The three of them moved deep into the training grounds. Izumi and Shisui readied themselves for battle. At Itachi's signal to begin, Izumi immediately launched a volley of shuriken—three at once, flying from different angles to box Shisui in.
Seeing this, Shisui nodded in approval before lightly leaping into the air to avoid the incoming blades.
Izumi's lips curved into a sly grin. In his hands, impossibly thin steel wires glinted in the sunlight. With a sharp tug, the shuriken's flight paths shifted midair—Shisui's dodge had placed him right into Izumi's trap.
But Shisui simply flicked a shuriken of his own. It ricocheted perfectly between Izumi's three, breaking the wire setup and sending them all spinning harmlessly away—straight toward Izumi himself.
That was Shisui for you—disarming the attack effortlessly while turning it into a counterstrike. But was Izumi really that easy to deal with?
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
One seal per half-second—two seals per second. In just three seconds, a roaring Great Fireball erupted from Izumi's mouth. It swallowed Shisui's shuriken whole and kept surging forward, straight at him.
Shisui responded in kind. But unlike Izumi's two seals per second, Shisui moved twice as fast—four seals in a single second. In under two seconds, a massive, blazing fireball burst forth, larger and far hotter than Izumi's.
The two jutsu collided, exploding in a deafening boom. When the smoke cleared, Izumi was nowhere to be seen. Shisui, noting the boy's concealment, chose not to activate his Sharingan—if he did, Izumi would be finished instantly.
Time ticked on. Izumi didn't reappear, and Shisui, patient as ever, waited. Just as the fifteen-minute mark approached, a kunai whistled out of the brush—an explosive tag fluttering from its handle.
Shisui raised a brow. Is this kid a little demolition man? What kind of four-year-old is running around with stuff like this?
Effortlessly sidestepping the kunai, he snuffed the tag before it could detonate. Even in a training ground, unnecessary destruction had to be avoided.
The moment he finished, Izumi burst out from hiding—two more kunai already flying toward Shisui, both trailing explosive tags.
Even after releasing those, Izumi still had two more in his grasp. But just as he prepared to throw, his foot "slipped," sending him sprawling to the ground. The kunai clattered forward, tags already burning down toward detonation.
Shisui's instincts kicked in—he flickered forward in an instant, smothering the burning tags before they could blow.
"Izumi, are you alright?"
He reached down to help the boy up—only for a sudden burst of flame to erupt right in his face. Shisui barely managed to dodge, but a lick of fire still singed his shoulder.
"You little—" Shisui sat down hard on the ground, a mix of exasperation and disbelief on his face. He hadn't expected the kid to set such a trap.
"Hehe." Izumi scratched the back of his head sheepishly. In a normal fight, even without the Sharingan, he knew he couldn't touch Shisui. This had been his only shot at completing the mission—and it had worked.
"You weren't afraid I'd be too slow and you'd blow yourself up?" Shisui asked.
"Not at all, Shisui-nii. Those last two tags? I drew them myself—they can't actually explode. As for the flames… that was just me pre-burning the paper."