Second Round

In that lightning-fast exchange just now, how much of the results Lin Ke had cultivated over ten months had he actually used? The combined use of the Clone Technique and Transformation Jutsu.

Ultra-fast hand seals.

Separating his body from his brain when attacked to seize the initiative.

Turning his limbs into ninja tools to attack independently.

After gaining the initiative once, using his head to draw the opponent's attention while his body attacked.

And most importantly, the physical conditioning earned through his daily, painstaking training, which kept him from being instantly crushed by a jonin.

It could be said that Lin Ke, standing where he was now, had exhausted every trick he had. He did not think he could fool a jonin with the same techniques again.

To a large extent, ninja battles depended on information. The reason he had managed to gain a slight advantage in taijutsu and force Hatake Kakashi to dismiss his clone voluntarily was entirely due to the information gap created by the Lin Ke Style Taijutsu, which differed completely from normal taijutsu.

What came next...

"Phew..." Lin Ke let out a breath. He could not think of any way to engage someone like this in taijutsu.

After that intense exchange and several uses of the Clone Technique and Transformation Jutsu, his stamina had fallen to the fifty-percent warning line. He was also visibly at a disadvantage.

Would the next thing to appear still be a Shadow Clone? Would Hatake Kakashi, famed for ninjutsu, use ninjutsu or Genjutsu? Or, to make sure Lin Ke could not keep playing tricks, would he reveal that Sharingan? Sure enough, no matter how hard he had worked, even with his cheat ability, the gap was still far too great.

Would he be confident after another year?

The cruel reality was—

No.

Even if he spent another year training and becoming familiar with his ninjutsu, he would still have no chance of defeating Hatake Kakashi. What separated them was not merely a small gap in physical fundamentals, nor was it combat experience that could be gained by training behind closed doors. He was far behind in every respect.

He had not been some urban soldier king or super assassin in his previous life. For an ordinary person to quickly master the basic applications of chakra and learn how to fight in ten months already required the solid foundation laid by his bargain-bin father in this life, along with enough hard work on his own part.

Hand seals, release—

Lin Ke took a breath and cast the Clone Technique again, but not the Transformation Jutsu. He did not have much stamina left, and exhaustion was sweeping over him like a tide.

The facts proved that the combat style he had developed based on the Clone Technique, Transformation Jutsu, and the methods taught at the Ninja Academy simply could not contend with a jonin.

Through this exchange, he clearly understood that if he wanted to follow the ninja path and defeat a jonin step by step, or reach the level of a jonin himself, it might require a very long process—and tempering himself through battles that risked his life.

Perhaps it would be better to give up now and avoid exposing too much information...

But for some reason, he felt unwilling to accept it.

He could grow accustomed to dull, monotonous training and endure the daily exhaustion and pain, yet he could not quite bear his own cowardice.

Then let's keep fighting.

All those thoughts took only a few seconds in reality. He quickly prepared himself to continue the battle.

"Crack! Splash!"

Two hands suddenly burst from the ground beneath Lin Ke's feet, gripping his legs and dragging him downward.

Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique

He was very familiar with this ninjutsu, and he knew Hatake Kakashi was particularly skilled at it, so he did not panic. He grabbed his own head and threw it far away. While it was in midair, he dismissed the Clone Technique and allowed his body to reassemble.

"Whoosh!"

Hatake Kakashi, emerging from underground, had long anticipated his escape technique and used the Body Flicker Technique to pursue him.

Lin Ke grinned. You let me experience the original Double Suicide Decapitation Technique. Now let me show you mine.

Hand seals, release—

Me Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique

The instant Hatake Kakashi saw the brat forming hand seals, his vigilance rose to its peak. For a mere genin, this brat was incredibly unpredictable. Whether it was his fighting style or his strange ninjutsu and taijutsu, Kakashi had never seen anything like them.

Yet after Lin Ke completed his hand seals, Kakashi suddenly felt dizzy. Only then did he realize—

It was actually Genjutsu?! But the information said...

"Whoosh—Squelch!" In that instant, Hatake Kakashi felt as if something sharp had directly chopped off his head. The pain felt incredibly real.

"Release!" After disrupting his chakra, he returned to reality.

"Thud!" A kick sent him crashing down from midair. He steadied himself with one hand against the ground and rose to his feet.

Though he had only lost focus for an instant, he had still been successfully ambushed.

Ninjutsu, taijutsu, Genjutsu... This brat had almost no blind spots, and he was clever too. Only eight years old this year—he had a promising future.

Hatake Kakashi brushed dust from his palms and chest, his gaze becoming slightly more serious.

He could no longer treat this brat as an ordinary Ninja Academy graduate or genin.

"Tap."

Lin Ke landed as well. Looking at Hatake Kakashi, who was almost completely unscathed, unwillingness flashed through his eyes.

Sure enough, he had failed to break through his defenses. Even though Hatake Kakashi had been affected by Lin Ke's version of the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, once he recovered, he had still easily gathered chakra at the point of impact and absorbed most of the damage. With the other man's tough body, he probably had not even felt much pain from what remained.

Seeing through his battle intentions at a glance, powerful chakra control, the speed at which he refined chakra, ninjutsu used as casually as breathing, instantly dispelling Genjutsu... All of it was what they called—

Combat experience!

Hatake Kakashi did not even need to use his signature ninjutsu or reveal his Sharingan to easily crush the vast majority of Konoha's ninja. That was the true weight of a jonin.

Powerful in every aspect, without a single weakness.

So powerful that Lin Ke felt an immense sense of helplessness. What did he have left? The Body Binding Technique, which required money to activate? Or the extremely unstable Substitution Technique?

His stamina was gradually running dry. Even if he summoned a useful substitute, would he really have a chance of winning?

Besides, over the previous ten months, the chance of summoning a substitute suited for direct combat had only been three out of every ten uses of the Substitution Technique. The overly vast pool of substitutes had also prevented him from becoming familiar with each one during those ten months, making it impossible to use them proficiently.

Many substitutes had extremely complex applications. Using them well was difficult, and their mere dozen or several dozen seconds of existence was nowhere near enough for him to turn the tide...

Come on. My final struggle.

Countless thoughts flashed through Lin Ke's mind. Then he calmly formed hand seals and released—

A gray, skeletal monster rapidly gathered and appeared out of thin air behind him.

It had a birdlike skull with a beak, a centipede-like skeletal torso, red eyes, a purple tongue, and six skeletal hands swaying through the air.