Who Still Honestly Forms Hand Seals, Right, Kisame?

Yet no matter whether he faced Uchiha Itachi or the Orochimaru shown in the earlier video, even someone as powerful as Hatake Kakashi had appeared hard-pressed. Clearly, both of them were on a level far above Hatake Kakashi's—and not by just a little.

And Hatake Kakashi himself was already inferior to Uchiha Itachi. If he became Hatake Kakashi's student in the future, would he still have any chance of gaining power that surpassed Uchiha Itachi's?

At that moment, he was utterly pessimistic.

Perhaps there was a reason future Orochimaru had been so certain that he would seek him out for power.

Although he was an avenger who could even offer up his soul for revenge, as long as there was even the slightest alternative, he would never abandon himself—unless he had been driven into complete despair.

Just as Hatake Kakashi analyzed Uchiha Itachi's series of actions, Uchiha Itachi merely said lightly, "As expected of Hatake Kakashi. Your insight is truly extraordinary."

The moment he finished speaking, Uchiha Itachi's Shadow Clone had already appeared behind Hatake Kakashi and pierced straight through him with a shuriken.

"A Shadow Clone? His hand seals were way too fast!" Yuuhi Kurenai said in shock.

Fortunately, the Hatake Kakashi before them had also turned into a mass of water and vanished from where he stood.

"A Water Clone Technique? Hmph, the Copy Ninja really has learned every jutsu from our village."

Kisame Hoshigaki was likewise stunned by Hatake Kakashi's variety of jutsu and his speed at forming hand seals.

In the footage, Hatake Kakashi had hidden beneath the water's surface and passed a shuriken to Yuuhi Kurenai. But before Yuuhi Kurenai could launch an attack, Hatake Kakashi suddenly tackled her away.

"That's a Shadow Clone." Hatake Kakashi immediately saw through it. Even the Uchiha Itachi before them was merely a Shadow Clone.

The instant his words fell, Uchiha Itachi's Shadow Clone exploded, throwing up towering waves.

This string of exchanges, filled with schemes and counter-schemes, left the Uchiha Sasuke outside the footage stunned. It made him feel even more keenly just what exactly he had been learning at the Ninja Academy.

Compared to these real ninja—no, the very best among ninja—his strength was simply not worth mentioning.

Any one of the people in there possessed the power to kill him in an instant.

"Damn it... was my strength really this fragile?" Uchiha Sasuke clenched his fists. Was the strength of an Uchiha survivor like him truly so insignificant?

At this rate, when would he ever avenge his clan? When would he ever restore the Uchiha Clan's glory?

At that moment, a bullet comment from Kitahara Kaede drifted across the top of the video.

[I have to say, this early battle between Itachi and Hatake the 50/50 was still incredibly exciting. There were all sorts of schemes and counter-schemes, and at least they still honestly formed hand seals. It didn't make the big villain Kisame Hoshigaki look like some honest man.

Who still honestly forms hand seals, right, Kisame!

Unlike later on, when everyone started Piloting Gundam one after another and nobody formed hand seals anymore. Is this still a battle between ninja? Are they about to start cultivating immortality?]

Seeing the mockery in those words, Hatake Kakashi was somewhat speechless. Kitahara Kaede's taste for mischief was a little too strong. What did he mean by "honestly forming hand seals"? Wasn't forming hand seals to use jutsu basic common sense?

Had his teachers at the Ninja Academy never taught him that?

And what did he mean by Kisame being an honest man?

This was a notorious monster rumored to have assassinated Kirigakure's Mizukage and the Daimyo of the Land of Water. Hm? Why did that sound a little familiar? Why did it seem like someone else had done the same thing?

That was right—Zabuza, one of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen and the wielder of Kubikiribōchō.

It was said that he, too, had committed the unforgivable crime of attempting to assassinate Kirigakure's Mizukage before finally fleeing Kirigakure.

Thinking of Kirigakure's policy known as the Bloody Mist, who knew how many terrifying Killing Machines it had produced? If they treated ninja as less than human, then it was only a matter of time before those Killing Machines turned on them.

There were only seven members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in total, and every one of them was among Kirigakure's finest. Yet two of them had attempted to assassinate the Mizukage. One could easily imagine just how unpopular the Mizukage must have been.

His gaze returned to the footage, where he saw himself standing with his back to Uchiha Itachi as the sky filled with spray from the earlier Shadow Clone explosion.

"Don't let your guard down. He became an Anbu squad captain at the age of thirteen," Hatake Kakashi said cautiously as he turned around.

"I didn't expect him to be this strong," Sarutobi Asuma said in shock.

"No, this is only the tip of the iceberg," Hatake Kakashi said calmly.

He recalled the days when he had worked alongside Uchiha Itachi.

Hearing this, the Uchiha Sasuke outside the footage clenched his fists even tighter.

He had attended the Ninja Academy too, so he naturally knew that the Anbu was a gathering place for a ninja village's elites. At the very least, one had to be an Elite Chunin to qualify for entry.

And those were only ordinary Anbu members. As for someone who could become a squad captain among them, it was said they possessed strength comparable to a Tokubetsu Jonin—or even a Jonin.

In other words, Uchiha Itachi had possessed combat power on par with a Jonin at the age of thirteen. And what about him?

He was probably incapable of even dealing with the Chunin instructors at the academy right now.

In the footage, Uchiha Itachi said, "You are not a member of the Uchiha Clan, yet you have still brought the Sharingan to such a degree. However, your body is not one uniquely suited to the Uchiha Clan, so it cannot adapt to the Sharingan."

"Just as he said, using it for even a little while leaves me exhausted," Hatake Kakashi naturally understood this.

Even when he did not actively use the Sharingan, merely keeping it open consumed a tremendous amount of Chakra. Using it in battle was even worse; in no time at all, his Chakra reserves had already reached the danger line.

That was also why he had completely become a high-damage, high-speed assassin-type ninja.

If he could not finish his opponent in a short time, his opponent might finish him instead.

"Do you know why the Uchiha Clan is called the strongest and feared by all?" Uchiha Itachi closed his eyes and said, "Let me show you the true power of the Sharingan—the Kekkei Genkai."

When he opened his eyes again, both of them had completely transformed into Mangekyō Sharingan.

Of the three people facing him, only Hatake Kakashi realized what was happening and hurriedly shouted, "Could it be...? No, you two, don't look into his eyes!"

Hearing him, Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai obediently closed their eyes. They trusted Hatake Kakashi. If even Hatake Kakashi said so, then there really had to be a problem.