Reverse Peel

Uchiha Mai knocked aside Kakashi's slashing blade, leaned his torso slightly to the right as he passed by Kakashi, then swiftly turned and drove an elbow into the back of Kakashi's head.

"Thud!"

Kakashi had never expected Mai to possess such outstanding taijutsu and was caught completely off guard by the elbow.

The heavy blow to the back of his head made his brain shut down for an instant, slowing his reactions by a beat. He fell from the branch and pitched toward the ground ahead.

Snake—Goat—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger

Uchiha Mai's fingers flew through the hand seals. Just as Kakashi landed, he completed them, raised his left hand before his mouth, and spat out a fireball a meter in diameter.

Great Fireball Technique!

Blazing, scorching crimson flames surged toward Kakashi. The legendary Mercy Technique nearly broke its curse of never hitting an enemy.

At the critical moment, Kakashi sensed the heat wave coming from behind. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to focus, slammed his left fist against the ground, and rolled several times to the right like a donkey rolling over.

The Great Fireball grazed Kakashi's clothes and crashed into the ground. Sparks from the explosion splashed onto him, setting his clothing alight.

Damn it, he dodged that too?

Uchiha Mai had a complaint he could not voice. That elbow had definitely landed hard, and the blood currently flowing from the back of Kakashi's head was proof enough.

The brainstem, which controlled breathing and heartbeat, was located there. A heavy blow could cause unconsciousness at best and death at worst; it was as lethal as a strike to the temple.

Yet Kakashi acted as though nothing had happened. He really was an unkillable cockroach, with absurdly stubborn willpower.

But it did not matter. Kakashi's condition had definitely been affected, while Mai had only spent some chakra and was otherwise unharmed.

The advantage was his!

Uchiha Mai bent his knees slightly, launched himself into the air above Kakashi, and his not particularly large figure blocked out the sunlight. He raised his right leg high, gathered chakra, and brought it crashing down.

Outer Style: Bombing Axe.

Standing in the shadow, Kakashi forced himself to focus and raised his short sword to meet Mai's leg, attacking what his opponent had to defend.

Maybe you could kick me down, but that leg of yours would be finished.

Uchiha Mai's kick was incredibly fast. When he used Bombing Axe during his usual sparring sessions with Might Guy, even Guy sometimes failed to react in time despite opening the First Gate.

That Kakashi could still counterattack after taking a heavy blow to the head showed just how formidable he was.

Uchiha Mai had no choice but to retract his leg and abandon the killing blow, switching instead to other ordinary moves from Mai Style Ancient Martial Arts and raining punches and kicks upon Kakashi.

The roles of attacker and defender had reversed. Kakashi, who had originally been slightly stronger than Uchiha Mai, was now the one being suppressed.

He could only rely on the short sword in his hand, repeatedly forcing Mai to abandon his attacks by fighting wound for wound and dragging him into a battle of attrition.

Outside the forest, Namikaze Minato, who had been watching the movement within the woods, revealed a shocked expression. Uchiha Mai's rate of improvement was simply too fast.

During yesterday's test, Mai had knocked down three children at genin level in one minute. Outstanding as he was, Master Minato still had not believed Mai possessed the strength to fight Kakashi head-on.

At the very least, he would need to add Might Guy. Only with the two of them joining forces for a righteous beatdown could they fight Kakashi to a draw.

Yet now, Uchiha Mai was pressing Kakashi relentlessly.

Of course, this was partly because Uchiha Mai had first shown weakness to the enemy, numbing Kakashi's vigilance before catching him off guard with an elbow that left him dazed and weakened.

But who could blame Kakashi for being too naive and falling for Mai's trap because of his preconceived notions about the Uchiha?

Kakashi had graduated years ago, possessed abundant combat experience, and was quite clever. The only problem was that Uchiha Mai was too cunning, and his acting was too convincing.

Even setting aside Kakashi's weakened condition, Master Minato believed that if Mai and Kakashi fought head-on today, the odds would still be seventy-thirty.

Such enormous progress in a single night was truly hard to comprehend.

Within the forest, Kakashi was still struggling to hold on. His mouth beneath the mask heaved as he gasped for breath, never receiving even a moment's rest.

Every time Uchiha Mai was forced back, he would cling to Kakashi again like a disease eating into the bone, determined to take his opponent down with one smooth combo.

One misstep led to lifelong regret. Kakashi's disastrous start left him in increasingly worse condition; his mind grew more and more muddled, and he had nearly been killed several times.

I can't keep dragging this out!

Kakashi shook his head. He knew the gap between their conditions was only growing larger. Continuing like this would be extremely unfavorable, so he could only gamble on a dangerous move for that sliver of survival.

After driving Uchiha Mai back with another slash, Kakashi stepped forward to close the distance, heedless of whether he would expose an opening.

His wrist trembled at high speed as he swung the short sword, drawing brilliant arcs of light. Three phantom-like blade flashes formed a windmill and spiraled toward Uchiha Mai's chest.

Hatake Sword Technique: Secret Technique: Mikazuki Munechika!

It was said that before the Warring States Era, there had been three swordsmiths renowned throughout the land, one of whom was Sanjō Munechika.

Sanjō Munechika's masterpiece, the famed blade Mikazuki Munechika, was one of the Five Swords Under Heaven. It was considered the most beautiful among them and was praised as "the famed blade among famed blades."

The Hatake Sword Technique had been created for killing. Refined by generations of masters from the Hatake Clan, it had been distilled into five supreme sword techniques, each named after one of the Five Swords Under Heaven.

Mikazuki Munechika was the most beautiful of those five moves.

Unfortunately, Kakashi should have used that strike much sooner.

Uchiha Mai activated his Sharingan and swiftly lowered his body and center of gravity. Even as the short sword carved a bone-deep wound across his back, he remained unmoved.

Catching the opening Kakashi exposed, he drew chakra to strengthen the toughness of his five fingers and thrust an upward claw at Kakashi's throat.

Kakashi swiftly withdrew his sword and leaned his head back, evading the claw.

As though he had anticipated this, Uchiha Mai naturally changed the trajectory of his hand and reached for Kakashi's chest.

"Shk!"

His five fingers were like five sharp blades, tearing through skin and muscle as they plunged into Kakashi's chest. The first two joints of his index, middle, and ring fingers—the three longest fingers—sank completely into Kakashi's body.

For a brief, hazy instant, it seemed that Uchiha Mai only needed to move his fingers to touch Kakashi's ribs and the organs within his chest.

Uchiha Mai twisted his five fingers and exerted force in a strange manner. He yanked them out with a backhand motion, tearing away flesh and using the recoil to fling Kakashi away.

Mai Style Ancient Martial Arts: Outer Style: Reverse Peel!

"Pfft!"

Kakashi spat out a mouthful of blood and slammed heavily onto his back. Five bloody finger holes marred his chest, blood flowing incessantly like a faucet that would not shut off.

I can still fight.

Clinging to that obsession, Kakashi overcame the fog in his mind and the agonizing pain in his chest, wanting to continue the battle.

Before he could rise, Uchiha Mai descended from above and landed on top of Kakashi in a classic superhero pose. His hard knee crushed several more of Kakashi's ribs.

I'm done for.

The specific move names for the Hatake Sword Technique are my own secondary setting. You all understand, right?