Seisui's family training ground.
Seisui held Muramasa as he sparred with Shisui, who wielded two short tachi.
"Idiot, always leave thirty percent of your strength in reserve when you swing your blade, unless you are certain you can kill the enemy in a single strike..." With a smile at the corner of his lips, Seisui easily knocked aside Shisui's twin blades before suddenly slashing at his face.
Shisui's two blades were knocked outward, while Seisui's blade carried a piercingly cold gust of wind and reached his face in the blink of an eye...
Shisui pushed his Sharingan to its limit, but unfortunately, although the Double Tomoe granted him dynamic vision sharp enough to barely catch Muramasa's trajectory, his body's reaction lagged behind what his eyes could perceive. He could only watch helplessly as Muramasa came down!
The blade stopped roughly one centimeter from Shisui's forehead.
Seisui looked at Shisui with a smiling gaze and said softly, "Do you understand now? If you leave some strength in reserve, then when your attack is blocked, you will still have the strength to defend. You will not fall into a completely passive position..."
"This is especially true for ninja. There are all kinds of ninjutsu that can confuse an opponent's vision, so going all out is even less advisable."
Cold sweat slowly dripped down Shisui's forehead as he nodded seriously. "I understand, Brother."
At that moment, Shisui was both glad to have such a powerful and patient brother guiding him and somewhat discouraged.
He had thought his talent for Kenjutsu was already outstanding, yet before Seisui, he was full of openings.
What Shisui did not know was that while he believed he was trading blades with Seisui, every exchange was actually against Tobirama Senju.
Tobirama Senju was a ruthless powerhouse who had grown up crossing blades with all manner of Uchiha killers during the Warring States Period and had fought Uchiha Izuna—second only to Madara Uchiha—over a thousand times.
The Kenjutsu he developed embodied his own sharp, practical, and sinister style, integrating Genjutsu and Chakra blades into one. It was truly an excellent tool for murder, robbery, and wiping out entire families!
Especially when dealing with the Uchiha, Tobirama Senju had even exploited the delay between the Sharingan's dynamic vision and the brain's reactions to deliberately create several killing moves...
And in the hands of Seisui, a Double Tomoe Uchiha with abundant Dojutsu, he could master the style whether practicing it forward or backward, filling in every flaw born from Tobirama Senju's lack of a Sharingan.
"I think I roughly know where you learned my ninjutsu from... Since you are Kagami's descendant, I taught him Kenjutsu. My Water Release and Genjutsu were also copied by those Uchiha fellows. With the talent you possess to develop a Forbidden Technique capable of sealing my soul, none of this is particularly surprising."
Tobirama Senju studied him seriously for a long while and spoke first. Yet when Seisui gave no response, he fell silent for a moment before finally being unable to resist asking:
"But are you using my Kenjutsu, or Uchiha Izuna's fighting style?"
When Seisui guided Shisui, Tobirama Senju initially saw traces of himself and felt rather pleased, believing Seisui had abandoned the darkness for the light and recognized that his Kenjutsu far surpassed Uchiha swordsmanship.
But gradually, his expression froze. Seisui's sword style had evolved to resemble that of a pure Uchiha, and it looked so much like Uchiha Izuna's!
By the end, even Tobirama Senju himself was somewhat confused.
In truth, Uchiha Izuna's and Tobirama Senju's Kenjutsu styles, even their techniques, were very similar.
Both were calm and ruthless. The only obvious difference was that Tobirama Senju was better at grasping people's hearts, while Uchiha Izuna had the Sharingan to use as a feint, making him more uninhibited.
Seisui blinked, unable to help sighing that the eternal problem of the Shinobi World seemed always to be bonds.
There was naturally no need to mention Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, that pair of Ashura and Indra reincarnations. Yet the intense sense of connection between Uchiha Izuna and Tobirama Senju was no weaker than that between their elder brothers, who had struggled against each other for a thousand years.
For example, even someone as wise and composed as Tobirama Senju could not suppress his vigorous curiosity when faced with matters concerning Uchiha Izuna...
"Is this really so important, Tobirama? I discovered something interesting. I have studied both of your Kenjutsu styles, but their overlap is actually very high. Even the underlying principles are almost identical..."
"The only difference, perhaps, is whether one has the Sharingan. So I was wondering, did you borrow from Uchiha Izuna's Kenjutsu, or did he..."
Before Seisui could finish, Tobirama Senju spoke rather urgently:
"Of course he plagiarized me! Looking at the result, didn't my Flying Thunder God Slash defeat him with ease? In the Shinobi World, how could a victor ever plagiarize a loser!"
Tobirama Senju spoke with complete confidence, but his words carried an inexplicable trace of guilt.
Seisui keenly caught that detail and nodded with a smile. "Yes, yes, yes, Tobirama is right about everything... The Flying Thunder God Technique definitely was not a ninjutsu you came up with because your swordsmanship could not beat Uchiha Izuna..."
"Oh, it is nothing. All ninjutsu and Kenjutsu are copied from one another; copying leads to improvement! Admit it, Tobirama, there is no shame in it. Even the Sharingan of our Uchiha Clan can copy things..."
"What do you mean, it is nothing! I am not like you Uchiha. The Kenjutsu and ninjutsu I use are all my own. I never plagiarized that bastard!"
Tobirama Senju cared about this matter surprisingly deeply and emphasized it forcefully.
Yet the electronic voice in Seisui's mind seemed to provide the answer: From Target of Confrontation Tobirama Senju, you have obtained enhanced motor nerves!
Seisui smiled and waved to Tobirama Senju, bidding farewell to the Second Hokage, who was trying to argue with him for another five hundred rounds and settle the matter once and for all. As he quietly felt his body becoming increasingly active, he explained the essentials of Kenjutsu to Shisui.
Seisui had already mastered the art of fleecing sheep.
When dealing with someone as guarded as Tobirama Senju, he needed to go with the flow and take whatever benefits he could get. He absolutely could not rush things and achieve the opposite result.
After all, Konoha still had that pair of sleeping dragons and young phoenixes, Shimura Danzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi. Sooner or later, they would pull off some miraculous stunt that made Tobirama Senju see black and cough up a huge haul.
"It is alright, Shisui. If you cannot do it, Brother can teach you again..."
Seisui gently stroked Shisui's sweat-soaked head. The sword style Seisui had obtained from Tobirama Senju and further improved was still somewhat too advanced for six-year-old Shisui.
Just as Shisui nodded earnestly.
An adult ninja with gray-white hair and a sturdy build entered Seisui's family training ground and said, "I have some understanding of Kenjutsu as well. Seisui Uchiha, if you still have the courage to face me, exchange a few moves with me."
As his words fell, a pair of scarlet Three Tomoe Sharingan slowly began to turn within the man's eye sockets.
The newcomer was also quite famous within the Uchiha Clan.
His name was Uchiha Yashiro. He was a long-established Three Tomoe Jonin within the clan and a staunch member of the Hawk Faction!
Could not sleep...
Got up to post a chapter. Good night, everyone...
Before you continue