Bonus Chapters at 100 Power Stones!
"Normal Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
~ With Shisui, an hour later ~
The battle had settled into a rhythm now. Attack, counter, adapt, repeat. Shisui noted the subtle changes in his opponents' movents, the fractional delay in the purple-haired woman's responses, the increased concentration required for the pink-haired woman to maintain her support magic.
They were undoubtedly impressive, these mages, but they were tiring faster than he was. The difference, he suspected, lay in the different body constitutions and his own power surpassing the two won.
Fire Style: Fla Dragon!
Shisui's hands ford the complex sequence of seals required for this higher-tier technique. The resulting fla did not just simply surge forward. It began gathering into a serpentine dragon form that weaved through the air with seemingly intelligent movent, pursuing the purple-haired woman as she attempted to evade.
She gathered her magic, preparing to cast her next spell.
Parallel Worlds!
Multiple translucent orbs ford, each containing a different potential outco of the next few seconds. In one, the dragon struck her directly; in another, it veered off course; in a third, it dissipated entirely.
With a gesture of concentration, she selected the most favourable outco, causing it to manifest in reality. The dragon abruptly losses cohesion, its fiery form unravelling into harmless, scattered flas.
'This spell again'. Shisui thought. Although at face value, this spell gave the wielder a large advantage, but the cost was evident. With the prolonged battle, her breathing had beco more laboured, the glow of her magic circles less intense.
He was slowly beginning to understand a crucial difference between chakra and Ethernano now. While Ethernano existed abundantly in the environnt, a mage's ability to process and direct it had limits just as chakra reserves did.
The difference was not in the availability of power, but in how efficiently the wielder could channel it.
The pink-haired woman seed to recognize her companion's growing fatigue.
Maguilty Sense: Three Spread!
She called out, her voice strained with effort. The existing sensory link between them pulsed, and two additional coloured bands appeared on their wrists, yellow and green joining the existing red.
Imdiately, the purple-haired woman was able to stand taller, her movents regaining so of their earlier fluidity. The younger mage had intensified their connection, likely sharing her remaining energy reserves to bolster her companion's diminishing strength. It was a selfless tactic, but one that had put the pink-haired woman at greater risk of complete exhaustion.
Shisui did not waste the opening. While the won focused on their magical link, he flickered to a flanking position, hands already completing a familiar series of seals.
Fire Style: Phoenix Flower!
Multiple fireballs erupted from his mouth. Unlike his previous fire techniques, these projectiles were not just blindly destructive. They were now precisely targeted at the won's escape routes, cutting off avenues of retreat while forcing them to expend energy on defence.
The purple-haired woman managed to raise her hand, creating a shimring shield.
The leading fireballs reversed direction, but there were too many to counter simultaneously. Combined with their waning reserves, several of the fireballs had broken through, forcing her to dive sideways, rolling across the ground to avoid the flas.
The pink-haired woman created a series of golden blades that intercepted so of the remaining fireballs, but the strain of maintaining multiple magical effects simultaneously showed clearly on her face as she struggled to maintain the sensory links while defending herself.
Shisui kept the pressure going, his Sharingan tracking every subtle shift in their postures, every flicker of magical energy gathering before manifesting as a spell. Thanks to the prolonged battle, he could now see the Ethernano particles responding to their will, converging into patterns that preceded each spell.
It was similar to how he could see chakra moulding before a jutsu completed, giving him precious seconds to counter.
The purple-haired woman rose to her feet, determination hardening her features as she made her decision.
"Second Origin: Release!" A surge of magical power emanated from her, disturbing the Ethernano particles around her in violent waves. Her earlier fatigue seed temporarily banished as she tapped into what must have been a secondary reserve of magical potential.
Ice-Make: Rose Garden!
She pressed both palms to the ground, and the entire clearing suddenly erupted with massive ice formations shaped like thorned rose blooms. The structures grew with extraordinary speed, threatening to engulf Shisui in a frozen garden of deadly beauty.
He leapt upward, channeling chakra to his feet to briefly stick to the underside of a tree branch. From this inverted position, he launched six kunai in rapid succession, each aid at a critical juncture in the ice structures below. As the blades flew, his hands ford the sa series of seals he had used multiple tis throughout the battle.
Fire Style: Phoenix Flower!
The kunais were engulfed in fla, heating the tal. When they crashed into the ice formations, the superheated weapons caused imdiate thermal shock, creating fractures that raced through the entire structure. With a series of sharp cracks, the frozen garden began to collapse.
The purple-haired woman did not wait for the destruction to complete. She waved her hand in a complex pattern.
The collapsing ice suddenly aged decades in seconds, turning to water that vaporized into steam, once again obscuring the battlefield. Through the concealing mist, crystalline orbs launched toward Shisui's position.
He dropped from his perch, weaving between the projectiles.
As the steam began to clear, the purple-haired woman now stood with one arm supporting her younger companion to keep her from falling to the ground, both breathing heavily. Despite their evident fatigue, their eyes remained alert.
"Your magic," the purple-haired woman said in between breaths, "it's not like anything I have ever encountered. You are not channelling Ethernano at all, are you?"
Shisui did not answer verbally, but his slight smile confird her suspicion. Her insight was certainly impressive. She had deduced a fundantal truth about his abilities despite the chaos of combat.
He decided to test one more tactical application before ending this dance. Drawing three shuriken, he channelled a thin coating of chakra into the tal, then launched them in a wide spread.
The purple-haired woman prepared to deflect them, but at the last mont, Shisui's fingers twitched, causing the weapons to abruptly change trajectory, curving around to attack from behind.
"Look out!" the pink-haired woman called out, shifting her body to intercept the unexpected attack with her own body. It seed that the younger of the two had reached her limit.
This mont of selflessness and sacrifice was all Shisui needed. His fingers twitched again, causing the shuriken to be sent onto the floor, leaving the two won bewildered at what had just occurred.
Shisui was satisfied with the encounter. He had learned more about the nature of Ethernano in this single encounter than in all his previous observations and aimless research during the past months.
And now, he had seen enough. These won were formidable opponents, but the outco was clear. 'It's ti to end this'.
"I appreciate the workout," Shisui said, lowering his hands to signal a pause in his attacks. "You have shown exactly what I needed to learn."
The won exchanged wary glances, clearly suspicious of his apparent cease-fire. They remained in their defensive postures.
"But I believe it is about ti we concluded this," he continued, his voice carrying a note of finality. "I can see that you both are reaching your limits."
"Don't underestimate us," the purple-haired woman warned, gathering what appeared to be the last of her magical reserves.
Shisui t her gaze directly, and his Sharingan began to change. The three tomoe pattern swirled, rging and transforming into a new design. A four-pointed pinwheel pattern that signified the awakening of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
This was the second ti he had activated his Mangekyō since arriving in Earthland. The reason for this was due to Shisui knowing about the cost of using his Mangekyō. Afterall, the Uchiha Tablet had a great deal of information pertaining to the Mangekyo that was readily available to only those who possessed said eyes.
The change did not go unnoticed. Both won tensed imdiately, sensing the dramatic shift in his deanour. The purple-haired woman's eyes widened in what might be recognition. Not of the Mangekyō specifically, but of the danger it represented
"What is that?" the pink-haired woman whispered, her voice carrying a tremor of apprehension and fear.
"Get back!" the older woman commanded, pushing her companion aside as she attempted a desperate defense.
But it was already too late.
Shisui's Mangekyō locked onto the purple-haired woman's eyes, montarily stunning her at the sheer intensity and weight of power that she could feel radiating from him.
In the next mont, to the purple-haired woman, the world simply... shifted. One mont she was gathering her magic for a final stand; the next, her consciousness was slipping away, her body crumpling to the ground with no understanding of what had happened.
Just before she surrendered to unconsciousness, her body had finally caught up to the danger that Shisui represented and the pain that followed at the base of her nape.
Shisui had simply recreated the sa move he had used at the beginning of their encounter. Only this ti, his abilities were further empowered by the Mangekyō, leading to the fatigued woman not being quick enough to register his movents in ti to counter.
The pink-haired woman cried out in alarm upon losing her companion's supporting arm, causing her to fall down as well.
"What did you do to her?!" she demanded, frantically checking her companion. Her expression was a mixture of fear and defiance as she positioned herself protectively over the unconscious woman.
Shisui ignored her question and simply flickered, appearing directly before her faster than she could track. Before she could get another word out, she too found herself experiencing what her companion had.
However, unlike her companion, she could not register anything at all before she joined her companion in unconsciousness.
Silence fell over the clearing. The battle was over.
Shisui stood among the fallen. One clearly powerful mage with her companion and ten Rune Knights, all rendered unconscious by different ans. He deactivated his Sharingan, allowing his eyes to return to their natural dark state. The sudden absence of his doujutsu's enhanced perception made the world seem slightly duller.
However, as he prepared to embrace the familiar strain of using his Mangekyō, even though he had only employed it briefly against his targets and did not use any of their special abilities, he found himself with a surprise once more.
There was no pain. No sensation of discomfort within his eyes which signified the price that this particular bloodline technique would normally demand. 'Interesting. It seems that this encounter is the gift that keeps on giving. Not only about Ethernano, but I may have stumbled across sothing new about myself. It seems that I have prioritized too much on this new world, that I had neglected to consider any changes that had been made to my body by that being.'
Shisui decided that after he had settled his business here, he would have to return to isolation to learn more about any potential changes within his body.
Looking down at the unconscious won, Shisui found himself impressed by their abilities and their teamwork. They had fought well, showing creativity and adaptability that would have made them formidable opponents even in his ho world.
Despite their evident criminal status, given their conflict with the Rune Knights, they displayed honour in combat. Focusing on defeating him rather than seeking lethal strikes when openings presented themselves. Moreover, the knights were rely unconscious as well, further adding to the duo's defence of innocence.
'What will happen to these won now?' The question lingered as Shisui considered his next move. They were clearly wanted by the authorities. If he was a native to this world, then his duty would have required him to deliver them to the proper authorities.
Fortunately for the two won, however, he was not. And so, whether he delivered the two won to the proper authorities or not did not matter to him.
'There is clearly a story here. Besides, I have to at least thank them for unknowingly helping out with gathering all these invaluable information that I had been trying to find for months.'
With his mind made up, Shisui moved to carry both of them far away from their current location. News of a dozen Rune Knights falling unconscious would only spell trouble for the area in the coming days.
After securing the two won, Shisui made his way back to his secret training location instead of the Mission Hall within Crocus. The completion of the boring Vulcan extermination mission could wait.
He had more important matters to attend to, knowing that when they finally wake, there would be questions requiring answers from both sides.
~ End of Chapter 12 ~
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