**Your Opponent Is Me!**

"Damn it!"

The commotion around him made Sasuke's blood boil. Gritting his teeth, he tried to force himself back up and keep fighting. The Cursed Seal on his shoulder began to spread under the influence of his agitated emotions, showing faint signs of breaking through its seal.

Just then, Kakashi put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and shook his head.

Sasuke glared at him. "Kakashi!"

Kakashi silently shook his head again.

Looking at Sasuke, Kakashi saw a reflection of himself in those days. At eleven or twelve, he had been hailed as a genius, and he too had been willing to do anything to win.

The creation of Chidori had been a reflection of his personality back then.

His teacher, the Fourth Hokage, had seen at a glance the danger he might face using Chidori without a Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai to support it. Yet Kakashi had paid no heed and had still used Chidori without hesitation when he encountered an enemy.

As he gained more life experience, Kakashi gradually matured, and his fighting style shifted from the recklessness of a newcomer to a more cautious approach.

That was why his win rate was so high later on. Even when he faced Kage Level opponents, he could use all kinds of methods to hold them off instead of being defeated quickly.

But there were always exceptions!

If one of an enemy's abilities far surpassed expectations, being defeated in an instant was almost unavoidable. Even a seasoned veteran like Kakashi couldn't completely prevent it.

For example, in the original timeline, Kakashi had faced Itachi when he returned to the village and had been instantly defeated by Itachi's Mangekyo Dojutsu, Tsukuyomi.

The situation now was the same.

The Kusagakure ninja's Taijutsu had clearly exceeded Sasuke's expectations by far. Caught off guard, Sasuke's instant