Inside the command tent, Tsunade rubbed her temples, having just finished authorizing a massive stack of medical logistics documents. With her elite perception, she could vaguely hear the muffled chatter and shifting crowds outside in the camp.
She snorted, reaching for her sake cup. "That brat Kiyohara certainly has boundless energy."
Standing beside her holding the little pig, Tonton, Shizune looked a bit worried. "Lady Tsunade, won't a private spar between a Konoha shinobi and the Uchiha cause political friction?"
Tsunade waved her hand dismissively. She tossed back the strong liquor, letting the alcohol burn down her throat before slowly parting her red lips. "Don't worry. Anyone highly valued by Orochimaru won't be a reckless fool. I've been observing the kid for a few days. Aside from being a bit conspicuous while lingering around those two girls, Kurenai and Rin, his mind is entirely focused on his training. He knows how to act with discretion."
If Kiyohara hadn't been diligently grinding his physical conditioning every single day, Tsunade would have assumed he was just a two-timing playboy.
As she spoke, she stood up and lazily stretched. Under the dim, flickering light of the tent lantern, the faint blue veins beneath her fair skin were vaguely visible. Her face showed the deep, grinding fatigue of managing a wartime hospital.
She let out a small yawn. "I've been buried in paperwork all day; my bones are practically stiff. I'm going to have a few more drinks and then get a good night's sleep. Shizune, if you're curious, go and watch the match yourself."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Shizune nodded. A hint of genuine curiosity about tonight's spar was growing in her chest. Just how far had the young man named Kiyohara progressed?
"Lady Tsunade," Shizune asked before leaving. "Who do you think will win?"
"Kiyohara, probably," Tsunade said casually, pouring herself another cup.
'Kiyohara, huh...' Shizune watched Tsunade settle back into her chair. Tsunade seemed remarkably confident in the boy. Shizune wondered what exactly the Sannin saw in him to bet against an Uchiha prodigy.
Night slowly fell over the coastal camp. The open clearing by the riverbank was illuminated only by the chilly moonlight and the sparse glow of distant campfires.
Having learned from Kakashi that Kiyohara was challenged by the Uchiha, Rin Nohara hurried over to watch.
"Kakashi, who do you think will win?" Rin asked nervously.
"Hard to say," Kakashi shook his head, his single visible eye fixed on the clearing.
One possessed the Sharingan; the other possessed Magnet Release. It was a clash between two potent Kekkei Genkai. Honestly, Kakashi couldn't predict the outcome.
"Shisui will be tough to beat, Kakashi," Asuma Sarutobi said, walking over with his hands stuffed in his pockets. On his way back from patrol, he had overheard the challenge.
This wasn't Asuma being impulsive or petty; it was an objective tactical assessment. The Uchiha were Konoha's most powerful clan. Once the Sharingan awakened, it granted a terrifying suite of abilities: copying ninjutsu, casting hypnotic illusions, seeing the flow of chakra, and massively enhancing dynamic kinetic vision.
"Any single one of those effects would be enough to classify as a powerful Bloodline Limit," Asuma noted. "Yet the Sharingan packs them all into a single eye. You, having transplanted Obito's eye, should feel that difference more than anyone."
Hearing this, Kakashi nodded silently. He intimately understood the terrifying power of the Sharingan. If he had to point out a flaw, it was the catastrophic chakra drain on a non-Uchiha body because he couldn't deactivate it. However, a native Uchiha like Shisui wouldn't suffer from that handicap.
"I'm supporting Kiyohara," Kurenai's clear voice rang out. She stood firmly beside Rin, her ruby eyes locked onto the familiar, dark-haired figure stepping into the arena.
Facing down an unfamiliar Uchiha prodigy, her loyalty was entirely with her teammate.
As the onlookers whispered among themselves, Kiyohara and Shisui stepped to the center of the riverbank. They raised their hands, forming the traditional Seal of Confrontation.
"Please guide me, Senior Kiyohara," Shisui said politely. He was noticeably younger than Kiyohara, adhering strictly to protocol.
"Likewise, Shisui," Kiyohara replied calmly.
The moment their fingers unclasped, both figures moved simultaneously!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Shisui's hands were a blur. Eight sharp kunai were instantly hurled toward Kiyohara's vital points.
The Uchiha Clan's shurikenjutsu was legendary for a reason. The kunai violently collided with each other in mid-air, ricocheting and drastically altering their trajectories to form a continuous, interlocking cage of steel that was nearly impossible to guard against.
However, Kiyohara's newly enhanced reaction speed was equally astonishing.
Almost the exact millisecond Shisui made his move, Kiyohara's hands snapped to his pouches. Several shuriken shot out with a high-pitched whistle.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A series of crisp, dense metallic impacts erupted in the moonlight, sending sparks flying across the grass.
Kiyohara's shuriken accurately struck the sides and rings of Shisui's kunai, deflecting the interlocking attack and sending all the weapons clattering harmlessly to the ground.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Without a single fraction of a second wasted, the moment the kunai were deflected, Shisui had already completed his hand seals.
His chest puffed out, and he violently exhaled a massive, roaring sphere of fire over three meters in diameter! The scorching flames rolled forward, emitting a terrifying ambient heat that warped the night air.
Facing the surging inferno, Kiyohara rapidly wove his own seals. The nature of his chakra instantly shifted, polarizing into a massive magnetic field.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shower!"
The lid of the heavy thermos at Kiyohara's waist blew open. The black iron sand shot out, instantly transforming into a dense, high-velocity curtain of metallic buckshot. The black rain tore through the air, showering directly into the giant fireball!
Sizzle! Sizzle!
The iron sand and the flames collided violently. The sheer heat of the Uchiha fire melted the leading edge of the sand, erupting into a massive, hissing cloud of white steam.
But the subsequent waves of iron sand followed relentlessly. Driven by magnetic propulsion, the black shower forcefully punched straight through the steam and the core of the Great Fireball, aiming directly for Shisui's chest!
'What?!'
Standing on the sidelines, Uchiha Tetsuho's pupils constricted sharply.
This was the first time he had ever witnessed Magnet Release in actual combat. He never expected mere sand to possess the kinetic force to pierce directly through a high-level Fire Release.
Kiyohara's current combat strength was vastly different from the boy he fought during the Chunin Exams. The rate of progress was simply unbelievable. Was it faster than his own? How could a civilian outpace an elite Uchiha?
'Is the Magnet Release bloodline truly that powerful?!' Tetsuho thought, grinding his teeth.
"Get him, Kiyohara!" Kurenai shouted, clasping her hands anxiously in front of her chest.
In the arena, Shisui showed a brief hint of surprise at the rapidly approaching iron sand, but his physical movements showed absolutely no hesitation.
He suddenly pushed off the ground with both feet, his body drifting backward like a leaf on the wind. He spun sideways in mid-air, allowing the lethal iron sand to merely graze the fabric of his clothes.
At that exact moment, Kiyohara's figure vanished from the other side of the clearing.
Only a few slowly falling leaves remained where he had stood.
Konoha Body Flicker Technique!
Kiyohara's speed was so blindingly fast that Kakashi's exposed right eye widened slightly.
'His Body Flicker is even faster than before,' Kakashi analyzed rapidly. 'Did his genetic awakening force an expansion of his total chakra volume and physical vitality?'
Behind Shisui, Kiyohara materialized out of the air. A kunai, glinting coldly in the moonlight, stabbed straight toward the young Uchiha's spine.
But Shisui seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Just a microsecond before the blade struck, Shisui twisted violently.
CLANG!
With a sharp screech of metal, Shisui firmly blocked Kiyohara's assassination strike with a reverse-gripped kunai.
After a brief, intense struggle for leverage, both prodigies simultaneously kicked away, retreating half a step to create distance.
In perfect unison, they reached over their shoulders and drew the short swords strapped to their backs.
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