The back mountain of the Hidden Leaf was massive; finding a single person in such a large expanse was no easy task. However, remembering that Itachi Uchiha usually trained by the small river in the back mountain, Jie Uchiha simply took little Sasuke by the hand and led him upstream along the riverbank.
If they found him, he would see what was going on. If not, he would just treat it as taking little Sasuke out for a stroll.
Not long after they set out, Jie heard the distant clank of clashing steel. Pulling little Sasuke behind a dense bush to hide, Jie peered through the foliage and spotted Itachi in the nearby forest. The metallic ringing was coming from Itachi sparring with a young man around fifteen or sixteen years old.
'Is this Shisui Uchiha? He looks decent enough, but it's a pity he's a traitor.'
A cold glint flashed in Jie's eyes. His gaze shifted, and an idea instantly formed in his mind. Instructing little Sasuke to stay hidden in the grass and keep absolutely quiet, Jie blurred into motion, instantly shifting his position before throwing a barrage of kunai.
"Who goes there? How dare you ambush members of the Uchiha clan!"
Jie shouted, striking first to seize the moral high ground. He was deliberately framing their friendly sparring session as an assassination attempt by Shisui against Itachi.
"Brother?"
"Young Clan Head!"
Itachi froze, immediately halting his movements.
Shisui reacted as if facing a mortal enemy. Deflecting the incoming kunai with a rapid swipe of his blade, he immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to vanish from his spot. He could clearly feel the lethal intent behind those weapons; Jie hadn't held back at all. The Young Clan Head was treating him as a genuine threat and aiming for a quick kill.
"Brother, you misunderstand, he is—" Itachi, sensing Jie's killing intent, hurriedly tried to explain.
"Enough, Itachi. Say no more," Jie interrupted, not letting him finish. "Hide further away. We'll talk after I finish off this spy."
Jie naturally knew exactly who Shisui was, which was why he had to shut Itachi down immediately. If the truth was exposed, what excuse would he have to attack?
"You have some nerve," Jie accused rapidly, his tone dripping with hostility. "Daring to impersonate an Uchiha within the village walls and attacking our own people!"
"Young Clan Head..." Shisui offered a bitter smile, frantically trying to defuse the situation.
But Jie had no intention of listening. He knew perfectly well that he was only here today to look for trouble.
"Save your words for after I capture you. Hatake Kenjutsu: Sword Draw - Modified!"
Without any discernible movement, the Sword of the Thunder God materialized in Jie's grip. The next second, he vanished. In his wake, a blinding white shockwave exploded outward, rapidly expanding right behind Shisui.
"Body Flicker Technique!"
Shisui's expression changed drastically. Subconsciously triggering his jutsu, he blinked out of existence, reappearing on the thick branch of a large tree nearby.
When he looked down at where he had just been standing, beads of cold sweat immediately formed on his forehead. Wherever the brilliant shockwave had passed, rows of massive trees had been cleanly sheared off at their bases. A deep gash scarred the earth, extending for dozens of meters and cleaving absolutely everything in its path in two.
'Is this the strength of the genius Young Clan Head? Isn't this a bit too excessive?!' Shisui thought, his heart racing.
He was renowned as "Shisui of the Body Flicker," possessing a mastery over the technique that others could only dream of. Because of this, Jie never actually expected a single strike to injure him.
"Hatake Kenjutsu: Thunder Slash - Second Stage!"
Jie's figure transformed into a streak of dark light, shooting fiercely toward Shisui's position.
Clang! Sparks flew as Shisui was violently knocked backward by the impact.
Shisui was also a recognized kenjutsu master within the Uchiha clan. Relying on the Uchiha Style Kenjutsu combined with his incredible Body Flicker Technique, he had carved out a terrifying reputation during the Third Shinobi World War. Facing Jie's onslaught now, he wasn't entirely defenseless.
"Young Clan Head, please, listen to my explanation!" Shisui pleaded as he skidded to a halt.
"There's nothing to explain. Surrender without a fight!" Jie sneered.
Shisui still hadn't figured out the situation. If Jie was actually willing to listen to reason, he would have stopped the moment Itachi opened his mouth.
"In that case, Young Clan Head, please forgive my rudeness!" Shisui sighed heavily. In a flash of crimson, the three tomoe of his Sharingan surfaced in his eyes. "Uchiha Style Kenjutsu: Gale Sword!"
"Hatake Kenjutsu: Wind Chaser - Second Stage!"
The figures of Jie and Shisui instantly blurred into two dark streaks. Accompanied by a frantic, ringing chorus of clashing steel, they rapidly shifted positions, ricocheting through the forest canopy. Both were pushing the absolute limits of speed. Their movements were so fast that even Itachi couldn't clearly track their exchanges without activating his own Sharingan.
As for little Sasuke, he couldn't see anything at all aside from the violent bursts of sparks showering from the trees.
"Nice sword skills," Jie smirked, creating some distance after a particularly heavy clash. "Let's see if you can block this next move. Hatake Kenjutsu: Thunder Slash - Second Stage - Modified!"
The white light lingering on the Sword of the Thunder God in Jie's hand intensified drastically, blindingly bright with faint, crackling arcs of lightning dancing across the blade.
Over the past three years, relying on the System's rewards and his own grueling training, Jie had pushed his mastery over the shape and nature transformations of Lightning Release chakra to the absolute limit. By weaving this advanced chakra control into the Hatake Kenjutsu, he had birthed entirely new variations.
Now was the perfect time to use Shisui as a test dummy for his results.
"Forgive me for offending you, Young Clan Head!" Shisui said, his pupils shrinking slightly. With a silent sigh, he instantly channeled a massive surge of chakra into his own blade. "Uchiha Style Kenjutsu: Halo Dance!".
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