The Farce Ends

Shisui stopped wasting words, grabbed his companion's clothes, and tossed him behind him. Immediately after, he gripped the short blade in his hand and said with a calm expression.

"Not bad. Are you looking for me?"

"I heard you are a genius of the Uchiha clan. I have always enjoyed crossing blades with geniuses. Today, let me see exactly what you are made of!"

As soon as Karatachi Yagura finished speaking, his hooked staff smashed toward Shisui's face with the force of a landslide.

Shisui dodged to the side, the muddy ground exploding beneath his feet and splashing a large spray of water.

Facing Karatachi Yagura's assault, he did not retreat but advanced instead. Relying on the keen observation of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he swung his short blade, sliding along the trajectory of the hooked staff to thrust directly at his opponent's throat.

He tilted his head slightly, and the blade grazed past his ear without cutting a single strand of hair.

Karatachi Yagura sneered, "You are too slow. Is that all the skill you have?"

With that, he swung his hooked staff in a horizontal sweep.

Shisui flipped in mid-air, using the momentum to leap backward. Before he could even land, three water arrows whistled toward him, forcing him to twist his body mid-air.

Two water arrows grazed past him, but the third tore through the armor on Shisui's left arm, blood spilling out mixed with the rain.

After a simple exchange of probes, Shisui knew that the guy in front of him was terrifyingly strong.

Looking around, the torrential downpour cut the surroundings into a blurred, gray-white world.

Such rain was extremely disadvantageous for Shisui; not only would the effectiveness of his Fire Release be greatly reduced, but it would also bolster the power of Karatachi Yagura's ninjutsu.

"The farce should end now."

Having said that, Karatachi Yagura clapped his hands together with a "pop."

"Haa... yah!"

With a loud roar, massive amounts of chakra poured out of his body, and the giant waves surging in the sea rushed toward the shore with the force of a landslide.

The power of the giant waves blotted out the sky, and Shisui's pupils shrank as he witnessed it all.

Karatachi Yagura stood on the crest of the wave, his pale purple pupils looking down at Shisui on the shore as if watching an ant about to drown.

"Uchiha Shisui, think of something!"

Shisui told himself he had to do something, but faced with all this, he was powerless.

Under the reinforcement of Karatachi Yagura's massive chakra, the surging giant waves quickly flooded the coast. Shisui dodged in a hurry, but the other Konoha ninjas still in battle did not have Shisui's strength; they were instantly submerged by the waves, along with the Kirigakure ninjas who were fighting them.

As the seawater receded, only Shisui remained standing on the shore.

He was soaked to the bone, kneeling on one knee, gasping for air due to the massive consumption of his stamina.

The rain continued to fall, cold droplets dripping continuously from his hair, brow, and jaw, yet he seemed to feel no chill at all.

His gaze was rigidly fixed on the beach soaked by seawater in front of him, where several broken headbands were scattered, along with a hand—pale fingers slightly splayed, as if trying to grasp something at the final moment.

That was his companion's hand.

Shisui's pupils contracted violently.

"Yoshida... Takano... Morishita..."

He whispered the names one by one, his voice so hoarse it was almost swallowed by the sound of the rain.

"Oh?"

Karatachi Yagura stood not far away, his pale purple pupils watching this scene with great interest.

Shisui kept his head down, rainwater mixing with something warm as it slid down his cheeks.

His mind replayed the faces of his companions, as well as his best friend and childhood playmate...

Since he was little, Shisui had been called a genius.

He awakened his Sharingan at six and possessed the Three-Tomoe Sharingan by ten.

Everyone said that Uchiha Shisui's future was limitless.

But...

What is the use of being a genius?

A genius cannot protect anyone!

Shisui's fingernails dug deep into his palms, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning wildly in his eye sockets, and even the surrounding temperature seemed to drop by several degrees...

Watching the motionless Shisui, Karatachi Yagura didn't even need to think to know that the former's mental state had surely collapsed. He couldn't be bothered to play the cat-and-mouse game anymore; with a wave of his hand, nearly a hundred water arrows whistled toward Shisui.

The water arrows arrived in an instant. Just then, a layer of green light suddenly appeared around Shisui, who was half-crouched on the ground.

This light quickly condensed into a solid form, turning into skeletal structures that shielded him.

"Susanoo."

The whistling water arrows smashed against the "Susanoo," turning into clusters of water that fell to the ground.

Karatachi Yagura let out a surprised "Eh," and Shisui slowly stood up, whispering to himself.

"So this is... the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"So, the war between us and Kirigakure is going to escalate again?" Inside Uchiha Fugaku's office, Naoki asked after listening to Uchiha Yashiro recount the events.

Uchiha Fugaku rubbed his chin and said, "Escalation is a bit of a stretch. Although Karatachi Yagura crossed the sea to rally the scattered Kirigakure forces, he didn't bring many men with him. Still, we must provide necessary support to the southern front. The specifics will depend on how that guy Sarutobi decides to arrange things."

"Compared to that, I'm more interested in Shisui repelling Karatachi Yagura all by himself... Could it be that the battlefield is more of a training ground for him? His strength is improving at such a terrifying speed!"

Naoki flipped through the reports sent back from the southern front. They only briefly mentioned that Shisui and Karatachi Yagura had fought a great battle, both sides suffering injuries before retreating, but the specific details of the combat were left entirely unwritten.

As for exactly what level of strength Shisui possessed at this time, he could get a rough idea from the memories of his predecessor.

With his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, exceptional taijutsu, and speed that ranked among the very best in all of Konoha, Shisui's strength was definitely in the top tier of Konoha's jonin—he could be called an elite jonin.

But one had to realize that Karatachi Yagura was no ordinary man. As a Kirigakure expert who had made a name for himself even before the Third Shinobi World War and was often mentioned in the same breath as the Sannin, his strength was more than enough to serve as Mizukage. To say he could handle a ninja of Shisui's caliber with ease might be an exaggeration, but the sentiment held true.

Soon, he guessed the reason why Shisui was able to fight Karatachi Yagura to a draw.

Mangekyou Sharingan.

"My lord..."

Naoki suddenly spoke up.

"If the Third Hokage decides to send reinforcements to the southern front, could you allow me to go along?"

After speaking, Naoki waited for Uchiha Fugaku's response, while the latter looked at him with great interest, not speaking first.

Beside them, Uchiha Yashiro shook his head repeatedly.

"Naoki, although the intensity of the fighting on the southern front isn't what it used to be, the casualty rate remains high. Do you understand how dangerous it is?"

"I know." Naoki nodded. "Uncle, you don't need to worry about me. I haven't slacked off on my training a single day lately. Compared to a month ago, my strength is on an entirely different level."

Uchiha Yashiro continued to shake his head.