Kakashi looked at Yao.
He couldn't help recalling what had happened yesterday, when the Third Hokage had summoned him alone to the Hokage Office.
"...Yao may have mastered the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique. Kakashi, keep a close eye on him!"
Even Kakashi, usually so composed, had been rocked by the news.
Flying Thunder God?
A signature technique belonging to his teacher, Minato, the Fourth Hokage?
That was exactly why
Kakashi had quickly taken down Naruto and Sasuke, creating an opportunity to face Yao alone.
He wanted to force the boy to reveal the secret he'd hidden deep inside!
"As expected of you, Kakashi-sensei. Looks like I'll have to get serious, too!"
Yao's smile remained gentle, but his gaze sharpened.
The next moment,
Yao formed hand seals at lightning speed, his hands blurring before his chest. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
His hand seals were astonishingly fast!
The instant he finished speaking,
a massive, scorching fireball roared toward Kakashi like a miniature sun.
The heat washed over them, scorching the plants in the distance.
"What?!"
Kakashi's heart jolted.
Those hand seals were incredibly fast!
Far beyond an ordinary Chunin—almost at Jōnin level!
And
that Great Fireball was far too large and powerful, wasn't it?
Was this really a technique a newly graduated Genin could use?
Kakashi didn't dare take it lightly. He leaped back and dodged repeatedly.
But Yao's attacks poured out relentlessly, like water spilling across the ground.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
One Fire Release technique after another came pouring out.
In that moment, the scorching flames seemed to come alive.
They sealed off and pursued Kakashi from every direction and in every form, covering every possible escape route.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out without pause. Flames surged into the sky as thick smoke billowed everywhere.
The once-level ground was blown full of craters, and the surrounding trees caught fire, crackling as they burned.
Kakashi raced through the sea of flames, dodging as he went. His Sharingan was already active, tracking and analyzing every movement Yao made and every shift in his chakra.
"Those hand seals...and he knows so many Fire Release techniques... He's a monster!"
"And every technique is far more powerful than normal!"
"Most importantly...that enormous amount of chakra!"
"He's used so many C- and B-rank Fire Release techniques in succession, but his chakra shows no sign of running dry?"
"Is this really a Genin who just graduated from the Ninja Academy?"
Kakashi felt as if everything he knew about the world had been turned upside down.
He himself had become a Jōnin at twelve, but even so...he was nowhere near as freakish as Uchiha Yao!
"It's not over yet, Kakashi-sensei!" Yao's voice rang out.
He formed hand seals again, this time with a more complex sequence, and gathered an even more terrifying amount of chakra.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!" Yao shouted.
A huge, ferocious dragon made entirely of blazing fire tore through the smoke and lunged at Kakashi.
The Great Dragon Fire Technique's power was already approaching that of an A-rank jutsu!
Faced with an attack he couldn't dodge, Kakashi's pupils contracted. He could no longer rely on taijutsu alone to keep the fight going.
Kakashi brought his hands together sharply. "Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A massive earthen wall carved with dog faces burst from the ground, rising directly in front of the flaming dragon.
BOOOOM!!!
The explosion echoed across the training ground. Earth and stone flew everywhere as smoke filled the air.
The Earth Flow Wall shuddered violently under the Great Dragon Fire Technique's impact. Cracks spread across it, but in the end, it barely managed to stop the attack.
The smoke slowly cleared.
Kakashi stood behind the battered Earth Flow Wall, breathing slightly harder as he stared at the black-haired boy amid the dying flames.
Was this Uchiha Yao really just a twelve-year-old kid?
His hand-seal speed, the power of his jutsu, his chakra reserves...
They had reached a level that was simply inconceivable!
Standing amid the embers, Yao looked at Kakashi, who seemed a little worse for wear, and gave him a teasing smile.
"Kakashi-sensei, you took down Naruto and Sasuke to create an opportunity to face me alone and test what I'm capable of, didn't you?"
"Dodging and defending won't be enough. If you don't show me something real, you won't learn much."
"..."
Kakashi fell silent for a moment, then showed a genuine glimmer of interest.
"You're a clever and troublesome kid... Looks like I'd better take this seriously, or people will start underestimating me."
Kakashi closed Make-Out Paradise and put it back in his ninja pouch. His aura turned suddenly lethal.
"Then, as you wish!"
Before the words had even left his mouth, Kakashi's hands were already a blur. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
A vast torrent of water surged from nowhere and formed a fierce dragon's head, charging at Yao with unstoppable force.
"Bring it on! Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Yao didn't back down. Another blazing dragon soared into the air and collided head-on with the icy water dragon.
BOOM!!!
A piercing explosion rang out, and a thick cloud of white mist instantly spread, blinding everyone.
"Got you!"
Kakashi's voice rang out through the mist like a ghost. "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"
The ground beneath Yao's feet instantly softened. Two arms made of earth burst out, grabbing for his ankles.
Using the water vapor to obscure their vision, Kakashi had slipped beneath Yao and launched a deadly surprise attack.
"Poof!"
With a soft sound, the captured Yao turned into a log.
"Above!"
Kakashi reacted instantly, his Sharingan snapping toward the sky.
Yao had appeared on the branch of a large tree at some point, his hands already forming seals.
"Too slow!"
Kakashi barked, accelerating to his limit. He caught up in an instant and appeared behind Yao, his kunai flashing as it stabbed toward the boy's back.
THUD!
The kunai sank into Yao's body, but the sensation was wrong.
Kakashi's pupils contracted. The moment the kunai struck him, Yao burst into a cloud of white smoke.
A Shadow Clone?!
Kakashi was shaken to the core.
How was that possible? From that barrage of Fire Release attacks, to the Substitution Technique, and now this Shadow Clone...
When had he formed the seals?
How had Kakashi failed to notice even the slightest abnormality in the flow of Yao's chakra?
Kakashi had kept his Sharingan active the whole time and was confident he could see through any clone.
But Yao's Shadow Clone was astonishingly convincing, both in the density of its chakra
and in the independence of its actions!
Had he been fighting a Shadow Clone ever since the clash of Fire Release techniques? That was absurd!
Just then,
the thick steam behind him churned, and Yao suddenly appeared.
His hand seals were complete, his chakra gathered to its peak, and the temperature around them rose sharply.
Yao spoke, calm and composed, with a hint of triumph:
"I've got you, Kakashi-sensei! Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
ROAR!!!
A raging torrent of scorching flames burst forth. The fiery wave split into upper, middle, and lower streams, swallowing every one of Kakashi's escape routes.
The terrifying blaze instantly evaporated the lingering water vapor, and waves of scorching heat swept across the training ground.
Even Naruto, who was tied up in the distance, and Sasuke, who had just woken up, felt a suffocating, searing pain.
Sasuke stared at the towering sea of flames, shock filling his eyes.
"Fire Release with this kind of power... How is that possible..."
Sasuke had grown up with Yao, and they had often trained together.
He'd thought he knew Yao's strength very well.
But this one Fire Release technique had completely exceeded his expectations!
Yao landed on the ground, neither flushed nor out of breath, still looking relaxed.
Using advanced Fire Release techniques one after another was a considerable strain on his chakra.
But the chakra reserves granted by his Sage Body were simply terrifying.
Those few jutsu had barely made a dent in Yao's reserves.
Being able to unleash jutsu so freely felt pretty great.
"Did I get him? No... My opponent is Kakashi the Copy Ninja. It can't be that simple."
Sure enough,
Kakashi's voice came from within the flames, still lazy but tinged with admiration.
"That was some incredible Fire Release. You almost roasted me!"
"Lightning Release: Tiger Vision Barrage!"
A shrill screech rang out!
A dazzling bolt of lightning, shaped like a tiger, tore through the flames.
The raging lightning chakra scattered the flames completely.
Kakashi reappeared.
Before you continue