"Battle start!"
At Mutsuki's command, Guy immediately opened the Fourth Gate of the Eight Inner Gates, concentrated his breathing, and launched forward with a sudden burst of power.
Facing a Guy going all out, Shisui dared not show the slightest carelessness. He immediately activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and focused his Flame Breathing to total concentration.
This was the first time Shisui used his Three-Tomoe Sharingan in a formal battle.
During the Chunin exam, no opponent had been able to provoke Shisui's Sharingan; he had defeated all adversaries using only Fire Release and Taijutsu.
Under Shisui's Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Guy's extreme speed slowed, and his Taijutsu movements became observable.
Yet Shisui still chose not to engage Guy directly in Taijutsu.
Although his ocular power allowed him to see through Guy's actions, his body might not be able to keep up with Guy's rhythm.
Stone Breathing itself is the pinnacle of physical enhancement among Breathing Techniques. Combined with the first four Gates of the Eight Inner Gates, even a single Taijutsu move from Guy carried immense power-far beyond what normal Taijutsu could contend with.
Unlike with Obito, Shisui considered all disciples except Rin as hypothetical enemies, using them to carefully analyze combat plans.
Shisui believed that to defeat Guy, he had to delay him-drag out Guy's peak performance.
The Eight Inner Gates combined with Stone Breathing was undeniably powerful, but it placed tremendous strain on the body. The longer the fight dragged on, the more advantageous it became for Shisui.
However, while the plan sounded simple, executing it was extremely difficult.
Guy wasn't just strong; he was incredibly fast and had mastered the devastating Golden Skyline. Any slight mistake from Shisui could result in him being instantly defeated by Guy.
In the last battle against Guy, Shisui had already experienced the Golden Skyline once. Even using Color of Arms, he couldn't stop it.
In terms of raw power, Golden Skyline was the strongest Taijutsu Shisui had ever seen.
However, Shisui also knew that Color of Arms wasn't weak-it was just that his mastery of it wasn't complete yet.
Relying on his high-proficiency Body Flicker Jutsu and Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Shisui didn't let Guy even touch the hem of his clothes.
But dodging like this wasn't easy for Shisui. High-intensity use of Body Flicker Jutsu fatigued his legs, and maintaining extreme focus consumed even more energy.
To make things easier for himself and to further wear down Guy, Shisui dodged while unleashing various Fire Release techniques.
Although his body was tough, Guy didn't recklessly endure Ninjutsu-he pursued while dodging.
"This is way too boring. They haven't even touched each other once," Obito couldn't help but comment.
"In real combat, any tactic that guarantees victory is a good tactic," Kakashi said calmly.
Placed in Shisui's position, Kakashi would adopt the same delaying tactic.
Shisui had the speed, insight, and sufficient chakra to endure against Guy and engage in a battle of attrition.
Kakashi, however, couldn't use this strategy against Guy himself, because he would exhaust himself first-he couldn't outlast Guy.
Thunder Breathing consumed a lot of both chakra and stamina. Kakashi had more chakra than an average person, but he couldn't match an Uchiha like Shisui with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
In Kakashi's plan, he would need to explode to his absolute limit and use an attack stronger than Guy's to defeat him.
"I never said it was bad," Obito muttered, pouting.
He could only complain verbally; in a real fight, you would naturally fight in whatever way could secure victory, if he had thought of it.
Shisui dodged as Guy pursued him, their figures flashing constantly through the forest, toppling tree after tree in their chase.
"Golden Skyline!"
In the end, Guy secured his victory with a golden strike-Shisui was caught.
"If Obito's and Shisui's strengths were combined, it might work," Kakashi analyzed internally.
If Obito had Shisui's level of Body Flicker Jutsu and combat intelligence, or if Shisui had Obito's level of Flame Breathing, either would have a good chance of defeating Guy.
"Guy wins," Mutsuki announced, ending the battle.
Shisui's loss was expected by Mutsuki. Not only was Shisui slightly weaker in overall strength compared to Guy, he was naturally countered by him.
Genjutsu was Shisui's strength, yet Guy happened to be the type of person least affected by Genjutsu. With their abilities countering each other, it was even harder for Shisui to win.
Mutsuki's mid-to-late stage training plan for Shisui would gradually reduce the emphasis on Genjutsu. Outwardly, Jonin are expected to master body, mind, and illusion techniques as essential ninja skills, but Mutsuki, familiar with the story's context, knew this applied mainly to ordinary ninja.
Even Mangekyo-level Genjutsu struggled to have a significant impact in the later stages of grand battles, let alone ordinary Genjutsu. The path of Genjutsu wouldn't get far-at least in the Naruto-centered system.
"The final opponent is you, Kakashi! Is this our bond?!" Guy was already excited before the battle even started.
Kakashi looked at Guy with a facepalm expression. With only four participants in total, what bond was there to speak of?
After resting and recovering their strength, the two began preparing for battle.
Kakashi's gaze sharpened. This time, he had a real chance of earning Mutsuki's title of strongest disciple.
Compared to three months ago, he had fully grasped Armament Haki, while Guy's Eight Inner Gates and Stone Breathing had not seen much progress.
"The advantage is mine." Kakashi gradually focused his breathing, and the moment Mutsuki shouted "Start," he instantly entered Transparent World.
Kakashi knew that Guy's Eight Inner Gates were only missing the final step, so he didn't want to give him any chance. He launched a full-power attack immediately.
Thunder Breathing at Total Concentration amplified his body and Lightning nature, while Lightning-nature chakra enhanced his strength. Then came the perfect force application of Transparent World, and finally, Kakashi infused Color of Arms into the Tanto 'White Fang', bringing his momentum to its peak.
Even with Guy at full power, he felt an enormous sense of danger from Kakashi and quickly bore multiple wounds.
The scorching, stabbing slashes didn't make Guy retreat; instead, he laughed with excitement.
Kakashi was Guy's recognized rival. Guy had always believed that Kakashi could catch up, just as he believed he could become the strongest in Taijutsu.
Seeing Kakashi exhibit such overwhelming pressure was undoubtedly a response to Guy's expectations-how could he not be thrilled?
"Eight Inner Gates, Fifth Gate, Gate of Limit, Open!"
Guy wasn't defeated. His immense toughness allowed him to enter the Fifth Gate at peak condition, dramatically increasing his power.
Sensing the sudden surge of chakra within Guy, Kakashi's expression changed sharply. The later the Eight Inner Gates, the stronger the amplification-this increase was no small matter.
The situation reversed instantly. Guy not only escaped the disadvantage but gained a greater advantage than Kakashi had moments ago, pushing the chakra-drained Kakashi into a desperate position.
With no other choice, Kakashi went all out, betting his remaining strength on a single slash.
The dazzling lightning strike collided with the golden line, and the torn electricity silently declared the final outcome of the battle.
"Still a little short." Exhausted in both chakra and stamina, Kakashi collapsed helplessly to the ground.
Because he had just mastered it, his Color of Arms was only average in strength and couldn't compare to the massive chakra boost from Guy's Fifth Gate.
"Guy wins again, amazing," Rin praised.
In her eyes, Kakashi and Obito were already extremely strong, yet Guy managed to defeat them both twice to claim the final victory, which impressed her greatly.
Hearing Rin's praise and seeing the exhausted Kakashi on the ground, Obito felt an overwhelming sense of frustration, and his desire to defeat Guy surged even higher.
Shisui pondered how long he would need to train to reclaim the title of strongest disciple.
"Everyone's tired from fighting, so for the rest of the time, no more training. Let's just rest and have hotpot," Mutsuki said with a smile as he pulled out various tools from the scroll.
Mutsuki's words dissipated the tense atmosphere, leaving only joy. All the disciples looked delighted.
The real highlight wasn't skipping training-it was being able to eat hotpot together.
While handling the materials, Mutsuki opened the panel.
[Disciple Guy has improved his overall strength under your guidance, gaining the reward-Dynamic Punch (Mastery level)]
At first, Mutsuki couldn't immediately recall which world this skill came from; it sounded rather ordinary.
Once the training memory appeared in his mind, Mutsuki realized it was a Fighting-type move from Pokémon.
In Pokémon, it's a skill with low accuracy, but if it hits, it confuses the opponent. Localized, the confusion effect was adapted to temporarily disrupt the opponent's chakra.
This wasn't a particularly unusual effect; a Rasengan hit also temporarily disrupts the target's chakra.
However, Mutsuki was curious about the technique in Dynamic Punch itself. Rasengan is a Ninjutsu relying on extreme compression and rotation of chakra, while Dynamic Punch is Taijutsu.
After reviewing the memory, Mutsuki discovered some similarities between the two.
It involved channeling all body strength into the fist while simultaneously compressing and circulating large amounts of chakra within the fist, and finally releasing it all in an instant at the moment of impact.
"Although it's Taijutsu, it's not very suitable for Guy," Mutsuki thought.
After opening the Eight Gates, Guy's chakra was too wild to perform such precise chakra manipulation.
Moreover, Dynamic Punch relied somewhat on proficiency level. Using it without being Proficient could spend extra time compressing the chakra, preventing an immediate strike and giving the opponent time to defend-Mutsuki figured this explained the low hit rate in the localized version.
"Rest well after this; I'll teach you something new tomorrow." After finishing the hotpot, Mutsuki patted Kakashi on the shoulder.
Kakashi's eyes lit up instantly-when Mutsuki specially mentioned something, it was never disappointing.
"Mutsuki-sensei, will I get something too?" Obito asked eagerly.
Tap!
Mutsuki tapped Obito on the head with a finger. "First, focus on mastering the Fire Release you're learning now."
Studying Fire Release and Taijutsu under Mutsuki was a true joy, because Mutsuki had many high-proficiency skills in both areas and a deep understanding of them.
Perhaps spurred by Guy winning the strongest disciple title twice in a row, Obito and Shisui trained with extraordinary motivation, and soon earned breakthrough rewards.
[Disciple Uchiha Obito has improved his overall strength under your guidance, gaining the reward-Dai Enkai: Entei (Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor) (Mastery level)] (Ace's Ultimate Attack)
[Disciple Uchiha Shisui has improved his overall strength under your guidance, gaining the reward-Water Body Flicker Jutsu (Mastery level)]
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