Chapter 19: I Saw Someone Bullying a Noob...
In the training grounds within the Konoha forest, Kitahara squinted its eyes, leisurely lying on the grass, basking in the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves.
Uchiha Itachi came running with a pile of wild fruits, tossed them in front of the crow, then turned and sat beside Shisui, "Shisui, aren't you going to the clan gathering this afternoon?"
"Well, how should I put it? I probably don't need to go." Uchiha Shisui sat cross-legged on the ground, drew a shuriken, and with a flick of his wrist, threw it onto the wooden target.
"Shisui is already a Chunin now!" The little boy really liked ninja headbands; hardly any child in Konoha didn't.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Four shuriken, though thrown simultaneously, hit the wooden target in succession, creating four distinct sounds. Only then did Shisui turn his head satisfactorily to look at the boy beside him.
"No, it's that I don't want to go myself."
"...Oh."
Hearing no further questions, Shisui curiously ruffled Itachi's hair, "Ha, I thought you'd ask me why!"
"Caw!"
With the crow's hoarse caw, a wild fruit was tossed into the air, tracing a graceful parabola, and landed on the young Chunin's head...
Shisui showed no anger at all, rubbed his head, and picked up the fruit, "Hey, don't throw fruits you've already eaten at me!"
"..."
The crow couldn't be bothered to respond.
"Shisui doesn't want to answer, it must be because the answer makes you unhappy." Uchiha Itachi explained with a serious little face, "An answer that can make Shisui unhappy... as a friend, if I knew it, I definitely wouldn't be happy either."
"Haha, Itachi, you're becoming more and more adorable!"
Uchiha Shisui rarely showed a troubled expression. Despite being a genius ninja, his personality was more like that of a sunny youth... He was extremely tolerant towards both enemies and friends. Something that could make him unhappy... definitely wasn't anything good...
That death-courting crow had provoked Shisui several times and still managed to survive... Wasn't it because Shisui had a good temper... and also because he couldn't really do anything about it...
"Whew..." Uchiha Shisui stood up, stretched his body, and asked, "Itachi, want to try some sparring practice today?"
The little boy's face showed both surprise and joy, "Eh? Can I?"
"Caw?"
Even Kitahara looked over curiously. Were they finally going to start... noob pecking noob? After all, they had witnessed a rather top-tier battle a few days ago...
Unless both Uchiha possessed the Mangekyo, but their respective Mangekyo ocular jutsu clashing would likely be quite an eyesore...
"I just developed a new way to use the Body Flicker Technique and want to try it out..."
"Then let's start quickly! This is my first time sparring with Shisui!"
Uchiha Shisui instructed meticulously, "If it's a sparring practice between ninjas, you must first form the Seal of Confrontation... After all, Itachi is going to the Ninja Academy soon!"
"..." The little boy pouted, his expression not particularly happy.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
The little boy knew he was no match and launched a preemptive attack!
A huge fireball ignited a wave of heat. Uchiha Shisui, after being hit by the fireball, turned into smoke and disappeared from the spot. A log fell to the ground...
"It's the Substitution Jutsu!"
Itachi didn't dare stay in place, cautiously leaping onto a tree, two shuriken in hand, searching back and forth for Uchiha Shisui's whereabouts.
"Whether it's his hand seal speed or chakra amount... he doesn't seem like a five-year-old at all!" Uchiha Shisui marveled from behind a large tree.
Clang!
A clear sound of metal clashing!
A shuriken bizarrely curved around the tree trunk and appeared in front of Shisui!
"Ha, sharp senses, huh!"
The young Chunin swatted the shuriken away with a kunai and casually threw one back. As Uchiha Itachi's shuriken practice instructor, he could easily locate Itachi's direction based on the throwing trajectory!
Boom!
The explosion shook the earth. Kitahara, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but spit. Tui! That move was too insidious, actually imbuing the shuriken with fire!
This wasn't shuriken throwing; it was clearly his specialty ninjutsu – Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!
The moment the shuriken is thrown, fire-natured chakra is imbued, causing an explosion upon contact with the target!
The home-raised cub was too naive, foolishly trying to block it with a shuriken, and ended up getting hit squarely by the explosion!
Itachi's body was scorched black, and his arm was also injured... Fortunately, Shisui's shuriken had exploded mid-air, otherwise, the battle probably would have ended right there...
"Well, I guess I can test the new jutsu now... Body Flicker Technique!"
Uchiha Shisui openly stepped out, forming a one-handed seal and rushing towards the little boy. As his speed increased, two afterimages appeared on the grass...
Completely different from the previous Body Flicker Technique!
The former Body Flicker Technique utilized multiple false clones created by the Clone Jutsu, relying on Uchiha Shisui's unique chakra signature, allowing all clones to materialize at any time.
However, the new Body Flicker Technique Shisui developed today showed no signs of clones. It was more like afterimages created by high-speed movement, which should also be able to materialize at any time, but this relied more on pure speed.
"I can't see the real body at all..." Uchiha Itachi's eyes instantly turned crimson, two tomoe faintly adorning them!
Sharingan: Release!
A kunai slashed through an afterimage...
"Only a two-tomoe at five years old, huh..." Shisui and his remaining afterimage clone simultaneously activated their Sharingan, his three-tomoe Sharingan exceptionally bright.
Kitahara rubbed its sharp beak. It suspected Uchiha Shisui purely wanted the thrill of bullying a noob, and it already had evidence... He even activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, how could he still argue?
In the ensuing battle, the little boy was almost completely toyed with by Shisui switching between his real body and clones, having absolutely no room to resist... It was a bit pitiful...
After the two formed the Seal of Reconciliation, Shisui began applying medicine to Itachi... The torment of the little genius was over.
"...Caw!"
The crow lightly flew down, landing in front of the two. The question it posed left Uchiha Itachi dumbfounded, "Kitahara, you want to fight Shisui? But..."
"Oh? Sure!" Perhaps due to the thrill of beating a novice, Uchiha Shisui actually reached out a finger and tapped the crow's head, "I've never fought a crow before!"
"Caw..."
Kitahara gave him a sidelong glance. Some people really get carried away...
"Now, if you lose, you have to be an obedient crow in the future..." Uchiha Shisui stated his demand.
Kitahara glared. He's really getting seriously carried away...
"No throwing things around, no loud squawking..." Uchiha Shisui used his own crow-raising regulations as the betting standard.
Kitahara ignored him. Perhaps some people felt their lives were too long. After all, he had already lived for eight years; life was indeed very long...
"...And come when called." Uchiha Shisui finally finished stating his demands... Since there was no way to form the Seal of Confrontation, the crow symbolically extended a wing and high-fived him to signify the agreement was made.
"Caw..."
Uchiha Shisui smiled and patted Kitahara's wing. As a crow keeper, if one excluded this crow's terrible personality, he rather envied Itachi, "So smart..."
A tiny crow-shaped seal silently landed on Uchiha Shisui's wrist guard...
Finally, Kitahara opened its beak towards Uchiha Itachi, "Caw..."
Stand further back, don't get splattered with blood...