"So fast!"
Mikami Yuu was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Yūhi Shinku to be skilled in swordsmanship too.
But thinking about it, that made sense.
As a jōnin in his thirties, in the prime of his life, there was no way he only knew genjutsu.
Yūhi Kurenai's taijutsu talent was already pretty good. She was only limited by insufficient strength, making it hard for her to fight male ninja her age head-on. But Yūhi Shinku clearly didn't have that shortcoming. Just from the speed and force of this slash, he was already no weaker than Kakashi—perhaps even above him.
Facing the blade cutting through the air,
Yuu took a step back, twisted his body to the side with unbelievable flexibility, then flipped his wrist. The White Fang short blade already in his palm instantly unsheathed, slashing upward at an angle and striking the side of Yūhi Shinku's blade! The point where the two blades met was only a few centimeters away from his body.
Clang—!
A piercing clash of metal exploded! Sparks scattered everywhere!
"Good kid! Again!"
Yūhi Shinku exhaled sharply and swung his long blade again.
At this moment,
Rin finally used genjutsu release and escaped from the illusion Yūhi Shinku had cast earlier. The moment she turned her head, she noticed Yuu and Yūhi Shinku fighting and looked surprised.
"Yuu! And… Shinku-senpai? Why are you fighting? Could it be…"
Rin's mind turned quickly. Although Yuu had not told her in advance about his guess regarding the examiner team members, working backward from the result, she quickly understood.
"So that's it… This is the real test of this round?"
"Watch the hostages! And Obito!"
Yuu shouted while taking a brief opening.
He was really impressed in the worst way. Here was the joke: Obito, who had the two-tomoe Sharingan, was the slowest of the three to wake from the genjutsu. Even Rin woke up faster than him.
Who knew what Uchiha Fugaku had trained him in these past few days…
Mm… maybe it was because it was too basic, so Fugaku hadn't even thought to teach it. After all, to the average Uchiha, wasn't dispelling genjutsu something anyone with eyes could do? Did that need teaching?
…
At this moment,
inside the Hokage's office,
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help coughing lightly and said in a low voice, "Minato, after this exam is over, find someone to give Obito some genjutsu training… As an Uchiha, having such poor genjutsu resistance won't do."
Although Konoha's higher-ups were wary of the Uchiha, especially the possible appearance of the Mangekyō, they couldn't simply avoid teaching even the basics of identifying and dispelling genjutsu out of fear. If word got out, outsiders might think Konoha's higher-ups were mistreating Obito.
Besides…
Obito was an Uchiha who had only awakened his eyes in his teens and had been famous as dead last before that. Surely, with just a little training, he wouldn't awaken the Mangekyō and, within a year or two, do something like control the Nine-Tails and kill the Hokage, right? That would be way too absurd. Even fiction wouldn't dare write it that way…
"Understood. I'll find time to give Obito special training in that area."
Minato nodded in agreement.
…
On the other side, Uchiha Madara, watching "Love-Obito TV," also darkened.
No, seriously… what was this nonsense?
As a two-tomoe Uchiha, it was one thing for him to be slower at detecting and dispelling genjutsu than that white-haired kid who resembled Senju Tobirama. But how was he even worse than a little girl? Were those two tomoe fake cosmetic contacts? This was simply a disgrace to the Uchiha!
How many years had it been since he left Konoha? Had the Uchiha clan already fallen to this level? With this kind of genjutsu ability, how was he supposed to execute the Eye of the Moon Plan in the future?!
For a moment, Uchiha Madara felt the urge to change candidates.
However…
"Wait a little longer. This is only temporary."
"Once he awakens the Mangekyō, everything will improve…"
After all, the reason he had chosen Obito was precisely because of that idiot quality. Only this kind of carefree, foolish Uchiha in his youth would walk an even more extreme path after blackening, and would be easier for Madara to control. This was experience the Uchiha had accumulated over hundreds of years.
If he only wanted a lunatic, the Uchiha clan had plenty of those. There would have been no need to wait until now.
Uchiha Madara let out a long breath, settled his mind, and continued watching the show.
…
Inside the Forest of Death,
the battle between Yuu and Yūhi Shinku continued.
Because Yuu had been distracted for a moment to say something to Rin, his blade momentum slowed slightly. Yūhi Shinku immediately seized the opportunity and launched a fierce offensive. His Konoha-style swordsmanship was skillful and refined, flowing like clouds and water.
However,
without overwhelming strength, defeating Yuu within the range of Heart Blade Domain was almost impossible.
As time passed, the situation quickly began tilting in Yuu's favor. The short blade in his hand became a dense rain of silver light, bringing the speed, precision, and ruthlessness of Hatake swordsmanship to the fullest. It was almost impossible to keep up with.
As their blades crossed, branches around them were cut down one after another. The surrounding soil and stones were also crushed into fragments by the overflowing blade pressure.
"…I heard Minato say before that you learned Hatake swordsmanship from Kakashi. Looking at it now, there really is a trace of White Fang in you!"
Yūhi Shinku's eyes showed admiration, while his attacks became increasingly sharp.
As one of Konoha's swordsmanship experts, he had sparred with Hatake Sakumo before, so he naturally recognized long ago that Yuu was using the Hatake family's blade style. And his mastery was quite impressive. Although he couldn't compare to Hatake Sakumo when he was alive, he could absolutely be considered an expert.
"Then… try this!"
At the instant their blades crossed and both of them were pushed slightly apart by the recoil,
Yūhi Shinku quickly and covertly formed a hand seal, his lips moving slightly.
"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"
Without any warning, the once-solid ground beneath Yuu's feet suddenly softened like a swamp. A thick tree burst out of the ground, and thorny vines coiled toward his legs like giant pythons, quickly spreading upward.
"Release!"
Yuu dispelled the genjutsu while dodging.
The scene of the giant tree and vines peeled away like a shattered mirror, revealing the real ground underneath.
However, Yūhi Shinku's next genjutsu immediately followed.
"Hell Viewing Technique!"
This time, what appeared was no longer a tree, but a dark, bottomless abyss. Countless hideous, bloodstained faces of dead souls surfaced from the darkness, letting out shrill wails as they lunged straight at Yuu's mind. Along with them came emotions of fear and despair, trying to break down his will.
Yuu decisively bit his lip. Under the stimulation of pain, he restored his disturbed chakra. Immediately after, he saw Yūhi Shinku's figure split into dozens, clearly using a technique similar to Hazy Clone.
Alright.
It seemed Yūhi Shinku's value was not low after all. This level of genjutsu mastery was the strongest among all the enemies Yuu had encountered so far.
Even among the Uchiha, probably not many could surpass him.
If Yuu continued passively responding move by move like this, it would never end.
The essential principle of genjutsu is disturbing another person's chakra and thereby affecting the five senses, making them see false illusions. So… let's try that move!
Yuu took a deep breath. As Yūhi Shinku charged at him again, he shouted in a low voice:
"Shadow Prison Phantom Kill Formation!"
Buzz—!
In an instant, Yuu's figure split from one into two, two into four, and then into seven or eight identical figures appearing from thin air, rushing toward Yūhi Shinku. Every phantom clone emitted chakra fluctuations so close to real that each short blade carried sharp blade intent, making it almost impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Even Yūhi Shinku, a jōnin proficient in genjutsu, fell into brief confusion at this moment.
Then,
Yuu's real body mixed among the phantoms and took a deep breath.
"Eight Gates…"
"First Gate of Opening—open!"
"Second Gate of Healing—open!"
"Third Gate of Life—open!"
That's right.
The method Yuu planned to use to break genjutsu was the Eight Gates. The principle of the Eight Gates was opening the internal gates of the body and causing chakra to become violent. In this state, genjutsu, which worked by disturbing the target's chakra flow, would lose its effect.
Although Yuu had only trained the first three gates of his Eight Gates so far and might not be able to completely negate genjutsu, as long as he had a brief opening, that was enough!
It all happened in a flash.
As Yuu formed the seal for the Eight Gates, the chakra inside his body surged violently and scorching hot, like an ignited powder keg. With the most tyrannical posture, it instantly smashed through the chakra flow Yūhi Shinku had disrupted.
Tree Binding Death, the abyss of Hell Viewing, the wailing dead souls… all sounds and images vanished from Yuu's sight like smoke scattered by fierce wind. Real moonlight once again fell into the forest, accompanied by the cool scent of grass and trees, making his vision instantly clear.
At this moment, Yūhi Shinku's real body was fully exposed in Yuu's sight.
"Got you!"
A sharp gleam burst from Yuu's eyes. The ground beneath his feet exploded with a bang, forming a small crater. His figure vanished instantly, leaving only a fading afterimage behind.
"?!"
Yūhi Shinku's pupils shrank violently. A terrifying sense of crisis rose through him. He didn't even have time to think of tactics, and could only rely on the instincts forged through countless life-and-death battles, raising his long blade horizontally in front of him to block.
Clang——!!!!!
The sound of metal collision rang like a giant bell. The piercing sound wave almost became visible ripples, exploding outward in circles and shaking the surrounding leaves down from the trees.
"Impossible!"
Yūhi Shinku was shaken to the core. He felt as if he had been struck head-on by a charging rhinoceros. The immense force transmitted through his blade made the webbing between his thumb and index finger go numb. The fine steel long blade, which was of decent quality, also let out an overwhelmed hum, almost flying from his hand.
Before he could even catch his breath,
Yuu charged again like an arrow from a bow. The short blade in his hand turned into white lines tearing through the air as it slashed toward Yūhi Shinku.
Clang, clang, clang—!!!
A string of collision sounds exploded like popping beans.
The boost from opening three gates was actually slightly lower than Overload Pulse, but combined with Heart Blade Domain, it still unleashed considerable killing power.
Yūhi Shinku blocked seven or eight moves, feeling his arm go numb. Finally, Yuu caught an opening and struck the weak point of his blade. His palm loosened involuntarily, and the long sword flew from his hand.
After that,
Yūhi Shinku reacted quickly and used Body Flicker Technique, dodging diagonally backward. While retreating to disperse the force, he drew kunai and shuriken from his body and threw them in a triangular pattern, trying to seal off Yuu's pursuit route.
"This is… Eight Gates?"
Amid a crisp series of metallic rings, Yuu cut down all the shuriken Yūhi Shinku threw at him, then stopped. He spun his blade in a rather showy manner and slowly sheathed it.
At this moment, faint green chakra steam visible to the naked eye rose around his body. The veins at his temples pulsed, clearly a sign that his body was running under overload after opening the Gates.
However…
compared with the Eight Gates used by Might Duy and his son, Yuu's Eight Gates were slightly different.
[Trait · Damage Pre-Storage: You have considerable understanding of the mechanism of the Eight Gates. You can pre-store the damage and pain suffered during activation inside your body and release it gradually over a period afterward, thereby reducing the burden on your body during the Eight Gates state and dulling pain. Note: This may fail if the damage exceeds the limit.]
That's right.
The trait of Eight Gates had already been unlocked. Its effect was reducing the burden during gate activation.
Although it did not directly enhance explosive power like Monster Strength or Cell Activation Technique, reducing side effects could be considered indirectly increasing endurance. After all, the original Eight Gates had very strong side effects. When Lee first opened the Fifth Gate, he suffered bone fractures. For others, it would be even worse.
After a brief standoff,
Yūhi Shinku let out a long breath and straightened his body.
"You… pass."
Although the current situation could barely be considered a draw, and if they continued fighting, there was still more to come—even on the surface, Yūhi Shinku's odds of victory were higher, since he had been somewhat careless just now and still had plenty of chakra left, along with several trump cards he hadn't used—
still…
As a jōnin, having his blade knocked away in close combat by a junior currently taking the Chūnin Exam already counted as a loss. If he pulled out his trump cards and continued fighting with the mindset of facing an enemy of equal rank, then even if he won in the end, it would not be honorable. Instead, it would make him seem petty.
So Yūhi Shinku decided to stop here.
"Mikami Yuu, Nohara Rin. You two have passed this round of the exam."
"…Wait, what about me? I'm part of this squad too!"
Obito, who had already escaped the genjutsu, pointed at himself and shouted loudly.
"…"
Yūhi Shinku didn't even look at Obito. He walked straight forward, picked up his blade, then gave Yuu one last look.
"You really are impressive. No wonder that girl Kurenai… Go rest inside the tower and wait for the next round. I still need to evaluate other candidates, so I'll be leaving first."
~~~
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