Nawaki burrowed out from underground and repeated, "Uchiha Shin, I said I'd gotten stronger!"
After landing, Shin patted the dirt knocked onto his coat by the attack and calmly said, "You're still far from it."
Nawaki had seemingly been sent flying by the knee strike, but while in midair, he had quickly used the Substitution Technique.
He then used Earth Release to travel underground before launching this "silent" attack.
Though Shin looked very composed now, he had actually been a little flustered just moments ago.
Even now, he had not activated his Sharingan.
Damn it... Nawaki cursed inwardly and began assessing the situation.
Against speed that was difficult to track with the naked eye, close combat was extremely disadvantageous.
He decided to settle this with ninjutsu. "Water Release: Water Bullet Barrage!"
Shin was not surprised in the slightest that Nawaki could use the Second Hokage's signature Water Release.
Besides, this so-called Water Bullet Barrage only had three or four shots. How could it even be called a barrage?
He chose to counter the Water Release with Fire Release.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Fizz..."
The Great Fireball and Water Bullet Barrage collided with a violent roar.
In less than a second, the water bullets were completely burned away by the Great Fireball, and wisps of mist spread through the air.
After casting the ninjutsu, Shin retreated to the side.
Since he did not want to use the Sharingan, he was not about to fight in an environment unfavorable to himself.
"This time, from above..."
Nawaki's right fist came crashing down at him from overhead.
Shin raised his hand and condensed an earthen rock shell to block it.
"Nawaki's Super Strength Fist!"
Hearing that utterly ridiculous technique name, Shin's eye twitched slightly.
Then an immense force surged through his arm.
"Uchiha Shin! This duel is mine!"
The moment their fist and arm collided, Nawaki unleashed all the Chakra in his hand.
This was monstrous strength capable of shattering rock with a casual blow.
And now, he had poured all his Chakra into it.
"Boom..."
Amid an ear-splitting explosion, the rock shell around Shin's arm shattered piece by piece.
Even with his cells' earth-natured resistance to physical blows, the impact brought an extraordinary level of pain.
"It's not over yet!" Nawaki roared, pulling back his right fist before gathering strength and throwing it again.
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
Shin gritted his teeth after taking three consecutive punches.
He raised his other hand and tightly seized Nawaki's fist.
"That really hurts."
Stared at by those scarlet eyes, Nawaki's scalp immediately tingled.
He had long prepared himself for that familiar feeling.
"Release!"
After dispelling the Genjutsu, Nawaki saw Shin using his right hand to complete the hand seals for a certain ninjutsu.
Watching this familiar scene, Nao's lips could not help twitching faintly.
She had once faced the same move head-on.
But afterward... well, she still could not break it for the time being.
"Fire Release: Multiple Great Fireball Technique!"
Several miniature Great Fireballs shot from Shin's mouth.
Before they could even expand, they all struck Nawaki directly in the face.
"It's not over yet..."
Shin opened his mouth, intending to replicate the move once more.
This time, however, Nawaki raised his left arm and blocked every fireball.
"Uchiha Shin, I won't admit defeat!"
His opponent's right hand was violently wrenched free.
Shin had not expected Nawaki to be so tough. He had blocked close-range Fire Release twice and still endured the pain to break free from his restraint.
However, Shin's Sharingan was already active. There was no way he would hold back.
After retreating and rapidly forming hand seals, several bolts of lightning appeared in his left palm alongside the cry of birds.
"Chidori!"
"Nawaki's Super Strength Fist!"
"Boom..."
After a tremendous blast, cracks spread across the ground beneath their feet.
Both of them were blasted backward.
In midair, Shin shifted his Chakra into wind nature, then landed steadily on the ground.
He felt the numbness coming from his left hand, numbness that did not belong to Chidori.
On the other side, Nawaki knelt on one knee some distance away.
He could feel the lightning attached to his right hand by Chidori continuously ravaging his body.
"My left arm can't move after blocking the Fire Release, and my right arm has no strength because of the paralysis..."
"Am I still going to lose this time..."
In the end, he chose to continue fighting.
"Even Chidori can only pierce the outer layer of cells..." Shin shook his left hand.
"Losing to a Senju is impossible..."
The Chakra around Shin transformed into lightning nature. Before Nawaki's astonished gaze, his entire figure turned into a flash of white lightning and vanished.
"Uchiha Taijutsu Style: Gale Combo!"
A thunderclap-like voice sounded beside Nawaki's ear.
Just as he prepared himself, he was struck into the air.
The only thing reflected in his eyes was that fleeting white lightning.
Every time it flashed past, he felt an electric current relentlessly ravaging the spot on his body that had been struck.
"Is this... an improvement based on the Sixty-Four Palms?" Nao, watching from the side, was stunned by Shin's relentless attacks.
Though Gale Combo had "gale" in its name, it was performed using Lightning Chakra Mode.
As its name suggested, it launched the enemy into the air before rapidly striking them.
Given lightning nature's paralyzing effects, it bore a striking resemblance to the Hyuga Clan's Eight Trigrams Palm technique.
Without the Byakugan, though, it could only attack the meridians.
In less than ten seconds, Shin had attacked Nawaki dozens of times.
Nawaki's ability to take a beating reminded Shin of how he had died.
How many Exploding Tags would it take to kill a physically powerful Senju?
Case solved. The culprit was the rich lady Konan!
Ahem...
With his final punch, Shin completed Nawaki's electrotherapy.
He landed steadily on the ground, extremely satisfied with the results.
Those sixty-four attacks had merely looked fierce.
In truth, the force used was precisely at the limit of what Nawaki could endure.
With a smack, Nawaki fell to the ground.
"Come on, Nao. Let's go to school."
"Ah? Oh."
Nao was defeated by Shin's utterly unconcerned attitude.
Was it really okay to leave the young master of the Senju family lying on the ground like that?
"Let's go quickly. Such a huge commotion will draw people here soon."
Nao's cheeks turned red when Shin took her small hand.
She did not resist at all and simply let Shin pull her along as they ran toward the Ninja Academy.
Five minutes later.
"???" Meitoku, who had rushed over at top speed after hearing the commotion, blankly stared at the figure lying on the ground.
With his clothes torn to shreds and his body twitching from time to time, Nawaki looked as though he had been electrocuted.
He was sleeping very peacefully.
"What exactly happened here?" The Third Hokage led a group of Anbu members and "quickly" arrived at the scene.
Looking at the sight before him, Meitoku felt utterly lost in the wind.
He opened his mouth several times, but could never fully say the words, "It wasn't me."
Before you continue