That's Impossible

"I found you."

Beneath his mask, Kakashi's mouth curled slightly as he charged into the woods after Pakkun, kunai in hand.

Pakkun didn't have much combat strength, but his stamina and sense of smell were exceptional. His tracking ability was outstanding, making him one of a ninja's best companions.

Kakashi had barely entered the woods and hadn't yet resumed tracking Uchiha Mai when he sensed a wave of heat. He looked up—and saw a Great Fireball, more than a meter across.

This Uchiha Mai wasn't weak.

From that single Great Fireball, Kakashi could roughly gauge Mai's strength.

The Uchiha excelled at Fire Style, but even among them, ninja who could breathe out a Great Fireball over a meter in diameter at the age of eight were exceedingly rare.

Still, Mai was only not weak. A ninja who could only use techniques by rote couldn't be called a true powerhouse.

Kakashi dug in his heels, then sprang nimbly aside like a lively tabby cat, evading Uchiha Mai's ambush.

Even Pakkun, who had charged into the woods ahead of everyone else, rolled across the ground and dodged the Great Fireball.

The merciful flames swept past Kakashi and struck the ground, setting the weeds and fallen leaves alight as the sharp smell of sulfur filled the air.

Set fire to a mountain, and you'll spend your life behind bars.

Kakashi followed the Great Fireball's trajectory and looked up. His target, Uchiha Mai, stood on a towering tree, gazing down at him from above.

"You're too impatient."

Kakashi's eyes filled with disdain as he sneered. "The Great Fireball is indeed one of the most powerful C-rank techniques.

"But it has a fatal flaw: the fireball isn't particularly fast, so an opponent can easily dodge it. It poses no threat to a true expert.

"Besides, its fixed trajectory reveals the attacker's position.

"If it were me, I'd never use a technique that consumes so much chakra unless I knew my enemy was badly injured and their mobility greatly reduced."

You're the guy who holds Raikiri while chatting for two episodes and carves dog heads into your Earth Style Walls! You have no right to lecture me!

Leaving everything else aside, the Uchiha did have more chakra than ordinary ninja. Chakra was a combination of spiritual and physical energy, and the Uchiha's spiritual energy was especially strong.

As for the Hatake... compared with ordinary ninja, they didn't have any particular advantage in chakra reserves.

Uchiha Mai smiled slightly. Instead of turning and running off like before, he gazed down at Kakashi and said, "So what?

"The distance between us is about twenty meters. That's an insurmountable chasm, no matter how hard you try.

"Kakashi, can you break through the Uchiha's peerless Fire Style and weave a web of ninja tools to reach me?"

Beyond the forest, Namikaze Minato watched the commotion inside with a strange look in his eyes. The Uchiha's Fire Style and ninja tool throwing were indeed impressive, but when had Mai ever used either?

He's bluffing.

Uchiha Mai planned to exploit the ordinary person's preconceived notions about the Uchiha, letting Kakashi's guard down and making him overlook the threat of Mai's Taijutsu. Then Mai could launch a surprise attack and land a fatal blow.

How despicable.

Kakashi fell for it. Holding his short blade, he took a step forward and said contemptuously, "Piece of cake."

There wasn't a single true expert in the Ninja World who'd made a name for themselves by throwing ninja tools. That kind of thing was only good for picking on freshly graduated students.

Uchiha Mai pulled out four shuriken and flicked his wrist, sending them flying with a strange technique. They traced unpredictable paths through the air as they sped toward Kakashi.

Kakashi's expression remained cool. He ignored the incoming shuriken and charged at Uchiha Mai, short blade raised.

Only when the four shuriken were right in front of him did Kakashi calmly lift his hand and knock them away with his blade, strolling forward as if he were out for a walk.

People were always going to heaven in the end, and shuriken were always going to be thrown at the enemy.

Kakashi had trained in Hatake Style Kenjutsu for years and mastered Lightning Style. Using Lightning Release Chakra, he could further stimulate his cells and move faster than ordinary ninja.

A few thrown ninja tools were no threat at all.

No matter how fancy their flight paths were, all he had to do was wait until they were about to hit him, then knock them down with his blade. How hard could it be?

Uchiha Mai didn't panic. He bent his knees, sprang onto another tree behind him, pulled out more shuriken and kunai, and threw them at Kakashi in a flashy display, playing the part of a typical Uchiha.

Don't ask where he kept all those ninja tools. They were all hidden under his cloak or in his pockets. You know how it is with men—even pulling an electric scooter out of your pants pocket wouldn't be surprising.

"You can only rely on cheap tricks like these."

Kakashi pressed on with his blade, clanging away every ninja tool that came flying at him. When he couldn't knock one aside, he twisted his body to keep it away from his vitals.

Uchiha Mai ran, Kakashi chased, and the two kept at it for several minutes as the distance between them slowly narrowed.

As he ran, Uchiha Mai also kept track of how often he threw his ninja tools. With each passing moment, he threw fewer and fewer, creating the impression that he was out of tricks and had exhausted his supplies.

And that was indeed the case.

Mai's parents had both been Jonin. Aside from a house, scrolls of techniques, and some money, the only other things they'd left behind were a large number of high-quality ninja tools.

High-quality ninja tools could save a ninja's life in a pinch, so they tended to spend rather extravagantly on them. It was like fishing rods: no matter how many times you went home empty-handed, the moment you had money, you'd want to upgrade your gear.

"Clang!"

Kakashi knocked away the last shuriken and stepped right in front of Uchiha Mai, swinging his short blade at Mai's neck.

"You have nowhere left to run," he said.

Kakashi had gone for the neck earlier, too, but hadn't attacked Might Guy. Now he swung his blade without hesitation. The difference came down to whether his training opponent could still move.

As things stood, Uchiha Mai could still move, and Kakashi knew he'd dodge. At most, the slash would leave him badly wounded.

If Mai panicked and stood there without dodging, Kakashi wouldn't face any punishment for failing to stop his blade before killing him.

But Might Guy had already lost the ability to resist. If Kakashi had cut him down, the village would have severely punished him.

A brilliant flash of steel passed by. In the blade's brief gleam, Uchiha Mai could even see the reflection of his own crimson eyes.

"That's not necessarily true."

That's impossible!

At the critical moment, Uchiha Mai activated his One-Tomoe Sharingan and caught sight of the weakest point in Kakashi's slash.

He gripped a kunai in his left hand and quickly swept it up to meet the descending short blade.

"Clang!"

The weapons struck with a sharp ring. The kunai scraped along the short blade, sending out a dazzling shower of sparks. The force of the impact traveled back to Kakashi and left his wrist numb.

Kakashi was stunned. How was Uchiha Mai's strike barely any slower than mine?

I've trained in Hatake Style Kenjutsu for years, and I've been a loyal fan of this book ever since Icha Icha Paradise first came out over a year ago.

That's how I'd honed my hand speed to surpass everyone my age.

My dad's work trip was over, but the pandemic had shut down passenger transport, so I had to drive to neighboring KF City to pick him up. I only had time for one update today...