Kakashi Hatake's attacks were swift and direct. Uchiha Iori went on the offensive to defend himself, thrusting his spear like a bolt of lightning. Kakashi dodged with the Body Flicker Technique, appearing at Iori's side and slashing at him with a blade.
"Too slow, too slow."
As Iori's Sharingan spun, Kakashi's movements seemed to slow to a crawl.
When their basic abilities were roughly equal—or even slightly in Kakashi's favor—the Sharingan gave its user an overwhelming advantage in battle.
"With these eyes, I can see through every move you make."
Iori's voice was calm and confident, carrying the characteristic arrogance of the Uchiha Clan.
He pulled back his spear and easily blocked Kakashi's short blade with its butt, then spun and kicked out.
Struck by the spear's butt, Kakashi lost his balance and couldn't defend himself. All he could do was roll with the blow to reduce the damage as he was sent flying.
"The saying that you should always flee from a one-on-one fight against the Sharingan isn't a joke. Challenging me now is still too much for you."
Iori shook his head. A prodigy was still only a prodigy.
Iori could already be considered a strong fighter, even though he was only two years older than Kakashi and had less experience as a ninja.
But they were no longer on the same level.
"I just wanted to see where my limits are. The way Minato-sensei fights is too unusual. Fighting him doesn't help me gauge myself."
Kakashi got to his feet, not showing the slightest sign of backing down.
Iori hadn't hit him too hard. A little pain wouldn't affect his will to fight.
"Be careful, senior. I'm about to use a new technique I developed. It makes a sound like a thousand birds chirping, so I named it Chidori."
"I only just developed it, and I can't control it very well yet. If necessary, please stop me, Minato-sensei."
Kakashi spoke solemnly. Minato Namikaze nodded to show he understood.
After quickly forming the Hand Seals for Ox, Hare, and Monkey, Kakashi lowered one hand and gripped its wrist with the other.
A powerful current gathered in his hand, making a loud noise. It really did sound like a thousand birds chirping. Then he accelerated in an instant and charged forward.
As he ran, the ground near his hand kicked up dust, and a deep furrow stretched along his path.
Boosted by Lightning Release chakra, Kakashi moved far faster than before. In the blink of an eye, he reached Uchiha Iori and struck at him with the edge of his hand.
"I told you, you're too slow, Kakashi. That attack can't hit me." Uchiha Iori said calmly.
The moment Kakashi took his stance, Iori had guessed what he was about to do.
As soon as Kakashi moved, Iori was ready.
Just before they made contact, Iori slipped aside to dodge the Chidori, then reached out in the narrowest instant.
He seized Kakashi's forearm with pinpoint precision and slammed his hand into the ground. The earth instantly cracked open, leaving a large crater.
Kakashi had noticed Iori shift position, but the Chidori was already moving faster than he could control.
In the latter part of the charge, it was almost as if the Chidori was controlling his body, leaving him unable to react.
Kakashi tried to wrench his arm free and counterattack, but Iori had already pressed the spearhead to his throat. Its sharp tip cut through the skin, and blood slowly trickled down.
Iori drew back his spear and casually spun it twice, flinging off the blood. Then he dispelled the Projection. Since he hadn't used True Name Release in this fight, he could reuse the Projection.
"Kakashi, you've probably figured out the problem, right? When you charged toward me, you clearly saw my movements, but your speed was so high that you couldn't find an opening to adjust your own movements."
Iori calmly analyzed the problem. In the original story, when Kakashi first used the Chidori, he nearly got himself killed because he was moving too fast to see his enemy's counterattack.
Fortunately, Minato Namikaze had saved him in time and pointed out the problem, but he hadn't been able to offer a solution. In the end, Kakashi only resolved it after Obito Uchiha gave him a Sharingan that enhanced his dynamic vision.
"I understand. I won't use this technique on the battlefield until I've dealt with the problem."
Kakashi answered, looking somewhat dejected.
He had worked so hard to develop a powerful technique, only to discover it had such a fatal weakness.
If they'd been fighting to the death on a battlefield today instead of sparring, he might have died before he could react.
Always being called a genius and standing head and shoulders above his peers had made Kakashi a little overconfident, but this lesson had made him start reflecting on his shortcomings.
"Concentrating its destructive power and speed does make the technique powerful, but without enough reaction speed, you can't deal with an enemy's counterattack. It can't be considered truly complete yet."
Uchiha Iori reminded him. His own fighting style had similar problems.
Triple Crane Wings was a high-speed Taijutsu technique, and he had to find the right moment to turn around. Gáe Bolg was an attack that manipulated causality: it only cared whether the enemy died, not whether he did.
Iori, too, relied on the dynamic vision and reaction speed granted by his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, along with the fighting skills of the two Heroic Spirits, to move freely on the battlefield.
"All right, Kakashi. You should think over your options again and work out how to fix the technique. Let's all disperse for now. I have some things to take care of, so I'll be going."
After Minato Namikaze finished speaking, he vanished with the Body Flicker Technique. It was getting late, and he still had some of the camp's records to handle.
Rin Nohara hurried over to support Kakashi and examined his injuries with Medical Ninjutsu.
After checking that Kakashi was all right, Obito Uchiha asked, "Iori, could you teach me too? I want to get stronger!"
"Come back to me after you awaken your Sharingan."
Iori shook his head. He couldn't teach Projection Magecraft, nor could he. Battle experience couldn't be passed on just by talking about it, either.
Most of the remaining advice had to do with the Sharingan. Awakening it was the first step.
"I'll definitely awaken it!" Obito said firmly. "I'll definitely surpass Kakashi."
"Keep dreaming, dead last. Say that again after you actually awaken it," Kakashi said, putting him down from the side.
Rin silently supported Kakashi, smiling as she watched the two bicker.
Iori shook his head and stopped paying attention to the trio.
"Kaori, how are you feeling? Do you want to go back and rest, or keep training?"
"I'll find somewhere nearby and keep training for a while. The advice from Minato has helped me a lot. I want to improve how I handle the finer details of combat."
Uzuki Kaori answered. As a Taijutsu-focused ninja, she had benefited greatly from Minato's teaching.
"Keep it up. I'm going to find somewhere nearby to train too. I have a few new ideas. I'll get going."
After speaking, Uchiha Iori said goodbye to the three members of Team Minato and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
"I need to keep working hard too. I can't let myself fall too far behind."
Uzuki Kaori encouraged herself. For all sorts of reasons, she didn't want to be left too far behind.