Chapter 519

Various Fire Release techniques were unleashed by Obito and Shisui.

Explosions echoed continuously across the field, with flashes of fire erupting from time to time.

The two stared at each other, both feeling a headache, as if they had no way to make a move.

Obito's slight lead in Fire Release couldn't let him suppress Shisui, and Shisui's Armament Haki couldn't bring him a clear advantage either.

"Should I summon Charmeleon?" Obito thought about introducing new power to break the deadlock.

Then Obito shook his head—since Charmeleon could fall under his genjutsu, that meant Charmeleon could also fall under Shisui's genjutsu.

If that happened, Obito would not only have to deal with Shisui's attacks but also help Charmeleon break the genjutsu, which really would just be making trouble for himself.

"Hey, I could try this." Obito recalled Shisui's fight in the quarterfinals, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he came up with a good idea.

On the other side, Shisui was also considering whether summoning Zorua could give him an advantage.

Obito's strength was not on par with Asuma, and Shisui would face considerable pressure trying to protect Zorua in battle.

"Great Flame Ring: Flame Emperor!"

Obito gathered a large amount of chakra, and with the boost from the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, he instantly completed the nature transformation of all his chakra.

The moment Obito raised his hands, terrifying flames surged, and a massive fireball over eight meters in diameter appeared in his hands.

Strictly speaking, this was only a small Flame Emperor; Obito did not pour all his chakra into releasing Flame Emperor as he usually did.

Because normally he used Flame Emperor to defeat an enemy, but this time the main purpose of Flame Emperor was to provide cover.

Of course, the main reason was that even using Flame Emperor at full power couldn't directly defeat Shisui, so he had to find another way.

"Great Flame Ring: Flame Emperor!"

Shisui also gathered chakra and raised his hands to form a massive fireball—basically any Fire Release technique Obito knew, Shisui knew too.

In terms of the number of techniques mastered, Shisui had more than Obito, but many of them could not be used effectively in battle against Obito.

Two enormous fireballs, comparable to multi-story buildings, raced toward each other, radiating scorching and blinding light.

As they approached, the very air seemed to warp and twist from the heat, emitting hissing sounds as if it were about to collapse under the intense temperature.

Boom!!!

The instant the two giant fireballs touched, a deep and shocking roar resounded.

An unprecedented blinding blaze erupted, waves of flame rolling through the air, releasing endless heat that caused the surrounding temperature to soar sharply.

Even Shisui had to gather chakra in his feet to anchor himself to the ground so he wouldn't be pushed back by the impact.

The flames obscured Shisui's vision; he couldn't judge Obito's current state, nor could he launch an attack on Obito for the moment.

After some thought, Shisui ultimately decided not to use the Summoning Technique to call Zorua, but instead took out four kunai from his tool pouch and added flames to them with Fire Release chakra.

When the Flame Emperor's flames subsided, Obito and Charmeleon came into Shisui's view.

Without hesitation, Shisui immediately threw four flaming kunai—three aimed at Obito from different angles, and the last one targeting Charmeleon.

The instant he threw the kunai, Shisui directly cast a genjutsu on Charmeleon, freezing the Pokémon in place just as it had taken a step.

Facing a stalemate, introducing a new power was indeed a good approach.

But there was a problem—Charmeleon and Zorua did not have the strength of Milotic; a single Great Fireball could take them out, and summoning a summon beast also consumed chakra.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Obito had no choice but to spit out a Great Fireball to defend, shooting down all the incoming flaming kunai, but in the blink of an eye, Shisui's attacks came again.

Seizing the hard-won opportunity, Shisui launched a relentless assault, making Obito, who had to protect Charmeleon, scramble to respond.

At this moment, Obito not only had to help block attacks but also find a way to break Charmeleon out of the genjutsu.

Under immense pressure, Obito showed an opening and was struck by Shisui's Armament Haki-enhanced fist. Even though he used the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode's boost to generate flames on his body, the Armament Haki prevented any damage to Shisui.

Just as Shisui was about to press his advantage, Charmeleon, which had been caught in the genjutsu, suddenly moved and kicked Shisui with a swift spinning leg.

"Damn." Shisui instantly understood everything in his mind, but it was already too late.

Obito's Shadow Clone, transformed into Charmeleon, was extremely close to him; Shisui couldn't dodge in time and could only hastily generate a bit of Armament Haki chakra.

"Fire Release: Blazing Charge!"

Obito's main body also struck out aggressively at this moment, gathering a large amount of chakra and converting it into flames, charging towards Shisui at extreme speed.

Bang!!

Under Obito's heavy impact, Shisui was sent flying backward, the impacted area scorched red.

"I underestimated Obito," Shisui sighed inwardly.

Obito basically never used complex tactics, so Shisui subconsciously thought Obito had actually used the Summoning Technique to summon a Charmander; he never expected Obito to split off a shadow clone, have the shadow clone transform into a Charmander, and finally pretend to be under a genjutsu.

"The battle is over." Kakashi, from the spectator stands, knew that Shisui's defeat was certain.

With their strength being nearly equal, Shisui had made a major blunder; even if he hadn't lost yet, it was impossible to turn the tables.

After all, this was no longer the early stage of the battle; both had limited chakra and stamina, so it came down to their condition.

"This battle at least barely resembled a ninja." Kakashi had to admit that Obito this time truly had tactics, not just recklessness driven by hot blood.

"It's just that your standards for ninjas are too high, Kakashi. Obito has been very cautious in the last two battles," Rin said with a smile.

Although Rin hadn't seen the process of the quarterfinal battle, Obito had personally recounted the battle details, even explaining his inner thoughts.

Kakashi looked indifferent and didn't continue speaking; he didn't hold everyone to the same standard.

As Kakashi expected, Shisui, falling into a disadvantage, saw his disadvantage grow over time, until he couldn't hold on and collapsed.

"Huff." Obito panted heavily, no longer able to maintain highly focused breathing.

Seeing Shisui fall, the exhausted Obito almost collapsed to sit on the ground.

But thinking that Rin was watching the match, he forced himself to stay standing, appearing to have won with ease.

"Making it to the semifinals counts as completing the mission." The defeated Shisui was in a fairly good mood.

His goal was not the reward; he just wanted to achieve a better ranking for Konoha at the Youth Martial Arts Tournament as an Uchiha ninja.

Although some ninja villages did not take the Youth Martial Arts Tournament seriously and didn't value it, the tournament's popularity was genuine, at least in Konoha and the Land of Fire.

As a competition of the ninja world, with many ninja villages participating, comparisons were inevitable.

Now that there were two Uchiha ninjas among the top four, whenever Konoha ninjas talked about the tournament, the Uchiha would have significant credit, increasing their sense of recognition.

After all, this at least counted as bringing honor to the village and the country.

"Uchiha Obito wins!" the referee announced.

Thus the semifinals concluded, leaving only the final match.

As the most important final, it was naturally impossible to let the exhausted fighters rest only a few hours before continuing; Obito and Nagato had more than a day of rest, and the final would not start until the day after tomorrow.

Since today's matches were over, Obito did not return to the waiting room but walked slowly towards the spectator stands, planning to leave together with Kakashi and the others.

Rin and Kakashi had also considered this, so they did not leave right after the match ended but waited in place for Obito.

"Hey, Kakashi, are you congratulating me on reaching the finals? It's nothing really, just two levels higher than the quarterfinals." As soon as he saw Kakashi, Obito couldn't help boasting.

After all, if you don't show off when you achieve good results, are you going to act cocky when you're at the bottom of the intra-village rankings?

Kakashi, who hadn't said a word:...

Kakashi said nothing, only silently took out a photo.

Although he couldn't retort to Obito due to the punishment, Kakashi believed Obito could understand his meaning.

"I mean, if you hadn't run into Gai, Kakashi, you definitely wouldn't have stopped at the quarterfinals." Obito looked at the huge crowd in the arena and decided to hold back for now.

"Speaking of Gai, I wonder how he's recovering. Let's go visit Gai first," Rin suggested, thinking of something.

Kakashi and Obito nodded in agreement.

Then they all went to the Ninja Sect Hospital and arrived at Gai's ward.

At this moment, Muyue had just finished treating Might Gai.

"Sorry, Obito, I still wasn't strong enough. I couldn't beat Nagato, so I couldn't help you get that Fire Release," Might Gai scratched his head and said to Obito.

"What happened in the second match? If you advance, it's all up to you from now on!"

After saying that, Might Gai gave Obito a thumbs-up to encourage him.

Obito was stunned, not expecting that Might Gai would actually remember the words he casually said before departure.

Then thinking of the scene of Might Gai forcefully entering the Six Gates during battle, Obito was deeply moved and couldn't help recalling the time he and Might Gai did problem-solving training together.

"Gai, I will definitely avenge you tomorrow!" Obito said, blood surging, clenching his fists.

Kakashi looked at Obito in astonishment; after seeing Nagato's final Shinra Tensei, he could still say such words—was he that brave?

But the surge of passion came and went quickly; without even needing Kakashi to remind him, Obito's mind automatically played the scene of Nagato's full-power Shinra Tensei clashing with Might Gai's Six Gates combined with Rock Breathing Chakra Mode.

"Uh, I mean, I'll try my best, but whether I succeed or not isn't certain," Obito added after coming to his senses.

If it were strength like Kakashi's current level, Obito would have let his heroic words out and be done with it; it's not like there was no chance of winning.

But Nagato's strength was far too great; Obito was worried that when the time came, he would be slapped in the face too hard.

xhytd