Kakashi, Want to Learn Chidori?

"Don't lose."

That was what Kakashi said just before Akiyama Shun stepped into the arena.

Akiyama Shun turned to him, giving him a baffled look. "Are you going to lose to a piece of bread?"

Kakashi didn't answer. He simply lowered his head.

As soon as Akiyama Shun entered the arena, the entire crowd erupted into cheers.

There was no helping it. Akiyama Shun's performance over the past two days had been far too dazzling. He'd tied with Kakashi for first place in the written exam and cleared the Forest of Death in a single day.

Either achievement would have been impressive on its own. Now the same person had accomplished both!

Once in the arena, Akiyama Shun calmly summoned the White Fang Blade. Unlike Akiyama Shun, Shoumon Tetsu, his opponent, was already feeling immense pressure.

Soon, both of them were ready, and the battle began!

The moment the fight started, Shoumon Tetsu immediately hurled several shuriken at Akiyama Shun.

Faced with shuriken thrown with absolutely no skill, Akiyama Shun couldn't even be bothered to knock them back with his own.

He raised the White Fang Blade and carefully watched the shuriken's trajectories. Then the sound of slicing air rang out around him, and the blade in his hand moved so quickly that only afterimages could be seen.

When the afterimages faded, the shuriken had fallen to the ground.

Before Shoumon Tetsu could react and prepare another attack, Akiyama Shun had already used the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside him. The White Fang Blade in his hand came slashing down!

Shoumon Tetsu wasn't weak. He reacted quickly and tried to dodge sideways, but Akiyama Shun suddenly pulled back his slash and followed with a side kick to Shoumon Tetsu's abdomen. The powerful impact sent him flying backward!

"Bang!"

Shoumon Tetsu slammed into the wall, leaving a spiderweb of cracks, then fell to the ground.

Lying there, Shoumon Tetsu spat out a large mouthful of blood. But he still hadn't given up. He tried to brace himself against the ground and force himself to his feet.

However, Akiyama Shun was already standing before him again. His shadow fell over Shoumon Tetsu, and just looking into Akiyama Shun's calm eyes filled him with overwhelming fear.

"I give up!"

Before Akiyama Shun could raise his blade, Shoumon Tetsu surrendered, ending the completely one-sided match.

The whole fight had taken less than half a minute. Most of that time had been spent on Akiyama Shun's slash that knocked away the shuriken.

Even so, it was the fastest victory so far!

"He's too strong..."

"So this is Akiyama Shun?"

"Thank goodness I didn't draw that guy in the preliminaries. Heh, as long as I put on a good showing in the finals, I can still become a Chunin."

"Do you really think you'd get the chance to show off if you drew that guy?"

"..."

The spectators' seats buzzed with discussion.

"Is that the White Fang Sword Technique?"

The Third Kazekage watched Akiyama Shun's retreating figure, her eyes narrowing.

Wasn't the White Fang Sword Technique something that brat named Kakashi knew?

How did Akiyama Shun know it too? Was he a student of the White Fang of Konoha?

"That's right. It's the White Fang of Konoha's sword technique. I didn't expect Akiyama Shun to have mastered it so well already."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded with a chuckle.

"Ha ha, no wonder those two finished so quickly in the Forest of Death. A bunch of brats can't handle two users of the White Fang Sword Technique."

The Third Kazekage said nothing more.

It didn't matter. She could let the old codger Sarutobi Hiruzen gloat for a little while longer. When it was her turn to fight, she'd see if he was still smiling!

Akiyama Shun returned to the spectators' seats.

Kakashi opened his eyes and glanced at Akiyama Shun. He didn't say anything, only lowered his head again and continued acting aloof.

Soon, it was Kakashi's turn to fight.

"Next match: Hatake Kakashi versus Sunamaru!"

Just like Akiyama Shun's match, it was Konoha versus Sunagakure.

As soon as he entered the arena, Kakashi drew the White Fang Blade. He didn't want to give his opponent any chance to fight back.

The moment the battle began, Kakashi charged forward. He'd planned to end the fight with one slash and beat Akiyama Shun's record.

But things didn't go as Kakashi had expected. Since Akiyama Shun had used the White Fang Sword Technique earlier, everyone had figured out that it was a style built around high-speed combat.

So Sunamaru had started avoiding a direct fight from the very beginning.

He kept dodging and used long-range Earth Release techniques to keep Kakashi at a distance, occasionally throwing a couple of Kunai at him just to be annoying.

After dodging yet another Kunai, Kakashi finally couldn't take it anymore.

He unleashed a Great Dragon Fire, decisively ending the fight.

The match took 40 seconds in the end.

Ten seconds longer than Akiyama Shun's.

Akiyama Shun didn't hear any familiar names in the matches that followed, and none of the fights were particularly exciting, so he stopped paying attention.

Then, just before the final match, a familiar name reached Akiyama Shun's ears, making him open his eyes.

"Next match: Karura versus Tobitake Akito!"

Karura!

The very foundation of Mother Susanoo, and Gaara's most loving mother.

Akiyama Shun had no idea why she was still a Genin. Her strength was so far beyond the other Genin that it was practically a different dimension.

With her precise control of sand and absolute defense, Tobitake Akito had no chance to fight back and was defeated.

Akiyama Shun watched the entire match, and even Kakashi saw it through to the end.

As soon as Karura's match was over, they immediately held the drawing for the finals a month later.

Akiyama Shun had assumed he'd draw Karura. But in fact, the one who drew her was...

Kakashi.

Kakashi looked very serious. To him, Karura was the other major threat besides Akiyama Shun.

She deserved to be taken seriously!

The next month was their preparation time for the finals.

For the first twenty-odd days, Kakashi went out to train as soon as the sun rose.

Akiyama Shun didn't see Kakashi at all during those twenty-odd days, even though they'd been assigned to the same room.

It wasn't until the week before the finals that Akiyama Shun saw Kakashi return from training one night, utterly exhausted. He chuckled and asked, "Have you figured out how to deal with absolute defense?"

Kakashi hesitated before answering, "I have. It'll just be troublesome."

Looking at Kakashi, Akiyama Shun suddenly had an intriguing idea.

In the original story, Kakashi taught Sasuke Chidori to counter Gaara's absolute defense.

Since Kakashi didn't know Chidori yet, why not teach him now, so he could use it against Gaara's mom?

Then, when Kakashi taught Sasuke how to fight Gaara in the future, wouldn't that count as passing it down?

As for how difficult it would be to teach, Akiyama Shun wasn't concerned at all.

For one thing, Kakashi had plenty of talent. For another, after Chidori had put him through the wringer that time, Kakashi had trained even more relentlessly. His physical fitness, reflexes, and everything else were already perfectly suited to using Chidori. Now, all he needed was one final push.

"Kakashi, want to learn Chidori?"