Kakashi's Battle!

Time passed little by little.

Uchiha Namiichi and Yamanaka En took their turns.

However, they were only there to fill out the roster. Facing the contestants who were truly aiming to become Chunin this year, neither of them went all out.

Yamanaka En even lost outright.

"Hatake Kakashi, Shimura Torii!"

At last, it was Kakashi's turn.

Shita Genichi felt a little disappointed that he wasn't fighting him.

Still, Shimura Torii?

The Shimura Clan... The original story had barely depicted the Shimura Clan, as if they didn't even exist.

But in reality, the Shimura Clan was much like the Sarutobi Clan, one of Konoha's main ninja clans.

The Sarutobi Clan specialized in Fire Release, while the Shimura Clan specialized in Wind Release.

As things stood, Shimura Danzō was arguably the best Wind Release user in Konoha, without a doubt.

"Go, Kakashi!"

"Watch out for Wind Release!"

As Kakashi leaped into the arena, Shita Genichi watched him and shouted.

Kakashi didn't look back. He just raised a hand and gave him an OK sign.

He knew that the Shimura Clan specialized in Wind Release.

In fact, he knew more about the various clans in Konoha than Shita Genichi did.

Hatake Sakumo had told him about them when he was young.

After all, the Hatake were a small ninja clan in Konoha, though their numbers had dwindled considerably.

Meanwhile.

In the observation room, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hatake Sakumo, and Shimura Danzō were all watching the screens.

Both his son and his student were competing, so of course Hatake Sakumo had come to watch.

As Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen also wanted to see how the new generation performed, especially since Kakashi and Shita Genichi had caught his attention.

As for Danzō, he wore a solemn expression. Perhaps he'd come to see how the young members of the Shimura Clan performed.

As for poaching talented youngsters, that was impossible.

Aside from the very beginning, Root had recruited and trained its own people.

Its core members came from various ninja clans.

For instance, members of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, the Shimura Clan, and the Mitokado Clan had all caught Danzō's eye and entered Root to be trained from a young age.

The other recruits were talented people Danzō selected from among civilians and orphans. They, too, were trained in Root from childhood and never went through the Ninja Academy.

The principal of the Ninja Academy was always the Hokage. In other words, the Academy fell under the influence of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Of course, as Hokage, all Root ninja technically belonged to him as well.

So even those trained in Root from childhood still had a record of attending the Ninja Academy on their official histories.

Yamato, the future Wood Release construction expert, for example, had a record of graduating from the Ninja Academy.

But in reality, he'd never attended it.

As for whether Danzō had planted spies among the Hokage's subordinates, or Hiruzen had placed his own people in Root, only the two of them knew.

On the screen, Kakashi and Shimura Torii had already started fighting at the examiner's signal.

Neither of them used ninjutsu at first. The arena was wide open, and they were too close together. There was no room to use ninjutsu right away.

Instead, they drew their blades and charged, clashing in close combat with Kenjutsu.

After a dozen or so exchanges, Danzō remarked, "As expected of the White Fang's son. Sakumo, the boy really inherited your Kenjutsu!"

Hatake Sakumo replied modestly, "You're too kind, Lord Danzō. Kakashi still has a lot of work to do."

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled. "Kakashi is a hardworking boy. He'll be just as accomplished as you one day, Sakumo."

Just then, Shimura Torii found an opening to retreat and form Hand Seals. He opened with Wind Style: Breakthrough, summoning a fierce gale that swept toward Kakashi.

Kakashi formed Hand Seals in turn and pressed both hands to the ground.

Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!

A wall of earth surged up, blocking the oncoming gale.

Shita Genichi also saw Shimura Torii form more Hand Seals after using Wind Style: Breakthrough.

First, he created a clone. Then his real body formed Hand Seals again.

Wind Release: Gale Palm!

Shita Genichi saw the air swirling around Shimura Torii, especially around his hands.

Torii drew his blade again, channeling the air around it to sharpen the blade. Then he charged toward Kakashi once more.

With Gale Palm boosting him, Shimura Torii was clearly moving faster.

He sent his clone in first as a decoy. It leaped over the high wall and flung shuriken at Kakashi.

Clang!

Kakashi blocked with his blade in one hand and threw a shuriken with the other.

Poof!

Shimura Torii's clone burst into smoke in midair, but his real body attacked from the side.

Kakashi turned to meet him, but Shimura Torii's aggressive assault forced him to retreat again and again before kicking him away.

Thud!

Kakashi slammed into the ground. Shimura Torii immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to close in, placing his Ninja Blade against Kakashi's neck.

But the next moment, Kakashi burst into smoke with a poof.

"Shadow Clone!"

Shimura Torii's expression shifted. He immediately tried to retreat, but the ground in front of him split open. Kakashi burst out from below and punched him in the chin.

Shimura Torii saw stars and staggered. Kakashi kicked him away again.

After rolling across the ground several times, Shimura Torii suddenly sprang up and rapidly formed Hand Seals.

Shita Genichi watched, somewhat surprised. Seeing the blood at the corner of Shimura Torii's mouth, he immediately realized that the boy had bitten his tongue to force himself back to full alertness.

His reaction was incredibly quick, and his fighting spirit was formidable.

Shimura Torii used Gale Palm again, sending waves of cutting wind straight at Kakashi.

Thinking he'd already won, Kakashi hadn't expected his opponent to be so tenacious. He was caught in the gale and could only cross his arms to defend himself.

At the same time, Shimura Torii flung several shuriken with both hands. Then he brought his hands together, unleashing Gale Palm again and infusing the shuriken with it to boost their speed and destructive power.

Crackle!

Electricity flared around Kakashi's hand, and he forcibly broke free of the gale.

Clang, clang, clang!

Moving faster than before, Kakashi darted about and knocked away the shuriken one by one. But one still sliced through the sleeve on his left forearm, leaving a bloody scratch.

Kakashi ignored it and leaped into the air, bringing his blade down on Shimura Torii.

Clang!

Shimura Torii raised his blade to block.

At that moment, the lightning around Kakashi's hand intensified, surging along the blade and striking Shimura Torii.

His whole body convulsed. Kakashi kicked him away, caught up with him, and held his blade to Torii's neck.

"Hatake Kakashi wins!"

The examiner announced the result.

Back in the stands, Shita Genichi treated Kakashi's injury. "Kakashi, you let your guard down!"

Kakashi nodded, but said, "Don't waste your chakra. It's just a small wound. A bandage will do."

Shita Genichi glanced at the electronic screen. "It's fine. It's not my turn yet."

"Besides, this little wound won't use up much chakra."

Kakashi looked at Shimura Torii, who had returned to his teammates across the way. "He's pretty strong, too."

Shita Genichi turned to look as well and nodded. "He's good. He uses both Kenjutsu and Wind Release well."

Although Shimura Torii had lost, he was by no means weak.

Judging by his age, Shimura Torii was probably only a year or two older than them.

He might even have graduated later than they had.

Two more matches passed, and at last Shita Genichi saw his own name.

But when he saw his opponent's name, he froze for a moment.

Uchiha Tekka!

The second chapter will be a little late. Sorry about that.