Kakashi the Benchmark

"Listen, my name is Might Guy, and I am a Taijutsu ninja who will definitely surpass Kakashi in the future."

Shisui sheathed his Ninja Blade and was about to leave, but turned his head at these words, taking a careful look at the boy with the bowl cut.

The name Kakashi was all too familiar; when Guo Wang was teaching him, he had mentioned that this was one of only two geniuses in Konoha whose talent could be compared to his own. He was also the target that Shisui needed to surpass at his current stage.

To avoid the Mangekyo consuming his life force, Guo Wang had forbidden Shisui from using Susanoo and Kotoamatsukami until he could defeat Kakashi.

Guy had just witnessed the sparring match between Guo Wang and his disciple. Whether it was the old man's breathtaking Taijutsu and swordsmanship, or the young boy's terrifying talent in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu for his age, it all left the dull-witted boy feeling unwilling to accept his own inadequacy. The reason he shouted his name was not only due to his naturally competitive personality but also because of the resilient will he had always upheld.

He would not complain about why he lacked talent or why he didn't have a powerful teacher like Guo Wang to guide him. He would only persevere until he surpassed the mysterious Anbu boy before him and Kakashi.

"Shisui."

Just as Guy was punching the ground in frustration, a voice drifted over.

He looked up and saw the boy with the Three Tomoe in his eyes pick up the fox mask with a crack in it and place it back over his face.

"My name is Shisui Uchiha. Kakashi is also a target I need to surpass at this stage. If you are willing, I will come an hour early every evening."

As for why he would come early, Shisui did not elaborate. He assumed Guy would understand the subtext, but clearly, he had overestimated the emotional intelligence of this father-son pair.

"Oh, Guy, you've been acknowledged by a peer again."

After Shisui left, the father and son hugged and wept bitterly.

"Yes, I will work even harder from now on. I'll wake up an hour earlier and do five hundred push-ups."

The next day.

Kakashi, who knew nothing of this, was improving himself at another training ground.

Since returning from the battlefield, every time he closed his eyes, he dreamed of the scene where he pierced his teammate's heart, forcing him to reduce his sleep time every day to hone his Ninjutsu.

This training ground, surrounded by a bamboo forest, was where his father often brought him for sparring when he was a child. The many thick, sturdy bamboo stalks were the best tools for training the sharpness of a Ninja Blade.

Although the Ninja Blade inherited from White Fang had broken during the Shinobi World War, he was accustomed to coming here every day.

He reached behind his back, subconsciously wanting to draw his sword, but his hand grasped empty air.

He thought of that Iwagakure ninja who could turn invisible. Although his partner Obito had died at that man's hands, he was undoubtedly a respectable opponent.

Should he go to a ninja tool shop to have a new one custom-made, or give up swordsmanship entirely?

His left eye began to ache faintly. Kakashi did not want to forget Obito. He decided to give up swordsmanship from now on and fight using the Sharingan instead, using this act to commemorate his deceased best friend.

Clang!

Suddenly, the sound of a blade leaving its sheath rang in his ears, and a familiar standard-issue Ninja Blade pierced straight into a bamboo stalk three fingers wide.

"This was used by Sakumo when he was training under me. I thought you might need a new weapon."

An old man draped in a black coat walked over slowly. Upon seeing him, Kakashi showed a look of respect.

"Greetings, Elder Danzo."

"Your father was my most perfect work."

Walking up to Kakashi and looking at the face that was almost indistinguishable from his eldest disciple, Guo Wang couldn't help but sigh.

"What are your thoughts regarding your father?"

Guo Wang, who loved to play the teacher, naturally wasn't thinking of poaching him or bringing Kakashi into his own sect. Rather, while teaching Shisui, he had been moved by the scene, recalling his youth when he had dueled a young Hatake Sakumo with blades, carving him stroke by stroke until he was finally molded into a perfect machine.

"I used to think my father was a disgrace, but now I think he was a hero."

Even knowing this answer would not satisfy the leader of Root before him, Kakashi still spoke it out.

After Obito died, he believed that the lives of his comrades were what mattered most.

"Is that so? It seems you have no intention of becoming the second White Fang."

The blade of the White Fang was a killing blade without emotion, without mercy, and without hesitation.

It was precisely the emergence of the White Fang that allowed Root to gain the right to train Anbu; Senju Tobirama believed that Konoha needed more killing blades. It was just a pity that more than twenty years had passed, and Root had never produced a second White Fang.

"I will not become the White Fang, but I will become the second Hatake Sakumo."

These profound words made Guo Wang pause for a moment. He looked at the Sharingan in his left eye that he couldn't close and shook his head with great regret.

"Your father surpassed me in swordsmanship. Without that eye, you could have achieved even greater heights."

Only Guo Wang, who had transplanted them, knew how heavy the burden of the Sharingan was. Kakashi was still young and in a stage of rising vitality, so he didn't feel much fatigue yet. Once his body fully matured, he would see just how ruthlessly the Mangekyo squeezed his Chakra.

If not for being in close contact, Guo Wang would not have dared to believe that this Sharingan of Kakashi's actually contained the Dojutsu Power of a Mangekyo.

If it were only a Three Tomoe, Kakashi's talent should have been able to master it perfectly.

But if it were a Mangekyo...

Guo Wang had only been able to control a pair of complete Mangekyo by using the Dual Cultivation Technique to harvest life energy, and by having Kyōka Suigetsu constantly transform his body into an Uzumaki Sage Body.

"This is the last thing Obito left me. I hope to use it to watch over this world."

That way, I can feel that he hasn't died, that he is always in my eyes.

Kakashi didn't say the second half of the sentence, because Guo Wang had already turned and left the training ground.

"Namikaze Minato proposed that you join the Anbu, and the Hokage has agreed. Report to Root starting tomorrow."

Every Anbu needs to pass through Root, and only after being tested and tempered in both mind and body can they become a true Anbu. This is also the greatest source of Guo Wang's power, for this is a position bestowed upon him by Senju Tobirama, and even the Hokage has no authority to remove him.

Guo Wang, who was just walking out of the training ground, suddenly frowned and turned his head to look at the person approaching.

"Ah, what a coincidence, Lord Danzo."

The newcomer had silver hair, handsome features, and pale skin, yet his lips were unexpectedly crimson. His entire being exuded the same scent of preservatives as Orochimaru. This was a reagent specifically used for soaking corpses and conducting human experiments.

"I heard about Kakashi's situation. The death of a comrade must have made him very sad, so I came over to comfort him."

Guo Wang nodded, accepting this reason as credible for now.

In his heart, however, he was thinking that he should have Gui look into his background later. He seemed to be a Jonin from the same period as Orochimaru; what was his name again?