Although Shisui was known as one of the Uchiha clan's top genjutsu specialists, it wasn't realistic to expect Kaze to fall for an illusion with just a moment of eye contact.
Ever since awakening the Sharingan, Kaze had frequently cast genjutsu on himself—Partly in an effort to trigger the Mangekyō Sharingan…And partly to build resistance against the Uchiha clan's illusions.
Ten years of training had turned Kaze into a genjutsu master in his own right.
The moment his eyes met Shisui's, the tomoe in Kaze's Sharingan began to spin rapidly—Creating a terrifying illusionary world meant to trap Shisui.
But in the end, neither side's genjutsu took hold.The illusions canceled each other out.Both of their minds remained grounded in reality.
"…So you've had it for quite some time, then," Shisui exhaled softly.
Normally, when a member of the Uchiha awakens the Sharingan, it starts with a single tomoe, slowly evolving over time.Only a rare few geniuses manifest two tomoe right from the start.
Given that detail, Shisui now felt even more certain—Kaze had likely awakened his Sharingan during the Third Great Ninja War, just as he'd once said.Witnessing his parents die on the battlefield… it all fit.
And judging from the way Kaze used his dōjutsu, Shisui could tell he was someone who trained it constantly—Sharpening his Sharingan over the years.
That thought gave Shisui a strange pang in his chest. His gaze, for just a moment, softened.
"The Sharingan always comes with tragedy," he murmured.
Then, as if pulled by the memory, Shisui began to recount his own experience of awakening the Sharingan.
"I had once taken part in a mission to gather intel behind enemy lines."
"But just as we were preparing to retreat, we were discovered."
"To buy me time to escape, my teammate stayed behind and acted as bait."
"My entire squad was wiped out—only I survived."
"It was in that moment, at the edge of death, that I awakened the Sharingan. That's how I became the so-called genius people talk about."
"No one ever truly understood the pain I felt… not even my own father."
There was a faint, bitter melancholy in Shisui's voice.
When he returned home after that mission, his father didn't offer him a word of comfort.Instead, he congratulated him—for awakening the Sharingan.
In the eyes of the Uchiha clan's hardline traditionalists, power was everything.You couldn't even attend the clan meetings unless your eyes had manifested the Sharingan.
"That kind of atmosphere… where nothing matters but strength… it weighed heavily on me," Shisui admitted quietly.
"It was during that time the Third Hokage showed me another path—his Will of Fire."
"It gave me a sense of direction. A reason to protect, not dominate."
Shisui's words were earnest, spoken from the heart.
And this, Kaze realized, was the root of his rejection of Uchiha supremacism.
What Shisui wanted… was for Kaze to understand him.To join him.To help spread the Will of Fire among their people—And break the clan's obsession with power.
He even hoped… that no Uchiha would ever awaken the Sharingan again.
But hearing that, Kaze's expression darkened. His brows knit tightly together.
"This is the man they call the strongest Uchiha?""And yet… it seems your ideals are so hopelessly naive."
Kaze tightened his grip and pressed forward, his kunai bearing down with renewed force.
Shisui, however, didn't meet the blow head-on.Instead, he planted his feet and let the momentum carry him backward, sliding along the ground to create distance.
"Naive?" he repeated.
"I don't believe my ideals are naive at all."
With a shake of his head, Shisui's hands began to blur—forming hand seals at blistering speed.
Chakra surged through his body, concentrating in his throat.
Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Technique!
Just as Kaze had said, Shisui's ideals might've been naive—But his strength? That was real.
In the blink of an eye, three blazing streams of flame erupted from Shisui's mouth, twisting upward into the sky.Each one morphed into a massive fire dragon.
The dragons opened their jaws wide, bellowing with fury as their bodies twisted violently through the air.Waves of searing heat exploded outward, engulfing the battlefield as they bore down on Kaze.
Shisui's mastery of Fire Release was no joke—Right alongside shurikenjutsu and genjutsu, it was one of the things he was most feared for.
Under Shisui's precise control, the three fire dragons split off in different directions.
One twisted its body and charged in from the left.
Another spread its jaws wide, cutting off Kaze's escape from the right.
And the third—the one in the middle—soared more than ten meters into the air before diving straight down, fangs bared and roaring, aiming to crush him from above.
The fiery trio moved like a well-coordinated squad, surrounding Kaze from all angles and closing in fast.
Lightning Style: Thunder Beast!
Despite the sheer intensity of Shisui's Fire Release, Kaze didn't even flinch.
As a Devil Fruit user, there was no need for him to form hand seals at all.
With a single thought, twin surges of blinding lightning erupted from his shoulders—
BOOM—!!
The crackling roar of thunder drowned out the fire dragons' howls.
The lightning instantly took shape, condensing into massive beasts that surged forward on all fours—thunder incarnate—clashing with the dragons in a spectacular storm of fire and lightning.
The two beasts met the side dragons head-on, halting their advance with raw power.
As for the one descending from above—
Kaze clenched his fingers into a tight fist, his legs kicking off the ground with explosive force.
Rather than waiting for impact, he charged forward himself—His body blurred through the air, closing the gap in a flash—And then he swung.
A single punch, backed by 100,000 volts of electrical force, slammed directly into the fire dragon's snout.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the battlefield, the dragon's body detonating in a brilliant inferno as the lightning tore through it from the inside out.
Fire dissipated. Smoke billowed. And Kaze, wrapped in a faint blue glow of residual electricity, came barreling down from mid-air.
He released a burst of lightning from the soles of his feet, turning it into propulsion—And launched himself toward Shisui once more.
Seeing Kaze rapidly closing the distance, Shisui couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
He had envisioned several countermeasures Kaze might use to deal with the fire dragons—Perhaps teleportation, maybe another lightning jutsu—
But to respond with a straight punch?
'Just how much confidence does this guy have in his taijutsu?!'
Uchiha Style: Flameblade Leap!
With a sharp breath, Shisui gritted his teeth and drew his short blade.Flames wrapped around the steel as he coated it in Fire Release—And lunged forward, meeting Kaze head-on with the signature sword technique of the Uchiha style.
But to Shisui's surprise...
Even when faced with a blade wreathed in flames, Kaze still couldn't be bothered to dodge.
Instead, he threw a punch straight at the edge of the sword—As if the flames, the steel, and the killing intent behind it all meant nothing.
BOOM—!
The shockwave of impact erupted between them like a thunderclap.
Kaze's fist collided head-on with Shisui's blade, engulfed in searing fire—And in that single moment, a violent gust exploded outward, snuffing out the flames completely.
But that wasn't all.
On Shisui's blade—Fine, jagged cracks began to snake across the steel, stark and black against the metal.Visible even to the naked eye.
"Impossible...!"
Shisui's Sharingan widened in disbelief.
He was sure of it—Kaze hadn't used any trickery.No hidden jutsu.No strange technique.
It had been nothing more than a straightforward punch—And yet it had fractured his weapon.
'He actually broke my blade… with just his fist?!'
(T/N: I had to tweak this part too, since it continues directly from the previous chapter. Anyway you all enjoyed it!)