Chapter 18 – Izaya's True Strength
"Substitution Jutsu!"
While Uchiha Itachi was lost in his sigh, the fire dragon released by Izaya had already arrived before him. The scorching high temperature snapped Uchiha Itachi out of his thoughts. Seeing this, Itachi didn't choose to disperse Izaya's ninjutsu with a counter-attack. Instead, he relied on the Substitution Jutsu to deftly evade Izaya's assault.
"As expected of Uchiha Itachi…" Seeing Uchiha Itachi reappear atop the tree canopy, Izaya couldn't help but offer praise.
From the start of their spar, Izaya never thought he could defeat the god of war, Uchiha Itachi. Even though Itachi had suppressed his own strength to the chūnin level, Izaya hadn't expected him to respond to his attacks so effortlessly and with such composure…
"In any battle, the difference in strength between the two sides only determines the outcome of a direct confrontation. The most crucial points are tactical control and rhythm in battles of similar levels." Seeing Izaya stop his movements beneath the tree, Uchiha Itachi didn't press the attack. Instead, he spoke slowly, imparting his combat experience to Izaya.
"Understood. But I feel that in the face of absolute strength, no tactics will work!" Unfortunately, Izaya didn't agree with Uchiha Itachi's viewpoint!
It was true that Uchiha Itachi's combat skills were immensely helpful in battles below the Kage level. Duels at that level focused more on controlling the battle's rhythm, and often ended through close-quarters combat. In fact, very few ninjutsu were typically used… So, having a wealth of combat experience was very important.
But… in battles at the Kage level and above, these so-called combat experiences seemed rather bland. Especially in the later stages of Shippūden, even if you were proficient in assassination techniques and understood battle pacing… if your opponent was, say, the strongest member of the Uchiha clan who could just activate their ultimate power… in such a situation, any combat experience seemed utterly fragile…
"Is that what you think?" After hearing Izaya's thoughts, a flicker of curiosity shone in Uchiha Itachi's eyes, and a trace of doubt appeared on his cool cheeks. Although Izaya's previous words were peculiar, after thinking about it for a moment… it seemed to hold some truth.
If you encountered an enemy weaker than yourself, you could just bulldoze through them directly, without any need for tricks. And if you encountered a stronger enemy… these so-called skills were completely useless!
"Hey, the combat experience you mentioned is only suitable for sneak attacks." Just as Uchiha Itachi was pondering, Izaya had already launched his second attack!
"Like this?" Facing Izaya, who now stood behind him, Uchiha Itachi didn't feel the slightest nervousness. After a light quip, his hands flew into a series of hand seals! Following a series of phantom-like seals, Uchiha Itachi, who had been right in front of Izaya, vanished!
"This reaction speed…" If Izaya's speed was considered excellent compared to other chūnin, then Uchiha Itachi's speed… was undoubtedly top-tier!
"It's not good to space out during a battle." Before Izaya could even react, Uchiha Itachi's figure reappeared—this time behind Izaya… In just a few seconds, Izaya, who had been extremely proactive, instantly found himself in a passive position in this battle.
"Is this Uchiha Itachi's true strength?" Feeling the cold metallic sensation against his neck, Izaya was somewhat astonished. From beginning to end, Uchiha Itachi hadn't used a single offensive ninjutsu in their battle. He had only relied on a few kunai and shuriken to launch attacks. Yet, under these circumstances… Izaya had actually been suppressed to this extent. This left him a little shocked.
Before the spar, Izaya had already anticipated the outcome… But he hadn't expected it to be this one-sided…
"Give up. If this were a real fight and not a spar, you'd already be dead." Seeing that Izaya had remained silent for a long time, Uchiha Itachi spoke up, urging him to surrender.
"If this were normal, I really would have lost." Realizing the battle's outcome, Izaya smiled. Indeed, if this were an ordinary spar, Izaya might have conceded. But not this time! If he gave up now, Uchiha Itachi would never agree to let him participate in the Uchiha massacre incident.
"But everyone has their own trump card…" Having made his decision, Izaya stopped hiding his true ace.
The moment Izaya's words fell, an inexplicable, scorching aura slowly began to emanate from him… And Uchiha Itachi, standing beside Izaya, also sensed a fiery aura!
"It's hot!" In just a few seconds, the sharp kunai originally pressed against Izaya's neck began to grow intensely hot. Sensing that something was wrong, Uchiha Itachi immediately discarded the kunai and spoke to Izaya in a concerned tone, "Izaya, stop this! This is just a spar!"
Clearly, Uchiha Itachi had also noticed the peculiar change in Izaya's body. However, he thought Izaya might be planning to force a breakthrough to win this battle, so he tried to persuade him, intending to end the spar.
But… Izaya had other ideas! Seeing that Uchiha Itachi wanted to end the spar, Izaya immediately spoke to him in an urgent tone, "No! This state is my true strength! And it won't harm my body!"
"Really?" Clearly, Uchiha Itachi still looked somewhat incredulous as he watched the faint smoke rising from Izaya's body.
"Really!" Seeing that Uchiha Itachi was still somewhat worried, Izaya immediately spoke up, then created distance again, explaining to Uchiha Itachi, "You can consider this state a unique Kekkei Genkai of mine."
"Okay…" Hearing this explanation, Uchiha Itachi nodded slowly. Then, he slowly activated his Sharingan…
This single glance! It directly made Uchiha Itachi question his own reality!
Through the lens of the Sharingan, Izaya in this state appeared as a strange, fiery red all over. A powerful Chakra manifested on the surface of his body. It could be said that the Izaya before him was no longer human… He was a coalescence of Chakra…
"What's going on with Izaya?" Initially, after hearing Izaya's explanation, Uchiha Itachi had simply assumed it was a fire-element Kekkei Genkai. But in reality… that was clearly not the case…
"This is called Elementalization. You can consider it part of my Kekkei Genkai's ability." Seeing Uchiha Itachi's astonishment, an inexplicable smile spread across Izaya's face.