Plop.
Plop.
The stream rippled under the sunlight, refracting into faint rainbows.
Step!
Uchiha Shisui crushed down on the damp pebbles beneath the creek, his foot skimming the surface as he flicked his wrist—
Twelve shuriken skimmed low over the water, shooting straight toward the opposite side.
Within his pupils, the Mangekyō Sharingan shimmered faintly, emerald-like ripples surfacing under the daylight.
Splash!
The water trails—originally straight—suddenly twisted into serpentine curves a moment later—
Collisions. They'd been intercepted.
Clink clank clang!
Kunai precisely knocked all twelve shuriken away!
Seeing this, Shisui smiled slightly.
That was the kind of reaction a clansman should have after opening their eyes.
But the very next second, as he lowered his gaze—
The hairs on the back of his neck shot straight up!
Uchiha Arata, who should have been thirty paces away, was now slowly rising out of the reflection in the water, half his body emerging upside down!
Crackle—crackle!
Lightning-wreathed fingers were right in front of him!
Barely three inches from his ankle.
"Lightning Release?! When did you get over here?!"
Shisui tapped the tip of his foot, his body splitting into four afterimages that scattered outward.
Rip—!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
But three of them, just a beat too slow, were torn apart by the lightning serpent!
"That move just now was…?"
Shisui temporarily settled atop a rocky outcrop near the cliff.
A faint stinging sensation spread across his cheek.
He wiped away the bloodline left by shattered stones and swept his gaze across the creek, where faintly glowing transparent runes shimmered beneath the water.
The confusion in his eyes deepened.
"What kind of technique is this? Even the stones in the stream are engraved with it?"
Who in the world would be bored enough to carve sealing formulas onto rocks?!
…Well.
Someone really was.
Jin.
Ever since the clan relocated to the Naka River, whenever he sunbathed during the day, he'd absentmindedly fiddle with stones.
Those stones…
Were all carved with Flying Thunder God formulas, then casually tossed back into the river.
Carried by the current, they spread throughout all of Konoha.
In Jin's Flying Thunder God "network map," the entire village glowed with lush green markers.
There was practically nowhere he couldn't go.
He glanced at Shisui and suddenly broke into a wide grin.
"Hahaha, Brother Shisui—don't underestimate the power of our bond!"
Shisui: ...
That made absolutely no sense.
But knowing this second son's strange personality, he didn't press further.
Instead, he silently formed hand seals.
His body began to shift subtly.
Pop, pop, pop.
In the next instant, thirty-six identical figures appeared at once!
Each held a shuriken, explosive tags dangling from the tails.
Whoosh!
One shuriken was thrown.
Then a second. A third!
In rapid succession, over a hundred shuriken and explosive tags blanketed a hundred-meter radius!
"No matter how fast you are—if the entire area is covered, what will you do then?"
Shisui's lips curled slightly as he unconsciously mimicked Jin's odd tone.
"Don't underestimate your big brother's pressure, y'know!"
BOOM!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Explosions overlapped in an instant.
Front, back, above, below—
Every direction was swallowed by blasts!
The figure at the center had nowhere to escape!
"Hahaha, little Jin, your only option now is to bury your head in the water!"
Shisui laughed as he gave a reminder.
Below them was the one place he'd deliberately left open.
As long as Jin dove in, he could evade this wave.
"Surrender?"
But Jin merely shrugged, staring at the shuriken and explosive tags right in front of him—
Completely motionless.
As if he'd just… given up.
"Jin—you!"
This sight stunned all thirty-six Shisuis, panic flickering across their faces.
He only wanted to let his little brother understand the gap between them.
He had no intention of injuring Jin!
So after hesitating for barely a moment, he hastily formed seals, preparing to retrieve the weapons.
But at that instant, a flash of golden light slipped into the corner of his vision.
"Hm? What's this?"
He froze.
Thirty-six pairs of eyes turned toward the boy in the stream.
Under the sunlight, Jin seemed to radiate an unusual brilliance.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Nearly a hundred shuriken and explosive tags passed straight through him—
Missing entirely.
"Eh? This is—what kind of technique?!"
Shisui was dumbfounded.
Even with his sunshine-filled brain, he couldn't figure out what kind of jutsu could make a person completely intangible.
Of course, he only paused for three seconds.
Then the hot-blooded excitement surged back up.
"Hahaha! Not bad, not bad! I admit it—I underestimated you earlier, Jin!"
"Next, I'll show you my true strength!"
Whoosh!
The next moment, all thirty-six figures charged at once!
The katana in their hands scythed through the air like reapers' blades!
"The secret of Body Flicker lies in deceiving the scale of time!"
Suddenly, Shisui's voice rang out!
His katana was already pressed against Jin's throat.
Plop.
But in the very next second, Jin turned into a chunk of wood, dropping into the water.
"Substitution Technique? One that can even fool the Sharingan?!"
"Hahaha, impressive! Again! Let me show you just how fast Brother Shisui really is!"
The excitement in Shisui's eyes deepened as he tightened his grip on the blade—
Even faster now!
Shisui of the Body Flicker!
Not just flicker—
But instant!
Speed was his greatest strength!
BOOM!
In the moment they crossed paths, the waters of the Naka River exploded into massive craters!
Crystal-clear spray glittered brilliantly in the air.
"Did you know, Brother Shisui?"
At that moment, Jin's voice suddenly rang out from within the splashing water.
"Water… conducts electricity!!"
CRACK—!
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
Zzzzzzt—!
Violent lightning crashed down!
Across the river's surface, dense azure arcs surged outward like countless writhing serpents, racing in all directions!
Shisui's heart jolted.
He frantically commanded his clones to retreat with rapid jumps.
But the lightning below seemed to have eyes—
Easily chasing them down.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
One Body Flicker Shisui after another was electrocuted into bursts of bubbles.
Until, at last—
Only one remained.
The one still standing on the rocky outcrop by the cliff.
Splash.
The river crashed back into its bed.
On the cliff, Shisui's arms were already aching faintly.
Lightning of this destructive level was lethally threatening to him.
In just this short exchange, Shisui's bright, wide eyes had grown narrower and narrower.
Not from pain—
But from his shaken state of mind.
Thirty-six simultaneous Body Flickers—
Broken this easily?!
He found it hard to believe.
"Jin… how did you see through my clones?"
"Has your Sharingan already developed a special ocular technique?"
"No… that shouldn't be possible. Then what does my Mangekyō-only Kotoamatsukami even count for?"
The sunny, cheerful big boy once again fell into confusion.
Seeing this, Jin casually replied,
"Ever heard of Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V?"
But inside, he was practically bouncing with excitement.
Flying Thunder God Technique—amazing.
Absolutely amazing.
Strongly recommended that every transmigrator get one!
As long as your chakra pool was sufficient, you could even triple-flash in a single second!
You could drink in the Land of Fire's red-light district in the morning—
Then rush to the Land of Wind to pan for gold at night.
No delays. None at all!
"You win, you win. I'm no match for you, you little monster."
Seeing his Body Flicker so thoroughly dismantled, Shisui shook his head and chose to surrender outright.
After all, he couldn't possibly use Kotoamatsukami on his own little brother, could he?
As he spoke, he slung an arm around the boy—now nearly shoulder-height with him—and said mysteriously,
"Of course, give it a couple of days, and Brother Shisui will show you and Itachi a big treasure."
That's right—under Jin's influence, Shisui now also referred to himself as Brother Shisui.
And called Itachi Itachi.
He didn't know why, but somehow… it felt oddly natural.
A big treasure?
Something Shisui would call a big treasure—
Could it be…?
Susanoo?!
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