The two stood facing each other on the training field.
"Shinichi, do your best!"
Ishizuka Takashi's booming voice was the first to break the silence.
"Go, Shinichi!"
"Show him what we've got!"
"Do your best!"
With Takashi's lead, the whole of Class 2 began cheering Shinichi on. It was clear he was well liked by his classmates.
Faced with the sudden wave of support from Class 2, Class 1 fell silent for a moment. Then, as if roused by a shared sense of solidarity, they began shouting too:
"Kakashi, beat him!"
"Show them what a genius can do!"
"Do your best!"
Though Kakashi was cool and distant, and rarely had anyone to play with, his talent far surpassed that of his peers, his calm and mature air, and his reputation as a "future Hokage"
had earned him quite a following among his strength-worshipping classmates.
Among them, a girl with short brown hair and two purple markings on her face cheered especially loudly.
"Do your best, Kakashi!"
Rin Nohara cupped her hands around her mouth. Her small face flushed with excitement, her bright eyes fixed on the silver-haired boy in the field.
"Hmph!" Seeing this, Obito Uchiha raised his voice too. "Hey, you! The guy from the other class! Give it everything you've got! Make sure you flatten that arrogant Kakashi!"
"First practical combat assessment: Higashino Shinichi versus Hatake Kakashi. Both, assume the Seal of Confrontation!"
In the field, Shinichi and Kakashi raised their right hands at the same time and held them upright before their chests, completing the brief opening ritual.
The difference was that Shinichi's gaze remained steadily fixed on his opponent, while Kakashi's stayed calm—almost casual.
"Then, please go easy on me, Kakashi."
The instant he finished speaking, Shinichi sprang forward like a tiger that had been gathering strength for a long time. He tore through the air with a howl that set teeth on edge, covering several yards in a flash and pouncing on Kakashi!
So fast!
Kakashi's pupils contracted sharply. The casual look vanished from his face, but there was no time to dodge. He could only cross his arms in front of him in a flash.
"Wham!" Their fists and legs collided with a muffled thud. Kakashi felt as if a sledgehammer had smashed into his arms. They went numb, and it seemed his bones might crack from the impact.
His body was sent staggering backward against his will. He slid more than thirty feet before he finally managed to dig in his heels and steady himself.
The dust had barely settled when another gust of wind rushed toward him!
Kakashi had only just managed to regain his footing when the next attack came.
A dark figure appeared before him. Its right leg was straight as a steel whip, sweeping toward him with immense force.
The kick tore through the air like a giant axe crashing down. The gust it raised even swept the white hair from Kakashi's forehead backward.
"Was that Konoha Wind Splitter?" Ishizuka Takashi gaped from the sidelines. He knew that move all too well—it was a Strong Fist Style Taijutsu technique Teacher Chen had taught him.
He couldn't believe Shinichi had picked it up from their few sparring matches.
In the field, Kakashi's expression changed. But he was a true genius, after all. He had been trained by the White Fang of Konoha since childhood and possessed excellent combat instincts.
At the critical moment,
his incredible flexibility and reflexes let him roll sharply to the side and backward.
As he rolled, he planted a hand on the ground. Chakra surged in an instant, and with that point of support, his body sprang up like a compressed coil. His right leg traced a sharp arc as he kicked straight at Shinichi's chin!
But Shinichi seemed to have predicted the counterattack. He shifted lightly and precisely to the left, letting the dangerous high kick skim past the tip of his nose.
At the same time, he formed his left hand into a palm, tensed the base of his fingers like tempered iron, and swept it upward at Kakashi's chin with a whistling rush of force.
"Thud!"
The dull sound of a solid hit rang out. Kakashi's vision went black, a shower of stars bursting across his sight. The violent shock left his mind blank for a moment, and his body toppled backward, completely out of control.
Shinichi gave him no chance to catch his breath. The moment Kakashi lost his balance, Shinichi drove a powerful kick into his stomach!
Like a sandbag struck by a speeding vehicle, Kakashi curled up and shot backward even faster than before, slamming into the trunk of a large tree at the edge of the training field.
The thick trunk shuddered violently, and dry leaves pattered down over him.
"Cough!"
Kakashi slid to the ground, doubled over and clutching his aching stomach as he coughed violently. His mind had only just begun to clear.
Gritting his teeth, he braced a hand against the ground and tried to get up and fight again. Then a cold touch quietly pressed against his neck.
At some point, Shinichi had closed in again like a phantom. A kunai was held against Kakashi's throat.
He had lost!
The entire training field fell into deathly silence.
The cheering, the chatter, even the wind seemed to have been abruptly cut off by an invisible hand.
The students of both Class 1 and Class 2, along with the two teachers, stared wide-eyed at the unbelievable scene before them.
Even students from other classes and grades, training for their own practical assessments in the distance, had noticed what happened.
The super-genius Hatake Kakashi, who bore the celebrated reputation of a "future Hokage" and shone like a dazzling star,
had been overwhelmingly defeated in this direct confrontation.
The sunlight remained blazing, yet it could not dispel the shock and bewilderment hanging over the field, almost thick enough to touch.
How was this possible?!
The question erupted in nearly everyone's mind. They stared at Higashino Shinichi, a commoner orphan with no illustrious family and no inherited Kekkei Genkai. He was even said to have mastered only the most basic Three-Body Technique.
He had excellent grades and was a model student, but at the Ninja Academy, that was about as ordinary as it got.
What they didn't know was that Shinichi had an advantage all his own.
It was the power of Traits, gained through the carefully built persona he had maintained for years.
[Robust], [Swordsmanship Apprentice], [Tenacious]... These white Traits weren't just for show. They steadily and tangibly improved and strengthened his physical abilities.
The [Robust] Trait in particular had already revealed its value when he worked as an apprentice at a blacksmith's shop. He had discovered that his raw strength surpassed that of many grown blacksmiths, and blacksmithing was a profession renowned for requiring great strength.
When the white [Robust] Trait underwent a qualitative change into the green [Natural Strength] Trait, Shinichi's strength had exploded, increasing several times over.
Kakashi was indeed a once-in-a-century genius, but he faced one objective limitation he could not overcome—his age.
He was only five. No matter how extraordinary his talent, his body's development, bone strength, and muscles' capacity all had physiological limits.
Without the aid of Chakra, his strength had always been far inferior to Shinichi's.
After years of training stacked on top of the Trait system, Shinichi had developed a monstrous physique far beyond what was normal for someone his age.
His strength and physical conditioning were simply on a different level from those of his peers.
More importantly, there was the matter of mindset and preparation.
Kakashi might not have underestimated Shinichi, but after remaining unmatched among his peers for so long, he had naturally grown accustomed to taking things in stride.
He might have expected that Shinichi, the boy he'd first seen carrying a boulder to school, had some strength or knew a few unusual Taijutsu moves.
But he had never imagined Shinichi would be this strong—far beyond anything he could have pictured. That first blow had crashed down like a landslide and a tsunami, exceeding the limits of what his strength could withstand.
As for Shinichi, he had been planning for this moment for five years!
"Have you heard? Lord White Fang's child was born..."
"I have. I think the baby's name is... Kakashi?"
No one knew that five years ago, outside the orphanage in the west of the village, a child just one year old had sat on the steps, staring blankly at the sky. When he heard passersby chatting, something in his eyes seemed to ignite.
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