(A.N : hey guys I hope you are enjoying the story so far, if yes, than please give it some powerstones, I would be really grateful for that, thanks ^~^)
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Itachi understood what that meant, and he didn't like it one bit. Before he could think of a counter to Kaida's plan, two of his clones started attacking him simultaneously.
Both clones attacked him at the same time from opposite sides, resulting in Itachi using Body Flicker Jutsu to evade. Then one clone went for Kenjutsu attacks, while the other kept its distance and attacked with wind blades whenever Itachi started to gain the upper hand.
Itachi really had to give his all to dispel the clone fighting him in close range by putting himself in a position where he was hidden from the other clone. But once again, before he could take a breather, the clone which was in a support role this whole time started attacking with Kenjutsu.
Kaida created four more clones to take its place as soon as it was defeated, which happened quite soon. When another clone took its place, Itachi felt a stark difference in Kenjutsu style. Kaida's Kenjutsu was already very refined, using every opportunity to deal maximum damage while evading every attack.
But this time, it was more like it was tailored to fight against Itachi. Itachi then once again looked toward Kaida, who was analyzing his every move with his Sharingan.
'He is trying to find my counter style in between the match,' Itachi thought, a concept so absurd that he didn't even want to believe it.
No Uchiha had ever used Sharingan like that because it needed quite some time to analyze an opponent's style and create counters. If you could get your opponent to fight that long, and if he was strong enough that you had to do that, the amount of life you had to sacrifice for that analysis wasn't worth it.
But Kaida, with his shadow clones, didn't have to worry about the life cost. With his high chakra, he could do this for hours because every time Itachi dispersed a clone, Kaida got some of his chakra along with his memories back.
"If I give you more time, I am sure I will lose," Itachi said. Everyone was so silent while watching the match that his voice resounded in the stadium, and everyone understood that something was about to happen.
As soon as he said that, he made various hand signs. Kaida, who had seen these hand signs multiple times by now, understood what they meant.
The clone went full throttle in attacking Itachi to stop his hand signs, but before it could reach him, a fireball appeared in front of it, dispersing it in seconds. Another went straight to the clone Kaida had created as backup. Even though they tried to dodge and create earth walls to defend against the fireball, it just increased the amount of fireballs needed to disperse them. Itachi threw five fireballs at the same time, destroying the area where the clones and Kaida were standing.
Kaida quickly used Body Flicker Jutsu to evade, only suffering some minor burns, but all of his clones were dispersed by now. Itachi still had many fireballs rotating around him, which he threw toward Kaida without a second thought.
This time, Kaida showed that Itachi was not the only Uchiha in the stadium. With the help of Sharingan, he predicted each and every possible path of the fireballs, evading those he could while attacking the unavoidable ones with shuriken and wind blades. In a span of couple of seconds, tens of blasts happened all around the stadium. The crowd, which had been mesmerized by the beautiful and deadly Kenjutsu, jolted awake and started shouting, supporting their favorite participants.
When the dust settled, two figures became visible to the crowd. At one end of the stadium, Kaida was standing with his clothes dirty and burned in various places, while the skin below was burned to various degrees. On the other side was Itachi, uninjured but visibly exhausted. Even though the current attack was super effective, it was still an S-rank jutsu. The chakra requirement to perform this was perversely high. This, coupled with all the other jutsu and coating of chakra he did for the last 10 minutes, really depleted Itachi's chakra reserves; he barely had 30-40 percent remaining.
Seeing Kaida's state, most of the crowd thought that Itachi was going to win now - Kaida was obviously in no state to fight. But unlike others, Itachi didn't have that same thought. So what if Kaida was injured? He knew full well that it didn't mean anything.
As if Itachi's thoughts were a trigger, Kaida activated the Mitotic Regeneration seal on his forehead. Many black lines emerged from the seal, covering him from head to toe. Due to using this seal many times during the Chunin exam, it was only halfway full, containing chakra twice Kaida's own reserves. In the one and a half months after getting this seal, Kaida had diligently increased its capacity daily with help of Sharingan. The process was fast, but now he couldn't benefit from that progress.
'Well, this is what I get for using it every time I get the chance,' Kaida thought as his injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Even though Itachi wanted to attack, Kaida had already created a shadow clone to hold him back. Instead of making himself more tired without gaining anything, Itachi decided to use this time to recover some of his strength.
After a minute, Kaida said, "Ready for round 2?"
"Always," Itachi replied.
Both disappeared from their positions, leaving a dust trail behind. Neither used any jutsu; it was just sheer speed and force that made them difficult to follow with naked eyes. Kaida was using his 100 Strength seal to boost his strength and speed, while Itachi had to do that manually. Without augmenting his strength with chakra, he would not be able to handle Kaida's attacks. Seeing the broad sword in his hand, Itachi was sure he had to give his all; otherwise, even blocking Kaida's strike would result in breaking two or three bones.
Both of them collided at the center of the stadium with metal clashing against metal. For the audience, the clash was simple Kenjutsu moves exchanged between two ninjas. But for Kaida and Itachi, it was a battle of wits. Both were using Genjutsu and Kenjutsu in conjunction to get just one good hit. For Itachi, it would lead to further decreasing Kaida's chakra, and even a chance of winning. As for Kaida, a single hit would mean winning the match.
But both were at a stalemate. Even though Itachi was able to strike a few times using his superior Genjutsu skills, Kaida was not weak in this field either, coming out of Genjutsu in fractions of seconds, dodging the attacks sufficiently so that his seals would heal them in no time.
After 5 minutes of constant exchange of Genjutsu, Itachi's chakra reserves were bottoming out. Having no other choice, he decided to go for the last reserves he had.
Demonic Illusion: Mirage Circle Technique, an S-rank Genjutsu.
This technique creates a wide-range mirage where the surroundings appear distorted, shifting terrain and altering distances. Targets trapped within this area find that their attacks or movements appear futile, as distances stretch infinitely or shrink unexpectedly. And the most lethal thing about this is the brain becomes disoriented, so the target will not come out of this Genjutsu even if they have the means to do so.
Itachi created some distance between them once again using Fire Stream Jutsu and then started making hand signs.
'What is he planning this time?' Kaida thought, getting ready to tank any attack. Because of having a Sharingan himself, Kaida was looking toward Itachi normally, not avoiding his Sharingan like others at all.
Itachi utilized this opportunity fully, casting the Genjutsu with his Sharingan. Kaida felt something was wrong as soon as Itachi completed his hand signs, but before he could do anything, the distance between Kaida and Itachi grew, and the surroundings of Kaida started to rotate.
"What the f**k!"