You Let Me Win!

After their brief two exchanges, Kakashi had already seen Shinichi Hyuga use several Hyuga Clan Secret Techniques he had never encountered before.

This ability forced Kakashi to raise his guard to the utmost as he faced Shinichi Hyuga rushing rapidly toward him.

With a flick of his wrist, Kakashi pulled a Kunai from his sleeve and gripped it in his hand, assuming a defensive stance to meet his opponent's attack.

Shinichi Hyuga charged forward at incredible speed. Kakashi had barely prepared himself when Shinichi was already before him. Shinichi planted his feet firmly on the ground, formed a Sword Finger with his right hand, and jabbed at the wrist holding Kakashi's Kunai.

He did not choose Kakashi's torso as his target. After personally experiencing the power of Shinichi's acupuncture strikes, Kakashi would surely guard his vital torso closely and would not let Shinichi succeed so easily. With that fixed mindset, attacking Kakashi's limbs was instead the better choice.

Ninjas needed both hands to form seals in order to cast ninjutsu. Although this world did indeed have some seal-less ninjutsu, the overwhelming majority of ninjas could not omit hand seals.

The essence of hand seals was to guide and mobilize Chakra. As long as he could seal the acupoints in Kakashi's arms, it would be equivalent to sealing his ninjutsu.

Their brief clash just now had given Shinichi Hyuga a clear understanding of Kakashi's taijutsu abilities. Though Kakashi was known as a genius, his taijutsu was not enough to completely overwhelm Shinichi Hyuga.

If he could seal Kakashi's ninjutsu, Shinichi Hyuga would be invincible.

"Hmm?!"

Just as Shinichi Hyuga had expected, Kakashi let out a puzzled murmur when he noticed where Shinichi's attack was aimed.

With no intention of dodging, Kakashi raised his arm to block while swiftly lashing out with a roundhouse kick toward Shinichi Hyuga's waist and abdomen.

He had already experienced the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist. Its effects were indeed extremely powerful, but its weakness was also obvious: without intent to kill, one had to seal quite a large number of acupoints to block an opponent's Chakra.

That gave Kakashi the conditions he needed to counterattack.

Given the difference in strength and durability between him and Shinichi, Kakashi was confident that he could take the other's acupuncture strike with his body.

But if Shinichi took Kakashi's roundhouse kick head-on, he would definitely lose his ability to fight.

When ninjas fought, deciding victory or defeat sometimes did not depend on whose taijutsu was stronger, nor on who knew more ninjutsu or possessed greater destructive power.

Adaptability in battle and a meticulous analysis of both sides' strengths and weaknesses often determined how things turned out.

Intelligence was always the foremost factor in an ordinary ninja's battle.

And Kakashi had suffered precisely because he lacked intelligence!

With a dull thud, Shinichi Hyuga's Sword Finger successfully struck Kakashi's arm. Chakra poured into the acupoint, instantly sealing one of the acupoints in Kakashi's arm.

However, Kakashi's roundhouse kick was blocked by an invisible wall just before it reached Shinichi Hyuga's body. The sensation... was like kicking an air wall.

"What is this?!"

Kakashi looked up at Shinichi. Within the Sharingan's vision, the acupoints around Shinichi Hyuga's waist and abdomen were actually blasting out powerful Chakra. That Chakra formed an invisible wall, firmly protecting Shinichi within it.

Eight Trigrams Palm: Kaiten!

Before Kakashi could react at all, Shinichi Hyuga, standing before him, used his left foot as an axis and suddenly began spinning at high speed. At the same time, Kakashi clearly saw powerful Chakra erupting from the acupoints all over Shinichi's body.

Under the force of his rotation, that Chakra formed a hemispherical blue wall of Chakra. The instant the terrifying Chakra expanded and touched Kakashi's body, Kakashi felt an immense force strike him. Then his entire body was hurled into the air, and his vision spun wildly.

"BOOM!!!"

Kakashi's body fell from high in the air. Kaiten's power was incomparably fierce; even he could not adjust himself into a relatively stable posture after being struck by it.

As he fell, Kaiten's force continued to affect Kakashi's body. He had no way to respond and could only watch helplessly as his body smashed into the ground.

A tremendous crash rang out as Kakashi struck the ground, leaving behind a shallow, human-shaped crater.

Not far from Kakashi, Shinichi Hyuga also gradually stopped spinning. The Chakra surrounding his body receded, and he calmly glanced at Kakashi, who was struggling to rise from the crater. Then he spread his feet apart again and resumed his stance.

As a member of the Hyuga Clan, Shinichi Hyuga naturally understood the weakness of the Gentle Fist very well. To completely seal an enemy's Chakra, he needed to strike dozens of acupoints across the enemy's body.

To compensate for this weakness of the Gentle Fist, the Hyuga Clan had corresponding Secret Techniques. Coincidentally, Shinichi Hyuga had long since mastered one of them!

Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!

At this moment, Kakashi was already within Shinichi Hyuga's domain. Having just suffered the heavy blow of Kaiten, Kakashi could not possibly have any power to fight back.

Just as Shinichi Hyuga moved again, ready to give Kakashi the full set, a figure suddenly flashed in front of him. One hand landed directly on Shinichi's shoulder, forcibly stopping his next move.

"That's enough!"

Minato Namikaze suddenly flashed into the battlefield and stopped Shinichi Hyuga's next attack.

"Fourth Hokage?"

Held down, Shinichi felt the force on his shoulder. He looked up, recognized the newcomer, and could not help muttering.

"Minato-sensei!"

Seeing Minato Namikaze's back, Kakashi swayed on his feet before letting out a heavy breath.

The moment Shinichi Hyuga had charged at him again, Kakashi had felt an overwhelming pressure bearing down on him.

His lack of intelligence had cost him dearly in this match.

"You won this match, Shinichi Hyuga."

"You have already proven your talent and strength to us."

"Form the Reconciliation Seal."

Minato smiled warmly at Shinichi Hyuga, his voice gentle. As he spoke, Minato turned slightly to look at Kakashi behind him, then reached out and lightly patted Kakashi's head.

"Kakashi, this battle should have made you realize some of your own problems as well."

"When ninjas fight, you absolutely, absolutely must not underestimate an opponent just because they are young."

Minato's tone as he admonished Kakashi was not harsh. It was even somewhat gentle. Yet this gentle "admonishment" made Kakashi lower his head in shame.

He had not lost to Shinichi Hyuga because he lacked strength. He had lost to his own pride, to his own carelessness.

If Kakashi were to fight Shinichi Hyuga again, he would absolutely not rely on being older and try to defeat his opponent with taijutsu.

He could have used the Sharingan early on and used Shadow Clones to probe his opponent's capabilities first. Then he could have suppressed him with Earth Release and Lightning Release ninjutsu, waited for an opening, and won with a single strike.

Though such a fighting style could not guarantee Kakashi victory, he certainly would not have lost the match so miserably.

"Thank you, Senior Kakashi, for going easy on me."

"You let me win!"

Hearing Minato's words, Shinichi Hyuga finally became certain that he had won this match.

Watching Kakashi form the Reconciliation Seal beside Minato, Shinichi followed suit.

Even at this moment, Shinichi Hyuga still felt as though it was unreal. Even he had never expected that he would truly defeat Kakashi Hatake, who had borne the title of genius from such a young age.

An indescribable excitement surged up from within his heart.

If I can defeat Kakashi, does that mean I can protect myself through the many crises to come?!

The instant that thought arose in Shinichi Hyuga's mind, the excitement in his chest receded like a tide.

Most likely... not yet!