The Duel Begins

The next day, Shisui's formal challenge arrived in Yusuke's hands. The news immediately caused an uproar in Konoha.

At this time, although the Uchiha Clan was being pushed aside by the village at every turn, it was still Konoha's largest clan—and arguably the largest clan in the Ninja World. It commanded enormous respect throughout the entire Ninja World.

The news that the "Uchiha Clan's greatest genius" had challenged the "Uchiha Clan's strongest fighter" immediately attracted countless people's attention. With the Third Hokage stirring things up behind the scenes, the duel became common knowledge.

Ninjas and civilians alike waited for the day Yusuke and Shisui would face off, eager to see which of the Uchiha Clan's two great fighters would prove stronger.

"I'm never playing with Shisui again! I always thought he was a good person, but it turns out he's a bad one!" At the Training Ground, Izumi pouted, looking as if she had a dangling bottle hanging from her mouth.

For the naive Izumi, judging people still came down to sorting them into "good" and "bad."

Itachi furrowed his brows. "I never expected Shisui to actually challenge my teacher. I don't know what his purpose is, but I believe he isn't shallow enough to do it just for the empty title of 'Uchiha Clan's strongest fighter.'"

"But given Shisui's character, now that he's sent the challenge, he definitely won't take it back," Itachi continued.

"Hmph! If he won't take it back, then he won't take it back. That just means my big brother can teach him a good lesson!" Izumi said angrily.

Itachi shook his head. "Shisui is very strong! I'm not underestimating my teacher, but honestly, I think the outcome of this match is hard to predict."

Kabuto pushed up his glasses beside them. "Is Uchiha Shisui really that impressive?"

"That's right. In my opinion, Shisui's Body Flicker Technique is practically impossible to counter. Though that's just my assessment," Itachi said gravely.

Since Itachi often trained with Shisui at night, he had a better understanding of Shisui's abilities.

Guy, who had just finished instructing them in Taijutsu, nodded. "That's right. I've also heard about the Body Flicker secret technique invented by 'Body Flicker Shisui.' It can create eight phantom clones."

"These phantom clones are all created by combining the Body Flicker Technique with Shisui's secret technique. Only one is the real Shisui, but every phantom can attack an enemy at the same time!"

"Wouldn't that be even harder than fighting eight enemies at once? There's only one weakness, but eight points of attack. Unless you take out the real one, you have to face all eight attacking at the same time?" Kabuto asked, frowning.

Itachi nodded. "That's right. And I know for a fact that Shisui can now create more than eight phantom clones."

Izumi's cute little face turned utterly blank. "What?"

With her talent in the normal range, Izumi couldn't follow their analysis yet.

"Looks like you don't have much faith in your teacher." As they discussed the matter, a flare of fire rose from the ground and transformed into a calm-faced young ninja. It was Yusuke, who had just arrived at the Training Ground.

When Yusuke appeared, they gathered around him and asked how confident he was about the match.

"Don't worry. Shisui is no match for me," Yusuke said with a smile.

Before obtaining the Nine-Tails' Yin Release Chakra, Yusuke truly hadn't been confident he could defeat Shisui. But now, he had awakened the Sharingan and learned how to draw out even more of Ryujin Jakka's power. He could say victory was assured!

"I knew my big brother was the best! Make sure you teach him a good lesson!" Izumi said happily at Yusuke's confident reply.

Then Izumi furrowed her brows slightly. "But don't beat him up too badly. He was a pretty good person before."

Yusuke smiled at Izumi's innocent words and patted her head.

Guy grinned, showing off his bright white teeth. "Since you're so confident, Yusuke, why don't we have a manly competition first?"

"I refuse!" Yusuke said expressionlessly.

With a thud, Itachi, Kabuto, and Izumi stared in surprise as Guy suddenly struck. Guy's kick stopped beside Yusuke's head, blocked firmly by Yusuke's arm.

Guy's kick had tremendous force, and it made a loud impact when it collided with Yusuke's arm.

"You can't refuse this competition!" Guy burst out laughing.

Before he had even finished speaking, Guy's figure began to blur, like a phantom.

Before anyone present could react, four identical Guys suddenly attacked Yusuke at once. Two used kicks, while the other two attacked with their fists!

Yusuke's lips curled slightly. He understood what Guy was doing: he was helping Yusuke experience Shisui's Body Flicker Technique in advance.

Yusuke dodged and blocked the attacks of all four Guys. His Taijutsu was excellent, but he quickly realized that ordinary Taijutsu was powerless against this kind of Body Flicker Technique. After all, Guy had only managed to produce four phantom clones!

Yusuke could barely keep up with the attacks, with almost no chance to counter. Even when he occasionally struck back, his attacks only hit insubstantial phantoms.

After barely holding on for just over ten seconds, Yusuke could no longer withstand Guy's assault. He used the Fire Illusion Crow Technique, transforming into dozens of fire-wreathed illusion crows and putting distance between himself and Guy.

It wasn't that Yusuke had no way to deal with this kind of Body Flicker Technique. His method simply required him to release Ryujin Jakka's Shikai, which might injure Guy.

"Yusuke, how was that? Have you figured out how to deal with phantom clones created using the Body Flicker Technique?" One of the four Guys bent forward, hands on his knees, panting heavily. Clearly, the technique had taken a lot out of him. The other three phantom clones gradually vanished as well.

Guy's Taijutsu was better than Shisui's, and when it came to the ordinary Body Flicker Technique alone, he might not have been inferior to Shisui. But Guy lacked the secret technique Shisui had mastered. He relied entirely on Body Flicker and Taijutsu to imitate phantom clones, which consumed a tremendous amount of stamina. Even with Guy's abilities, he could only produce four phantom clones, and not for long.

Yusuke nodded. "It's definitely troublesome, but it won't stump me."

"Thank you, Guy," Yusuke said sincerely.

Guy stood up and laughed heartily. "It's nothing. I just don't want a worthy opponent like you to lose to someone else first!"

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. By then, a large crowd had gathered at the Training Ground, the arena Konoha used specifically for ninja matches. There were both ninjas and civilians, all there to watch the showdown between the Uchiha Clan's two great fighters.

People from every major ninja clan were in the stands. Even the Third Hokage and Danzo had already taken their seats in the special section, quietly waiting for the match to begin.

"Who do you think will win today?"

"Probably 'Body Flicker Shisui.' I heard he can turn into a thousand people. He could just stab the other guy to death with a thousand knives!"

"Where'd you hear that tall tale? It's nowhere near that exaggerated. I'm more confident in 'Flame Tachi.' He was an active, gifted fighter during the Third Shinobi World War."

Many spectators in the stands were whispering to each other, discussing who might win the duel.

Near the arena, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Shiranui Genma, and Guy had gathered together.

"Kakashi, who do you think has the better chance of winning? I saw how Uchiha Yusuke dealt with a few of his fellow clan members at the teahouse last time, and I'm more confident in him," Asuma said to Kakashi.

Shiranui Genma nodded. "I agree with Asuma. I know how strong Yusuke is. He's definitely an elite among the Jonin."

Kakashi didn't answer. He simply waited quietly for the match to begin. Even he couldn't predict the outcome. It wasn't easy to guess how a battle between ninjas of the same level would turn out.

Asuma and Genma thought Yusuke was very strong and had an overwhelming advantage. But as one of the Third Hokage's trusted subordinates, Kakashi had crossed paths with Shisui, an Anbu member, and had some idea of how terrifying "Body Flicker Shisui" was.

Meanwhile, in a shadowy corner, Orochimaru excitedly ran his tongue over his lips like a snake. "Now this is a battle worth looking forward to."

"Since it's about time, I, Uchiha Fugaku, will be presiding over this match. I now invite the two ninjas to the center of the Training Ground." Uchiha Fugaku entered the arena with a dark expression and announced loudly.

After Shisui officially delivered the challenge to Yusuke, Uchiha Fugaku had spoken with him twice, but neither time had he managed to persuade Shisui to abandon the challenge.

In Uchiha Fugaku's eyes, this was giving the other Konoha clans a chance to laugh at the Uchiha Clan! But no matter how reluctant he was, as the Uchiha Clan's leader, he was the most suitable person to preside over the match.

Yusuke and Shisui walked to the center of the Training Ground and faced each other, about five meters apart.

"Barrier Team, activate the barrier! Let the match begin!" Uchiha Fugaku glanced at Yusuke and Shisui, his expression conflicted, then announced loudly. He also left the arena.

If these two geniuses could get along and work together to help me revive the clan, then the Uchiha Clan could surely regain its footing in Konoha. Uchiha Fugaku sighed inwardly.

Although Yusuke had warned Uchiha Fugaku about Shisui's position, Uchiha Fugaku still trusted Shisui deeply.

As Uchiha Fugaku understood it, Shisui was simply the clan's moderate representative. He wanted to resolve the conflict between the clan and the village and serve as a bridge between the clan and the village leadership. He didn't believe Shisui would disregard the clan's interests and completely surrender to the village leadership's side.

On the Training Ground, Shisui activated his Sharingan and stared intently at Yusuke. "Senior Yusuke, I'll definitely win this match. You're strong, but you can't overcome my ninja way and resolve!"

"Senior, what is your ninja way!?"

Looking at Shisui's confidence, Yusuke replied slowly, "My ninja way? It's not time for you to know yet."

After hearing Yusuke's answer, Shisui said no more. His gaze suddenly sharpened.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

As always, thank you all for your support. There are 37 days left until I start releasing two chapters a day! (●`●)(●`●)

Regarding the announcement about the author going full-time as a writer, many kind readers have shared their opinions. Since there were too many for me to reply to individually, I've posted a collective response in the pinned post in the readers' forum.

I'm truly grateful for everyone's kindness. Even though I haven't started releasing two chapters a day yet, I've already received so many votes of support!