Chapter 561: Blue Flame Suppression
[I forgot to edit Keqiu to Yashiro last chapter, sorry]
In the clearing, Shisui and Obito stood side by side, facing fifteen Uchiha shinobi led by Uchiha Shin.
Of course, more than fifteen people opposed Shisui, but Shin also cared about saving face. There was no way he could bring every Uchiha shinobi dissatisfied with Shisui and mob him together.
Still, to avoid any accidents, while Shin did not bring everyone, he specifically selected fourteen of the Uchiha's elite shinobi.
Including himself, the fifteen-man group contained eight jonin, while the remaining seven chunin were all veteran fighters with extensive combat experience. Together, they formed an extremely powerful lineup.
Shin simply did not believe this force would fail to deal with Shisui.
"Shisui, you'll be treating me to breakfast tomorrow, right?" Obito asked casually, showing no trace of tension despite being outnumbered.
"I'll treat you to breakfast for the next year," Shisui replied without hesitation, directly raising the stakes.
If this let him smoothly push forward the Police Force reform, then forget one year, Shisui would gladly buy Obito breakfast for ten.
"I feel like we're being underestimated. Even a genius shouldn't have the confidence to beat this many of us," one of the Uchiha jonin said in annoyance, irritated by Obito's relaxed attitude.
Even within the Uchiha Clan, jonin were not common. He was no genius, but he had still been praised since childhood.
He did not think he could defeat Shisui or Obito one on one, but this was fifteen against two.
"Don't underestimate them. Go all out from the start," Shin warned.
He also did not believe Obito and Shisui could defeat eight jonin, but losing here would be too humiliating. To be safe, they had to use their full strength.
"Begin!" Uchiha Yashiro, acting as referee, announced once both sides were ready.
Fugaku, standing nearby, also narrowed his eyes and focused on the coming battle.
He understood Shisui well. Shisui would never issue such a challenge unless he was confident he could win.
That was exactly why Fugaku was so curious. Just how strong had Shisui become, to be this certain even against such numbers?
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Obito and Shisui formed hand seals at the same time and summoned Charizard and Zoroark.
Both contracted beasts had grown quite large by now, so neither had been brought to the clan meeting.
"These are the enemies we have to deal with?" Zoroark swept its gaze across the fifteen Uchiha arrayed before them.
It lived with Shisui and knew the general outline of his plan, so it had already prepared itself mentally for battle.
Charizard, recognizing that this was an actual fight, did not fool around with Obito. It quickly beat its wings and rose into the sky.
"They really contracted powerful ninja beasts." Fugaku's gaze sharpened slightly.
A strong ninja beast carried tremendous meaning for a shinobi, and good ones were not so easy to obtain.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Shin moved first, rapidly weaving signs and exhaling a massive fireball.
He was not the only one. Several other Uchiha followed with Great Fireball Jutsu, while those who did not use ninjutsu hurled ninja tools to seal off movement.
In an instant, several huge fireballs and a dense storm of blades and projectiles swallowed up Shisui, Obito, and Zoroark.
Charizard, having already taken to the air, was not targeted.
Attacking something flying overhead was far more difficult than attacking a target on the ground. Even without explicit coordination, the Uchiha had all tacitly chosen to eliminate Obito's group first.
Shisui gathered chakra while quietly giving Zoroark a signal with his eyes.
Zoroark instantly understood. It immediately released chakra and cast a genjutsu.
A vast tide of flames poured from Zoroark's mouth and rapidly spread into a surging sea of fire, as if it meant to engulf every incoming attack at once.
"What kind of ninja beast is that? It can use such powerful Fire Release?" Shin's pupils contracted in shock as he stared at Zoroark.
Only then did he understand why Shisui had been so confident about facing so many Uchiha shinobi with Obito by his side. It turned out Shisui had contracted an astonishingly powerful ninja beast.
"No, wait. If that beast is this strong, how can Shisui sustain the chakra cost of summoning it?" Shin's mind raced.
Yet no matter how unbelievable it felt, the reality was right in front of him, and he had no time to think deeply.
The surrounding Uchiha were also startled and instinctively retreated.
Then something even more unbelievable happened.
Normally, same-natured ninjutsu should cancel one another out. But the several giant fire dragons that emerged from the sea of flames ignored that rule entirely. They passed straight through the incoming Great Fireball Jutsu and continued charging toward Shin and the others.
"What kind of Fire Release is this?" Shin's brows furrowed deeply. For the first time in decades, he felt his combat experience wasn't enough.
Still, he didn't need to understand it to know the attack was dangerous. Seeing the fire dragons rushing straight at them, Shin immediately burst out with chakra and used the Body Flicker Technique to evade.
After all, no matter how powerful a ninjutsu was, it was useless if it missed.
The other Uchiha also dodged in a fluster, all avoiding Zoroark's "Fire Release."
With no one interfering, Shisui and Obito easily escaped the earlier bombardment.
Bang. Bang.
Shisui's Body Flicker was terrifyingly fast. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance and struck down two Uchiha chunin with a single blow each, sending them flying.
Among Mugetsu's disciples, if Yamato was excluded because he had trained under him for too short a time, then the weakest in taijutsu was Nagato. Yet even Nagato could completely overpower ordinary peers.
As for Shisui, his pure taijutsu could already be considered excellent even among Mugetsu's disciples.
[Wind Release: Air Blade!]
Charizard, circling high above, targeted several Uchiha near Obito and quickly launched multiple cutting wind blades.
With Charizard forcing them back, Obito focused his breathing and burst forward with his own strength, taking the opening and defeating three more Uchiha in succession.
"Huh? Why am I not hurt?"
One Uchiha chunin misjudged his dodge and was struck by the flames. Just as he thought he was about to suffer severe burns, he realized he was completely unharmed.
Shin immediately noticed this, and his expression changed sharply.
If his guess was correct, then the ability Zoroark had just displayed was no less terrifying than that overwhelming large-scale Fire Release.
Focusing chakra into his eyes, Shin activated his Sharingan.
The moment the blood-red tomoe spun into place, he inspected his own chakra flow and steadied it.
Then he looked toward Zoroark with a guarded expression.
It really was genjutsu.
Zoroark had cast a genjutsu on everyone present without anyone noticing.
Such a wide-range illusion was already abnormal enough, but what truly made Shin uneasy was that even he, an experienced three-tomoe Uchiha, had been fooled by it.
Fortunately, while Zoroark's genjutsu was monstrous, it still shared the usual weakness of large-scale illusions. Once discovered, it was comparatively easy to break.
"That fox-like ninja beast is using genjutsu!" Shin shouted at once, warning the others.
The Uchiha jonin who had already opened their eyes immediately used their Sharingan to inspect themselves and dispel the illusion.
Because the Sharingan consumed considerable chakra, Uchiha rarely activated it the instant a battle began.
Shisui had been the same. At the clan meeting, after displaying his eyes, he had shut them back down and quietly restored his chakra to keep himself at peak condition.
"It's a good thing I brought seven chunin," Shin thought with relief.
Zoroark's illusion had been terrifyingly difficult to notice. If the chunin had not been there to suffer losses first and buy time, then half of the seven jonin might have been taken out in that first exchange alone.
Once the illusion was broken, Shin's side had lost six chunin and one jonin, but they still retained seven jonin-level fighters.
"So that was genjutsu." Watching from the side, Yashiro looked stunned. Even he had not noticed a thing.
The surrounding Uchiha all inhaled sharply. None of them had felt even the slightest sign that they had fallen under an illusion.
Seeing Shin's break free, Shisui drove Flame Breathing to its absolute limit and entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, his aura surging upward in an instant.
In truth, Zoroark's abilities went far beyond this.
But Shisui wanted to personally defeat Shin's and make him submit.
This battle was not supposed to be a stage for Zoroark and Charizard.
It was a stage for him and Obito.
Seeing Shisui unveil his trump card, Obito did not hesitate for even a moment. He also focused his breathing and entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
Meanwhile, Charizard and Zoroark joined forces to hold down three jonin and one chunin.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Shin's rapidly formed a single Tiger seal and exhaled a huge orange-yellow fire dragon.
His mastery of Great Dragon Fire Jutsu was extremely high. It was one of his signature Fire Release techniques.
But Shisui was faster.
Once inside Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, Shisui no longer needed hand seals for Fire Release.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Bringing his hands together, Shisui released a crimson fire dragon even larger than Shin's.
Boom!
The two massive dragons collided, and blazing heat exploded outward in all directions, scorching the surrounding ground black.
As he watched the head of his own dragon being steadily devoured, cold sweat began to bead on Shin's forehead.
In a clash of the same nature, the loser looked the worst. And when it was the exact same technique, there was no excuse. It only meant one side was weaker.
"How is this possible? It hasn't even been that long. How did he improve this much?" Shin's heart began to shake.
Not that long ago, during their previous guidance match, Shisui's Fire Release had only been enough to cancel his out. How was he now being crushed outright?
This was not normal.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
At that moment, another Uchiha jonin rushed in and used Fire Release, helping Shin block the remnants of the crimson dragon before they could crash into them.
"You and I take Shisui down first!" Shin ordered immediately.
He had already lost to Shisui once in a sparring match, and that had been bad enough. If he lost again here, with this many witnesses and this kind of numerical advantage, he would truly have no excuse left.
The other jonin nodded at once.
He was not Shin's subordinate, but he also opposed Shisui and had no intention of losing here.
In his mind, Shin was their strongest fighter. Joining forces with him to eliminate Shisui first was the best way to break the deadlock.
"Don't close in. Use ninjutsu," Shin said quickly.
He knew Shisui's taijutsu was terrifying and that he had mastered a secret art that perfectly complemented close combat. Even two against one, going in directly might still backfire.
Better to stay at range and grind down his chakra.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
The two of them formed seals at the same time and released their strongest Fire Release together.
Whoosh!
Shisui ignored the incoming fire dragon entirely and flashed straight toward Shin.
The gap between them shrank rapidly, while Shin's fire dragon closed in from the other side.
By the time it was only a decimeter away from him, Shisui finally moved.
The huge amount of chakra he had gathered beforehand erupted at once, and his Flame Breathing surged to its absolute limit.
"Azure Flame!"
Shisui opened his mouth and exhaled a narrow stream of azure fire, only as thick as an arm.
Compared to the two incoming fire dragons, it looked utterly insignificant.
Shin's fire dragon alone was more than three times larger than Shisui himself. In front of it, the blue flame seemed pitifully small.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The azure fire collided with the orange flames.
Then, in the very next instant, blue light flashed through the dragon. The entire attack was swallowed up by the azure fire and vanished in front of Shisui as if it had never existed at all.
Shin went blank. For a moment, he almost suspected it was genjutsu again.
But the honest sensation in his own body told him otherwise. His chakra was steady. He had not fallen under an illusion.
The distance was too short.
The failure of the ninjutsu clash came too suddenly.
And Shisui's Fire Release was too absurd.
By the time Shin and the other jonin thought to evade, the azure flames were already right before them.
In that instant, every memory of Shin's life flashed through his mind. His childhood, the Academy, graduation, becoming a shinobi, and eventually rising to become one of the Uchiha elders.
Fortunately, when the flames reached a point just seven centimeters from their bodies, Shisui forcibly dispersed them.
Shin staggered back two full steps and almost collapsed on the spot. He bent over, gasping, his forehead drenched in sweat, his shirt completely soaked through.
The other Uchiha jonin was no better. He looked like someone who had just escaped death by a hair.
Shisui himself also let out a long, heavy breath.
Although he had trained like mad for the past week, his proficiency with Azure Flame was still shallow. He was still far from true mastery.
He could not shape Azure Flame into countless forms like Mugetsu. He could not even properly compress it yet.
At his current level, he could only barely produce a small amount of high-temperature blue flame by consuming most of his chakra while in Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
That was why he had been trying to close the distance from the start. If he had stayed farther away, the range of the Azure Flame he released would not even have reached anyone.
Still, even at that level, Azure Flame had fully lived up to his expectations.
Even half-mastered, it was overbearing beyond reason.
It was the strongest Fire Release Shisui knew, and the gap between it and ordinary Fire Release was immense.
"What was that Fire Release?" Shin finally steadied himself and asked in a strained voice.
Shisui did not answer.
Azure Flame was a ninjutsu taught to him by Mugetsu. He was not about to reveal it casually.
"If it's you, then perhaps you really can lead the Uchiha back to greatness," Shin said after a moment, closing his Sharingan as he let out a tired sigh.
In that moment, Shin had seen the shadow of Uchiha Madara in Shisui.
Not in his character.
Not in his conduct.
But in that overwhelming, nearly invincible strength.
Shin suddenly felt that if Shisui continued down this path, he might really one day stand in the same realm as Madara.
"I will do my best," Shisui replied.
He did not dare claim he would definitely lead the Uchiha to greatness, but he would absolutely do everything in his power to make the clan better than it was now.
"That's enough." Shin gave a faint smile, then turned and slowly walked back toward the Naka Shrine.
There were still other Uchiha on the field who had not yet been defeated, but as far as he was concerned, the outcome had already been decided.
He had lost.
.....
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