First Round

First Round—

Begin! Lin Ke stomped the ground, and his body vanished from where he stood. The next second, a roaring chainsaw appeared behind Hatake Kakashi.

"Pshh—" The saw blade cut straight into flesh, sending blood splattering everywhere.

His two teammates' hearts lurched. Could it be?!

Bang!

The mangled body turned into a wooden stump split in two.

A Substitution Technique for crushing rookies.

Lin Ke's thoughts raced, but he was not surprised that he had failed to catch a jonin's movements.

"Whoosh—thud!" A long leg swept in from the left. Without an arm to shield himself, his ribs took the kick solidly, and his body flew sideways.

Excellent chakra control.

After delivering that kick, Hatake Kakashi felt a slight degree of admiration for the kid. The chakra gathering and instant movement behind him had been very smooth, and the technique that let his body parts separate and turn into ninja tools was quite interesting. But unfortunately—

Losing an arm had far too great an impact on battle.

Yet what flew away was only the body. Lin Ke's head had separated from it.

Bang!

With a soft sound, starting from his head, his body instantly reassembled. He threw a textbook-perfect side kick.

Bang!

His short little leg struck Hatake Kakashi's shoulder, kicking him away. Kakashi's feet slid several meters across the ground before he came to a stop.

He closed Make-Out Paradise, his expression growing a little more serious.

This kid's taijutsu was so bizarre.

Hand seals, release—

Lin Ke cast the Clone Technique and Transformation Jutsu again. As basic Three Body Techniques, they did not consume much chakra as long as he did not try to maintain them for too long.

"Whoosh!" He attacked again. As the weaker fighter, he had to maintain his offensive rhythm. Otherwise, if he was caught off guard, he might lose without even having the chance to fight back.

Clang!

The two kunai collided. The difference in strength immediately decided the exchange, and Hatake Kakashi's kunai pressed toward Lin Ke. Unhurried, Lin Ke aimed his free hand at his opponent's face, pressing his thumb against his four fingers before snapping them hard—

"Whoosh!" The instant they sprang open, his four fingers turned into four silver senbon, flashing with sharp light as they shot through the air at incredible speed.

Clang clang clang clang!

Hatake Kakashi reacted even faster. The kunai he had swung did not pause in the slightest. His other hand opened before his face, and the iron plate on his Hand Guards—strong enough to block a Fuma Shuriken—easily deflected the senbon. Note: According to Book of Soldiers, the iron plate on the back of the Hand Guards was enough to block a Fuma Shuriken.

Lin Ke was about to be struck by the kunai. At such close range, his short, stunted body could not effectively attack an adult. One hand, clutching the kunai, had been knocked aside, while the other had lost four fingers.

At that moment, his body's reactions absolutely could not keep up with a jonin's speed, so he leaned back without hesitation.

Head Detachment Maneuver, begin! His head dropped backward as his body turned into white smoke and vanished from its original spot, then reassembled a few inches away, narrowly avoiding the kunai's edge.

The battle continued. Without the slightest luck-driven mentality, Lin Ke instantly moved away from where he had been.

But Hatake Kakashi was clearly faster. He appeared before him like a shadow, lowered his body, and whipped his foot upward like lightning.

Bang!

Lin Ke was launched high into the air by the heavy kick. Enduring the pain, he formed hand seals with both hands and released the Clone Technique plus Transformation Jutsu.

The advantages of basic ninjutsu were displayed to the fullest at this moment: few hand seals, quick activation, and low chakra consumption.

Hatake Kakashi leaped up with him, spun in midair, and sent his left leg whistling toward Lin Ke's body.

Thud!

At the final second, he used the same trick again. His head fell away, while he let his body crash heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Everyone's—Hatake Kakashi's and his two teammates'—eyes were drawn to the head in the air, almost overlapping with Hatake Kakashi. However—

"Whoosh!" Before the dust had even settled, a long blade stirred the smoke and shot toward Hatake Kakashi, who had not yet landed.

Even while acting separately from his head, the body remained completely under Lin Ke's control!

Bang! Having reassembled again, he spread his tiny arms and legs and clung horizontally to Hatake Kakashi's arms from behind like a parasite.

He was horizontal partly because he was too short, and partly because he was missing an arm and had to use both legs.

The gleaming long blade was about to strike.

Bang!

Hatake Kakashi directly turned into white smoke.

A Shadow Clone?! When?!

Lin Ke's heart jolted. The long blade in the air turned back into a palm, and without any panic, he reached out and caught his arm as it flew toward him.

This kid!!! x2 The two teammates hiding in the woods nearly had their eyes pop out. Defeating a jonin's Shadow Clone head-on with taijutsu—what kind of concept was that? Even an ordinary chunin might not be able to do it.

"Tap."

After landing again, Lin Ke sighed inwardly. He had used every little technique he had developed, yet he still could not gain any advantage. Things would probably get troublesome from here on.

Hatake Kakashi, who had voluntarily dispelled his Shadow Clone, was nowhere to be seen. The Training Grounds were silent.

In this world, in the taijutsu portion of ninja battles, surprise attacks were the most important thing.

Circling behind—then ambushing—was the most classic part of real combat.

Because chakra refinement, chakra gathering, neural reactions, and the body's movements all rested on one premise:

Being able to see.

If one could not see, then no matter how powerful one's abilities were, one still could not make the correct judgment or countermeasure.

That was why taijutsu battles often began with attempts to circle behind for a surprise attack. Even in the battle between Jiraiya and Pain, it was the same. Because the Six Paths of Pain shared vision, Jiraiya had wondered why he had been unable to successfully ambush them.

His exact words were: even assuming they were all sensory-type ninjas, how could they react to whatever attack their opponent chose if they had not seen it beforehand with their eyes?

Simply put, if one could not see, then even a sensory-type ninja could not judge the opponent's attack. The prerequisite for reacting was seeing it.

Lin Ke's initial sneak attack had failed, which meant none of his movements could escape the other party's eyes. Kakashi could also easily judge his intentions, instantly cast the Substitution Technique to evade without a single unnecessary movement, and kick Lin Ke's undefended left side.

Lin Ke had expected this long ago. After all, there was no way he would underestimate a jonin. That was why he had used it to set up the series of extraordinary taijutsu techniques that followed, trying to seize the advantage.

The result was that he had succeeded, yet also failed. Taijutsu was that simple and brutal. Strange techniques might grant a temporary advantage, but the vast gap between them still allowed his opponent to calmly wait for him to make his moves, then deal with everything at ease until he had evened the situation at a very small cost.

Kakashi had even been willing to yield the initiative to him.

He had already done everything he could in their taijutsu contest, yet he did not even qualify to make his opponent take him seriously...