Clash with Kakashi!

"Digest?!"

Obito flared up instantly, turning his head to glare at Kakashi:

"This guy is too arrogant, I'm going first!"

Kakashi swept a faint glance at him:

"Just don't cry when you lose in a moment."

"Heh, just watch. Before I beat you, I will absolutely never lose again, Kakashi!"

Obito pointed a thumb at himself, looking incredibly confident.

Kakashi was long since accustomed to this, and could only shrug his shoulders with a helpless expression.

Ever since they graduated, they had been assigned to the same team.

After several years of missions, they were already intimately familiar with each other's personalities.

Obito was usually like this—rash and reckless—but at critical moments, he was still barely reliable.

"Since that's the case, let's change locations after we finish eating. I'm even more looking forward to Shingen-kun's strength now."

Minato had figured out Uchiha Shingen's temperament by now, but his curiosity about Uchiha Shingen hadn't diminished; instead, like Kakashi, it had only grown.

Two hours later.

Having eaten and drunk their fill, the group left the barbecue restaurant and arrived at the Forest of Death outside Konoha.

This was where Uchiha Shingen usually practiced.

The surroundings were covered in scorch marks and slash wounds, which, under the moonlight, took on an added air of grim lethality.

Even the incessantly chattering Obito was affected, gradually falling silent.

His hand tightened around a kunai beneath his sleeve, secretly swearing to himself that he absolutely could not lose face in front of Rin.

Tap—!

Uchiha Shingen stepped forward first, standing on one side of the clearing with his hands hanging loosely at his sides.

His eyelids drooped as his gaze swept over the members of Team Minato, and he said indifferently:

"Which one of you is coming first? Or are you all coming at once?!"

"Let's get this over with quickly; I still want to go home and rest. After working all day, my bones feel like they're falling apart."

"I'm coming!"

Obito gritted his teeth.

He took a step toward Uchiha Shingen, pulled a kunai from the weapon pouch at his waist, and gripped it firmly in his hand.

He dashed toward Uchiha Shingen at full speed!

Since graduating from the Ninja Academy, Obito had been assigned to Team Minato alongside Kakashi, so his natural talent was certainly not lacking.

Although he acted like a dead-last most of the time, just as Kakashi had said, Obito never dragged them down at critical moments.

Now that he was serious, the level he displayed was already that of a qualified Chunin!

"This kid isn't bad."

Jiraiya nodded.

He was naturally clear about Minato's own level.

Relying on the Flying Thunder God, he was already standing in an invincible position in battle, not to mention the Rasengan, a seal-less ninjutsu he had developed not long ago.

The combination of the two could be called perfect.

Even for the current Jiraiya, it would take quite some effort to suppress Minato.

However, Jiraiya had never known about Minato's level as an instructor.

But seeing Obito's performance now, he finally had an idea; his eldest disciple was truly capable of standing on his own two feet.

"Although Obito is usually unreliable, he has never slacked off in his training. Even if there is a gap between him and Kakashi now, it's not impossible for him to catch up in the future."

"It's just..."

Minato raised his eyes to look at the battlefield in the distance and sighed inwardly:

"He's still lacking quite a bit of seasoning."

Just as Minato's voice fell, Obito's forward momentum came to a sudden halt.

He remained in the posture of holding the kunai with both hands, thrusting toward Uchiha Shingen, but his entire body seemed as if a pause button had been pressed, freezing him in place.

"Obito, go—"

Rin's encouragement was stifled before it could even leave her lips. She looked at the sudden change in the distance and asked in confusion:

"What happened?!"

"It's a genjutsu, likely the Uchiha's Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique."

Kakashi looked toward Uchiha Shingen.

Under the moonlight, those scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan radiated an exceptionally dangerous aura.

As Konoha's premier Kekkei Genkai, it was also the only known Kekkei Genkai that could evolve alongside the user's growing abilities.

The power of the Sharingan was already an indisputable fact.

More importantly, there existed an ironclad rule among the Uchiha shinobi.

That was, as long as one could awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, becoming a Jonin was a certainty.

In other words, Uchiha Shingen had already secured his ticket to becoming a Jonin!

If Kakashi had originally thought Uchiha Shingen was merely preparing for the Jonin exams, he was now certain that the boy had full confidence in his success!

If I can defeat him, there will be no issue with me passing the Jonin exam!

With that thought in mind.

Kakashi quietly reached back to grip his short blade; beneath his seemingly calm expression, his fighting spirit began to surge.

With Rin's help, Obito broke free from the genjutsu and limped to the side.

He recalled everything that had just happened, still feeling somewhat dazed.

He had only drawn his kunai and charged at Uchiha Shingen, only to feel his entire body bound, unable to move a single inch.

"Kakashi!"

Obito's eyes were filled with gravity:

"This guy... is dangerous!"

"Shingen is completely different from how he was back at the Ninja Academy!"

"Yeah."

"I know."

Kakashi flicked the short blade in his hand, acknowledging Obito's warning.

He turned and began to walk toward Uchiha Shingen, step by step.

His previously loose posture sharpened and became precise during the process, like a snow leopard waking from a deep slumber, baring its fangs!

"Is this the child of the White Fang?!"

From Kakashi's back, Jiraiya saw the shadow of an old friend and recalled the tragedy that had occurred in Konoha years ago.

One of Konoha's most powerful shinobi, Hatake Sakumo, known as the White Fang.

Because he chose to abandon a mission to save his comrades, the mission failed, causing massive losses to the village and leading to a storm of public condemnation.

Ultimately, Hatake Sakumo could not bear the psychological pressure and took his own life.

As the White Fang's only child, Kakashi had shouldered all the pressure in his father's stead after his passing.

"Mm."

Minato nodded, his gaze fixed on Kakashi's back as he said:

"After Sakumo-senpai passed away, Kakashi's personality became somewhat extreme; he prioritizes missions above all else, to the point where he would even abandon his comrades."

"I am trying to correct this, but I haven't seen any results yet; I can only take it slowly during future missions."

"However."

"Kakashi has perfectly inherited Sakumo-senpai's talent as a shinobi; his strength is already on par with the Jonin of our village."

Minato shifted the topic, and as he spoke of Kakashi's strength, a smile appeared on his face.

After all, this was a student he had personally trained; to reach this level before the age of thirteen was something he naturally felt proud of as a teacher.

"I wonder just how far my junior brother can go now."

As he spoke.

Minato's gaze fell on Jiraiya's face, attempting to discern something from his teacher's eyes, only to hear Jiraiya say gloomily:

"If you want to take this kid down, I'm afraid you'll have to step in yourself."