"Once we cross this canyon, we'll have left the Land of Fire and entered the Land of Rain."
Uchiha Shisui murmured to himself, his voice quickly swallowed by the howling wind.
Since leaving the Valley of the End, he hadn't stopped moving for even a moment.
Now, as he gazed at the canyon that sharply divided clear skies from rainy ones, the taut string in his heart finally began to loosen.
The canyon before him was like a natural barrier.
On one side, the Land of Fire's clear skies stretched overhead, sunlight pouring down without restraint;
on the other, the Land of Rain's skies were shrouded in thick clouds. Fine strands of rain fell like silver threads, while the rain curtain roiled in the wind, creating a hazy world of water.
Uchiha Shisui drew a deep breath and stepped into the canyon.
The rain had turned the ground into mud. Each step came with a squelch as his soles sank into the muck, then pulled free with effort.
The cliffs on either side rose steeply, their faces scarred by the passage of time. Here and there, a few stubborn weeds swayed in the wind and rain.
Dragging his weary body, Uchiha Shisui moved slowly along the narrow, muddy path.
The rain around him formed a dense curtain, wrapping the entire canyon in its folds.
His gaze pierced the downpour as he kept watch for any movement nearby. Vigilance had become second nature to him.
Just then, a small stone tumbled down from the top of the gorge and rolled to a stop by his feet with a sharp clatter.
At the same time, he noticed two deep puddles beside the path. Raindrops sent ripples across their surfaces, but something about their movement seemed unnatural.
Uchiha Shisui's nerves instantly tightened. Chakra began to flow through his body, rousing every cell and putting him on high alert.
Years as a ninja had taught him that seemingly ordinary signs often concealed deadly danger.
And sure enough, the rain striking his body abruptly stopped for a moment as a shadow swept down over him from above.
He instinctively looked up. Four Anbu wearing yellow raincoats and white animal masks leaped down from the top of the gorge like ghosts, their blades gleaming with a cold light.
At almost the same moment, water splashed from the two puddles. Two figures burst out, their dripping arms reaching like serpents to seize Uchiha Shisui by the feet and drag him under.
Uchiha Shisui reacted instantly. Chakra surged around him, his muscles tightening like a drawn bow.
Just as the two figures' hands were about to touch his ankles, he bent his knees and sprang upward.
Shisui used the force of his leap to break free of the pair in the puddles, then twisted in midair. His legs swung like two heavy hammers, cutting through the air as he kicked the descending Anbu with unerring precision.
The movements flowed together seamlessly, blending power and speed. The Anbu had no time to defend themselves before they were sent flying, crashing into the muddy ground and splashing water everywhere.
As he kicked the Anbu away, Uchiha Shisui flipped in midair and darted his right hand into his ninja pouch.
In the blink of an eye, he had several Kunai clenched in his hand.
Then he flicked his wrist, sending the Kunai flying toward the Anbu at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.
The Kunai traced gleaming arcs through the air and struck the Anbu in vital spots with deadly accuracy.
A few short groans rang out. The Anbu, who had attacked with such ferocity moments earlier, dropped dead, their bodies going limp as blood spread across the ground beneath the rain.
"Water Style: Water Shockwave!"
Seeing their comrades fall, the two Anbu who had been hiding in the puddles leaped out, rapidly forming Hand Seals as they shouted.
As their voices rang out, the rainwater around them seemed to answer their call, surging toward them before rushing at Uchiha Shisui like a roaring flood.
At the last moment before the water could engulf him, Uchiha Shisui unleashed his chakra and burst through the surface.
He touched down on the rushing water with both feet, then used its force to leap onto the nearly eighty-degree cliff face.
Chakra streamed from his soles, holding him firmly against the rough rock as he ran swiftly along the cliff.
This place is far too cramped for me to fight properly. Uchiha Shisui gritted his teeth, his brow furrowing into a deep crease.
The narrow surroundings severely restricted his movements.
As Uchiha Shisui considered how to escape his predicament, a familiar voice suddenly rang out. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
His heart jolted, and he turned instinctively. Hiruzen Sarutobi's unmistakable figure had appeared at one end of the canyon.
Hiruzen's expression was stern, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve and authority. A special Shuriken gleamed in his hand as he hurled it toward Shisui with tremendous force.
The moment Hiruzen formed the Hand Seals, the Shuriken seemed to come alive. Like a cell dividing, it multiplied into dozens in the blink of an eye.
They fanned out in the air with sharp whistles, hurtling toward Uchiha Shisui from every tricky angle.
"Susanoo!"
Uchiha Shisui wasn't about to sit back and wait for death. As he spoke, chakra surged around him, instantly forming a purple-black skeleton that blocked every incoming Shuriken.
"Those eyes!"
The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Susanoo, he immediately looked at Uchiha Shisui's eyes. He knew that familiar aura and pattern all too well.
"Eyes like Uchiha Madara's! The Uchiha Clan really does thrive in war."
After using the skeleton to block the Shuriken, Uchiha Shisui quickly closed in on Hiruzen Sarutobi. The terrain below put him at a severe disadvantage; he needed to reach the open ground at the top of the gorge to make better use of his strength.
While Hiruzen Sarutobi was still marveling at the power Uchiha Shisui had awakened, Shisui had already kicked at him.
The kick came with tremendous force, the air whistling around it. Sensing the danger, Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped back to his senses. Years of combat experience let him react at once.
He gritted his teeth, his face tensing as he crossed his arms and raised them as quickly as he could, trying to block the devastating kick.
"Boom!" The moment they collided, a deafening crash thundered through the canyon, as if the heavens and earth themselves might shatter.
The immense force spread outward from the point of impact. Ripples appeared in the air, visible to the naked eye, while the mud and water on the ground flew upward in a towering curtain.
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt an overwhelming force surge up his arms. Pain shot through them as he slid backward several meters, his soles gouging two deep furrows into the ground.
His hands trembled, and numbness rapidly spread through his body.
As he looked at the young man before him—the one in whom he had once placed such high hopes for the Will of Fire—
only now did he fully understand that Uchiha Shisui had grown into a Kage Level powerhouse, one every bit his equal.
"The strongest Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, isn't all that impressive after all."
Uchiha Shisui looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been kicked away, and grinned.