Such an intense clash of ocular powers was a heavy burden on both Hyuga Kagami and Shisui, making this strange close-combat style difficult to maintain for long.
Hyuga Kagami was bracing himself on one hand, gasping for air. His entire body ached, and his legs were trembling so much that without using his hand for support, he wouldn't even be able to stay upright.
This confrontation tested not only their ocular powers but also their control over their bodies.
Minute shifts in techniques placed an enormous strain on their muscle groups, keeping Kagami's entire body under constant tension. Even though the exchange had only lasted moments, the intensity matched an entire afternoon of sparring with Guy.
On the other end, Shisui fared even worse. Drenched in sweat and struggling to breathe, he looked utterly exhausted.
When Itachi had previously praised Hyuga Kagami, Shisui hadn't paid it much mind—not out of arrogance, but because he truly believed he had the right to look down on most of the so-called "geniuses" in the village.
But after this match, he fully realized just how powerful Kagami's ocular abilities were. He had never imagined that even after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, he would find himself slightly outmatched in terms of insight.
Neither of them rushed to get up. Instead, they rested silently for a moment.
A while later, Kagami caught his breath first and stood up, saying, "Let's continue."
Shisui, still recovering, forced himself up and nodded solemnly.
Kagami crouched slightly, then stomped hard, kicking up two shuriken that had landed at his feet. With a swift motion, he grabbed them mid-air and hurled them at Shisui.
At the same time, his body blurred and followed right behind the shuriken in a direct charge toward Shisui.
Having suffered from close-quarters combat earlier, Shisui wouldn't let Kagami approach so easily. He immediately formed hand seals and shouted, "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive wave of fire erupted from Shisui's mouth, covering nearly the entire sparring platform.
With the firestorm rushing at him, Kagami had no way to dodge. He had to activate his Rotation technique once again.
For a moment, the platform turned into a fiery furnace—with a fan inside. At the center of it all, Kagami's Rotation spun furiously, disrupting Shisui's fireball in chaotic swirls.
Around the training platform, the watching chunin scattered, trying to avoid the flaring fire. Even the Third Hokage had to step back a few paces.
On stage, Kagami was far from unscathed.
Rotation was primarily a defense against physical attacks. When facing ninjutsu, its effectiveness dropped significantly. Though Kagami had deflected Shisui's attack, it cost him three to four times the chakra Shisui used. Even with more chakra reserves than Shisui, such an exchange rate wasn't sustainable.
Thankfully, Kagami had managed to get close to Shisui.
"Body Flicker Technique!"
Knowing how terrifying Kagami was in close combat, Shisui, ignoring his exhaustion, quickly formed hand seals and unleashed his trump card.
With a flash, a dozen Shisuis appeared on the training platform, as if multiple clones had sprung to life.
Kagami immediately stopped his attack. Behind his goggles, his intense Tenseigan scanned the field, trying to locate the real Shisui. But strangely, every single one of them appeared real.
Kagami didn't know much about Shisui's Body Flicker Technique, only that Shisui had earned the moniker "Shisui of the Body Flicker." For someone to be named after the technique, it had to be extraordinary.
Then, all the Shisuis on the platform spoke in unison, "Senior Kagami, I'm coming!"
The voice echoed from all directions, disorienting Kagami.
Right after that, a storm of attacks rained down on him.
Surrounded and overwhelmed, Kagami found himself fending off strikes from every side. He quickly accumulated several cuts and had no choice but to activate Rotation again, barely fending off the onslaught.
With a moment of breathing space, Kagami finally had the chance to observe Shisui's technique.
Gradually, he began to see through it.
Shisui's Body Flicker Technique appeared to create illusions through ultra-high-speed movement, simulating the presence of a dozen attackers with just one body. It made it nearly impossible for the enemy to pinpoint the real target.
Unlike Guy's raw speed, Shisui's technique wasn't just taijutsu—it was a blend of ninjutsu and taijutsu, much like the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist. Though it required hand seals, its effectiveness surpassed that of pure speed. Even Kagami, with his Tenseigan, couldn't decipher it at first glance.
But in the end, it was still a physical technique. Unless it was some overpowered forbidden jutsu, Rotation could handle it.
Resolved, Kagami stopped attacking and focused purely on defense.
When it came to chakra reserves, he didn't fear Shisui at all!
After blocking several more waves of attacks, Kagami wiped the sweat off his forehead and calmly said, "If that's all your Body Flicker Technique can do, it won't work on me."
Shisui, realizing the same, decisively halted his technique. Panting heavily, he admitted, "Senior, I can't beat you. I've lost this match."
Kagami was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected Shisui to admit defeat so easily.
Shisui offered a helpless smile and explained, "My chakra is nearly exhausted, but you still seem to have plenty left. If we keep going, I'll definitely lose."
Staring at the exhausted Shisui, Kagami suddenly had a realization.
While the Mangekyō Sharingan gave Shisui a tremendous boost in combat power, it did not improve his physical body—in fact, it placed an even greater burden on him. In some ways, it was a physical downgrade.
And considering Shisui was still young and not fully developed physically, the Mangekyō's strain on him was even heavier.
At its core, the Mangekyō Sharingan was more like a rare mutation in a bloodline limit—fundamentally unstable.
Until it evolved into the Eternal Mangekyō, it remained a double-edged sword for any ninja. The more it was used, the more damage it did to vision and the body.
This also explained why Danzo had the courage to ambush Shisui.
First, the Mangekyō's burden on the body far exceeded that of the regular Sharingan, making Shisui hesitant to use it freely in battle.
Second, Danzo acted in the name of the village, leveraging the greater good to suppress Shisui, preventing him from retaliating with lethal force.
At the end of the day, as long as Shisui wasn't willing to go all out and kill, he was just another elite jonin—albeit a troublesome one—for Danzo. But if Shisui ever cast aside all restraint and unleashed his full power, not even the Third Hokage would be safe. With Kotoamatsukami, he could control someone's mind and strike in an instant...