Chapter 30: Hyuga vs. Uchiha — Part 2

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Hyuga vs. Uchiha — Part 2

Such an intense contest of ocular power placed a considerable burden on both Hyuga Kagami and Shisui, so this bizarre form of close-quarters combat was impossible to sustain for long.

Kagami supported himself against the ground with one hand, breathing heavily.

At this point, his entire body was aching terribly, and even his calves had begun to tremble. If he hadn’t braced himself with one hand, he might not even have been able to keep himself steady.

This exchange wasn’t merely a contest of ocular power—it was also a contest of their control over their own bodies.

Every minute adjustment to their techniques, made within the tiniest fraction of an inch, placed an enormous strain on the muscle groups throughout their bodies. Kagami’s muscles had been under extreme tension every second of the fight.

As a result, even though their exchange had lasted only a short while, its intensity was comparable to an entire afternoon of sparring with Guy.

Shisui, on the other side, was in even worse shape.

His forehead was drenched in sweat, and he was panting heavily, looking thoroughly exhausted.

Previously, Shisui hadn’t paid much attention to Itachi’s praise of Hyuga Kagami.

It wasn’t because he was arrogant.

Rather, he genuinely possessed the qualifications to look down on the vast majority of the so-called "geniuses" in the village.

But after this exchange, he finally experienced firsthand just how powerful Kagami’s ocular prowess truly was.

Never had Shisui imagined that, after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, he would actually find himself at a slight disadvantage in a contest of perception.

Neither of them was in any hurry to get back up. Instead, as if by mutual understanding, they both took some time to rest.

A short while later, Kagami’s breathing had steadied. He was the first to rise to his feet.

"Let’s continue!"

Shisui still seemed somewhat winded, but he forced himself upright anyway and nodded with a solemn expression.

Kagami lowered his body slightly, then suddenly stomped down hard.

The two shuriken lying near his feet were jolted into the air. In one smooth motion, he caught one in each hand and immediately hurled them toward Shisui.

At the same time, his figure blurred as he followed closely behind the two shuriken, charging straight at Shisui.

Shisui had already suffered enough during their previous taijutsu exchange. There was no way he would dare let Kagami close the distance so easily again.

He immediately formed hand seals and shouted,

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

In an instant, a massive torrent of flame erupted from Shisui’s mouth, nearly engulfing the entire sparring platform.

Seeing the Great Fireball surging toward him and leaving him nowhere to evade, Kagami had no choice but to activate the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven once again.

For a moment, the entire sparring platform turned into a giant furnace—

a giant furnace with a fan inside it.

Kagami, spinning within the flames as he maintained Revolving Heaven, was like that fan, whipping Shisui’s Great Fireball Technique into complete chaos.

The chunin gathered around the training platform immediately descended into another round of frantic scrambling, desperately dodging the flames that scattered in every direction.

Even the Third Hokage was forced to retreat some distance.

On the platform, however, Kagami was having a rough time after taking the Great Fireball Technique head-on.

Revolving Heaven was primarily a defensive technique meant to counter physical attacks. Against ninjutsu, however, its effectiveness was greatly reduced.

Although Kagami had successfully blocked Shisui’s Great Fireball Technique, the amount of chakra he’d consumed was three—perhaps even four—times greater than Shisui’s.

Even though Kagami possessed greater chakra reserves than Shisui, there was no way he could afford to keep making exchanges at such a terrible ratio.

Fortunately, after enduring the Great Fireball Technique, Kagami had already managed to close the distance between them.

"Body Flicker Technique!"

Knowing full well just how terrifying Kagami was in close combat, Shisui ignored his body’s exhaustion and formed another set of hand seals, unleashing his trump card.

Following Shisui’s still-youthful shout, more than a dozen Shisuis suddenly appeared across the training platform, resembling Shadow Clones.

Kagami immediately halted his attack.

Beneath his goggles, his mesmerizing Tenseigan swept across the platform, attempting to locate Shisui’s true body.

Yet for some reason, every single Shisui on the platform seemed to be the real one, making it impossible for Kagami to distinguish the original at a glance.

Kagami didn’t know much about Shisui’s Body Flicker Technique, but he did know that Shisui would one day earn the title "Shisui of the Body Flicker."

If the words "Body Flicker" were enough to become his defining title, then there was undoubtedly far more to Shisui’s technique than met the eye.

At that moment, all dozen-plus Shisuis on the platform spoke simultaneously.

"Kagami-senpai, here I come!"

The voices came from every direction, making it impossible for Kagami to determine their source.

And the instant Shisui finished speaking, a storm of attacks descended upon him.

Surrounded and assaulted by more than a dozen Shisuis at once, Kagami was forced onto the defensive, desperately fending off attacks from every direction.

Not only was he thrown into a miserable state, but several blade wounds quickly appeared across his body.

Left with no other choice, Kagami once again unleashed Revolving Heaven, barely managing to withstand the relentless siege of Shisui’s Body Flicker Technique.

Having bought himself a brief moment to catch his breath, Kagami finally had the opportunity to carefully observe Shisui’s Body Flicker Technique.

Gradually, he began to see how it worked.

Shisui’s Body Flicker Technique seemed to use extremely high-speed movement to create afterimages, using a single real body to produce the illusion of more than a dozen real bodies, making it exceedingly difficult for an opponent to defend against.

And unlike Guy’s high-speed movement, Shisui’s Body Flicker Technique wasn’t purely taijutsu.

Much like the Hyuga clan’s Gentle Fist, it was a form of nintaijutsu that incorporated ninjutsu into physical movement. Although it required hand seals, its effects surpassed Guy’s pure high-speed movement—to the point that even Kagami, with his Tenseigan, had failed to see through it immediately.

But ultimately, Shisui’s Body Flicker Technique was still based on taijutsu.

And as long as it was taijutsu, aside from a handful of absurd forbidden techniques, Revolving Heaven could deal with most of it.

Having made up his mind, Kagami simply stopped attacking altogether and focused entirely on defense.

If Shisui wanted to compete in chakra reserves, Kagami certainly wasn’t afraid of him!

After blocking several more waves of Shisui’s attacks, Kagami wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead and said,

"If this is all you’ve got, your Body Flicker Technique won’t be able to do anything to me."

Shisui had clearly realized the same thing.

He decisively stopped using the Body Flicker Technique and, while breathing heavily, said,

"Senpai, I’m no match for you. I’ve lost this match."

Kagami froze.

He hadn’t expected Shisui to concede so easily.

Shisui smiled helplessly and explained,

"I’ve almost exhausted my chakra, but you still seem to have some strength left, Senpai. If we continue, there’s no doubt I’ll lose."

Gazing at the visibly exhausted Shisui, Kagami suddenly came to a realization.

Awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan had undoubtedly brought about a qualitative leap for Shisui, but that improvement was purely in terms of combat power.

Physically, not only had it failed to strengthen him, it had actually placed an even greater burden on his body. In that sense, it could even be considered a certain degree of weakening.

Coupled with the fact that Shisui was still young and his body had yet to fully mature, the Mangekyō Sharingan placed an even heavier strain on him.

At its core, the Mangekyō Sharingan was more akin to an abnormal mutation of a kekkei genkai, and was inherently unstable.

Before evolving into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, it was a double-edged sword for any shinobi. The more frequently it was used, the greater the damage it inflicted upon both the user’s eyesight and body.

This also explained why Danzo had dared to brazenly attack Shisui and steal his eye.

First, the physical burden imposed by the Mangekyō was far greater than that of an ordinary Sharingan. Because of this, Shisui would instinctively avoid using the Mangekyō whenever he entered battle.

Second, Danzo had acted in the name of the village, using that moral authority to suppress Shisui and leave him unwilling to deal a killing blow.

When all was said and done, as long as Shisui wasn’t willing to throw aside all restraint and kill freely, then to Danzo, he was merely an elite jonin who was somewhat more troublesome than usual.

But the moment Shisui abandoned all his reservations and unleashed everything at his disposal...

Forget Danzo.

Even the Third Hokage could potentially fall under his Kotoamatsukami—

and then be killed in an instant...