Chapter 28: I’m Not Good at Genjutsu, but My Sharingan Is a Higher Level Than Yours

The matches soon reached the final battle.

"Final match: Uchiha Reiji versus Uchiha Itachi."

Kakashi announced the matchup loudly.

The spectators immediately became excited.

"I didn’t expect the final match to be between two Uchiha!"

"The final battle is actually between two ten-year-old genius shinobi! I heard both of them passed the second stage individually, without teammates."

"The Uchiha clan really is impressive. No wonder they’re one of the great clans that have been passed down for a thousand years."

In their previous battles, both Reiji and Itachi had displayed their respective strengths.

One relied on powerful taijutsu to crush his opponents with overwhelming strength.

The other relied on genjutsu to defeat his opponents effortlessly.

What kind of sparks would fly when these two met?

It wasn’t only the ordinary spectators in the stands.

Shinobi from the various clans, and even the Uchiha themselves, were all eagerly awaiting the clash between the two.

"I was already wondering about this when they both graduated early. What would happen if they fought while their Sharingan were at the same level?"

"Reiji awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, and Itachi also had the Two-Tomoe Sharingan before. In terms of the Sharingan itself, there shouldn’t be much difference, right?"

"But Reiji specializes in taijutsu, while Itachi specializes in genjutsu. I wonder how they’ll fight each other."

The Uchiha shinobi happily waited for their clan’s two great geniuses to clash.

However—

Uchiha Itachi wasn’t nearly as confident as the spectators.

Instead, he stared solemnly at Reiji.

He knew very well that when it came to taijutsu, he was completely outmatched.

As for ninjutsu, Reiji had the huge advantage of being able to cast techniques without hand seals.

Even shurikenjutsu couldn’t distinguish between them, since both possessed the Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

Therefore—

If he wanted to win, he could only rely on his greatest specialty:

Genjutsu.

Fortunately, under the guidance of Shisui, a genius in genjutsu, Itachi’s mastery of genjutsu was far beyond that of ordinary shinobi.

The match began.

But Reiji had already lost most of his interest.

One reason was what had happened with Hyuga Genzo earlier.

The other—

His overall strength had finally reached the Jonin level!

After awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, the accompanying surge in chakra had directly pushed his overall strength past the threshold of Weak Jonin and into Mid-Level Jonin!

This was due both to the power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and to the accumulation he had built up after remaining at the Chunin level for two years.

With Jonin-level strength now, fighting Uchiha Itachi really wasn’t all that interesting anymore.

He would rather hurry home and see what new talent the system could analyze.

But—

Uchiha Itachi intended to take this battle very seriously.

Ever since he had lost to Reiji at the Ninja Academy, he had been thinking about defeating him.

When he awakened the One-Tomoe Sharingan, he had wanted to challenge Reiji again.

But by then, Reiji had already reached the Two-Tomoe stage.

When Itachi eventually awakened his own Two-Tomoe Sharingan, he had temporarily suppressed his desire to challenge Reiji.

And now—

The opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived!

"Uchiha Reiji, I can finally fight you at the same stage!"

Itachi said with utmost seriousness.

His Two-Tomoe Sharingan opened.

"Oh?"

Reiji’s interest rose slightly.

This guy really wants to defeat me at least once, huh?

Unfortunately, I’m going to disappoint you again today.

Reiji instantly rushed forward and punched Itachi in the abdomen.

But Itachi’s body suddenly disappeared.

It transformed into a flock of cawing crows.

"Just as I thought. A genjutsu?"

Reiji wasn’t surprised.

With Itachi’s combat intelligence, he naturally wouldn’t use his weakness to attack his opponent’s strength.

As the crows scattered through the air, a massive tree suddenly appeared behind Reiji.

Countless branches wrapped tightly around his body.

Itachi emerged from the tree, placing a kunai against Reiji’s neck.

"A shinobi’s battle should make full use of their strengths."

"Is that so?"

Reiji remained completely composed.

"I admit that I’m not particularly skilled in genjutsu. I’ve mastered some basic techniques, but compared to you, my genjutsu mastery is indeed lacking."

"But..."

"My Sharingan is already at the Three-Tomoe stage."

A mocking smile appeared on Reiji’s lips.

In an instant, he reflected the genjutsu.

Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change!

This was one of the techniques Uchiha Inabi had taught him.

By using the Sharingan, the caster could reverse and reflect the opponent’s genjutsu back onto them.

"This..."

Itachi’s vision suddenly twisted.

The scene before his eyes changed.

Now he was the one bound by the tree.

He immediately disturbed his chakra flow, attempting to break the genjutsu.

But he failed.

Itachi stared blankly at the two sets of Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Reiji’s eyes.

He upgraded again...

Why is he always one step ahead of me...?

Although Itachi’s mastery of genjutsu was superior, Reiji’s Three-Tomoe Sharingan possessed far greater ocular power than his own.

If he had known beforehand that Reiji had already reached the Three-Tomoe stage, he might not have been caught so easily by the reflected genjutsu.

But now—

It was too late.

"Match over. Winner: Uchiha Reiji."

Kakashi had seen through the entire genjutsu exchange with his own Sharingan and announced the final result with a sigh of emotion.

Ten years old, and already possessing the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

The younger generation really is frightening.

The spectators in the stands, however, were completely confused.

What happened?

Why did it suddenly end?

All they had seen was Uchiha Reiji placing a kunai against Uchiha Itachi’s neck.

Itachi hadn’t even resisted.

Then the referee immediately announced the result.

What the hell? Was this match rigged?!

It turned out that when one person used genjutsu to instantly defeat the other, there was still some entertainment value.

Just like Itachi’s earlier match.

But when both sides used genjutsu, the battle became completely incomprehensible.

Anyone without a certain level of genjutsu expertise had absolutely no idea what had happened.

Only after Kakashi explained the battle did the spectators finally understand the sequence of events.

Some people even cursed under their breath, complaining that this battle had been far less entertaining than Reiji’s earlier clash with Darui.

With the conclusion of the Chunin Exams, news of the various battles quickly spread throughout the shinobi world.

And Reiji became completely famous.

His name even reached the ears of the Fourth Raikage.

Rumor had it that the Fourth Raikage was so furious that he smashed his desk.

Uchiha Itachi, Darui, Hyuga Genzo, and the others who had distinguished themselves during the exams also became well known.

As Hiruzen had hoped, the Cloud Village had indeed suffered some embarrassment.

But the result wasn’t quite as simple as he had expected.

Anyone who wasn’t an idiot could tell that Darui was extremely powerful.

He had simply encountered someone even stronger:

Uchiha Reiji.

Back at Reiji’s home—

He ignored all the commotion outside and opened the system.

[Congratulations, host. Your overall strength has increased to Mid-Level Jonin.]

[The host’s overall strength has advanced by one stage. The system is analyzing a new talent...]

[Analyzing Hatake Kakashi’s talent... Analysis complete. Amplification complete. Congratulations, host, you have obtained a God-Level Lightning Release Talent!]