"I won't go easy on you!"
Though Uchiha Shisui said that, he still used the same method he usually used on his own crows, reaching out to grab Kitahara by the neck... It looked a lot like a slaughterhouse butcher...
Some people were dead, yet still lived on.
Some people were alive, yet should have died long ago.
Kitahara silently recited a little poem in his heart, then formed a small Tailed Beast Bomb in his beak. It contained very little Chakra, but its power...
Boom!
A blinding flash erupted, and after the smoke dispersed, a massive crater was revealed in the ground...
Uchiha Shisui retreated into the distance, his back pressed tightly against a tree trunk as cold sweat broke out across his forehead. He stared at the crow in unsettled disbelief. "What kind of Ninjutsu is that...?"
It clearly did not resemble an inherited racial technique a Ninja Crow should possess!
Seeing Chakra gathering in the crow's beak once more, as though it did not need any rest at all... Shisui forced a bitter smile and quietly left the spot, his voice echoing through the forest. "What a simple and brutal fighting style..."
Kitahara sensed the location of the Flying Thunder God mark on Shisui... Found him!
The crow vanished from where it stood in an instant!
Uchiha Shisui was hiding behind a boulder, considering his tactics. "That technique should be an energy projectile condensed from highly concentrated Chakra..."
"Caw~"
Kitahara stretched out a wing and lightly tapped the boy's shoulder. It calmly watched Shisui's startled expression. "When did you...?"
Both its speed and sensory ability were astonishingly powerful!
Of course, Shisui had no way of knowing that he had been marked with the Flying Thunder God the moment he touched the crow before their battle. This fight had been doomed to be futile from the start...
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Claw Crimson!"
The genius Chunin no longer dared to be careless. He immediately unleashed four shuriken wrapped in flames. As they flew toward Kitahara, Shisui used their momentum to retreat in an instant!
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Two Fire Style techniques in a row—this crow would probably end up on the dinner table...
Clang!
The four incoming shuriken were knocked down by the crow's wings, along with the Fire Chakra clinging to them, which was extinguished as well. Shisui's signature technique had been violently dismantled by a crow...
Uchiha Shisui blew a huge fireball toward Kitahara with all his strength. Sensing that the crow was no longer within the attack's range, he hurriedly searched for its whereabouts...
Crimson eyes were right before him...
At some point, Kitahara had appeared beside Shisui, tilting its head as it watched him perform...
"It escaped during nothing more than the brief interval needed to form hand seals..." Uchiha Shisui marveled. Its ability to seize opportunities was no worse than a ninja's.
"Then next... Body Flicker Technique!"
More than a dozen clones carrying Chakra marks appeared and surrounded the crow. Uchiha Shisui's true body was mixed among them, constantly switching places with the clones.
Shisui intended to rely on his usual tactics: use the clones to contain Kitahara, repeatedly employ the Body Flicker Technique to engage it in close combat, wear down its stamina, and look for an opening...
Kitahara slowly flew into the air, a small blackish-purple Tailed Beast Bomb hovering in its beak... Its meaning was obvious... Who cared about clones or the real body? There was nothing a single Tailed Beast Bomb could not solve!
Boom!
All the clones scattered instantly...
If it had been any other ninja, they would probably have been tormented to tears by this crow's antics... In front of Kitahara, even exquisite Nintaijutsu was nothing more than flashy nonsense!
"Substitution Technique! Body Flicker Technique!"
He, Uchiha Shisui, would never give up so easily! How could a crow that refused to play by any rules understand the essence of being a ninja...
Kitahara watched Shisui from afar. Using high-speed movement, he had created two afterimages and headed in three separate directions... It seemed he wanted to withdraw for the moment.
How clever! He had already put a newly developed technique into practical combat. If an enemy could not tell which one was his true body, they could not catch him. Even if they happened to guess correctly, he could swiftly switch places with another clone...
The only problem was...
There was probably no Ninjutsu faster than the Flying Thunder God, nor any method easier than a Flying Thunder God mark for locating the real body.
"Caw~"
The crow easily found Shisui's true body by following the Flying Thunder God mark. It fluttered its wings beside him, looking as though it were about to fall over...
That act was way too fake!
Uchiha Shisui grumbled inwardly, but he did not dare relax his footing. His body instantly switched places with a clone, fleeing in another direction...
"Caw~"
It still looked half-dead...
Shisui roared in utter fury, "Don't insult a ninja's intelligence! The way you look right now wouldn't even fool Itachi!"
"..."
Kitahara fell silent in thought... Was this person about to lose and starting to spout nonsense after losing his mind? He was openly insulting its acting skills... It often pretended to be tired from flying and landed on the brat's shoulder to rest...
As Uchiha Shisui used his speed to switch places with a clone once more...
"Caw~ Caw~"
When Kitahara found his true body for the third time, Shisui simply stopped and raised a hand in surrender. "I... admit defeat..."
Realizing there was no possibility of victory, Uchiha Shisui decisively chose to surrender.
It had only been a practical test for his new Body Flicker Technique. It seemed there were still flaws. Even Itachi, with the Sharingan, could not distinguish the real body—so how had Kitahara done it?
"How could Shisui lose to Kitahara?" After learning the result, Uchiha Itachi stared in surprise at the smug Kitahara on his shoulder. "It's a crow!"
Its once-proud head drooped. It really did want to become human again: "..."
"Looks like the new technique still has plenty of imperfections..." Uchiha Shisui gave an awkward laugh from the side. He truly had no choice but to concede... He had always been known for his speed, yet he had been defeated by a crow in a battle of speed.
Honestly, it did not feel very good.
If others knew what Shisui was thinking, they would feel even worse... He was clearly a genius expert in Genjutsu, yet he had earned the title of "Body Flicker Shisui" through his speed...
"Kitahara, how did you find Shisui's real body?" Itachi had been thoroughly beaten by the Body Flicker Technique during their sparring, so he was very curious about this question.
Shisui, standing beside him, perked up. He was even more curious about Kitahara's answer...
Compared to his previous use of the Clone Technique, the new Body Flicker Technique he had developed had its own advantages and disadvantages. Yet in actual combat, it was superior, allowing him to pursue enemies or escape from them at any time.
"Caw~ Caw~" Kitahara leisurely picked up a fruit. It had just mastered Shisui's Body Flicker Technique during their fight, so it gave him an answer that sounded rather absurd, but was completely correct.
As long as you were fast enough, you could dodge any attack...
"...What did it say?"
Uchiha Itachi's face reddened slightly. "It said your speed is too slow, Shisui..."
"That is true." Uchiha Shisui nodded in agreement. "With my current Taijutsu and speed, I am still far from my limit. But its speed is simply too fast..."
It was like a parasite clinging to the bone.
If Shisui had focused on fighting Kitahara head-on, he would have realized that this crow was likely using an S-rank forbidden technique to deal with a new technique based on a D-rank Ninjutsu.
This way of crushing a genius was a bit shameless... But it truly made one feel refreshed, body and soul...
Second update. I'm a little sleepy. Also, regarding the New Year fortune sticks they drew in Chapter 9, I explained them in the chapter comments. Anyone interested can go back and take a look. Once I say it, everyone will definitely recognize them.
Before you continue