The So-Called Geniuses Also Had Their Differences

Kakashi and Seisui stood facing each other.

Kakashi wore a black bodysuit, steel bracers on his arms, and a sword sheath strapped to his back like his father's. He looked like a blade drawn from its scabbard, his edge fully revealed.

Hatake Sakumo stood with his arms crossed, his gaze flickering between Kakashi and Seisui.

Though he had told Kakashi not to feel anxious, Kakashi was still his son. Hatake Sakumo naturally looked forward to his performance.

"Seisui-kun, here I come!"

"Come on, Kakashi-kun."

The moment his words fell, Kakashi burst into motion. In one fluid movement, he pushed his speed to the limit, holding his short sword horizontally as he rapidly closed in on Seisui with footwork that was almost impossible to track.

"He really is a fusion of samurai and ninja—he has a samurai's fierceness and a ninja's swiftness..."

Seisui silently remarked as he raised Muramasa. Behind the black membrane, his Sharingan slowly began to turn.

With Tobirama Senju's motor nerves combined with the Sharingan's Dojutsu, Kakashi's speed might have been fast, but in Seisui's eyes, it was like slow motion.

Seisui casually swung his blade to the right.

The next moment, Kakashi seemed to slam into it himself. His short sword collided precisely with Muramasa, producing a sharp clang of metal.

Kakashi's pupils suddenly constricted!

"A coincidence? How could he predict my position so precisely?!"

Hatake Sakumo's expression gradually turned serious.

He did not believe it was a coincidence. In a close-quarters sword fight that tested one's reactions so severely, every movement had to be efficient. Otherwise, one would lose the rhythm and be left passive and flustered.

Feeling the force coming through the short sword, Seisui smiled. "Kakashi, I'm a few years older than you, so I do have a slight advantage. Please don't take offense."

As he spoke, Seisui pressed Muramasa's edge firmly against the short sword and steadily increased his strength!

Kakashi immediately found it difficult to hold on. Seisui's strength completely overwhelmed him, and the blade seemed almost sticky as it tightly entangled his short sword, forcing him into a contest of strength with Seisui!

With just one miscalculation, Kakashi had fallen completely into the disadvantage. In the blink of an eye, the situation seemed to have become a losing one.

"Seisui Uchiha's strength... something's wrong with it..."

Hatake Sakumo stared intently at Seisui's arm. He knew Kakashi's strength well. Although Kakashi could not match him, he was not at a complete disadvantage even among Special Jonin.

Yet the current scene even made Hatake Sakumo wonder—between Seisui and himself, who was stronger?

Sweat ran down from Kakashi's hair, and his arms grew increasingly sore and weak as he stared fixedly at Muramasa's bewitching blade.

If he dodged, Muramasa would swiftly cut down along with the momentum of the blade...

"If this keeps up, I'll lose my strength, and the match will be over!"

Kakashi hardened his resolve. He suddenly released his force and, facing Muramasa's descending edge, hurled the shuriken hidden in his sleeve at lightning speed, aiming for Seisui's throat!

"Nice calculation."

Seisui slightly turned aside and avoided the shuriken, while Kakashi swiftly opened up distance between them.

"My body is still too frail... A ninja's body can possess earth-shattering power, yet it fears ordinary iron weapons so much. That really shouldn't be the case."

"If I can make up for this weakness, my safety will increase greatly, and it'll be even more beneficial in battle."

As Kakashi eased the soreness in his arms, Seisui was also reflecting on the battle and drawing lessons from it.

If he had possessed ninjutsu that could avoid ordinary physical attacks, such as the Hydrification Technique or Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he would not have needed to care about Kakashi's shuriken.

"The Hydrification Technique is a Secret Technique. As for Lightning Release Chakra Mode, I don't have Lightning-nature Chakra..."

As Seisui pondered, an electronic voice sounded in his mind:

Detected that Kakashi Hatake has developed a strong desire to defeat the host. Binding him as the Target of Confrontation!

Seisui's eyes lit up.

Kakashi's desire to win seemed even stronger than he had expected.

Compared to the all-element Tobirama Senju, that old man knew far too much, making the rewards rather miscellaneous. Moreover, Seisui's stimulation threshold for him had already been reached.

But Kakashi was different. He was also a genius with Chakra of every nature, and he was still just a kid. Other than his Chakra natures, he did not seem to have much else worth offering.

"Kakashi, it looks like I can't go easy on you anymore..."

Seisui's gaze changed, and blazing flames ignited along Muramasa in his hand.

The Kenjutsu originating from Uchiha Izuna, though it was Tobirama Senju's analyzed version, was surprisingly compatible with Muramasa. There was not the slightest sense of stiffness.

Kakashi's gaze sharpened, and alarm bells blared in his mind as an intense sense of danger struck at his subconscious.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

A towering earthen wall rose in front of Kakashi, giving him a little sense of security.

"Oh... that Chakra level is pretty impressive."

Seisui looked up at the towering wall. For a seven-year-old ninja, this was definitely not something a Chakra-starved ninja could release.

All one could say was that Kakashi's Chakra reserves had always been Schrödinger's.

"But it's useless, Kakashi..."

Seisui swung Muramasa, and the flames along its edge swept forth like a Fire Dragon, roaring as they pounced upon the Earth-Style Wall and forcibly melted the earthen barrier with sheer heat!

"Tch, flashy but impractical. This brat really did learn that bastard's Kenjutsu."

Tobirama Senju curled his lip. This Ninja Sword Technique had been Uchiha Izuna's early combat style. By the time they fought in their later years, both of them had begun returning to basics and no longer wasted Chakra...

But Kakashi, facing the blade flames, had no mind for Tobirama Senju's criticism. He stared dumbfoundedly at the fire filling the sky.

Then—

Seisui descended from above, carrying flames and blade wind as he slashed down at him with an expressionless face!

At that moment—

A blue Chakra slash shot in from the side and collided with Muramasa at tremendous speed!

Boom!

Dust immediately engulfed the training ground!

Seisui narrowed his eyes, glanced at his slightly numb hands, then looked over the apologetic Hatake Sakumo.

That strike had been swung by him.

Seriously, were you a great swordsman from the One Piece world, or Ichigo Kurosaki?

Hatake Sakumo, did you wander onto the wrong set and get forcibly written out because of it?

Seisui grumbled inwardly. At that moment, he finally witnessed Hatake Sakumo's fighting style!

Kakashi sat frozen on the ground, looking at the still-composed Seisui. He finally understood the gap between them...

That had been Hatake Sakumo—his father's slash! Yet Seisui had actually blocked it!

That scene alone was enough to make him understand that they were simply not ninja on the same level.

From Target of Confrontation Kakashi Hatake: You have obtained Lightning Release Chakra Nature!

From Target of Confrontation Madara Uchiha: You have obtained Fire-nature Chakra Ninjutsu Mastery!

The reward Seisui wanted had arrived, but there was an extra one as well.

Seisui took a deep breath and helplessly swept his eyes around, but he could not spot anything unusual.

Seriously, why was there another old man spying on him?

That was enough already. Did he not understand the concept of personal space?!

So sleepy! I need some votes to comfort me, sob sob sob!

Also, let me explain Hatake Sakumo's time of death:

In the original manga, the reference comes from what Minato Namikaze and Obito said: "Kakashi's father died five years ago..."

That was during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge. Kakashi had just become a Jonin at twelve, while the databook gives thirteen years ago. From this, it can be inferred that Hatake Sakumo died when Kakashi was seven or eight.

As for the anime's reference, Obito comforted Kakashi after Kakashi visited Hatake Sakumo's grave. By then, Kakashi already had his forehead protector. (TV 636–637)

That does not provide an exact point in time, only that it was after graduation.

As for the rest, it is basically fanfiction's secondary setting...

I will also explain the timing of Kushina becoming a Jinchuriki in the relevant chapters later. It is based on the newest Minato story.

In short, Xiao Fan has studied the timeline. I'm not just making things up about Naruto, and I hope you distinguished readers will not worry too much about timeline issues.

Even Kishimoto himself has plenty of bugs with this stuff...

For instance, whether the Nine-Tails attack occurred in year 48 or year 51 comes from timelines given in two different databooks. There is a three-year conflict, yet logically, neither is necessarily wrong.

After all, it was fundamentally a manga that expanded from a short story into a long-running series. There will always be some plot holes. I hope you distinguished readers can understand.