Kakashi Begins to Transcend Divinity

[Arcane Brush Palace]: Paint the picture in my heart, wield the brush as a blade to carve mountains and rivers, creating an Arcane Hall that stores mental energy, which can be channeled and released through a Telekinetic Power brush.

"Just as I thought!" Hyuga Ningyuan's eyes lit up. This time, there was no restriction on painting—as long as he had a brush, whether writing, drawing, or even scribbling, he could release mental energy.

And this brush wasn't an ordinary one from reality—it was a Telekinetic Power brush.

What was this called? Void Drawing Talismans, the Eight Wonders' Heaven Communicating Talisman Art!

And this was just a minor skill attached to the [Arcane Brush Palace]!

"I really want to try it, but I still have class!" Hyuga Ningyuan gritted his teeth, growing more eager to get his hands on the Shadow Clone Technique.

Right, he was going to see his Father-in-law tonight—he could probably get it from him.

He was a Jonin, after all—there was no way he didn't know it!

At lunch, he'd brought a big bento this time, so no need to go out.

"Bang, bang!" A hand knocked on Hyuga Ningyuan's desk.

He looked up and found Kakashi standing there, mask on, expression cold.

"Something?" Hyuga Ningyuan asked, racking his memory.

They didn't have any history, did they?

"I challenge you!" Kakashi said flatly.

"Huh?" Hyuga Ningyuan blinked. "Why would you challenge me out of the blue?"

"To prove I'm strong enough to graduate!" Kakashi declared arrogantly.

He planned to climb the ranks starting from the first year, and once he'd beaten the strongest in the fourth year, he could apply for graduation!

Right now, the Ninja Academy had only four grades, from age five to nine.

"Oh!" Hyuga Ningyuan nodded, then said, "Then I forfeit. Go challenge someone else."

"Huh?" Kakashi was stunned. Hyuga Ningyuan was his first target—he never imagined someone would just give up!

"Why!" Kakashi slammed the desk. "We're all ninjas—how can you surrender without a fight?"

"First, we're trainee ninjas, not ninjas," Hyuga Ningyuan corrected, pointing at his forehead. "Second, I'm just a Branch Family member of the Hyuga Clan. I haven't learned a single palm of the Eight Trigrams Palms, I don't know a single Taijutsu move, and I'm still waiting for the teacher to teach me Shuriken Throwing and the Three Body Technique. I've got nothing to fight you with—what, you want to beat me up?"

"Uh..." Kakashi was at a loss for words. You make a good point—I've got nothing to say to that!

"Find someone else!" Hyuga Ningyuan waved him off. "Don't bother me while I'm eating."

"Oh, okay!" Kakashi nodded, about to say something else when a roar came from behind him: "Kakashi, are you looking down on me? I'm a proud Uchiha—am I not worthy of being your opponent?"

It was Uchiha Obito.

Kakashi's mouth twitched. I've been sitting next to you all day—do I not know your skills and personality?

Challenging you would be a total waste of time!

But Obito had a point—there was another Uchiha in the class. Challenge him instead.

"Uchiha Inaho, I challenge you!"

Uchiha Inaho was speechless. He didn't really want to fight Hatake Kakashi either, since Kakashi's father was more famous than the Three Ninjas, and Kakashi's own genius reputation was just as loud—if not known to everyone, at least nine out of ten students in this year had heard of it.

But his surname was Uchiha. Uchiha pride wouldn't let him surrender like Hyuga Ningyuan had.

So Uchiha Inaho stood up and said haughtily, "Looking for me? Then you've picked the wrong opponent. I'll show you what a real genius looks like!"

You can lose the fight, but you can't lose face!

Kakashi's eyes lit up. "Let's go, then!"

"Hmph!" Uchiha Inaho strode ahead, followed by the lackeys he'd recruited in the last two days, swaggering out of the classroom.

"Sigh, should we go watch?" Yūhi Kurenai asked excitedly.

"Sure," Hyuga Ningyuan said. He wasn't usually interested in kids fighting, but then he remembered—this was the ninja world. Could ninja world kids be lumped in with ordinary ones?

So he grabbed his bowl and joined Kurenai in the hallway.

Down on the training ground, curious students had already formed a circle around the two.

A Chunin teacher who seemed to have spawned out of nowhere was acting as referee.

"Byakugan!" Hyuga Ningyuan activated his Byakugan just as the two formed their opposing seals.

If they use ninjutsu, maybe I can copy it!

He hadn't used the Byakugan before, but when he did, he was shocked—everything within a 1.2-kilometer radius flooded his vision!

"Holy crap!" Hyuga Ningyuan quickly lowered his chakra output. He knew his vision had expanded, of course.

After all, a level 5 Eye Care Exercises wasn't just for show, and Autumn Water Bright Eyes added a 20% visual boost.

Plus, level 3 Phoenix Nirvana Scripture boosted chakra, and level 3 Arcane Brush Palace boosted mental energy—all of which enhanced his sight.

He just hadn't expected the boost to be this intense, jumping straight from 500 meters to 1.2 kilometers!

That was already close to the visual limit of some adult Branch Family members!

But it wasn't really that outrageous—since a person's eyes are fixed in size from birth, if an adult uses the same eyes as a child, then a child only needs to make up the gap in Chakra Meridians to potentially reach an adult's visual range.

He narrowed his visual range to two hundred meters. Whether due to the [Autumn Water Bright Eyes] or not, when he activated the Byakugan, the veins on his cheeks barely bulged—it was almost as if he hadn't activated it at all.

That was a good thing, too. He could open the Byakugan right in front of others, and they'd never notice.

On the training ground, under the watch of a Chunin instructor, Kakashi and Uchiha Inaho first formed the Seal of Confrontation, then charged toward each other.

Hatake Kakashi had been taught at home by Konoha White Fang, and Uchiha Inaho had received training from the Uchiha Clan. In theory, the two should have been evenly matched.

But Konoha White Fang was a once-in-a-generation super genius, while the Uchiha Clan's current generation had no one particularly famous.

Even if their talents were equal, one taught by a master and the other by a mediocrity would eventually produce a vast gap—let alone the fact that Hatake Kakashi was also a once-in-a-generation genius.

Just as Uchiha Inaho threw a punch, Kakashi sidestepped, grabbed his arm, and twisted it hard.

Uchiha Inaho was pinned to the ground in an instant!

From start to finish, the fight had lasted only one exchange.

"Whoa!" The watching students erupted in gasps. Many had heard of Hatake Kakashi's genius reputation, but only today did they truly feel the weight of his strength.

After all, Kakashi hadn't beaten some nobody—he'd beaten an Uchiha!

"So strong!" Yūhi Kurenai's eyes went wide as she silently pondered how she would handle it.

First, her arm wouldn't get twisted like that—because one of the moves Lord Ningyuan taught me in yesterday's dance could use the body's flexibility to break free.

Also, I wouldn't charge straight in like Uchiha Inaho. I'd keep my distance and wait for the opponent to attack first, then...

Huh?

Why did Yūhi Kurenai feel like her head was full of images of using dance to fight? Wake up—that's dance, not Taijutsu!

Hyuga Ningyuan stuffed a big mouthful of rice and silently shook his head.

Kakashi's moves were fine. Uchiha Inaho's performance, though, was a bit hard to swallow.

Even if you can't use ninjutsu, who doesn't know the Uchiha Clan is famous for shuriken?

And yet you didn't throw a single shuriken—you just went straight for close combat with Kakashi.

Don't tell me you didn't have any shuriken on you. If not iron ones, couldn't you at least have wooden ones?

Even if you didn't know what Hatake Kakashi specialized in, his father was Konoha White Fang!

Like father, like son—it's only natural he excels at close combat.

Attacking the enemy's strength with your own weakness—no wonder the Uchiha Clan got wiped out. There's definitely something wrong with their thinking.

Wait—could it be that Uchiha pride is at work here? Too arrogant to use their own strengths against the enemy?

Seems like Uchiha Madara was like that—he liked to fight Taijutsu with Taijutsu and ninjutsu with ninjutsu.

That's actually pretty nice. I hope when he runs into me, he'll go toe-to-toe with Taijutsu too!