A Spar with Kakashi

As Uchiha Feiyu finished speaking, Kakashi's expression blanked for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

"Fine, it's a deal!"

Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo, was the renowned White Fang of Konoha, one of the ninjas currently standing at the pinnacle of Konoha.

And this was precisely the time when the White Fang of Konoha was at the height of his fame, his name known throughout the land. It could be said that, aside from the Hokage, he was Konoha's most famous ninja.

To Kakashi, it was perfectly normal for someone to want to visit his father, so he did not think much of it.

Of course, Uchiha Feiyu did not want to meet the White Fang of Konoha because he admired his reputation or wanted to learn from him.

On the contrary, Feiyu recalled that in the original story, Hatake Sakumo would fail a mission around this time and later commit suicide amid the rumors—Feiyu had set his sights on Hatake Sakumo's soul!

Spirit Summons and Subjugation, one of the Eight Wonders from the world of Hitori no Shita, was an extraordinary art capable of forcibly binding and even devouring the souls of others. Its power depended entirely on the souls its wielder had in reserve.

Unfortunately, there were no wild souls in the Naruto World. Generally speaking, after any creature in this world died, its soul would dissipate and head for the Pure Land if more than ten minutes passed.

That was why, despite searching painstakingly for more than a decade while remaining in Konoha, Uchiha Feiyu had failed to find even a single ninja's soul.

No matter how dangerous the Naruto World was, Konoha was relatively safe for the time being. It was nearly impossible to find the corpse of a ninja who had died less than ten minutes earlier.

Feiyu had even gone to wait outside Konoha Hospital, only to discover that due to the widespread use of Medical Ninjutsu, virtually every ninja sent there could be saved. Those who could not be saved had already died before they ever made it to Konoha Hospital.

Places such as the Interrogation Unit, Intelligence Unit, and Konoha Prison, where one might come into contact with freshly dead bodies, were all vital areas of Konoha that a Ninja Academy student could never access.

So even now, Feiyu only possessed a few animal souls. He had never gotten his hands on a ninja's soul.

Feiyu had directly devoured most of the animal souls. He could not bring himself to devour human souls, but he felt no psychological burden in absorbing animal souls. Besides, most animal souls could not offer much Battle Power even when possessing him, so there was little point in keeping them.

It was precisely thanks to the souls of these Chakra-bearing animals that Feiyu stood out among his peers, even among Uchiha of the same age, whether in physical ability or Chakra reserves—though only among those his own age.

Knowing all this, it was easy to understand just how tempting the soul of a ninja at the White Fang of Konoha's level was to Feiyu.

Even if soul possession could not bring out all of the original owner's strength, a powerhouse like the White Fang of Konoha would still allow Feiyu to instantly gain Battle Power that ranked among the best of the Jonin.

But for now, Feiyu first had to deal with the eager Kakashi.

The biting wind howled past as Kakashi casually drew a short blade from his waist. Cold light flickered across its edge.

Before the White Fang of Konoha took his own life, the White Fang Short Sword was naturally not in Kakashi's hands. Still, the quality of this short blade was unquestionably first-rate.

Unlike Kakashi, Feiyu casually drew two kunai. Though he had joined the Uchiha Clan, it went without saying that the clan would not invest much effort in an "outsider" like him. The equipment on his person was utterly ordinary.

However, after Feiyu gripped the two kunai, the soul of a black leopard suddenly emerged around him.

This was the strongest Fierce Beast soul he had ever collected in the Death Forest: a black panther of incredible speed. By using Spirit Summoning to let the black panther's soul possess him, Feiyu could increase his neural reflexes and physical speed by fifty percent.

Kakashi could not see souls, but he sensed the instant change in Feiyu's presence. His expression grew equally excited as faint sparks of electricity began dancing over his body.

Using Lightning Release currents to stimulate one's cells and increase speed was the White Fang of Konoha's specialty. Clearly, Kakashi had inherited his father's ultimate technique.

Feiyu flicked a kunai from his hand, sending it whistling toward Kakashi. It was not some flashy Uchiha-style kunai throwing technique, merely a swift and vicious throw.

Kakashi knocked it aside with his short blade. A sharp clang rang out, and the immense force within the kunai numbed his wrist.

Feiyu followed close behind, raising the kunai in his hand high overhead. Though it was a short weapon, he wielded it with the force of a hammer or club, smashing it straight down.

Kakashi lightly gritted his teeth and raised his somewhat numb arm. Violent sparks burst between his short blade and the kunai as Kakashi staggered several steps back.

"So heavy... Are you really an Uchiha? Why are your fighting techniques so similar to that guy Guy's?"

"Sorry. Although I have the Uchiha's Sharingan, I never received much Uchiha education growing up. Compared to those flashy techniques, I trust a physical foundation tempered through countless trials!"

In truth, Uchiha Feiyu had long planned out his future training path. His physical foundation was the highest priority while laying the groundwork.

Things like techniques could be made up for with ninja souls acquired in the future. But no matter what, the foundation of his own body could only be built through his own training.

Moreover, the Spirit Binding Method strengthened Feiyu across the board. It not only enhanced his Chakra and Mental Strength, but also greatly improved his physical power. This made his current combat style completely unlike that of an Uchiha and somewhat more like the Senju Clan's.

After retreating two steps, Kakashi's figure flashed as he directly used the Substitution Technique. Feiyu, who had been relentlessly attacking, cleaved the Substitution Log in half with a strike. His brow furrowed slightly as he spun around and kicked out.

With a bang, Kakashi, who had appeared behind Feiyu, was kicked into a cloud of white smoke. Then a streak of White Light descended from above, stabbing toward Feiyu's shoulder.

"I've been waiting for you!"

Feiyu chuckled. He retreated in an instant, avoiding Kakashi's ambush. As his body pulled back, the kunai in his hand became a black streak shooting toward Kakashi's chest.

While possessed by the black panther's soul, Feiyu's five senses and intuition were greatly enhanced in addition to his speed and neural reflexes. Neither the Clone Technique nor the Substitution Technique could fool him.

His ambush having failed and Feiyu having seized the opportunity instead, Kakashi barely knocked the kunai away. Before he could catch his breath, Feiyu, having drawn another two kunai, lunged at him again.

After blocking several attacks in rapid succession with a series of clangs, Kakashi retreated again and again, yet gradually calmed himself.

With the black panther's soul possessing him, Feiyu was nearly as fast as Kakashi using Lightning Release stimulation. In terms of pure physical strength, he far surpassed the nine-year-old Kakashi.

But Kakashi, the genius ninja, still discovered Feiyu's only weakness—his taijutsu and use of ninja tools had a solid foundation, and his body was strong, but his technique itself could not be called exceptional.

After all, Feiyu had never received a particularly good education or inheritance. There was no need to mention the Ninja Academy, where only the most basic fundamentals were taught. The Uchiha Clan had merely given Feiyu a few basic ninjutsu books and materials; they had never truly trained him.

Hatake Kakashi was the exact opposite. An eight-year-old's physical abilities had not yet developed to their limit, and even with Lightning Release Chakra stimulation, his physical strength had glaring deficiencies. Yet when it came to swordsmanship alone, Kakashi, taught by the White Fang of Konoha, was far beyond Feiyu.

Having discovered Feiyu's technical shortcomings, Kakashi stopped clashing with him head-on. The short blade in his hand traced arcs of light as he used methods of sticking, clinging, and guiding to deflect the force from Feiyu's kunai.

After Kakashi changed his fighting style, Feiyu did indeed find things difficult. However, thanks to the black panther soul possessing his body, his five senses and intuition were exceptionally sharp.

With those keen senses, Kakashi had gained the upper hand, but he still found it difficult to defeat Feiyu in a short time.

Snow scattered through the air. Amid the repeated clangs of weapons and scattered sparks, two figures darted through the forest before separating again in an instant.

Feiyu looked at his torn white clothing and frowned slightly.

Hatake Kakashi, standing opposite him, was completely uninjured. He was only breathing heavily, with fine beads of sweat covering his forehead.

Although Kakashi had held a certain advantage just now, the physique of an eight-year-old still limited his stamina. More than ten minutes of all-out fighting had severely drained his strength.

"Looks like I lost. Kakashi, you really are improving fast. As expected of Konoha's most famous genius right now."

Blood slowly seeped from beneath Feiyu's torn clothing, gradually staining his sleeve red. He casually pulled out some gauze from his ninja tool pouch, wrapped it around his arm, and bandaged the wound.

The wound was not deep and did not significantly affect Feiyu's fighting ability, but it undoubtedly meant that he had lost.

Kakashi took two deep breaths. His victory had not come easily either. If they had kept fighting for a few more minutes until his stamina ran out, he would probably have been the one to lose.

Neither of them had used much lethal ninjutsu in the battle, so while Kakashi had expended quite a bit of stamina, the Chakra in his body remained plentiful. After taking a couple of breaths, he recovered.

"You... If you were a little more proactive, you should be able to get plenty of resources, right?"

"Since you secretly train here every day anyway, why not perform better and ask the clan and village for more resources?"

In response to Kakashi's question, Feiyu merely chuckled and offered no further explanation.

With Spirit Summons and Subjugation, he did not need to worry about lacking ninjutsu in the future. On the contrary, if he received too many resources from the village or clan, it would probably become difficult for him to slack off and coast along.