Pop.
Pop.
The stream shimmered into a rainbow beneath the sunlight.
Tap!
Uchiha Shisui crushed the damp pebbles beneath his feet as he dashed across the stream, then flicked his wrist, sending twelve shuriken skimming over the water toward the opposite bank.
In his eyes, the Mangekyo rippled faintly with an emerald hue in the sunlight.
Splash!
The water he had sent flying should have traced a straight line, but in the next instant, it suddenly twisted like a snake—the collision had knocked it off course.
Clang, clang, clang!
Kunai struck away all twelve shuriken with pinpoint precision!
Shisui smiled slightly at the sight.
That was the kind of reaction a clan member should have after awakening his eyes.
But the next moment, as he looked down, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end!
Uchiha Jin, who should have been thirty paces away, was now slowly rising halfway out of his reflection on the water!
Crackle!
Fingers wrapped in lightning were mere inches away!
They were only three inches from his ankle, too.
"Lightning Release? When did you get over here?"
Shisui tapped the ground with his toes, and his whole body split into four afterimages.
Screee—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
But three of them were a beat too slow and were torn apart by the lightning snakes!
"That move just now was..."
Shisui landed on a jutting outcrop along the cliff.
A faint stinging sensation came from his cheek.
He wiped away the thin line of blood left by a piece of gravel, then glanced at the faintly glowing transparent Runes in the stream. Confusion deepened in his eyes. "What kind of Cursed Mark is this? It's even carved into the stones in the stream?"
Who'd be bored enough to carve Cursed Marks into stones?!
Well, actually, someone would.
Jin, for one!
Ever since his family had moved to the banks of the Naka River, he'd idly picked up stones and toyed with them while sunbathing during the day.
Those stones...
He'd carved the Flying Thunder God Technique into them, then tossed them into the Naka River.
As they spread throughout Konoha with the current,
the whole village appeared lush and green on his Flying Thunder God map.
There was practically nowhere he couldn't go.
He glanced at Shisui, then suddenly grinned. "Hahaha! Big Brother Shisui, don't underestimate our Bond!"
Shisui: ...
That made no sense at all.
But knowing how weird this second-born was, he didn't ask any more questions.
He simply began forming hand seals in silence.
His form started to change without a sound.
Pop, pop, pop.
The next moment, thirty-six identical figures appeared at once!
Each held a shuriken with an Explosive Tag dangling from its tail!
Whoosh!
One shuriken flew out.
Then a second, then a third!
Over a hundred shuriken and Explosive Tags soon blanketed an area a hundred meters across!
"You may be fast, but what can you do when the entire area is covered?"
Shisui's mouth curled into a slight smile. Without thinking, he mimicked Jin's odd way of speaking.
"Don't underestimate your big brother's pressure, hey!"
Bang!
Bang, bang, bang!
A moment later, explosions piled on top of one another.
Front and back, above and below, left and right—
Every direction was filled with explosions in an instant!
The person at the very center had nowhere to run!
"Hahaha! Little Jin, all you can do now is stick your head underwater, right?"
Shisui cheerfully reminded him.
Down below was the one place he'd left open.
If Jin hid there, he could naturally avoid this barrage.
"Giving up?"
But Jin merely shrugged, staring at the shuriken and Explosive Tags right in front of him without moving.
He looked as if he'd simply given up.
"Jin—you!"
The sight left all thirty-six Shisuis stunned, their expressions turning uneasy.
He'd only wanted his younger brother to understand the difference between them. He hadn't meant to hurt Jin!
So after only a moment's hesitation, he immediately formed a hand seal, ready to recall the shuriken.
But just then, a glint of gold appeared at the corner of his eye.
"Hm? What's that?"
He froze for a moment. All thirty-six pairs of eyes turned toward the boy in the stream.
In the sunlight, the boy seemed to glow with an unusual radiance.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Nearly a hundred shuriken and Explosive Tags passed right through him.
Not one of them left a scratch.
"Hm? What is that Cursed Mark?" Shisui was dumbfounded.
Even with his sunny disposition, he couldn't figure out what kind of Cursed Mark could make someone completely intangible.
Of course, he only paused for three seconds before the blood rushing through him started to take over.
"Hahaha! Not bad, not bad! I admit I underestimated you, Jin!"
"Now let me show you my true strength!"
Whoosh!
The next moment, all thirty-six figures charged at once!
The samurai swords in their hands cut through the air like the Grim Reaper's scythe!
"The secret of the Body Flicker Technique lies in deceiving the passage of time!"
Suddenly, Shisui's voice rang out!
His samurai sword was already pressed against Jin's throat.
Plop.
But in the next moment, Jin turned into a block of wood and fell into the water.
"Substitution Technique? A Substitution Technique that can even fool the Sharingan?"
"Hahaha, not bad! Again! Let me show you just how fast Big Brother Shisui is!"
Excitement deepened in Shisui's eyes. Gripping his blade, he moved even faster!
Body Flicker Shisui!
He wasn't just about flickering—he was about speed!
Speed was his forte!
Boom!
In the instant they passed each other, the Naka River erupted into one crater after another!
The clear splashes gleamed in the air.
"Did you know, Big Brother Shisui?"
Just then, Jin's voice came from among the splashes.
"Water conducts electricity!!"
Crackle!
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
Crackle, crackle!
A violent surge of lightning crashed down!
On the surface of the river, countless azure bolts writhed like twisting snakes, rapidly surging in every direction!
Shisui's heart lurched. He hurriedly controlled his clones to leap back and retreat.
But the lightning below seemed to have eyes. It easily chased after them.
Pop, pop, pop!
One Body Flicker Shisui after another was turned into a puff of bubbles by the lightning.
Until, at last, only one remained.
The one still standing on the outcrop along the cliff.
Splash.
The water crashed back into the riverbed. Shisui, atop the cliff, felt a dull ache beginning to spread through both arms.
That level of electrical force posed a deadly threat to him!
In just that short time, Shisui's bright eyes had grown narrower and narrower.
Not because he'd been beaten up, but because his confidence was starting to waver.
He'd used Body Flicker thirty-six times at once, yet Jin had easily seen through them!
He could hardly believe it.
"Jin, how did you see through all my clones?"
"Has your Sharingan already awakened some special Dojutsu?"
"No... That can't be right. Then what's the point of me mastering Kotoamatsukami with my Mangekyo?"
The sunny, cheerful boy fell into confusion once more.
Seeing this, Jin replied offhandedly, "Maybe you don't know how to use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V."
But inside, he was thrilled.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was great!
Really great!
Every transmigrator should have one!
As long as he had enough chakra, he could even use this skill to blink three times in a single second!
He could go drinking in the Red-Light District of the Land of Fire in the morning, then head to the Land of Wind to pan for gold that night.
No delays at all!
"You rascal, I lose, I lose. I'm no match for you."
Seeing his Body Flicker Technique so easily broken, Shisui shook his head and conceded.
After all, he couldn't use Kotoamatsukami on his younger brother, could he?
When he'd finished, he casually slung an arm around the young boy, who now came up to his shoulder, and spoke in a conspiratorial tone.
"Of course, just give me two days. Big Brother Shisui will show you and One-vs-Seven something amazing!"
That's right. With Jin's influence, Shisui had started calling himself Big Brother Shisui, too.
And he called Itachi One-vs-Seven.
He didn't know why, but the name did have a nice ring to it.
Something amazing?
What could Shisui call something amazing...
Could it be?!
Susanoo?
Before you continue