I Have No Idea What to Title This

Sparring with a genius like Hatake Kakashi meant giving it everything you had, especially when his teacher was Namikaze Minato.

Kakashi crossed his hands, pressing his index and middle fingers together.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

Two shadow clones appeared at once, closing in from either side.

Kakashi's real body gripped the White Fang and lightly tapped his feet against the ground as he charged straight down the middle.

Byakuya tilted his Ninja Sword. Moonlight fell across the Shuten-dōji Mask, making it look all the more eerie. "Too slow."

Having seen Pakura of Sunagakure's speed, Byakuya could tell that Hatake Kakashi was much slower.

He leaped down from the tree trunk.

Storm Release: Body Flicker Technique.

A faint blue-white ripple remained where he had stood, like the ripples stirred across a lake by a gentle breeze.

In an instant, he avoided the Kakashi clones' pincer attack and appeared beside Kakashi's real body. He lowered his center of gravity as if taking a firm stance, needing no adjustment to keep his balance. Then he unleashed a powerful slash. Storm Release chakra coursed along the blade, as if it were wrapped in lightning.

Kakashi didn't even have time to dodge, let alone look shocked.

Too fast! Far too fast.

He knew it was the Body Flicker Technique, but that technique only used a burst of chakra to accelerate. No matter how fast it was, it couldn't reach the point of teleportation.

Was this man using the Body Flicker Technique?

Or was it a short-range Space-Time Ninjutsu, like the Flying Thunder God Technique that Minato-sensei specialized in?

Kakashi knew he couldn't dodge or counter in time. All he could do was let the Ninja Sword whistle through the air toward his shoulder.

Byakuya didn't hold back. The Ninja Sword struck Kakashi, but there was no spray of flesh and blood. This, too, was one of Kakashi's shadow clones, meant to set a trap and lure him into leaving an opening.

At the same moment, the other two shadow clones reached Byakuya's sides, their short blades, called the White Fang, stabbing toward his vital points.

"Caught you."

Two hands suddenly shot up from beneath Byakuya's feet and clamped tightly around his ankles.

Kakashi let out a breath of relief. A head emerged from the ground. "After losing to you last time, I kept thinking about how to beat you. After turning it over in my mind, I figured this might be the only thing that would work."

Byakuya impassively formed hand seals. He only needed two.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall."

He opened his mouth and spewed out a tremendous volume of water. It spun around him in a circle, protecting him from every angle.

The raging current, laced with lightning, not only swept away and pierced through the two shadow clones, but also frightened Kakashi into letting go of Byakuya's ankles and retreating with Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage.

A stream of water crackling with lightning had condensed into an arrow and was aimed at the head Kakashi had left exposed aboveground.

Hatake Kakashi emerged from behind a large tree, gasping for breath.

The mysterious man wearing the Shuten-dōji Mask had grown stronger again.

When had a ninja like him appeared in Konoha?

Once he had caught his breath,

he peeked toward where the masked man had been.

There was no one there anymore, only cold, lonely moonlight.

The wind weaving through the forest brushed Kakashi's face.

Suddenly, he felt something lightly land on his shoulder.

Could it be a bug from the tree?

When he turned to look at his shoulder,

the blade of a Ninja Sword was less than ten centimeters from his neck.

"Don't move." Byakuya's voice was still hoarse.

"I lost. How did you know all three of them were my shadow clones?" Hatake Kakashi sighed dejectedly. Losing to the same person again and again would put anyone in a bad mood.

Byakuya replied calmly, "By sensing you."

"It was that simple?"

"You left too many flaws in the way you used your shadow clones."

Kakashi, the so-called genius boy, immediately looked eager to learn. "May I ask what I did wrong, senior?"

"How do you understand the Shadow Clone Technique?"

Kakashi answered as if it were obvious. "It's a way to confuse the enemy. The real body hides while looking for an opening!"

"That's right, but not entirely."

"Huh? What part is wrong? Minato-sensei taught Obito, Rin, and me exactly that."

"A ninja as powerful as Minato-sama can certainly use the Shadow Clone Technique to confuse his enemies. The principle he taught you is correct.

"But in my view, until you're strong enough, the Shadow Clone Technique shouldn't be used only to confuse the enemy. It can also..."

Kakashi asked eagerly, "What else?"

Byakuya looked into his eyes. At this point in time, Uchiha Obito had yet to give Kakashi his Sharingan, and Kakashi had not yet been promoted to jōnin.

"The Shadow Clone Technique's true purpose."

"Its... true purpose?" Kakashi asked, confused.

"The Second invented the Shadow Clone Technique for gathering intelligence. It doesn't just confuse the enemy; it can also let you learn about an enemy's ninjutsu, taijutsu, weapons, and other information without putting your real body at risk.

"For example, ever since you lost to me last time, you haven't dared to face me openly with your swordsmanship. Instead, you used the Shadow Clone Technique to set a trap, hoping I'd be stupid enough to fall for it.

"But how do you know the person standing in front of you is my real body and not a shadow clone?"

Byakuya sheathed his Ninja Sword and dispelled the Shadow Clone Technique.

Disbelief gradually appeared in Kakashi's eyes.

Byakuya emerged from behind a nearby tree and slowly walked up to Kakashi. "Do you understand now? Your name is Hatake Kakashi, right? You're remarkably strong for your age. You'll become a Konoha jōnin sooner or later. Perhaps you'll even become Hokage someday."

Kakashi's feelings were all over the place, and he didn't know what to say. After racking his brain, he stepped back and bowed respectfully to Byakuya. "Thank you for taking the time to teach me, senior. Uh, I haven't asked your name yet."

He pointed at the mask. "Just call me Shuten-dōji."

"You..."

"I don't like standing out, though fate always seems to shove me into the spotlight."

Kakashi couldn't make heads or tails of what Byakuya meant. Wasn't the biggest news in the village lately the battle between Minato-sensei and the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki from Kumogakure?

"Yes, I understand, senior. I hope you'll let me train under you."

"There's no need. Given how intense the war is, you'll be sent to the battlefield soon. Oh, right—you left the village with Minato-sama. Why have you come back?"

Kakashi answered honestly, "Minato-sensei was worried about our safety. He thought we lacked experience dealing with war, so he ordered us to return to the village for now. Once he's finished with the urgent matter, he'll teach us and help us gain experience in war."

"Namikaze Minato really is a good teacher."

Kakashi, whose personality seemed rather cold to others, opened up in front of Byakuya. "The teacher's great in every way. It's just that he's afraid of his wife, and he's always one step too late."

Namikaze Minato, master of the Flying Thunder God Technique and the fastest man in the Shinobi World, was somehow late at every crucial moment.

How ironic.

Byakuya nodded. "It's getting late. Until we meet again."

"Hey, senior, how old are you—"

Kakashi didn't get to finish asking.

Byakuya crossed his hands into a T-shape, pressing his index and middle fingers together.

"That's the hand seal for the Shadow Clone Technique," Kakashi murmured.

The Byakuya standing right in front of him suddenly vanished.

It was the Shadow Clone Technique again! Just like before, this wasn't Byakuya's real body.

Kakashi cried out in excitement, "Senior, you're way too sneaky! Can't you talk to me in person for once?!"

Unfortunately, Byakuya was long gone and couldn't hear him.

His real body had reached the edge of the forest, only to be blocked by Orochimaru.