Chapter 26 — Fierce Battle with Uchiha Shisui!
Rin's gaze lingered on Obuya, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the small flag she held.
She had already prepared herself for what she expected to see—tension in his posture, a tightening of his jaw, perhaps even a trace of unease hidden in his eyes. After all, standing across from Uchiha Shisui was no ordinary matter. Among genin, his name alone carried an invisible pressure, one that could make even seasoned fighters hesitate.
Yet Obuya stood there like still water beneath a windless sky.
His breathing remained steady, his shoulders loose, his stance unforced. There was no stiffness in his frame, no flicker of doubt in his gaze. If anything, he appeared almost… at ease.
This was not ignorance, but confidence born from calculation.
Before stepping onto the field, Obuya had already evaluated the gap between them. Against Shisui, his chances of victory had been less than twenty percent. That was the cold, rational conclusion he had reached.
But now—
With Cardiac Shock elevated to Stage 4, the surge of refined power coursing through his body had shifted the balance. His chances had risen by at least another thirty percent.
Victory was still uncertain.
But defeat would no longer come easily.
"Go all out," Minato Namikaze said warmly from the sidelines, his voice steady yet encouraging. "I may not be one of the official judges, but judging from your performance against Hyūga Tokuma, you already possess strength comparable to a Chūnin. I'd say you have at least a seventy percent chance of advancing."
Obuya gave a small nod in acknowledgment.
Without another word, he pushed off the platform and leapt cleanly back into the arena.
"Obuya, you can do it!"
Rin's voice rang out behind him, bright and unwavering. She waved her small flag with exaggerated enthusiasm—where she had gotten it from was anyone's guess, but in that moment, it seemed entirely fitting.
Moments later, Uchiha Shisui stepped onto the field once more.
A gentle smile rested on his face, soft and almost apologetic, as though he were about to inconvenience someone rather than engage in battle. He walked forward at an unhurried pace, stopping roughly a hundred paces from Obuya. His movements were light, relaxed—completely devoid of tension.
It was the posture of someone who had never truly been forced into desperation.
"Shisui's back."
"I wonder if Obuya can repeat his performance from the last match."
"Repeat? Tokuma didn't even use his final move. And that last attack Obuya used… it felt a bit too tricky."
"That's nonsense. Ninja fight to win. On a real battlefield, survival is the only thing that matters. No one cares how you achieve it."
The murmurs ebbed and flowed across the stands, a mix of admiration, doubt, and speculation.
Then Shisui spoke.
His voice was soft, but it carried effortlessly through the noise, cutting cleanly across the arena.
"Your Kekkei Genkai is quite unusual," he said, his tone calm and sincere. "In this match, I will hold back. I will do my best not to injure you."
At first glance, the words sounded arrogant.
But when Obuya met his eyes, there was no trace of mockery within them—only quiet certainty.
Perhaps that was the reason Shisui had never tasted defeat. In his world, victory was not something to be chased—it was something already decided. The only variable was how it would be achieved.
Obuya's lips curved faintly.
"There's no need to hold back," he replied evenly. "Inside my barrier, no one can truly die. And I won't restrain myself either. Even if I kill you… I can bring you back."
He raised his right hand slowly, palm facing downward.
In the next instant—
The Surgical Barrier activated.
A vast semicircular dome of light expanded outward with a low hum, distorting the air as it spread. The shimmering field swallowed nearly two-thirds of the arena in a single sweep, enclosing the battlefield within a faintly warped space that felt subtly detached from reality.
The moment the barrier settled, an invisible pressure descended.
Shisui's expression shifted—just slightly.
"A curious barrier," he remarked, his gaze sweeping across the luminous boundary. "But this level of suppression… won't affect me much."
Obuya remained silent.
"Are you ready?" Shisui asked calmly. "I'm about to move."
Among shinobi, announcing an attack before initiating it was a sign of respect—a final courtesy before combat truly began.
"Begin," Obuya said. "Let me see your genjutsu."
His tone was steady, almost fearless.
But within, his mind was already racing.
That genjutsu earlier consumed a significant amount of ocular power. He won't use it immediately. He'll test me first.
Shisui formed a single hand seal.
And vanished.
Obuya's pupils shrank instantly.
"Instant Movement…"
The technique that would one day earn him the title "Shunshin no Shisui."
Against such speed, traditional defense was meaningless. One could not block what one could not perceive.
So Obuya chose a different approach.
If he could not defend—
He would make contact itself dangerous.
In the span of a heartbeat, lightning erupted from his body.
Violent electric currents burst outward, crackling in sharp, explosive arcs. Brilliant blue light enveloped him completely, wrapping around his frame like a living armor. The air trembled under the intensity, and even his hair lifted, flickering with electric glow.
At Stage 3, he could only reinforce parts of his body.
But now—
Stage 4 allowed full-body manifestation.
Just as the electrical armor stabilized—
A gust of wind tore past his ear.
A fist, moving faster than the eye could track, slammed into his abdomen.
The impact detonated like thunder.
But the scream that followed—
did not belong to Obuya.
"Ah—!"
The moment Shisui's fist made contact, the ultra-condensed lightning surged violently through his arm. The current traveled instantly, flooding his nerves with destructive energy.
Obuya was blasted backward by the sheer force, his body slamming into the arena wall with a deafening crash. Stone cracked and splintered beneath the impact, spiderweb fractures spreading outward.
Shisui, however, staggered where he stood.
Electric arcs danced wildly along his right arm, the limb hanging limp at his side. The nerves had been overwhelmed, temporarily paralyzed by the high-frequency current.
The arena erupted.
"Obuya… he was still hiding that kind of power?!"
Rin, Obito, and Kakashi stared in disbelief, their expressions frozen in shock.
"His Kekkei Genkai… has evolved," Minato murmured, his gaze sharpening as he observed Obuya's condition against the wall.
"To think even Shisui's Instant Movement would meet resistance…"
On the elevated platform, a middle-aged man clad in Uchiha attire watched the scene with composed interest.
"It seems even Shisui can be caught off guard."
Beside him, a small child tugged at his sleeve, eyes wide with curiosity.
"Father, who will win?"
The man smiled faintly, resting a hand on the boy's head.
"What makes Shisui truly invincible," he said softly, "is not his speed… but his Sharingan. This battle has only just begun."
Back in the arena, Obuya pushed himself up from the shattered wall, wiping a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth.
The impact still lingered in his ribs, a dull, throbbing pain spreading with each breath. Shisui's speed—and the force behind that strike—were no exaggeration.
But—
His counterattack had landed cleanly.
Electricity gathered once more in his palms.
He brought his hands together.
The currents collided violently, compressing into a dense sphere of crackling blue-white energy. The air around it warped under the heat and pressure, emitting a sharp, piercing hum.
Then—
He thrust it forward.
Mid-flight, the sphere stretched and twisted, reshaping into a chained lightning construct—a beast-like form forged entirely from electricity. It let out a sharp, screeching cry as it tore through the air, its body writhing with violent energy as it lunged toward Shisui.
Shisui's eyes widened slightly.
His hands moved in rapid succession.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Three blazing fire dragons erupted into existence from different angles, their serpentine forms roaring as they converged upon the incoming lightning beast.
Fire met lightning.
A violent clash erupted.
Shh! Shh! Shh!
The lightning construct twisted violently, piercing through the first dragon in a burst of sparks and steam. The second was torn apart just as quickly, its flames scattering into vapor. The third lasted no longer—shredded apart as though it were nothing more than paper.
The lightning surged forward, unstoppable.
Refined to extreme density, its penetrative power was terrifying—burning through everything in its path, drilling forward with relentless force.
Shisui reacted instantly.
He prepared to activate Instant Movement again—
But he was a fraction too late.
The chained lightning struck.
A deafening crack split the air as electricity engulfed his body. The smell of scorched fabric and burnt flesh spread through the arena. His chest blackened instantly, muscles locking as the current seized control of his nerves.
"Ah!!"
His body convulsed violently, trapped within the paralysis of the high-frequency current.
Shock rippled across the stands.
"What kind of technique is that?!"
"Did… did Uchiha Shisui just lose?!"
Rin stared, breath caught in her throat, unable to look away.
But Minato's expression darkened slightly.
"Not yet."
Obito leaned forward, incredulous. "But he can't even move—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed sharply.
"…His Sharingan."
"Exactly," Minato said quietly. "His body may be immobilized… but his eyes remain unaffected."
In the arena, the air crackled with residual energy.
Two figures stood facing one another.
One surrounded by flickering lightning.
The other wreathed in smoke and fading sparks.
The battle had reached its most dangerous point—but it was far from over.
"Obuya has already exceeded expectations," Minato murmured, his gaze steady. "But now…"
"This is where the real test begins."
Could he withstand Shisui's genjutsu?