Amid the clamor of rain and waves, Hiruko's roar was especially piercing.
"Damn it... What the hell is this thing?! Why can't I absorb it?!"
He doubled over in agony, clawing futilely at the black flames clinging to his body.
If not for the Steel Release Kekkei Genkai having long since strengthened the skin all over his body, he would likely have been reduced to a charred corpse by these strange black flames.
"Give up. You're no match for me."
Shisui Uchiha's voice was calm and clear, carrying a sincerity almost like persuasion. There was neither a victor's arrogance nor mockery for the weak.
"Give up... Don't look down on me—!!"
That calmness instead ignited the humiliation and resentment Hiruko had suppressed for years even more thoroughly.
Why? Why did these bloodline aristocrats born with Kekkei Genkai possess such power?! He roared furiously, forcibly tearing himself free from the searing pain of the black flames as the power of Swift Release erupted instantly!
"Whoosh—!"
His figure abruptly blurred, transforming into an afterimage too fast for the naked eye to catch as it lunged straight at Shisui with a shrill tearing sound!
Yet Shisui's reaction was unimaginably fast.
There was no dazzling Dojutsu glow, no massive eruption of Chakra. With only the most basic application of the Body Flicker Technique, he turned sideways and tilted his head. At the same time, his short blade precisely caught the bandage-wrapped swing of Hiruko's left arm that followed behind his fist.
"Clang! Clang clang clang—!"
The short blade and the bandages wrapped in Steel Release Chakra collided violently, erupting with a sharp metallic ring like iron striking sheet metal!
Hiruko's heart shook violently. How was this possible?! He had used Swift Release, a Kekkei Genkai famed for its speed! Yet his opponent had completely