Chapter 454: Fire Release Guidance

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Although a bit surprised inwardly, Uchiha Fugaku's good ninja instincts kept him from delaying the release of the jutsu. After completing the hand seals, he immediately spat out a large sheet of flame, forming a huge fireball.

Just as Uchiha Fugaku finished releasing the Great Fireball, Shisui's Great Fireball had already flown a short distance.

Fortunately, the two were not too close to each other, so Uchiha Fugaku wasn't forced to have Shisui's attack right in his face the moment his own jutsu ended.

Boom!!

The two massive Great Fireballs collided. A huge explosion sounded, flames burst forth, and heat waves rose. Finally, both fireballs dissipated together in the air, leaving only scorched ground behind.

"Not only can he release it without hand seals, but the power is this strong too. What exactly has Shisui gone through these past few months to make such great progress in strength?" Uchiha Fugaku wondered inwardly.

Confrontation between jutsu of the same nature transformation is the best way to gauge the level of that nature transformation, and even more so if it's the same jutsu.

Uchiha Fugaku hadn't expected the two Great Fireballs to cancel each other out. After all, he had just used most of his strength—he was the clan head of the strongest clan in Konoha, while Shisui was only an eight-year-old prodigy.

A few months ago, when Shisui participated in the Chunin Exams, Uchiha Fugaku went to watch his battles. Back then, Shisui's Fire Release was nowhere near this strong.

"As expected, the clan head's strength is no joke," Shisui thought to himself.

That attack just now was his full-powered Fire Release under the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, which was different from ordinary Fire Release.

However, this was within Shisui's expectations. The strength of Uchiha jonin was famous throughout the shinobi world, and within the clan, the strong were respected. If Uchiha Fugaku weren't strong, he wouldn't be able to command obedience.

Based on Shisui's observation, Uchiha Fugaku commanded considerable authority within the Uchiha clan.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

After a brief consideration, Shisui chose the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, which was faster and more agile.

Although the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode could enhance Fire Release, it only sped up the release and increased the flame's power; it couldn't change the fundamental weaknesses of certain jutsu.

Shisui ran around Uchiha Fugaku while releasing fireballs, forming a curved net of small fireballs that shot toward Uchiha Fugaku.

"Still releasing without hand seals, and his way of using jutsu isn't bound by tradition either." Uchiha Fugaku dodged with the Body Flicker Technique while evaluating him internally.

At that moment, Uchiha Fugaku felt a bit embarrassed, because based on Shisui's performance, he didn't seem qualified to give Shisui advice on Fire Release.

If he truly went all out, Shisui would certainly not be his match, but fundamentally, the gap in their Fire Release wasn't huge; Uchiha Fugaku couldn't instruct Shisui.

However, as the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku had his own pride. Since he couldn't give advice on Fire Release, he would give advice on combat.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Just as Fugaku was about to switch from defense to offense, Shisui gathered a large amount of chakra in his body, converted it into fire-natured chakra, and then spat it out fiercely.

The mass of flames combined to quickly form a small sea of fire that spread toward Uchiha Fugaku.

"Such strong flames," Uchiha Fugaku thought to himself as he felt the heat radiating from the flames.

Uchiha Fugaku, who had been about to attack Shisui, immediately stopped. He couldn't just charge straight into a jutsu that clearly looked dangerous.

Since this was an open area with no materials to let Shisui's sea of fire expand continuously, Shisui immediately manipulated the flames, splitting the sea of fire into three fire dragons that charged at Uchiha Fugaku from three directions.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Uchiha Fugaku retreated while forming hand seals. He only formed a single Ram seal before spitting out a thick fire dragon that canceled out one of the fire dragons split from the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.

Although Uchiha Fugaku couldn't release Fire Release without hand seals, his proficiency allowed him to reduce the number of seals.

Immediately after, Uchiha Fugaku activated his Sharingan to enhance his perception and dodged the attacks of the remaining two fire dragons.

But just as Uchiha Fugaku was about to attack again, Shisui simply stopped fighting.

"Thank you for your time, Uncle Fugaku. I don't have enough chakra to continue battling," Shisui said politely.

In truth, Shisui still had some chakra left. Although the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode consumed a lot of chakra, Shisui was an Uchiha who had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, so his chakra reserves were greater than an ordinary person's.

However, the remaining chakra was too little. Shisui felt there was no point in continuing the fight.

Besides, he had already roughly gauged a bit of Uchiha Fugaku's strength.

This caught Uchiha Fugaku off guard. He had been suppressed the whole round and was just about to show off his skills, but then the opponent simply surrendered.

And Uchiha Fugaku couldn't really say anything, because Uchiha Shisui was his junior.

"Ahem. Shisui, your Fire Release is already excellent. Just continue training using the method from before," Uchiha Fugaku said after clearing his throat twice and adjusting his mood.

Although it was a bit awkward, Uchiha Fugaku was not the kind of person to talk nonsense for the sake of face—he genuinely could not give Shisui any guidance on his current Fire Style.

Not to mention offering guidance; to be honest, Uchiha Fugaku now even found it somewhat difficult to understand Shisui's Fire Style—it felt a bit strange.

Not only could all of his Fire Style techniques be performed without hand seals, but the power of the flames was also extremely high, completely unlike someone who had only been practicing Fire Style for a few years.

The most puzzling aspect for Uchiha Fugaku was that all of them could be released without seals—he simply couldn't figure out how Shisui had achieved it.

"Maybe this is what a true genius looks like," Uchiha Fugaku sighed inwardly.

He himself had been called a genius in his youth, but there was a considerable gap between him and Shisui and Obito.

"Mm, thank you for your guidance, Uncle Fugaku," Shisui thanked him.

Uchiha Fugaku tightened his face and nodded slightly in response.

After the battle with Uchiha Fugaku, Shisui spent some time alone with Uchiha Itachi, telling him a few relatively positive stories.

The next day, Shisui formally underwent the jonin assessment.

However, Shisui did not expect that his examiner would be Uchiha Fugaku, the very person he had fought the day before.

But this time, Shisui did not directly enter Flame Breathing Chakra Mode and go all out like the previous day; instead, he probed step by step in a normal battle style.

Shisui first used Fire Style to force the opponent's positioning, then threw ninja tools, followed by taijutsu probing, and finally activated Flame Breathing Chakra Mode to unleash his true full power.

After the fifteen-minute battle ended, Shisui saw Fugaku's satisfied smile and felt that his combat score should not be bad.

During the written test in the afternoon, Shisui clearly felt the difference in difficulty between the jonin assessment and the chunin exam.

For Shisui, the chunin exam had not been long ago, so he still remembered some of the written test questions from that exam—the two were completely different levels.

If Shisui had not continued studying after graduation, he would not have been confident in passing this written test.

PS: Moving houses, a bit busy, can't write too much. I'll see if I can find some time tomorrow to add more. 2k is too short.