Chapter 123: Tenseigan VS Mangekyō Sharingan

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Tenseigan VS Mangekyō Sharingan

"If it isn’t genjutsu, then why are my attacks having no effect?"

Holding Kusanagimaru in his hand, Hyuga Kagami fell into thought.

Kusanagimaru’s ability was specifically to suppress the healing of wounds. On top of that, Kagami had deliberately coated its blade with a paralytic toxin. Under normal circumstances, that strike just now should have been more than enough to kill Uchiha Shinichi several times over.

And yet, Shinichi had recovered in an instant.

There wasn’t even a scar left where the wound had been, nor were there any signs that he had used the forbidden technique, Izanagi.

Kagami carefully examined Shinichi once more.

Judging by the scent, he had already confirmed that the bloodstains inside the tree hollow earlier had indeed belonged to Uchiha Shinichi. And considering the sheer amount of blood that had been there, Shinichi should have been seriously injured right now.

But looking at him now, there wasn’t the slightest sign that he was wounded.

"No... his Mangekyō Sharingan’s ability isn’t rapid healing. It’s removing the state of being injured!"

Kagami’s eyes narrowed.

"No, that’s not quite right either... It isn’t removing the injury—it’s shifting it to a specific period of time!"

Putting together all the information he had gathered, along with what had happened during his sneak attack just now, a bold hypothesis began to form in Kagami’s mind.

Uchiha Shinichi spoke at that moment.

"See? You can’t beat me!"

Kagami probed him with a question. "This is the ability of your Mangekyō Sharingan, isn’t it? Are you removing the damage... or postponing it?"

Shinichi’s gaze sharpened, and his expression became slightly unnatural.

"As expected of someone who’s beaten me before. Your insight really is sharp. Looks like I’ll have no choice but to kill you today!"

Whoosh—

The moment the words left his mouth, Shinichi’s entire body blurred into an afterimage as he shot toward Kagami like an arrow released from its bow.

"So fast!"

Kagami cried out inwardly before raising his sword and meeting him head-on.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

For a time, the metallic clashes of blades striking against one another rang throughout the forest!

Even before awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Shinichi had already been a genuine Special Jōnin.

If the village higher-ups hadn’t deliberately been restricting the number of Jōnin within the Uchiha Clan, he could have even been promoted to Jōnin by now.

After all, even Shisui, who was hailed as the "Uchiha Clan’s Number One Genius," was currently only a Special Jōnin.

Before activating the Tenseigan, however, Hyuga Kagami had only been a Chūnin promoted during wartime. His actual strength had been little more than that of an experienced Genin.

In terms of natural talent, there was an enormous gulf between the two of them.

If neither of them had awakened their respective dōjutsu, then even a hundred Hyuga Kagamis with the Byakugan would not have been a match for a single Uchiha Shinichi with the three-tomoe Sharingan.

Therefore, when it came to fundamentals such as taijutsu and swordsmanship, Uchiha Shinichi, after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, was not actually that far behind Kagami, who had activated the Tenseigan.

"This guy’s swordsmanship is this sharp!?"

Beneath his ANBU mask, Kagami’s Tenseigan continuously tracked Shinichi’s every movement.

Yet even with the Tenseigan assisting him, Kagami could faintly feel himself struggling to keep up.

Only now did he realize that Shinichi had managed to defeat Root and ANBU’s pursuit not merely because of the bizarre dōjutsu granted by his Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Damn it! How can he possibly be this strong!?"

But just as Kagami was secretly astonished by Shinichi’s strength, enormous waves of shock were surging through Shinichi’s heart as well.

Ever since awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, Shinichi had stopped taking ordinary Jōnin seriously altogether.

Even against Jōnin of the Uchiha Clan, he could subdue them with ease.

And after wreaking havoc throughout Root’s base and slaughtering large numbers of Root and ANBU shinobi, Shinichi had grown so confident that he felt even the Third Hokage might no longer necessarily be his match.

Because of that, he had always believed that dealing with Hyuga Kagami, who was merely a Special Jōnin, should have been effortless—

as easy and natural as eating and drinking.

But at this very moment, Shinichi discovered that even when he pushed his Mangekyō Sharingan to its limit, he still found it difficult to completely track Kagami’s movements.

Naturally, he was utterly shocked!

Clang—!

After another clash of blades, the two simultaneously broke away from each other.

Both breathed lightly as they stared at their opponent, each searching for an opening.

Given Kagami’s usual personality, after confirming that there was no one else nearby, he would have simply entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode and ended the matter by cutting Uchiha Shinichi down with a single Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion.

However, Shinichi’s Mangekyō Sharingan ability was simply too bizarre.

It seemed capable of either removing the state of damage entirely or postponing it to another point in time.

That forced Kagami to proceed cautiously.

Shinichi glanced at the several fresh sword marks that had appeared on his clothes, then looked across at Kagami, who remained completely unscathed.

Immediately, humiliation turned to anger.

"Damn you! Don’t think this is everything my Mangekyō Sharingan is capable of!"

He roared,

"Today, I’ll show you exactly where the difference between the Byakugan and the Sharingan truly lies!"

Unlike Kagami, who was calmly weighing whether or not he should enter Tenseigan Chakra Mode, Shinichi’s composure immediately began to crumble after realizing that, despite possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan, he was actually at a disadvantage in close-quarters combat.

Following his furious roar, an enormous, dark-green Susanoo projected outward from Shinichi’s body!

Standing within the Susanoo, Shinichi looked coldly down at Kagami.

"Hyuga Kagami, you’re a worthy opponent...

"But this is where it ends!"

Kagami said nothing.

He merely observed Shinichi’s Susanoo in silence.

At this moment, Shinichi’s Susanoo was no longer the incomplete skeletal form Kakashi had seen earlier. Instead, it had taken the form of a relatively complete, upper-bodied warrior.

Protected by a Susanoo in this form, Shinichi could no longer be dealt with using Kagami’s conventional methods.

So there was no point in hesitating any longer.

Letting out a soft sigh, Kagami sheathed Kusanagimaru. Then, he raised both hands and slowly began forming hand seals.

Seeing this, Shinichi said indifferently,

"Kagami, don’t waste your effort. This technique of mine is called Susanoo. None of your attacks can do anything to it!"

The appearance of Susanoo had immediately restored Shinichi’s sense of superiority.

Deep down, however, he genuinely wanted to defeat Kagami in a fair fight.

It was only after discovering that he couldn’t beat Kagami through conventional means—and realizing that Kagami had already managed to glimpse part of the secret behind his Mangekyō Sharingan ability—that Shinichi had been forced to use Susanoo.

Whoosh—

The moment Kagami completed his hand seals, sky-blue Tenseigan chakra instantly enveloped his entire body, gently lifting him into the air.

"You...!?

"This...!?"

Staring at Kagami, who had entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode, Uchiha Shinichi was completely dumbfounded.

Kagami spoke calmly.

"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"

Following Kagami’s calm, almost chilling declaration, a dazzling golden sword more than ten meters long appeared in his hand.

This time, he had condensed only a single Truth-Seeking Ball.

Moreover, Kagami had deliberately suppressed the length of the golden sword.

As a result, this Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion extended only a little over ten meters...