After Ryōsuke warned Shisui, he immediately activated the Eight Inner Gates, opening five gates in succession.
To take down a ninja like Shisui, who could use the Body Flicker Technique to shift positions, one had to rely on large-scale attacks to hit five targets simultaneously.
Or, one had to be faster than him, keeping up with him even as he teleported.
However, this was a small grove. It was impossible to use a massive Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, so naturally, he could only rely on the Eight Inner Gates.
Blue-green steam now rose from his body, radiating an intense aura.
Shisui looked astonished; the energy on Ryōsuke's body was incredibly powerful.
He could feel that Ryōsuke's physical body had become much tougher, on a completely different level than before.
When the Leaf Village and the Mist Village were at war at the border, Might Duy had opened the Eight Inner Gates to kill four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Shisui hadn't witnessed that state with his own eyes, but judging from the aftermath of the battle, it must have been extremely tragic.
He knew how strong this technique was. Although the steam rising from Ryōsuke wasn't red, it still gave him a sense of extreme danger. He prepared himself to switch places with his afterimages at any moment.
After entering this state, Ryōsuke didn't hesitate in the slightest and charged directly at Shisui.
He arrived in front of Shisui almost instantly, swinging his fist violently to smash the other's chest. At that exact moment, Shisui chose to swap places with one of his illusions.
Ryōsuke saw that the figure he punched was just an illusion, obviously not the real body.
Shisui had transported to another clone. Ryōsuke immediately attacked the other illusions, but these attacks were ineffective; Shisui managed to dodge them all using the Body Flicker.
There was no doubt that Shisui's teleportation speed was faster than Ryōsuke's movement speed. He truly lived up to his name; even with the Eight Inner Gates, Ryōsuke was finding it a bit difficult to pin him down.
At this moment, Shisui had broken out in a cold sweat. Several times, it had been a close call. If his teleportation had been even a fraction of a second slower, his main body might have been caught.
Fortunately, he had wittily dispersed his clones to different locations, allowing him to gradually stabilize the situation and gain reaction time.
He saw Ryōsuke stop in place, retracting his fist into a preparatory stance.
Shisui instantly felt a sense of crisis. His opponent definitely wouldn't make a meaningless move. What kind of attack was he preparing?
Under Shisui's gaze, Ryōsuke rapidly punched out invisible shockwaves toward different positions. They flew directly at the four clones and the main body with extreme speed.
Shisui couldn't dodge them in time. He knew that if he were hit by such an attack, he would likely be seriously injured.
Unable to hold back, the three Tomoe in his eyes spun and transformed into a four-blade pinwheel shape. Simultaneously, he activated Susanoo.
A massive skeletal ribcage appeared instantly.
It wrapped around his body, blocking the shockwave.
Even with the protection of Susanoo, he still felt the intense impact of the shockwave, making his body feel quite uncomfortable.
At the same time, his four clones turned into smoke and dissipated.
The expression on his face was quite complicated. If he hadn't used the divine power of Susanoo in time, he probably wouldn't have been able to block it.
'Uchiha Ryōsuke is terrifying. Can even the defense of Susanoo withstand him?'
He was starting to feel that Ryōsuke, a powerhouse capable of defeating three Kage-level figures, truly lived up to his reputation.
Ryōsuke, seeing the Mangekyō Sharingan that looked like a four-blade pinwheel, noted that it looked much more vibrant than Uchiha Fugaku's eyes.
At the same time, he was extremely wary of this guy. 'He isn't thinking of using Kotoamatsukami on me, is he?' Ryōsuke was panicking internally.
Just then, a voice rang out in his mind.
[Your Sharingan sensed a huge crisis, cultivated at top speed, and evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan.]
Hearing this, Ryōsuke couldn't help but relax.
If Shisui were to use the Kotoamatsukami genjutsu on him, he felt that even his Eight Inner Gates state might not be particularly safe.
Because Kotoamatsukami was likely different from ordinary genjutsu that worked by manipulating chakra flow.
It was likely a genjutsu applied directly to the spirit; otherwise, it wouldn't be called the strongest genjutsu.
But now, while facing Shisui, his Sharingan had relied on the system's power to evolve into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Perhaps unlocking the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan would allow him to resist the opponent.
He now had a feeling that as long as he channeled chakra into his pupils, he could activate the Mangekyō Sharingan with a mere thought.
He would also awaken his own unique eye technique. He now hoped his eye technique could withstand the power of Shisui's Kotoamatsukami.
Other techniques, whether taijutsu or ninjutsu, couldn't surpass the Eight Inner Gates no matter how strong they were.
He was most afraid of this kind of terrifying genjutsu, something that no amount of raw power could counter.
Perhaps the Rinnegan or the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan were superior in rank to the Mangekyō Sharingan and could render Kotoamatsukami ineffective.
Of course, it was possible that even the Eternal Mangekyō wouldn't be completely safe.
Just as he was about to open his eyes and test his Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Shisui deactivated his divine power. The massive skeletal Susanoo disappeared instantly, and he spoke with a bitter smile.
"Ryōsuke, I concede. Your strength is truly great."