Chapter 417: Determination to Win

"So Shisui is participating in this Chunin Exam." Anko was a bit surprised to hear the announcer.

After Shisui graduated, Anko hadn't seen him, so she didn't know he was directly entering this Chunin Exam.

"Same year students, yet some are smug about a bit of success in the practical exam while others are about to become chunin—what a disparity in the world." Kotetsu sighed.

Anko's internal con-artist radar activated subconsciously; her gaze shifted from the center of the arena to Kotetsu sitting beside her.

She felt that Kotetsu's words had a hidden meaning.

"You're right to scold me, Kotetsu. I shouldn't be proud of making it into the top four of the year in practicals. Shisui is the real role model for us." Izumo replied with a look of shame, as if Kotetsu had been talking about him.

A flicker of guilt crossed Anko's face. She wondered if she had been too violent with her brothers and should be kinder.

In a place where Anko couldn't see, Kotetsu gave Izumo a thumbs up. Their cooperation was perfect—this was their combo technique.

Izumo smiled back at Kotetsu, then turned his attention back to the center of the arena. Shisui and Tetsuka Uchiha faced each other, forming the seal of confrontation. The battle was about to begin.

Looking at Shisui's calm expression before him, Tetsuka Uchiha felt an unusual calm in his own heart.

Though the fight hadn't started yet, Tetsuka Uchiha already knew the outcome.

Without a doubt, the winner would be Shisui, not him, Tetsuka Uchiha.

The gap in their strength was too large; Tetsuka Uchiha saw no hope of winning.

Unlike Obito, Tetsuka Uchiha had known Shisui since Shisui was already a genius of the Uchiha clan, so losing to Shisui didn't weigh on him mentally—after all, he had never beaten Shisui since childhood.

"Begin!" The referee shouted after confirming both were ready, then flashed back.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Tetsuka Uchiha quickly formed hand seals, gathered chakra, and spat a fireball at Shisui.

Even though this was a foregone conclusion, Tetsuka Uchiha had to fight with all his might—that was the proper demeanor of an Uchiha.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Shisui also liked to use Fireball Jutsu as his opening technique, and he used it immediately after the referee called start.

Although it was the same jutsu, the same technique used by different people could differ. Many factors could affect a jutsu's power: the amount of chakra, the level of nature transformation, and proficiency with the technique all influenced its final power.

Having awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and trained the Flame Breathing technique to above average, Shisui naturally could overpower Tetsuka Uchiha in every aspect. Seeing his fireball engulfed, Tetsuka could only dodge as best he could.

Having gained the advantage, Shisui naturally wouldn't let Tetsuka dodge easily; he immediately threw his ninja tools.

Swish! Swish!

Several shuriken at tricky angles successfully left wounds on Tetsuka Uchiha's body.

"As expected of Shisui—overwhelming in every area." Inabi Uchiha praised.

Although Tetsuka Uchiha was in a sorry state, Inabi Uchiha knew it wasn't Tetsuka's fault; Shisui was just too strong. Even if Inabi himself, a chunin, went up, it would be the same result.

In Inabi Uchiha's view, Shisui now could probably fight against Uchiha jonin.

Under Shisui's fierce onslaught, Tetsuka Uchiha lay powerless in less than a minute.

"Uchiha Shisui wins." The referee announced the result.

The audience seats instantly became lively.

Uchiha Shisui was known as a genius within the Uchiha clan and was also recognized as a super genius across all grades at the ninja academy, but in the whole of Konoha, Shisui wasn't really famous.

After all, Uchiha ninja wouldn't boast about their genius to outsiders, and the ninja academy had limited influence—few people paid attention to academy students unless their status was very special.

But after the first match, things were different. Anyone with some insight could see that Shisui's strength was no joke.

However, due to the opponent's strength, they couldn't judge whether Shisui's power could reach the level of Kakashi or Obito.

"First there was Uchiha Obito popping up, and now another Uchiha Shisui. The Uchiha really are the top clan in Konoha," a ninja couldn't help but remark.

It was far too difficult for civilian ninja to produce a genius of this caliber—truly one in a thousand—and yet the Uchiha had produced two in a row.

Hearing others praise Shisui, Uchiha Fugaku smiled faintly. These were all the future of the Uchiha clan.

"The most important thing for a ninja is strength. As long as you are strong enough, everything will work out," Uchiha Fugaku said with a weighty, educational tone.

In Uchiha Fugaku's view, the Uchiha clan's predicament was actually easy to solve: produce a sufficiently strong ninja who becomes Hokage.

Uchiha Fugaku felt that he had little hope; he was already nearly thirty years old, and it was difficult for his strength to improve much further.

But Shisui, Obito, and the others were different—they possessed even greater ninja talent than Uchiha Kagami. If Itachi could also have such talent, then in a few decades, one of those three would surely become Hokage.

Uchiha Itachi couldn't fully grasp Uchiha Fugaku's meaning, but he silently kept Fugaku's words in his heart.

Battle after battle began and ended, but no one replicated the dominance Shisui had displayed in combat.

When the second round of battles began, Shisui still easily dealt with his opponents, the fights filled with ease and comfort.

"Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Shisui have already shown talent surpassing Kagami's, but with Minato and Muyue guiding them, there shouldn't be any problems." Hiruzen Sarutobi thought as he watched the battles, lightly stroking his goatee.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't as fanatical about the Uchiha issue as Danzo Shimura, but he remained cautious toward the Uchiha.

Because the Uchiha had actually rebelled before. During the reign of the Second Hokage, a hawkish Uchiha named Uchiha Setsuna had attempted a coup, which was suppressed by the Second Hokage sending the Anbu. It was this incident that led to the Uchiha being under constant Anbu surveillance for years.

By now, because the Uchiha had been relatively docile for a long time, the level of surveillance had decreased considerably, usually with only one or two Anbu monitoring them.

If not for the fact that their teacher was Muyue, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have chosen one of them to be sent to the Anbu for training.

Without any malice, purely to strengthen the education of the Will of Fire—but with Muyue around, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still relatively at ease.

Round after round of battles deepened the audience's understanding of Shisui's strength.

Focusing solely on the dominance in combat, Shisui's performance was stronger than Obito's and Kakashi's. In the last Chunin Exam, after entering the third round, even the final winner, Kakashi, had fought with great difficulty.

Unlike Shisui, even after defeating his last opponent, Shisui remained calm and composed, looking as if he still had plenty of leeway.

Of course, even ordinary people could understand the reason. In the last exam, there were too many strong examinees; after the third round, the gap between everyone was small, so the fights were very tough.

But this time was different. Although there were some genin besides Shisui who performed well, they were nowhere near the level of Obito or Might Guy.

"Damn, I should have known better than to be an examiner. I should have taken the Chunin Exam again." Obito looked at Shisui standing in the arena receiving cheers from the crowd, showing envy.

In the last Chunin Exam, he hadn't even made it to the finals, eliminated by Kakashi in the semifinals.

In this Chunin Exam, Obito could say that if he hadn't encountered Shisui, he could have coasted into the finals.

"You, a chunin, going to take the Chunin Exam?" Kakashi muttered in disbelief.

"You're the last person who should be saying that to me. Last year, you'd been a chunin for several years and still shamelessly took the Chunin Exam." Obito said indignantly.

If it hadn't been for Kakashi blocking his way, he would have at least finished in the top two.

The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched. "That was Minato-sensei and the others' arrangement. It's not like I wanted to take it."

To be fair, when he was notified to take the Chunin Exam, Kakashi himself was a bit confused. He had been a chunin for years and had to retake it again.

But after finishing the exam, Kakashi understood—this was Konoha's preventive measure, to avoid the Chunin Exam being a disaster where Kirigakure swept to victory.

Konoha wasn't co-hosting the Chunin Exam to give Kirigakure fame; it was to showcase strength and attract commissions. The examinees' performances were the competition between Konoha and Kirigakure.

Facts proved Konoha's concerns were not unfounded. Kirigakure was even more unscrupulous. Kakashi felt that several Kirigakure ninjas didn't look like genin at all, especially that shark-faced guy's squad.

"No way, next time I have to ask Muyue-sensei," Obito wanted to win first place in the Chunin Exam once.

Kakashi's expression almost cracked. He thought Muyue probably wouldn't agree with such a reckless idea.

If the examinees who didn't become chunin in this exam participated again next time, only to find that the examiners from the last time had become examinees taking the exam with them—calculate the psychological shadow area of those examinees.

"Forget about that for now. You should worry about the internal battle coming up. Haven't you noticed? The three months are almost up," Kakashi reminded.

Actually, Kakashi hadn't paid much attention to it either. Time passed quickly when immersed in training.

But recently, Might Guy had been trying to challenge Kakashi, hoping to use the pressure of fighting him to break through the Eight Gates. That was when Kakashi recalled it and used it as an excuse to stall for time.

"I'm still a little short on Baqi. I don't know if I'll make it in time." Kakashi was anxious now.

The price of losing was too painful. Even he didn't want to lose.

Hearing Kakashi's words, Obito's expression also turned grim. He'd had enough of those miserable days of doing problems.

"This time, I absolutely won't underestimate my opponent," Obito thought to himself.

The lesson of failure was too bitter. Now Obito had the determination to win no matter what.

"Shisui, don't underestimate my resolve to not have to do problems!" Obito was very confident in his heart.

He had thoroughly analyzed Shisui, and with his own solid strength, he would definitely win this time.