The instant Shisui's opening thrust was deflected, he changed his attack.
His wrist turned, allowing the momentum of his short sword to flow seamlessly into another strike. The blade moved like liquid silver—slashing, sweeping, and rising from unpredictable angles without the slightest pause between movements.
Every attack carried astonishing speed and penetrating force.
This was the Uchiha clan's renowned sword art: Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu, a fighting style famous for its agility, deceptive movements, and sudden changes in direction.
Ren responded by fully unleashing Hatake Swordsmanship.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
A storm of metallic collisions erupted across Training Ground Thirteen. Sparks scattered through the air as the two short swords struck each other again and again, their ringing impacts overlapping until they resembled torrential rain hammering against a roof.
Ren and Shisui transformed into a pair of entangled whirlwinds.
Their figures crossed and separated faster than the eye could comfortably follow. Cold flashes of steel filled the clearing, appearing one moment beside their shoulders and the next near their legs. Each time one blade attacked, the other arrived just in time to intercept it.
Asuma stared without blinking.
Even after personally fighting Ren, he found it difficult to follow the current exchange. Kurenai's crimson eyes darted from one afterimage to another, while Rin clutched the front of her clothes so tightly that her knuckles turned pale.
She barely dared to breathe.
Unlike the earlier spars, neither swordsman could afford to make a careless mistake. Their weapons had no padded edges, and their attacks were fast enough that even a shallow cut could become dangerous.
Among everyone present, Shisui unquestionably possessed the greatest natural talent and future potential.
Otherwise, he would never earn the title Shisui of the Body Flicker during the Third Shinobi World War despite being a year younger than Asuma and the others. Even Kakashi, who had been praised as a genius since childhood, would only begin building his legendary reputation after acquiring the Sharingan.
Shisui's extraordinary potential was already revealing itself.
In terms of raw strength, he and Ren appeared almost equal. Ren might even have possessed a slight advantage. However, Shisui compensated for that difference through an astonishing ability to channel his strength.
Every shift of his hips, every turn of his wrist, and every change in his footing added force to his sword. He wasted almost no energy. The full power of his body flowed into each attack as naturally as water rushing downstream.
More troubling was his foresight.
Shisui rarely attacked with only the current exchange in mind. Every movement seemed designed to prepare the next one. His offense wasn't as openly fierce as Kakashi's, but once Shisui obtained even the smallest advantage, he immediately consolidated it.
Then he expanded it.
One favorable exchange became two. Two became four. Before long, his opponent would discover that every possible escape route had quietly disappeared.
His advantage accumulated like a snowball rolling down a mountain.
In a certain sense, that method of fighting was a natural counter to Hatake Swordsmanship.
Ren parried a slash toward his shoulder and twisted aside from a thrust aimed at his ribs. As their blades collided once more, a thought flashed through his mind.
When he had previously dueled Kakashi, the Gala System had activated an Encounter mission. Since Shisui was now using a powerful sword style against him, shouldn't the same thing happen again?
As if responding to his expectations, the familiar chime echoed inside his head.
Ding!
High-quality potential conquest target detected: Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu.
Initiate Encounter?
Yes / No
Ren's eyes brightened.
There it was.
He took a deep breath and prepared to activate Partial Transformation. If he used the enhanced physical characteristics of his Transformation Technique, he could prolong the duel and create more opportunities to understand Shisui's swordsmanship.
Before Ren could select Yes, however, another voice abruptly rang through his mind.
It was cold, arrogant, and visibly offended.
Hatake Swordsmanship: Hmph! Nothing but flashy tricks, yet it dares to show off in front of me! This brat clearly doesn't take me seriously!
Ren's sword nearly slipped out of position.
The voice continued before he could recover.
Hatake Swordsmanship: White-haired brat, don't waste your attention on that technique. Give me enough time, and I'll help you surpass Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu!
Ren's eyelid twitched.
What was this situation?
Great Fireball Technique and Phoenix Sage Fire Technique had displayed a strange sense of kinship because they belonged to the same family of Fire Release ninjutsu. Ren had assumed that Hatake Swordsmanship and Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu might react similarly, given that both were sword arts.
Instead, the two techniques seemed to possess an instinctive hostility toward each other.
Not only was there no kinship, but Hatake Swordsmanship appeared personally insulted by the mere existence of its rival.
This was the first time Ren had encountered such a reaction.
A new possibility immediately entered his mind.
If he obeyed Hatake Swordsmanship and rejected the Encounter, would its favorability toward him increase?
Ren continued parrying Shisui's attacks while considering the choice. The entire thought process lasted only a few seconds.
Then he made his decision.
"I refuse."
Having an additional conquest target would ordinarily be beneficial. Every technique added to his system represented another potential route to power.
However, a person's time and energy were limited.
Ren's relationship with Hatake Swordsmanship had only just begun. He hadn't even raised its favorability to twenty-five, which meant he had yet to unlock its first special characteristic.
On top of that, he still had numerous ninjutsu to practise, medical knowledge to study, and village missions to complete. Adding Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu to the list now would only result in another technique sitting untouched and gathering dust.
It would be better to concentrate on mastering Hatake Swordsmanship first.
If its future characteristics were powerful enough, Ren might never need to master another sword style. He could simply study their strengths through ordinary sparring, correct his own weaknesses, and continuously refine the already exceptional Hatake Swordsmanship.
Rather than collecting countless incomplete styles, he would perfect one.
The system notification changed the moment Ren selected No.
Hatake Swordsmanship: Hmph. That's more like it.
Hatake Swordsmanship favorability increased by 3!
Current favorability: 9/100 — Stranger
Ren's assumption had been correct.
Before he could celebrate, a cold and razor-sharp consciousness poured directly into his mind. The sensation was like having an invisible blade pressed against his thoughts.
Hatake Swordsmanship's voice returned, but this time its arrogance had been replaced by absolute focus.
Hatake Swordsmanship: Three steps ahead and to your left—beneath the pine tree's shadow. His next sword will emerge through that gap and attack the outer pressure point below your knee! Sink your waist, lower your center of gravity, and press your blade down three inches! After you parry, thrust directly at his chest and force him to change techniques!
Ren's eyes narrowed.
Was Hatake Swordsmanship beginning to teach him in real time?
The instructions were unbelievably precise. It hadn't merely warned him where Shisui would attack; it had specified his posture, the placement of his blade, and the exact counterattack he needed to perform.
Although Ren had some doubts, he chose to follow the guidance.
He sank his waist.
His center of gravity dropped, and the point of his short sword descended precisely three inches.
Ding!
At that exact moment, a treacherous flash of steel emerged through the gap in the shadows to Ren's left. Shisui's short sword swept low, its point piercing directly toward Ren's leg.
Ren's lowered blade intercepted it perfectly.
A flicker of astonishment appeared in Shisui's eyes.
The technique he had used was the Uchiha-Style Halo Dance, one of the more deceptive ambush techniques within Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu. Its hidden angle made it extremely difficult to predict, particularly for someone witnessing it for the first time.
Even recognizing the technique didn't guarantee that an opponent could stop it.
Shisui's attack was extraordinarily fast, and members of the Uchiha clan possessed dynamic vision far beyond that of ordinary people. An average ninja might understand what was happening yet still fail to react before the blade reached them.
Ren hadn't merely reacted.
He had positioned his sword in advance as though he had known exactly where the attack would appear.
Shisui's old momentum had already been exhausted, and he had yet to generate the force required for his next movement.
Ren immediately stepped forward.
His foot struck the earth with a dull boom, propelling him into Shisui's guard. His short sword pierced straight toward the vital point in the younger boy's chest.
Shisui's eyelid twitched.
He violently leaned backward, narrowly pulling his torso away from the blade. At the same time, his wrist began trembling with extraordinary speed.
His short sword multiplied.
A dense curtain of silver light formed before his chest.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The rapid impacts resembled firecrackers exploding in succession. Within that tiny fraction of time, their swords clashed more than a dozen times.
Blade afterimages splashed through the air like scattered water.
Ren pressed forward relentlessly, while Shisui gave ground one step at a time. The grass beneath their feet was crushed flat, and sparks continued to burst between their weapons.
Only after Shisui activated the Body Flicker Technique did he finally escape Ren's pressure.
His body blurred and reappeared several meters away.
The relentless storm of attacks came to a temporary halt.
Both boys stood with their short swords raised. Ren's breathing remained controlled, but Shisui could no longer conceal the amazement on his face.
"As expected of a senior who has already become a genin," Shisui said, staring at him with renewed respect. "Your taijutsu is excellent, and your swordsmanship is even stronger than I imagined."
His fingers tightened around the hilt.
"But from now on, I'm going to use my full strength."
Ren adjusted his footing and raised his blade. A trace of excitement flickered in his eyes.
"No problem. Come!"
Silence descended over the training ground.
Shisui gathered his strength, and the chakra surrounding his body began to surge. Dust trembled beneath his sandals, while several loose leaves slowly lifted from the ground.
Then he vanished.
His speed was even greater than before.
Shisui seemed to split into two figures, then three. Each afterimage moved with its own sword, making it nearly impossible to determine which one was real.
The silver blade in his hand unfolded into a continuous web of light.
Uchiha-Style Kenjutsu's deceptive agility had been pushed to its limit.
"Gale Sword!"
Shisui's attacks descended from multiple directions at once.
Yet under Hatake Swordsmanship's real-time guidance, Ren felt as though an all-seeing eye had opened inside his mind.
His dynamic vision couldn't fully keep pace with Shisui's sword speed. Even so, his body always seemed to begin moving a fraction of a second before each attack arrived.
He used the shortest path to parry.
The smallest movement to evade.
The most efficient angle to counterattack.
Again and again, Shisui's blade passed within a hair's breadth of his body, yet every deadly strike was dissolved at the final instant.
Hatake Swordsmanship's commands rang through Ren's mind without pause.
Hatake Swordsmanship: Hmph, another feint! His center of gravity is on his right leg, and his blade is moving away from the center. He's preparing to attack your left ribs! Sidestep half a pace and hold your sword horizontally before your chest. After parrying, twist his blade aside!
Ren obeyed.
Shisui's hidden slash struck Ren's waiting sword and was dragged away from its intended path.
The next command arrived immediately.
Hatake Swordsmanship: Three inches backward and to the right! Hold the blade horizontally and force him to turn! His next sword will cut toward your right flank. Use Whirlwind Slash—seven-tenths strength!
Ren's feet shifted.
His sword swept outward in a controlled arc, striking Shisui's blade at the precise point where its momentum was weakest. The collision forced Shisui to rotate in mid-attack, breaking the rhythm of his combination.
But Shisui recovered almost instantly.
Another afterimage appeared beside Ren, its blade already thrusting toward him.
Hatake Swordsmanship's voice grew colder.
Sharper.
Utterly merciless.
Hatake Swordsmanship: My sword pursues speed, precision, and ruthlessness. One strike—one kill! Stop paying attention to his changing techniques.
Ren's gaze locked onto the center of Shisui's shifting sword web.
Hatake Swordsmanship: Ignore every feint.
His grip tightened.
Hatake Swordsmanship: Thrust straight through the center!
Ren stepped forward—and drove his blade directly into the heart of Shisui's storm.