“I do wonder how long will you be able to keep that up... how much Visual Prowess you have left.”
Hearing the masked man’s words Shinichi’s expression darkened, and he tried to suppress the anger in his heart.
As the masked man pointed out, even prior to this fight, Shinichi’s visual prowess had decreased a lot. The recent use of Nakisawame and Hachiman has again affected his Visual Prowess, causing his eyesight to blur.
In fact, being able to keep his Visual Prowess for so long is already surprising.
Shinichi has always been very careful when using the Mangekyou Sharingan. Ever since he joined the Akatsuki, there are very few instances when he actually used any of the abilities of the Mangekyou Sharingan.
But even then, he is close to going bling. And there is a very good reason.
Back when he had just awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, Shinichi was unaware of the fact that he would lose his eyesight with each use of Mangekyou Sharingan. He was too reckless at that time, in his desire of wanting to avenge Kurumi’s death, he rushed into the Root base alone and used his Mangekyou Sharingan ability to kill Root shinobi.
After that, he fought with Kuroto using all his abilities and further lost the Visual Prowess.
In that short time, he had already consumed more than half of his Visual Prowess, just like Uchiha Sasuke did in the cannon.
However, after Shinichi learned how Mangekyou Sharingan works from Kuroto and understood that he will go blind if he used Mangekyou Sharingan every time, he realized that he couldn’t overly rely on Mangekyou Sharingan.
And he has always kept this thought in his mind, precisely why after he joined Akatsuki, he rarely used his Mangekyou Sharingan. But even if Shinichi was careful by then, what he did before was irreversible.
‘Sigh... I can’t continue to fight him, this is exactly what he wants!’ thought Shinichi as he looked at the masked man. If Shinichi continues to fight him, not only will he lose and die, but he will also be giving away important information that is something Shinichi can’t afford at all costs!
Making up his mind to retreat at all costs, Shinichi took s deep breath and then disappeared with a Body Flicker.
Looking at Shinichi’s back from a distance, the masked man chuckled, “Are you that desperate?” and added, “A while ago you stated that you wanted to kill me... and now you are trying to run away like a coward... have you given up on the idea of revenge? Did you not love her?!”
Shinichi was burning with anger and wanted to fight, however, he knew that if he did he would be playing in the masked man’s hands. So, he kept himself shut and ran.
“It seems I am right... you didn’t love her enough... in your heart, your life is more important than hers... that’s why, when facing her killer, you are running away instead of avenging her... you are a coward Shinichi... a coward!” the masked man continued to provoke Shinichi.
The two Uchiha continued this chase for a while. As time passed, Shinichi’s reaction became slower and slower and his physical state also started to decline. As he felt more and more tired, Shinichi started to rely more and more on the flow of the river instead of putting his own strength and focusing his attention only on keeping himself alive.
As the chase continued, the two crossed the border and successively entered the territory of the Land of Fire.
Here, the flow of the river has slowed down as the terrain is not that difficult anymore. This may be a good thing for the citizens of the Land of Fire, however, for Shinichi this is not good, as the river no longer protected him and he was left with no other choice but to come out of the river.
As soon as the masked man saw Shinichi coming out, he increased his speed and said, “It’s over... nothing can protect you now.”
Shinichi collapsed on the ground and stared at the masked man with a helpless expression, “Man... I didn’t expect that the gap in strength between the two of us would be this big.” His eyelids were droopy and he barely registered the masked man’s figure.
Before he escaped the Akatsuki, Shinichi was prepared to face the difficulties. He knew that escaping would be very difficult, however, he had confidence in his ability and knew that he would be able to escape.
Who would have thought that just Masked Man would give him so much trouble, and he wasn’t this guy’s opponent at all!
“I guess this is it.” Muttered Shinichi as he closed his eyes.
The masked man said, “None of this would have happened if you did what I told you.” Then approached Shinichi to pick him up and take him back to their base.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as the masked man had taken his first step towards Shinichi, several shinobi appeared in between them.
Looking at their clothes, the masked man’s expression changed, “Uchiha?!”
That’s right, these people are none other than the Uchiha Clansmen of Konohagakure, and the one leading them is none other than the Patriarch of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Fugaku.