping strikes painted the air with glowing crimson patterns—like fiery ribbons twisting through the sky. The sight was breathtaking.
Shisui, meanwhile, found himself unable to unleash the full potential of his Body Flicker Technique. He was forced to dart only between the few afterimages that hadn't been touched by fire, turning what should have been a relentless offense into a defensive dance.
Shisui increased the chakra flow into his technique, speeding up the movement of his clones to dodge Yusuke's flame strikes, while also launching counterattacks with his katana.
Yusuke tried to maximize his offense, but even he couldn't cover every angle—openings remained, and Shisui seized those chances to strike back.
"Blaze Release: Flame Shift Technique."
Yusuke formed hand seals with his left hand, activating a technique that allowed him to teleport instantly to any spot touched by Ryūjin Jakka's flames.
From the stands, the audience could hardly keep up. The training field was a chaos of Shisui's dazzling illusions, weaving between streaks of crimson light. Yusuke moved ghostlike through the fire trails, sealing off paths and looking for openings to land a decisive blow.
Genma Shiranui swallowed hard. "These two… are seriously on another level. That Shisui kid's only twelve, right?"
"And Yusuke's improvement is insane. If he'd had this kind of power when we faced the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, maybe Duy-sensei wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself." Genma sighed and shook his head.
Might Guy stood quietly beside him, saying nothing.
Asuma nudged Kakashi with his elbow. "You're not hiding your real strength too, are you?"
Kakashi shook his head. "At this point, I don't think I can beat either of them. But if we were enemies on the battlefield, I'm confident I could at least stall one of them."
If Yusuke had heard that, he definitely would've muttered under his breath about Kakashi officially embracing his identity as a "50-50 ninja."
Meanwhile, in another section of the audience, the Hyūga clan leaders—Hiashi and Hizashi—activated their Byakugan, observing the fight from afar.
"Brother, I can't tell where Shisui's real body is, even with the Byakugan," Hizashi said with a frown.
Hiashi replied solemnly, "Indeed. Whatever secret technique he's using, each illusion appears to be completely genuine. Even the Byakugan can't distinguish them… A truly troublesome jutsu."
His expression darkened. "The Uchiha clan really is the most elite since the Warring States Era. As a fellow top-tier clan, it's a disgrace that we Hyūga haven't produced any geniuses on their level in recent years."
"Also—pay close attention to Uchiha Yusuke's chakra…"
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