I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 52 Still Water, I won this duel!

"A Rank B mission?"

Nara tightened his grip on the kunai in his hand and looked up at the sky.

"Has Uchiha Shisui's strength reached the level of a Jonin?"

The countless black feathers drifting in the sky gathered in mid-air and gradually took on a human shape.

Uchiha Shisui's figure appeared among the bird feathers, his scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan staring directly at Nara Rinka below.

"What was that ninjutsu Nara just used? It seemed to turn into a shadow..."

With a flick of his wrist, Uchiha Shisui conjured three shuriken in his palm, ready to be unleashed.

"Transformation technique? Earth Release? Or a special shadow technique of the Nara clan?"

In the heat of battle, one cannot afford to be too distracted.

With a flick of his wrist, Uchiha Shisui released three shuriken simultaneously.

woo-

The sharp cross-shaped shuriken whistled through the air, advancing in a triangular formation towards Nara Rangsuke.

"The Uchiha clan's ninja tool throwing techniques?"

Nara Rinka raised an eyebrow and swung the kunai in his hand repeatedly, attempting to block the opponent's attack.

Ding!Ding!Ding!

Three crisp, metallic clanging sounds rang out.

The kunai and the shuriken collided in mid-air, creating sparks of orange-red light.

The lighter shuriken were swung around by the kunai and sent flying into the surrounding area, directly away from the target.

But at that moment, Uchiha Shisui's next attack had already begun.

Using the powerful perception of his three-tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Shisui accurately observed Nara Rinka's counterattack and predicted his final defensive stance.

Just as Nara was intercepting the second shuriken.

A Fuma shuriken, with a shape different from ordinary cross shuriken and a larger size than cross shuriken, was hurled out by Uchiha Shisui, spinning and flying in mid-air like a jet-black blade wheel.

Nara Rinka frowned slightly, wanting to continue swinging his kunai to defend against the attack.

But the Fuma Shuriken, which was originally aimed directly at his upper body, suddenly changed direction in mid-air and bypassed his swing trajectory.

Immediately afterwards, a thin, almost transparent thread came along with the Fuma Shūken and wrapped around the kunai in Nara Rinka's hand.

"Wire?"

Nara Rinka's pupils contracted slightly, but he was not surprised; rather, he was delighted.

"This is the Uchiha clan's... shurikenjutsu?"

It's not just about wielding a shuriken.

Uchiha Shisui landed quickly, his teeth lightly biting the other end of the thread, his hands forming the Tiger Seal in front of his chest, and he rapidly refined and condensed his fire-type chakra.

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

呲——

Like a fire dragon spewing flames, a long, narrow flame shot out from Uchiha Shisui's mouth, following the trajectory of the tough thread, and quickly and urgently attacked Nara Rinka's arm.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the straight line of flames formed by the Dragonfire Technique approached him.

A dark glint appeared in Nara Rinka's eyes as [Lacquer Eyes] silently unfolded. Despite no hand seals being formed, one after another, materialized shadow tentacles emerged from beneath him.

The shadows overlapped and intertwined, forming a solid and reliable shield of darkness, firmly protecting Nara Rinka from the front.

[Shadow Shield Technique].

boom!

The Dragonfire Technique clashed violently with the Shadow Shield Technique, like a raging wave crashing against a stubborn reef. Not only did it fail to shake the opponent in the slightest, but it also shattered itself into pieces.

Flames exploded in mid-air like fireworks.

"That shield-like shadow?"

Uchiha Shisui was somewhat impressed by the defensive skills that Nara Rinka had displayed at this moment.

"It possesses such strong defensive capabilities despite not having any hand seals..."

Uchiha Shisui originally intended to take immediate action and launch a new offensive.

But at that moment, he suddenly found that his mobility was greatly suppressed, as if he were bound by something unseen.

Uchiha Shisui lowered his gaze to the ground, his pupils widening.

A thin black line firmly connects his shadow with that of Nara Rinka.

"Shadow attack? When?!"

"Shadow Binding Technique, successful!"

Nara Rinka gently waved the kunai in his hand, shaking off the threads that had been wrapped around the weapon. The dark shadows gradually transformed into hard, almost tangible shadow spikes, ready to follow up with another attack.

"I think I understand what you were thinking just now... You didn't focus the limitation of your shuriken technique on my arm, but on my weapon. You were deliberately holding back, weren't you?"

"Unfortunately, when you used the shuriken technique, your shadow was already linked to the threads and the Fuma shuriken."

To successfully execute the [Shadow Technique], the shadows of both combatants must overlap.

Uchiha Shisui's use of the shuriken technique, on the surface, appears to be his battle strategy, but in reality, it is an active initiation into the "strike zone" of the [Shadow Technique].

Controlled by the Nara clan's [Shadow Technique], they cannot even perform hand seals smoothly unless they use brute force to break free.

Uchiha Shisui recalled the things Inahime had repeatedly told him.

The inability to move or form hand seals was indeed a huge limitation for him.

However, there are ways to deal with it.

Every ninjutsu has a weakness.

Aside from forcibly breaking free, there are several ways to deal with the Nara clan's shadow techniques.

One of them is to interrupt the opponent's ninjutsu!

The three tomoe in Uchiha Shisui's eye sockets kept rotating, and an invisible spiritual power spread out.

The crows summoned by the "Crow Clone Technique" gathered together once again at Uchiha Shisui's call.

This time, however, the crows are no longer used as a medium for the Crow Clone Technique, but as "biological ninja tools" for direct attacks.

quack--

Accompanied by chaotic cawing, black crows flapped their wings and charged toward Nara Rangsuke one after another.

At that moment, the crows' sharp beaks and claws seemed to radiate a chilling light.

The crows' shadows crisscrossed, constantly interfering with the effectiveness of the Shadow Binding Spell.

What's even more irritating is the swatting, clawing, and pecking of these crows, along with their ubiquitous cawing.

In this situation, Nara Rinka was unable to maintain the effect of the Shadow Binding Technique effectively.

Moreover, even his planned follow-up attack with the [Shadow Stitching Technique] was aborted halfway due to the interference of the crows, and could only be used to drive them away.

Bang!Bang!Bang!

Like a shooting game, Nara Rinka's [Shadow Stitching Technique] pierced through each crow, turning them into a cloud of smoke and disappearing from the spot.

These crows were all summoned here by Uchiha Shisui using the Summoning Jutsu, and their lifespan was not long to begin with.

Under the frequent attacks of Nara Rangsuke, the flock of crows dwindled at an extremely rapid pace.

"call!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Uchiha Shisui broke free from the control of the Shadow Binding Technique and quickly used the Body Flicker Technique to escape, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

"We almost fell into Nara's trap... This was my carefully planned battle strategy!"

Uchiha Shisui watched Nara Rinkachi constantly clearing away the crows, his mind racing with calculations.

"Even so, I've discovered your weakness... Just like before, Nara."

Through the battle just now, Uchiha Shisui believed that he had observed his opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

Similar to the Ninja Academy days...

He is quick-witted, possesses exceptional strategic skills, and has powerful secret techniques, but suffers from severe energy deficiency.

During the recent battle, Uchiha Shisui observed that Nara Rinka rarely engaged in mobile warfare.

Is it because the body's chakra reserves are insufficient, directly leading to impaired motor function?

A series of strategies flashed through Uchiha Shisui's mind.

Normally, his innate skill of teleportation would be the best way to deal with this type of enemy.

Based on the recent battle, Uchiha Shisui was very wary of close combat with Nara Ranka.

If he is not careful, he will be entangled or even bound by the opponent's shadow, losing his ability to fight.

By then, Uchiha Shisui wouldn't have the spare hands to summon crows to get himself out of trouble.

"Just as Daohuo said, the best option is to keep our distance and whittle down their health from a distance..."

Uchiha Shisui quickly finalized the next battle strategy.

Meanwhile, Nara Rinka chased away the last crow.

Uchiha Shisui extended his right arm, and four exquisite kunai mixed with chakra metal magically appeared between his fingers. He then hurled the weapons from his hand.

"Fire Release: Red Phoenix Claw!"

Almost the instant it left its hand, swirling flames intertwined with the kunai, attacking Nara Rinka from all directions, creating an extremely powerful visual effect.

"Burning kunai? Special attack?"

Nara Rinkazu's mind stirred, and he once again used the [Shadow Shield Technique] to defend himself from head to toe.

The fierce flaming kunai struck the shadow shield, and at the moment of impact, the fire-type chakra contained within the kunai erupted, causing a series of explosions.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of deafening explosions rang out, and the Shadow Shield Technique teetered on the brink of collapse under the impact of the fiery explosions, its surface revealing cracks and on the verge of shattering.

Uchiha Shisui pressed his advantage, throwing four more kunai, which caused a huge, booming explosion and created a strong visual disruption effect.

Nara Rinkazu thought for a moment, resonating the Chakra Crystal on his finger to create a physical Shadow Clone, while he himself burrowed underground and used the Earth Dragon Concealment Technique to quietly approach.

Uchiha Shisui was completely unaware and was about to throw one last round of flaming kunai.

But at that moment, a sharp shadow spike suddenly emerged from the shadows behind him, completely restricting his movements.

Skilled in shadow binding techniques.

Nara Rinka's figure emerged from the shadows.

A skilled kunai neck.

"It's over, Shisui. I've won this duel."

Regarding Uchiha Shisui's age.

Ashin provides a more detailed analysis with pictures and text on DotDotCircle.

Interested readers can check out the posts on DianDianQuan.

In addition, the order in which Uchiha Shisui used ninjutsu in this battle was as follows:

C-rank Fireball Technique;

D-rank Instantaneous Movement Technique;