Another Match!

"I lost." Kakashi let out a long breath, crouched down to pick up the kunai on the ground, and put it back into his Ninja Tool Pouch.

Chiba also lowered his kunai and sat down to inspect his twisted ankle.

Outside the field, however, there was complete silence.

Kakashi... lost? Obito's eyes went wide. Kakashi's words, "I lost," felt like something he had heard in a dream.

Kakashi... had lost to Taki Chiba, someone even younger than himself? A boy who had only just graduated from the Ninja Academy?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

Obito was filled with disbelief, but the facts were right before him, and he had no choice but to believe them. Caught between belief and disbelief, he was too stunned for words.

Beside him, Rin's eyes shimmered as she watched Kakashi in the field, her heart full of worry. Kakashi, are you okay? This is his first loss, isn't it...

Minato let out a sigh, yet inwardly he thought, At first, I even told Kakashi to go easy on him. But now it seems my judgment was far too poor. Chiba isn't someone Kakashi can afford to go easy on! I really underestimated him—and Kushina as well. Sorry about that!

Then he looked at Kakashi again, concern in his eyes. Kakashi had been a genius admired by everyone since childhood and had never suffered defeat. Even during missions, he had always stood head and shoulders above the rest. Hopefully, this loss would not leave any bad effects on him.

As for Hokoma, he was completely dumbfounded.

Kakashi lost? That Hatake Kakashi had lost?

Impossible! He might have believed it if Kakashi had lost to a Jonin, but he had lost to a seven-year-old child who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy and had only been a Genin for a little over a month. He simply could not believe it!

In his disbelief, he seemed to have forgotten that Kakashi himself was only eight years old.

In truth, this had merely been a battle between a seven-year-old and an eight-year-old. Yet beneath the halo of genius, it was easy to see it as a battle beyond their ages. In fact, the technical level of this fight truly had surpassed their years. If ordinary Chunin had watched this battle, they probably would have been ashamed of themselves.

"This..." Hokoma glanced at Minato, who gave him a faint smile. Still unable to believe it, he announced, "Kakashi has conceded. Taki Chiba wins this spar!"

"We won!" Kushina nearly jumped for joy. She flashed Minato a big V sign, then said bluntly, "Minato, my Chiba beat your Kakashi. As agreed, the Chunin Exams qualification is ours!"

Minato could only smile bitterly, unsure what to say.

Chiba defeated Kakashi. Even the Third Lord probably never expected this, Minato thought.

Hirohiko and Yukina clenched their fists excitedly. The Chunin Exams... they could take the Chunin Exams! By then, Kakashi had already picked up his kunai, while Chiba had roughly checked his sprained ankle and was about to stand.

But Kakashi walked over first and held out the Seal of Reconciliation.

Chiba instinctively reached out and formed the Seal of Reconciliation.

Keeping their fingers locked in the seal, Kakashi pulled Chiba to his feet, and Chiba rose with the motion.

"Thank you." Chiba looked up at Kakashi and saw that his expression was as normal as ever, without any negative emotion over losing the match.

I'm still far from good enough! I need to train even harder! Chiba thought. Though he had beaten Kakashi in this spar, that did not mean he was stronger than Kakashi.

That was true—he had won this time. But this had only been a spar, not a fight to the death. If it had been a life-or-death battle, the outcome would still have been uncertain. Besides, in the end, Kakashi would most likely have killed him.

As Chiba replayed the match in his mind, he realized that there had been several times when Kakashi could have killed him outright.

Like when he used Lightning Release, or when he threw the kunai... those had all been killing opportunities! My fighting is still too crude!

Chiba remained alert in his heart, and his "thank you" had been sincere. It was not because Kakashi had helped him up, but because of the battle Kakashi had given him.

Kakashi looked at Chiba and nodded. Then he released his hand and returned to his team.

Besides Guy, there's also Taki Chiba? Kakashi lightly clenched his fist.

"Uh... our Chunin Exams qualification is gone?" Once Kakashi came closer, Obito belatedly realized something. He froze, then shouted at Kakashi, "Kakashi! You bastard, you actually lost! You lost Rin's and my Chunin Exams qualification!"

Obito was furious, glaring at Kakashi with rage written all over his face.

"Obito!" Rin stopped him sharply from the side.

"Rin... it was clearly all his fault..." Seeing Rin defend Kakashi, Obito was filled with dissatisfaction and frustration.

Yet Kakashi seemed to have no intention of paying him any attention and walked right past him. This made Obito's anger flare even higher, but under Rin's gaze, he could only fold his arms, snort coldly, turn his head away, and hold himself back.

Then Kakashi paused. "Sorry, Obito. Rin."

The concern in Minato's eyes was instantly replaced by a smile. Looking at Kakashi's clenched fist, he laughed at himself. Looks like my worries were unnecessary!

"Kakashi..." Rin murmured.

Obito had been sulking with his arms crossed, but when he heard Kakashi say that, he froze.

Kakashi... you...

He fell silent.

"Are you okay?" In the field, Hirohiko had already helped Chiba up. Kushina and Yukina walked over as well, both wearing bright smiles.

Chiba smiled faintly too. "Teacher Kushina, shall we go get barbecue tonight?"

Kushina readily agreed.

"Wait!" At that moment, a shout suddenly rang out from Minato's side.

The four of them turned around in confusion.

They saw Obito already standing in the middle of the training ground, saying to them, "Let's have another match. If we win, the Chunin Exams qualification goes to us. If we lose, I won't take the Chunin Exams for the next two years!"

"Obito..." Minato was slightly taken aback as well.

Rin stared at Obito in surprise.

Kakashi, meanwhile, turned his head and let out a long sigh. "This idiot..."

Chiba's group of four was also briefly stunned.

"Fine, I'll fight you." Hirohiko suddenly stepped forward and spoke to Obito. Then, as if remembering something, he looked at Kushina and then at Chiba.

He seemed to be asking for their approval.

This is going to get troublesome...

Chiba sighed inwardly.

"Go ahead." However, Kushina merely glanced at Obito and did not stop Hirohiko.

Kushina actually didn't stop him. Strange... Kushina values the Chunin Exams so much. We already won, so why create more trouble? We could have refused outright...

Since Teacher had not stopped him, Chiba naturally could not say anything either. Still, he remained somewhat puzzled.

After receiving an affirmative answer, Hirohiko released Chiba and walked toward the center of the training ground.