Chapter 29: Hyuga vs. Uchiha — Part 1

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Hyuga vs. Uchiha — Part 1

Hyuga Kagami was feeling quite confident at the moment.

In a setting like this, Shisui definitely wouldn’t use his Mangekyō Sharingan, nor would he use any dōjutsu associated with the Mangekyō.

That meant this fight would come down to the fundamentals!

Hyuga Kagami possessed greater chakra reserves than Shisui, and he also had the Tenseigan, which granted him extremely strong resistance to genjutsu. Whether it came down to taijutsu or ninjutsu, he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage at all.

Therefore, his chances of winning this battle were quite good.

Shisui slowly stepped onto the sparring platform and bowed to Hyuga Kagami.

"Senpai, I’ll do my best."

"Begin!"

The referee below the platform gave the signal at just the right moment.

The instant the referee’s words fell, both Hyuga Kagami and Shisui entered their battle stances.

Shisui was the first to make a move.

In less than two seconds, he fired off more than a dozen shuriken in rapid succession.

Clang...

Clang...

Clang...

The dozen or so shuriken collided with one another in midair, altering each other’s trajectories. Some flew ahead, others lagged behind; some veered left, others right. Like a vast net spreading open, they descended upon Hyuga Kagami from every direction.

Although Kagami had already witnessed Itachi’s skill with ninja tools, Shisui’s display of shurikenjutsu still made his heart tighten.

Whether it was the angles or the amount of force behind each throw, everything was flawless. Even with the Tenseigan, Kagami couldn’t find a single opening. His only option was to intercept Shisui’s weapons with his own and create enough space to evade.

Casting aside his earlier complacency, Kagami immediately seized an opportunity and launched eight shuriken.

Clink-clink-clang-clang...!

In an instant, the sharp sounds of shuriken colliding and intercepting one another echoed throughout the entire examination grounds.

Watching the dazzling exchange of ninja tools on the platform, the chūnin below held their breaths in concentration.

Anyone who had made it this far in the examination could be considered highly skilled at ninja-tool throwing, so they naturally understood just how fierce the exchange taking place before them truly was.

Suddenly, Guy cried out from within the crowd.

"Look! The shuriken Kagami knocked away are moving again!"

Asuma’s expression darkened as he said in a grave voice, "Steel wires. Shisui connected those shuriken with specially treated steel wires. Unless you look very carefully, they’re practically impossible to notice!"

The waves of astonished cries from below didn’t affect Hyuga Kagami on the platform.

He had long known how formidable the Uchiha were when it came to ninja-tool throwing. How could he possibly fail to watch out for a follow-up attack?

That was why, when he counterattacked earlier, he had deliberately aimed some of his attacks at the steel wires connecting the shuriken.

However, those wires had clearly undergone special treatment. Not only were they incredibly tough, they didn’t reflect any light whatsoever. Even with the Tenseigan, Kagami couldn’t pick out every single one while everything was moving at such high speed.

Combined with Shisui’s masterful technique, despite all Kagami’s efforts, several of the wires still slipped past him.

And the consequence of that mistake was that he quickly fell into a disadvantage.

Part of the reason was that Kagami’s throwing skills simply weren’t good enough, but another part was his lack of preparation. After only a brief exchange, his ninja-tool pouch was already empty.

He had assumed Shisui couldn’t have many ninja tools left either.

But to his surprise, Shisui suddenly took out a scroll.

He unfurled it and lightly pressed a hand against its surface.

Poof!

Amid a cloud of smoke, countless shuriken burst forth.

Connected by steel wires, the shuriken danced up and down through the air as though they possessed minds of their own.

At first glance, even Kagami nearly thought Shisui was controlling all those shuriken with his thoughts!

Seeing this, only a single thought remained in his mind:

"You can use ninja tools like this!?"

Below the platform—

Asuma shook his head and sighed. "I’m afraid Kagami’s going to lose. This Shisui is even more troublesome than I expected!"

Guy, however, kept his eyes firmly locked on the two fighters on the platform. Without even turning his head, he said, "Don’t worry. This is just the warm-up. Kagami hasn’t gotten serious at all yet."

Just as Guy had said, once Hyuga Kagami fully realized that his dōjutsu alone couldn’t make up for the gap between their ninja-tool throwing skills, he decisively abandoned the exchange and charged straight at Shisui.

Taijutsu was where Hyuga Kagami truly held the advantage!

Seeing Kagami rushing toward him with such overwhelming momentum, Shisui lightly danced his fingers along the steel wires as though he were playing some famous melody.

Under his control, the countless shuriken circling around him immediately shot toward Hyuga Kagami.

"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"

After nearly several months of training, Kagami had become extremely proficient with the Revolving Heaven. He could now activate it practically anytime and anywhere, entirely at will.

Clang-clang-clang-clang...!

Countless shuriken slammed into the Revolving Heaven, producing a deafening series of impacts that made everyone’s eardrums ache.

The shuriken deflected by the Revolving Heaven were sent shooting wildly in every direction.

"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"

Quick to react, the Third Hokage immediately performed an Earth Style technique, raising four earthen walls along the edges of the sparring platform.

The walls barely managed to block the storm of shuriken that had been sent flying by Kagami’s Revolving Heaven.

The chūnin watching nearby hurriedly retreated more than thirty feet.

Among them, Asuma wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he muttered, "These two guys...!"

Guy, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. He laughed heartily.

"Getting to watch a fight this exciting is worth taking a little risk!"

On the platform—

Using the opening he’d created with the Revolving Heaven, Hyuga Kagami finally managed to close the distance between himself and Shisui.

Both palms struck out simultaneously as he surged forward like a tiger released from its cage, his momentum seemingly unstoppable!

Shisui showed no fear.

He immediately drew the short sword strapped to his back, while the three tomoe in his Sharingan spun continuously.

In an instant, the two clashed at close range and began competing purely in taijutsu.

Before long, one of the chūnin below exclaimed in confusion, "Why does their taijutsu look so... so strange?"

Many of the other chūnin watching the fight nodded in agreement.

The battle between Hyuga Kagami and Shisui did indeed look rather strange.

Their attacks would constantly come to abrupt stops midway through execution. A palm strike might suddenly be withdrawn halfway through, while a sword slash that had only just begun would abruptly change direction.

Even after exchanging blows for quite some time, neither of them had managed to complete more than a handful of attacks.

Most of the time, they were constantly shifting between initiating an attack, changing their move, and forcibly withdrawing it.

And because both of them could launch, alter, and retract their attacks at incredible speed, their taijutsu exchange looked exceedingly bizarre to the spectators.

Guy, who possessed a deep understanding of taijutsu, suddenly seemed like a completely different person. With an unusually serious expression, he explained,

"It’s prediction. They’re both constantly predicting each other’s attacks. That’s why their fight looks so strange."

Asuma said in disbelief, "They’re predicting and adjusting their moves this frequently!? Isn’t their perception a little too ridiculous? Are these two even human?"

Asuma seemed to have voiced what everyone present was thinking.

Almost simultaneously, the same thought arose in everyone’s minds:

"Can dōjutsu kekkei genkai ninja really get away with anything they want?"

The Third Hokage’s eyes flickered, his thoughts impossible to discern.

An ANBU standing beside him quietly asked, "Lord Hokage, are the two of them deliberately competing with their ocular prowess?"

The Third Hokage nodded.

He had been about to offer another explanation or two when the two fighters on the platform suddenly broke apart, each retreating to an opposite corner...