Kakashi

Hearing Hatake Kakashi's words, Hyuga Kazuya was truly speechless. He was shooting himself in the foot.

However, Hyuga Kazuya had set out early today fully prepared to spar with someone.

He had originally thought Teacher Minato would be testing his strength.

Now that Kakashi was the one testing his strength, it did not really matter.

Rather than getting beaten up, he would rather beat someone up.

"Hehe, you're too young. Wait another couple of years—you're no match for me." Although Hyuga Kazuya wanted to fight someone, he was not about to beat up a seven-year-old brat. So he tried to talk Kakashi out of it, hoping to dissuade him from challenging him.

"You're a Genin who only graduated at twelve. What right do you have to talk to me, a Chunin, like that?"

Kakashi said displeasedly. Although he had become somewhat withdrawn because of his father, he still had a few friends he kept in touch with.

Through information he got from Might Guy, Kakashi knew that Hyuga Kazuya had only graduated this year. Though he had heard that Kazuya had been exceptionally strong at graduation and had ranked first in his class, Kakashi himself was a genuine genius who had graduated at five and become a Chunin at six. Personally taught since childhood by a ninja as powerful as his father, he possessed absolute pride among his peers.

Scratching his head, Hyuga Kazuya did not get angry. After all, what Kakashi said was indeed true.

If this had been wartime and he and Kakashi were placed on the same team, Kakashi might even have been his squad captain. After all, he was only a Genin.

Still, bratty kids were really annoying—especially genius bratty kids. Those genius brats always used their own understanding to look at this complicated world.

Knowing he could not refuse, Hyuga Kazuya could only nod. "All right, then. When do you want to 'assess' whether I'm qualified to be your teammate?"

"Right now. Come in."

As Kakashi spoke, he led Hyuga Kazuya and Minato Namikaze into his family estate.

Watching the two make their decision without even discussing it with him, Minato Namikaze felt a headache coming on. Hyuga Kazuya was fine; he was a member of a great Clan, and though they had only just met, he had made a decent impression.

But Hatake Kakashi was different. Maybe that was just what geniuses were like. That was all Minato Namikaze could think.

He only hoped Hyuga Kazuya would not beat Kakashi too badly. The Third Hokage, his Grandmaster, had told him that Hyuga Kazuya was stronger than an ordinary Chunin—a genuine genius who possessed the Will of Fire.

The Hatake Clan estate covered a vast area, even larger than Hyuga Kazuya's home. Its front yard, back yard, pond, artificial hills—everything was there. The old-fashioned Japanese-style buildings were not much different from those of the Hyuga Clan.

Kakashi quickly led the two of them to the backyard.

Hearing that their young master was going to fight someone, the Hatake Clan's maids gradually gathered in small groups on the terrace in the backyard to cheer Kakashi on.

Even a distant relative of the Hatake Clan stood watching nearby—a stout middle-aged man dressed in luxurious yet simple clothes, without any superfluous jewelry but still exuding nobility.

These distant Hatake relatives were not ninja. They were wealthy merchants of the Land of Fire, so they understood a bit about fights between ninja and did not find them unusual. They were simply interested in this relative who had been called a genius since childhood.

On the grass in the backyard, Kakashi and Hyuga Kazuya instinctively stopped four or five meters apart.

They formed the Seal of Confrontation in turn.

"Begin!"

Seeing that both were ready, Minato Namikaze, acting as the temporary referee, could only immediately give the order to begin.

Kakashi instantly drew the short sword at his waist and prepared to attack Hyuga Kazuya.

Since they were both ninja rather than Ninja Academy students, they would not refrain from using metal blades in their spar as the academy did, putting safety first.

Besides, although Kakashi talked as if he looked down on Hyuga Kazuya, Kazuya had graduated first in his class and was several years older than him. How could Kakashi possibly underestimate his opponent?

But what Kakashi had not expected was—

Hyuga Kazuya was even faster. The moment Kakashi started to draw his short sword, Hyuga Kazuya, relying on the buff he had quietly applied, appeared before him in an instant. He grabbed Kakashi's hand and forced the short sword back into its sheath.

Even Minato Namikaze, watching from the side, could not help but take notice of Hyuga Kazuya's speed. The Hatake Clan maids and distant relatives watching the fight opened their mouths wide, staring at the battle in disbelief.

"That was way too fast!"

Seeing Hyuga Kazuya appear before him with such terrifying speed, Kakashi reflexively swung his left hand at Hyuga Kazuya's face.

But Hyuga Kazuya seemed to have expected it. He slightly tilted his head, evading the attack, then punched Kakashi directly in the abdomen. The immense force of the punch and the penetrating power of Gentle Fist chakra sent Kakashi flying several meters away.

While airborne, Kakashi immediately drew his short sword. The combat instincts he had cultivated since childhood allowed him to swiftly stabilize himself in midair and land on both feet.

Kakashi gathered chakra from throughout his body and poured it into his short sword.

The Hatake Clan's strength lay entirely in their blades, so a Hatake ninja wielding swordsmanship was completely different from one in a normal state!

Hatake Style Swordsmanship—Iaido.

Once Kakashi unleashed Hatake Style Swordsmanship, his entire bearing changed. Even the short sword in his hand crackled with violet lightning, and his speed increased enormously.

Like lightning, he instantly rushed before Hyuga Kazuya. With an unstoppable momentum, the short sword glowing with dim violet electricity slashed toward Hyuga Kazuya with a Breaking Wind Sound.

Bang!

The short sword struck Hyuga Kazuya, and a cloud of white smoke burst forth.

Looking at the wood his short sword had split apart, Kakashi was shocked. A Substitution Technique?

He instantly recalled that he had been unable to see Hyuga Kazuya while he was being sent flying earlier. Had Kazuya used it then? Where was Hyuga Kazuya now?

Before Kakashi could react, a gentle voice came from behind him.

"Eight Trigrams—Sixty-Four Palms."

Kakashi then felt the acupoints all over his body suffer fierce strikes. His entire body stiffened, and the flow of chakra through it slowed.

It's over. That was Kakashi's final thought before he lost consciousness.