Chapter 726: The Kages’ Shock, the Terrifying Genius of Konoha

The second round of battles was much more intense than the first.

With only thirty-two contestants remaining, some powerful Ninja began to face each other, making for more exciting matchups.

“Contestant No. 17, Uchiha Shisui, vs. Contestant No. 21, Retsuishi!”

When the referee’s voice echoed through the arena, the Ninja in the audience perked up, focusing their attention on the stage below.

This was one of the most anticipated battles of the second round.

Shisui had already made a name for himself as Shisui the Body Flicker on the Hidden Mist battlefield, gaining some renown in the Ninja World. His fame further expanded during the subsequent great war with Iwagakure, and he was now one of Konoha’s most representative geniuses.

The Iwa Explosion Corps was a special combat unit from Iwagakure renowned throughout the Ninja World, and Retsuishi, as the captain of the Iwa Explosion Corps, was already a strong figure famous in the Ninja World even before the Third Shinobi World War began.

One was a super genius from the strongest Ninja Village, while the other was a renowned strong figure from one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. This age difference made the battle particularly interesting.

Would the veteran strong figure prove superior, or could greater talent truly do as it pleased?

“Shisui the Body Flicker versus Retsuishi of Explosion Release, a clash of Sharingan and Explosion Release, a great battle of Kekkei Genkai Ninja.”

“Retsuishi-sama will definitely win! His Explosion Release has too much of an advantage in a ring match like this. His opponent won’t have anywhere to dodge if he goes all out.”

“You didn’t see Shisui’s last battle, did you? He just glanced at his opponent, and the battle was over. How can Retsuishi counter that kind of Genjutsu?”

Before the battle even began, arguments erupted in the stands.

Some believed Retsuishi’s Explosion Release could make Shisui run around like a headless chicken, while others thought Retsuishi couldn’t withstand Shisui’s Genjutsu.

Retsuishi and Shisui were unaware of the arguments in the stands; they were both meticulously observing their opponents.

“A Sharingan master, too advantageous for a one-on-one fight.”

Retsuishi didn’t underestimate Shisui just because he was only thirteen.

In the era of Ninja Villages, the various Ninja Villages had fought countless battles and understood each other well.

For Uchiha Ninja with Sharingan, the great Ninja Villages had developed a countermeasure: in a one-on-one fight, use methods that block vision to disable the opponent’s Sharingan Genjutsu, such as Hidden Mist’s Hidden Mist Technique. If a similar Ninjutsu wasn’t mastered, then flee and find teammates.

Even a two-on-one situation could significantly prevent being defeated by the enemy’s Genjutsu.

“Ninjutsu and Taijutsu can both cause explosions…” Shisui quickly reviewed Retsuishi’s information in his mind.

There was a five-day interval between the first and second matches, during which he gathered information on Retsuishi.

“Battle start!”

Seeing that both sides were ready, the referee immediately shouted.

“Fire Release: Dust Mist Burn!”

Retsuishi immediately formed hand seals at high speed, exhaling a large amount of dust that enveloped most of the arena.

While Fire Release Dust Mist wasn’t as effective against the Sharingan as Hidden Mist Technique’s Chakra water mist, it could temporarily prevent Genjutsu.

Moreover, compared to Hidden Mist’s water mist, Fire Release Dust Mist had another advantage: it possessed decent offensive capabilities itself.

“Explosion Release: Heavenly Thunder Drop!”

After exhaling the dust mist, Retsuishi continued to form hand seals, creating a three-meter-high giant rock in front of him, then injecting a large amount of Explosion Release Chakra into it and throwing the giant rock.

Boom!

The giant rock exploded in the sky, and Explosion Release fragments of varying sizes crashed onto various parts of the arena, turning the entire area into a bombing zone, with continuous booming explosions.

“As expected of Iwagakure’s Explosion Release strong figure, he alone possesses such fierce firepower,” a Ninja exclaimed in surprise.

But just then, a black figure, ignoring the explosions, burst out from the high-temperature gray mist.

It was Shisui, who had used Armament Haki Secret Technique.

Retsuishi thought that Shisui, having lost his vision, would only stumble around aimlessly in the dust mist like a headless fly, but in reality, Shisui had been approaching Retsuishi under the cover of the dust mist.

Retsuishi’s strategy was actually sound; with vision lost and continuous bombing sounds, even an elite Jonin would not be able to accurately locate the enemy in such a situation.

But Shisui was different; besides his Sharingan, he also mastered Kenbunshoku Haki Secret Technique.

Even if he couldn’t see, he could still sense Retsuishi’s exact location.

Shisui’s sudden appearance startled Retsuishi, and he immediately wanted to close his eyes to prevent falling under Shisui’s Genjutsu.

But Shisui’s speed was incredibly fast; the moment Retsuishi saw him, the distance between Shisui and Retsuishi had already shortened to within fifteen meters.

As Retsuishi had the thought of closing his eyes, a hint of crimson had already quietly invaded Retsuishi’s mind, causing Retsuishi’s dodging movement to pause.

Realizing he had fallen under Genjutsu, Retsuishi quickly calmed the Chakra within his body to dispel the Genjutsu.

But the moment he opened his eyes, he felt a chill at his neck.

By the time he dispelled the Genjutsu, Shisui had already reached his side.

Retsuishi’s eyes were filled with disbelief; he had actually lost, and so easily!

So many of his Explosion Release Ninjutsu hadn’t even been used, yet he had lost just like that.

Retsuishi’s breathing became somewhat rapid, but eventually, it returned to normal.

Though hard to accept, this was reality; if it were a real fight to the death, he might have already died by Shisui’s hand.

“Uchiha Shisui wins!”

The referee cleanly announced Shisui’s victory.

And Shisui also retrieved his Kunai after the referee announced the result.

“Shisui the Body Flicker!”

The Konoha Ninja and Land of Fire spectators in the stands instantly erupted in a huge cheer.

This was not just any random person they had defeated, but a renowned strong figure of Iwagakure.

The Iwagakure Ninja and people of the Land of Earth in the stands, however, were speechless, their faces filled with shock.

Their village’s renowned strong figure had been defeated by a mere youngster just like that?

Even Ōnoki in the viewing box showed surprise.

Shisui the Body Flicker was certainly a genius, but Retsuishi had lost too quickly.

“So that Ninjutsu’s defensive capability is so strong, and Uchiha Shisui also possesses a sensory Ninjutsu,” Ōnoki analyzed in his mind.

Shisui and Kakashi had used Armament Haki on the battlefield before, and Iwagakure had related intelligence, but at that time, Shisui’s Armament Haki level was not too high, and its performance wasn’t very prominent, so Iwagakure didn’t pay too much attention.

After all, similar Earth Release hardening techniques were quite common in Iwagakure.

“Intelligence combined with powerful Genjutsu, Retsuishi’s loss is not unjust.”

Ōnoki quickly completed his summary in his mind.

The overall strength of the two might not have been vastly different, but the intelligence advantage coupled with the Sharingan’s strength in one-on-one combat led to Retsuishi’s swift and crushing defeat.

“As expected of Shisui the Body Flicker, to possess such combat power at this age,” the Third Mizukage praised.

It was no exaggeration to say that Shisui reminded him of Uchiha Madara.

Among the Third Kage, he was the most senior. Before the era of Ninja Villages, he was already active in the Ninja World, so he had more impressions of those two legendary Ninja.

“Fortunately, Yagura and the Three-Tails get along well, otherwise, in a one-on-one battle, he might not necessarily be able to consistently defeat this Uchiha Shisui,” the Third Mizukage thought to himself.

The Three-Tails had already been reborn before the Third Shinobi World War ended, but Hidden Mist was quite busy then, so they didn’t pay attention.

After the war, Yagura Karatachi volunteered to become a Jinchuriki.

To the Third Mizukage’s surprise, Yagura Karatachi’s compatibility with the Three-Tails was very high, and he became a perfect Jinchuriki capable of perfectly controlling Tailed Beast Chakra.

Perfect Jinchuriki are not afraid of Genjutsu.

Unless the Sharingan can simultaneously hypnotize both the Tailed Beast and the Jinchuriki, the Tailed Beast inside the Jinchuriki can awaken the Jinchuriki the moment they fall under Genjutsu, nullifying the Genjutsu.

But the Third Mizukage had never heard of anyone who could simultaneously hypnotize both a Tailed Beast and a Jinchuriki. Perhaps Uchiha Madara at his peak could, but Uchiha Madara had already died twice. Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn’t help but laugh happily, unable to suppress the corners of his mouth.

He remembered that Muzuki’s disciples, except for Rin Nohara, were all quite similar in strength.

Now that Shisui had this strength, did it mean that Obito and the others also had the strength to defeat strong figures of the Ninja World?

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn’t help but look forward to the upcoming battles.

In the second round, besides Shisui encountering Retsuishi, Kakashi encountered the Sand Ninja hero Pakura, and Obito encountered Kitsuchi of the Earth Fist, all of whom were famous strong figures in the Ninja World.

Except for Muzuki and his Shadow Clone, everyone else’s expressions changed more or less.

Although everyone could see that Shisui’s victory was largely due to an advantage in intelligence, Shisui was only thirteen years old!

“Still too young, otherwise he could give them more surprises,” Muzuki thought as he looked at Shisui’s status panel.

Name: Uchiha Shisui

Chakra: 64000

Skills: Yin Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient: 5290/15000), Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient: 3440), Yang Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Skilled: 1400/3000), Flame Breathing (Proficient: 4269), Armament Haki (Proficient: 1800), Kenbunshoku Haki (Skilled: 2000), Yang Release Breathing (Skilled: 1000), Azure Flame (Skilled: 700)…

Shisui’s skill set was already quite good, but due to his young age and undeveloped body, his Chakra reserves were not particularly large.

Of course, this was only in comparison to top-tier strong figures; compared to his peers, he was definitely overwhelmingly strong.

For example, Kakashi, despite having two more years of development, still had less than half of Shisui’s Chakra without considering the Yang Seal.

As time passed, one match after another went by.

“Contestant No. 41, Kakashi Hatake, vs. Contestant No. 45, Pakura!”

Hearing these two names, the Kage in the viewing box became interested.

It was another showdown between a genius and a renowned strong figure, with the genius still being Konoha’s genius, but the renowned strong figure was now from Sunagakure.

Perhaps the only person not interested was Rasa.

If Pakura won, the Sunagakure Ninja would cheer, making Rasa uncomfortable.

If Pakura lost, Sunagakure would be disgraced, and as Kazekage, Rasa would also be quite uncomfortable.

“Sōsuke, once this is over, I’ll use the opportunity to deal with her,” Rasa thought to himself.

Originally, he had planned to kill Pakura while also causing trouble for the Shinobi Sect, but he found the Shinobi Sect to be difficult to provoke, so he let it go, allowing Pakura to live until now.

“Go, Pakura-sama!”

Some Sunagakure Ninja cheered for Pakura.

Pakura’s popularity in Sunagakure was not low; firstly, her strength and achievements were very notable, and secondly, her appearance added points; Pakura was a rare beauty among strong figures.

However, overall, fans of her strength far outnumbered fans of her looks; most Ninja still prioritized strength more.

“Lightning Fang Kakashi, huh? Time really flies. I never thought that little guy who could only hide behind Hayate Mugetsu back then would now have the strength to compete with me on the same stage.”

Pakura felt a surge of emotion as she saw Kakashi standing before her.

Years ago, due to a misunderstanding, Pakura and Muzuki had a battle. At that time, Kakashi wasn’t even a Jonin. To avoid being harmed by Scorch Release, Muzuki had Kakashi and the others retreat to a distance.

“Battle start!”

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

As soon as the referee’s words fell, Pakura instantly drew a Shuriken from her Ninja tool pouch and flung it towards Kakashi.

Immediately after, she took out a Kunai from her Ninja tool pouch, gripped it, and burst forth with Chakra, charging towards Kakashi.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Kakashi also threw a Shuriken, intercepting Pakura’s Shuriken, then concentrated his breathing to enter the Transparent World state and met her charge.

“Scorch Release: Excessive Steaming Murder!”

Pakura’s Scorch Release Chakra erupted from her body, and five human-head-sized fireballs suddenly condensed around her.

As Pakura swung her Kunai to attack Kakashi, the Scorch Release fireballs also flew towards Kakashi from several directions.

Her Excessive Steaming Murder didn’t require hand seals, and combined with fast Taijutsu, it made it impossible for enemies to guard against.

Although the principle was simple, due to the powerful might of Scorch Release, many Jonin were instantly killed by this technique of hers.

However, this time Pakura miscalculated; in front of Kakashi, who had activated Transparent World, her intentions were too obvious.

Kakashi suddenly flashed to the side, causing Pakura’s Scorch Release to miss, while simultaneously throwing a lightning Kunai at Pakura.

Boom!

Pakura urgently moved all her Scorch Release fireballs in front of her, forming a large fireball that blocked the Lightning Release Kunai.

In the first exchange, neither side gained an advantage.

Following that, they exchanged blows several more times, both remaining evenly matched, as if neither could gain the upper hand.

“As expected, it’s pretty much the same. I can end the battle now.”

After the probing ended, Kakashi prepared to end the battle.

His fighting style was somewhat similar to Pakura’s.

Kakashi relied on high mobility and powerful Lightning Release sword techniques, while Pakura relied on powerful Scorch Release combined with Taijutsu.

Their battles would have a characteristic: the opponent’s margin for error would be very low.

Whether it was Kakashi’s Lightning Release sword techniques or Pakura’s Scorch Release, both were extremely lethal to ordinary Ninja.

When the two of them met, if one side was slightly weaker, the battle would be very difficult, so Kakashi had been very cautious in his probing.

“Lightning Release Chakra Mode!”

Kakashi concentrated his breathing to the extreme, entering Lightning Release Chakra Mode, drawing the White Fang from his back, and his aura surged.

Pakura felt something was wrong and controlled the Scorch Release fireballs to smash towards Kakashi, wanting to retreat, but this time Kakashi displayed a speed beyond her expectations.

“Flash: Godspeed!”

Kakashi gripped the White Fang tightly in his hand, his left foot forward and right foot back, forming a dashing stance, then activated a large amount of Lightning Release Chakra to strengthen his body.

Brilliant yellow lightning glow appeared on Kakashi’s body, vitalizing his body.

Whoosh!

Rumble!!

Accompanied by an extremely fast thunderous roar, Kakashi charged out fiercely.

In an instant, his figure transformed into an almost uncatchable lightning Flash, difficult to observe like a meteor streaking across the sky.

Boom!!

Several Scorch Release fireballs were shattered by the power of Lightning Release, and several other Scorch Release fireballs missed.

Bang!

Lightning flashed, and Pakura flew backward like a kite with a broken string.

Click!

Kakashi, without looking back, sheathed the White Fang.

“Kakashi Hatake wins!”

PS:

Please give me monthly votes. There will be another chapter later, but it might be a bit late.

I should have finished writing by midnight, but I couldn’t resist watching the match.

Also, one more thing: please give me monthly votes!