Chapter 455: Fire Release
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Even though Fugaku was caught off guard, his upbringing as a shinobi did not allow hesitation. The moment he completed the hand seals, he exhaled a torrent of flames, compressing it into a massive fireball.
By the time Fugaku's Great Fireball left his mouth, Shisui's had already flown forward several meters.
Fortunately, they were not too close. Otherwise, Fugaku would have been forced to clash immediately the instant his technique formed.
Boom!
The two enormous fireballs collided. A violent explosion erupted as flames burst outward and heat waves rolled into the sky. In the end, both Great Fireballs tore each other apart, dispersing into the air and leaving only scorched earth behind.
"Not only can he use it without hand seals, its power is also this strong," Fugaku thought, stunned. "What has Shisui been through these past few months? His strength has grown too fast."
When two nature transformation techniques of the same type collide, it is one of the clearest ways to judge mastery. That was doubly true when it was the exact same jutsu.
Fugaku had not expected the outcome to be a mutual cancellation.
He had used most of his strength. He was the head of Konoha's foremost noble clan, while Shisui was only an eight year old prodigy.
A few months earlier, Fugaku had watched Shisui during the Chunin Exams. Back then, Shisui's Fire Release had not been anywhere near this level.
"The clan head really is extraordinary," Shisui thought.
That Great Fireball had been his full power Fire Release under Flame Breathing Chakra Mode. It was not comparable to ordinary Fire Release.
Still, this result was within his expectations. Uchiha jonin were famously strong across the shinobi world, and within the clan, strength was respected above all. If Fugaku were weak, he would never hold the clan's authority.
From Shisui's observation, Fugaku still carried immense prestige among the Uchiha.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
After a brief consideration, Shisui chose a faster, more flexible technique.
Flame Breathing Chakra Mode could enhance Fire Release, increasing release speed and flame power, but it could not erase the fundamental weaknesses of every jutsu.
Shisui moved around Fugaku while spitting fireballs. The smaller flames formed a curved net in the air, arcing toward Fugaku from multiple angles.
"Still no hand seals," Fugaku noted, dodging with Body Flicker. "And he isn't bound by traditional patterns of casting."
For the first time, Fugaku felt an awkwardness creeping in.
With Shisui performing like this, it did not seem like Fugaku could teach him Fire Release at all.
Shisui would not be his opponent if Fugaku truly went all out, but in terms of Fire Release alone, the gap between them was no longer significant enough for Fugaku to guide him.
As clan head, Fugaku had his pride. If he could not guide Shisui in Fire Release, then he would guide him through combat itself.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
Just as Fugaku prepared to shift from defense to offense, Shisui gathered a large amount of chakra, converted it into Fire Release, and exhaled forcefully.
Flames surged forward and combined into a spreading sea of fire that rolled toward Fugaku.
"Such intense heat," Fugaku thought, feeling the temperature crash against him.
He immediately halted his own attack. He could not simply charge into a technique that was clearly far from ordinary.
Because this was an open space, the sea of fire had no fuel to keep expanding. Shisui immediately controlled the flames, splitting the blaze into three fire dragons that lunged toward Fugaku from three different directions.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Fugaku retreated while forming hand seals, completing only a single Tiger sign before exhaling a thick fire dragon of his own. It collided with one of Shisui's dragons and wiped it out.
Fugaku could not cast without seals, but his mastery allowed him to reduce the number of seals needed.
In the next instant, Fugaku activated his Sharingan to sharpen his perception, narrowly dodging the remaining two fire dragons as they slammed past.
But just as Fugaku was about to counterattack again, Shisui stopped.
"Thank you for your trouble, Uncle Fugaku," Shisui said politely. "I don't have any chakra left to keep fighting."
In truth, Shisui still had some chakra remaining. Flame Breathing Chakra Mode consumed a great deal, but he was an Uchiha with a Three Tomoe Sharingan. His reserves were higher than most.
Still, what remained was too little, and continuing would be meaningless.
He had already tested Fugaku's strength enough for his purposes.
Fugaku froze.
He had been pressured from start to finish and had just been about to display his own techniques, only for his opponent to surrender on the spot.
And Fugaku could not say anything about it, because Shisui was his junior.
"Ahem." Fugaku adjusted his emotions, coughed twice, then spoke. "Shisui, your Fire Release is already excellent. You can continue training the way you have been."
It was awkward, but Fugaku was not the kind of man who filled space with nonsense just to preserve face.
He truly could not guide Shisui's current Fire Release.
To be honest, Fugaku found it hard to even understand.
Every Fire Release technique Shisui used came without hand seals, and the flame power was abnormally high, nothing like someone who had only learned Fire Release for a few years.
Above all, the hand seal issue baffled him most. Fugaku could not figure out how Shisui was doing it.
"Maybe this is what a real genius looks like," Fugaku sighed inwardly.
He had been called a genius in his youth too, but compared to Shisui and Obito, there was a clear gap.
"Yes. Thank you for your guidance, Uncle Fugaku," Shisui said, bowing his head slightly.
Fugaku kept a straight face and nodded in response.
After the spar ended, Shisui spent some time alone with Itachi, telling him stories that carried brighter, more positive lessons.
The next day, Shisui officially took the Jonin examination.
What he did not expect was that his examiner was Fugaku, the same man he had fought the day before.
This time, Shisui did not immediately enter Flame Breathing Chakra Mode and unleash full power.
Instead, he fought step by step like a normal engagement, probing first.
He used Fire Release to force movement, threw ninja tools, tested with taijutsu, and only after that did he enter Flame Breathing Chakra Mode and release his true full strength.
When the fifteen minute battle ended, Shisui saw the satisfied smile on Fugaku's face and felt confident his practical score would be strong.
That afternoon, the written exam made the difference between the Jonin examination and the Chunin Exams painfully clear.
Not much time had passed since Shisui took the Chunin Exams, and he still remembered some of those questions.
This was not even close to the same level.
If Shisui had not kept studying after graduation, he was not sure he would have passed this written exam steadily.
.....
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