Lost to Zhishui!

I crouched, hiding in the trees, a lock of hair from my forehead shorn off as I gasped for air.

While taijutsu wasn't my weak point, this body always lacked that extra sliver of strength and that tiny bit of speed compared to others at my level!

Tch!

I looked at my slender wrists and gripped the kunai in my hand tightly.

If I can't win with brute force, I'll play with ninjutsu. If I can't win with fair tactics, I can always play dirty!

Uchiha Shisui wasn't having an easy time either. He hung upside down from a branch to observe his surroundings, a piece of his shirt torn away at the waist, revealing a lean, toned midsection as he bent into a cautious arc.

He was incredibly vigilant. After a brief exchange, Uchiha Shisui had already determined that I was a well-matched opponent, forcing him to muster every ounce of his focus to respond.

Uchiha Akatsuki—truly worthy of being chosen by the clan head. Shisui revealed a smile, his fighting spirit instantly ignited, his blood boiling.

No matter how rational the Uchiha clan members were, there was a warlike madness buried deep in their bones.

"Hm?" A breeze brushed past his ear. Shisui dodged backward, a shuriken flying past his cheek by a hair's breadth!

"Found you!" I lunged from below, eyes locked on my target, my hands moving in a blur of seals as my cheeks puffed out—

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire!"

In an instant, clusters of vibrant red fireballs rolled in with a wave of heat! Bolstered by fire-attribute chakra, the fireballs suddenly accelerated and expanded! Uchiha Shisui leaped upward to dodge, his hands weaving seals in mid-air, and he used the Body Flicker Technique to shift behind me, kicking me away with a fierce strike!

So troublesome, like a rabbit—I can't hit him at all!

I stifled a groan, twisting my body in the air to regain my balance, a surge of irritation rising in my heart.

He truly lives up to the name Body Flicker Shisui. Even though he hasn't awakened his Sharingan yet, his Body Flicker Technique, various ninjutsu, taijutsu, ninja tool manipulation, and even his temperament and tactics have already matured far beyond his peers. It's clear he's on a different level than the other students!

But I'm no pushover either!

I jerked my arms in the air, and after a sharp, snapping sound, several steel wires suddenly appeared in my hands! I controlled the shuriken that had just flown past to spin back, aiming to strike Shisui hard! At the same time, the Phoenix Sage Fire followed the guidance of the wires, surging toward him in a torrent!

"Something, something is going to go wrong!" Rin, watching from the side, widened her eyes, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead as she pushed Obito beside her. "Hurry and stop them!"

But the next second, the steel wires in my hands let out a harsh, grating sound and snapped all at once! The turn of events was too sudden; I lost my balance in mid-air and went flying. Uchiha Shisui wove seals with both hands and instantly flickered behind me.

I could hear his breathing right by my ear. I closed my eyes in resignation, feeling no resentment toward my failure, only a sense of disappointment.

I still lost due to a lack of combat experience.

I had already used thirty percent of my chakra in the earlier school battle, then split off another thirty percent to accompany Kuixing, leaving me with only this forty percent to spar with Uchiha Shisui...

I don't know where I got the courage to challenge a true genius with only forty percent of my power; running out of chakra was inevitable—

Forget it. If I lose, I lose. Failure is the mother of success.

Feeling the wind against my ears, I tensed my body and gritted my teeth, attempting to minimize the impact of the heavy blow to my back.

"Hm?"

The pain never came. Instead, I was met with a warm embrace.

Two arms locked me firmly in his hold. Uchiha Shisui twisted in the air to dissipate the momentum of our flight, carrying me as he landed steadily on the grass.

I was stunned.

Having been on the receiving end of beatings since birth, this was the first time someone had gone easy on me. Not only did he go easy, he saved me, and on top of that, he held me so gently.

"You..." I opened my mouth, tugging at his sleeve, momentarily choked for words.

To say I wasn't moved would be a lie! No, no! To say my heart didn't skip a beat would be a lie!

Although it wasn't quite as dramatic as being moved to tears and pledging my life to him, Uchiha Shisui, you are a brother I, Akatsuki, have decided to keep!

"Are you hurt?" After landing steadily, Shisui set me down. He lifted my arm to inspect it, but I pulled my hand back, feeling guilty.

"No, I'm not hurt!" I hid my hands behind my back, my heart drumming against my ribs, my clenched palms covered in bloody gashes.

Because my chakra was completely exhausted, I had been cut by the snapping steel wires just moments ago.

"Akatsuki, you're being reckless." Uchiha Shisui was the type to hit the nail on the head, never sparing anyone's feelings. Ignoring my resistance, he gripped my wrist and pried my palm open, his brows furrowing immediately.

"Your fighting style is fierce and reckless; it's easy to hurt yourself."

I pouted.

Although I didn't want to admit it, he was right.

It was supposed to be a friendly spar, but I got anxious toward the end, frantically squeezing out my chakra and losing track of my strength, which is why I ended up cutting my own hand when I ran out of juice.

Facing his sharp gaze, I struggled for a long time before lowering my eyes and saying, "Sorry, I went too hard."

Uchiha Shisui sighed heavily. Looking at my expression, he shook his head with a smile, reached out to ruffle my hair, and picked up that lock of broken hair. "It's fine, we're even."

My heart felt like it had been tapped ever so lightly.

I didn't look up, letting him mess with my hair.

Even though I was being teased and criticized, I couldn't muster a single thought of resistance, instead accepting his lecture quietly and obediently. My breathing slowed, and all my attention was focused on the hand he had placed on my head.

It's over.

I should have known from our first meeting that Uchiha Shisui had a suppressive effect on me—it was innate!

"You were the same way at the academy, risking injury just to take the opponent down." He was still lecturing me, and I could only lower my head further, muttering unconvinced under my breath: "I just wanted to end it quickly..."

Under the guidance of Lord Fugaku, the most elite of the Uchiha, and given that my chakra possessed the three highly aggressive natures of Lightning, Fire, and Wind, I did indeed tend to favor fast, precise, and lethal strikes to end battles. Sometimes, it was inevitable that I would be a bit cruel to myself and to my enemies.

After all, I didn't want to be fighting all the time.

"You..." Shisui wore an expression of helpless resignation, as if he had known me for a long time.

"You are very much like I used to be."

I looked up at him, not knowing how to respond.

After that bout, our relationship had inexplicably grown much closer. This feeling was so magical; even though we had only exchanged a few words and traded a few blows, I felt as if I already understood him deeply, a sense of finding a kindred spirit, of being old friends at first sight.

This feeling was too wonderful, so wonderful that while my heart rejoiced, a wave of panic began to rise within me.

The moment I thought of his eventual fate, of his death, my breathing became stifled.

I turned my face away, feeling agitated and restless.

I shouldn't have met him.

"Come here, the wound needs to be treated." Uchiha Shisui rummaged through his ninja tool pouch, took out something like an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, and reached for my hand to clean it, but I was so startled that I yanked my hand back.

"No!" I was terrified, my entire face tensing up.

People are always like this; they don't feel the pain when they are injured, but they are afraid when it comes to treating the wound. I don't know if that's weakness or strength.