"Uh..."
Hearing Asuma's sudden words, Kakashi's eyes immediately narrowed. The corner of his mouth beneath his mask twitched slightly as his gaze involuntarily flicked toward the black robe by his feet.
Clearly, what he had struck just now was not Chiba—or at least, not Chiba's real body.
At this moment, all that lay by his feet was a black robe whose hood and garments had separated.
In midair just now, his Raikiri had indeed hit its target. But only after the strike did he realize that nothing remained except that black robe.
In other words, Chiba—the Silver Moon Black Robe—had perfectly evaded his attack.
To be honest, Kakashi was quite surprised by the scene before him. He had been prepared for his attack to fail, for not defeating or even hitting Chiba. After all, Chiba's strength spoke for itself. When Chiba had left the village, even Kakashi as he was now might not have been his match, much less after so many years outside.
With Chiba's talent, he had undoubtedly made terrifying progress.
Still, the fact that only a black robe had been left behind came as quite a surprise. Kakashi had originally prepared himself for the possibility that what he hit was another one of Chiba's clones—such as a Shadow Clone Jutsu, Water Release Clone, Earth Style Clone, or even Lightning Clone. He had even prepared countermeasures for the Water Prison Technique Chiba often used, a technique many powerful fighters could not escape.
But he had never expected that after one Raikiri, there would be nothing but empty clothes, while Chiba himself had vanished without a trace.
That truly caught him off guard.
If it had been a clone, he could at least understand what had happened. It would have meant Chiba had prepared everything in advance, and it