The Gatekeeping Mini-Boss

Uchiha Suifeng's injuries looked severe, but in essence, they were merely superficial. Wako did not even need to use the Mystical Palm Technique; a simple Healing Technique resolved them quickly.

She remained noncommittal regarding Uchiha Suifeng's request to learn medical ninjutsu. After all, Uchiha Suifeng was still just a child, prone to fleeting whims. If he still held such thoughts after his duel with Kakashi, she wouldn't mind teaching him, as basic medical ninjutsu was hardly a secret.

"It seems the Six Powers really are effective in this world!"

After a day of training, despite being beaten black and blue by Fushan, he had managed to slowly manipulate the blood flow within his body during the latter half of the session. By accelerating his muscle movements, his defensive capabilities had indeed improved. While he couldn't claim to have reached the hardness of steel, his ability to withstand blows had certainly increased, and he could feel it.

This made him very excited.

The world of Naruto had taijutsu, but in his view, everything aside from the Eight Inner Gates and the Seven Heavenly Breaths was trash, simply because ninjas focused too heavily on powerful ninjutsu.

Thinking about it, it made sense. With powerful ninjutsu at their disposal, who would care about the grueling training required for taijutsu?

He didn't need to think about the Eight Inner Gates for now; the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the Hokage faction was too rigid, making it difficult to obtain such a forbidden technique. However, the Seven Heavenly Breaths was something he could attempt.

Of course, being on par with the Eight Inner Gates meant the Seven Heavenly Breaths was by no means easy to master. Like the Eight Inner Gates, it required long, arduous training. Furthermore, he only knew the principles of the Seven Heavenly Breaths; he hadn't even caught a glimpse of how to actually practice it.

When it came down to it, he was still stuck at the hurdle of Kakashi.

In other words, Kakashi had become a checkpoint before him. Regardless of his plans or grand ambitions, he had to resolve the Kakashi issue first.

"Kakashi, it seems you are the first mini-boss. I just wonder what kind of rewards I'll get after taking you down!"

Because of the duel, he had obtained all of Kakashi's files from Fushan since his graduation, including combat reports from the few missions he had completed.

Just as he expected, the current Kakashi was not the future "five-fifty" who suffered from chakra shortages after being sabotaged by Obito. This guy had inherited the Hatake family's swordsmanship and movement techniques, making him a bug-like existence among genin, but that was about it.

In a word, it was a time without heroes, allowing a mere boy to make a name for himself.

This guy was called a genius only because he was set against the mediocrity of his generation. Compared to the later Shisui and Itachi, he was a level behind.

His movement was fast, but not faster than the future Shisui; he was barely a master at the genin stage.

As for his swordsmanship, it was decent for this level, but you couldn't expect a six or seven-year-old child to have profound skills. As for Lightning Release, please, how much chakra could he have right now? How fast could his hand seals be?

In other words, this was a straight-A student without a cheat code. Uchiha Suifeng couldn't be called a straight-A student yet, but after such long training, he was at least an honor student among his peers. Moreover, he was a man with a cheat code—though he couldn't use his major one yet, he had the minor cheat of the Sharingan and his own ingenuity.

He was confident he could defeat Kakashi.

If he could master the technique of Iron Body in such a short time, there might even be a possibility of a one-shot kill.

Would Kakashi use a sword?

No.

Looking at Kakashi's history, excluding missions, he had been a shining genius since entering the Ninja Academy. When this genius dueled classmates, he usually ended it with a single kick and almost never threw a second. It was the same with Uchiha Suifeng last time; he kicked Uchiha Suifeng to death, which benefited the current Uchiha Suifeng.

In other words, he had never considered his peers as opponents; they were merely tools for him to show off his strength.

Furthermore, he was now a genin who had completed two C-rank missions. If he had looked down on his peers before, he must surely feel he was far above them now. Facing a former loser who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy, how could he possibly use a sword?

Kakashi, who had never experienced true pain, had walked too smooth a path; it was almost impossible for him to take Uchiha Suifeng seriously.

Therefore, he would not use a sword.

Kunai, taijutsu, Three Body Technique!

He could almost predict the methods Kakashi would use. If he couldn't win even then, he might as well go find a piece of tofu to smash his head against.

"Kakashi, let me tell you, don't underestimate Uchiha Suifeng. I heard he's been training hard lately, with special guidance from a clan jonin. He's been working so hard that he comes back from the training ground bruised every time."

Konoha, Yakiniku Restaurant.

Obito's mouth was stuffed with grilled meat, still acting as boisterous as ever.

Kakashi had just returned from a mission today when he was caught by Obito and dragged to the restaurant, along with Rin.

Kakashi looked at Obito, speechless. You're also a member of the Uchiha clan, is this really okay?

"When did I agree to duel him?!"

Kakashi said sullenly, "He's just a loser."

"No way, Kakashi. It's all over Konoha that Uchiha Suifeng is challenging you again."

Obito said with a surprised look, "You wouldn't refuse, would you?!"

"Why would I agree!" said the one with the dead-fish eyes, continuing to flip the meat.

"Yeah, why would you agree? Ignore him, ignore that bastard, let's see what he does!" Obito grew excited again, meat spraying from his mouth along with his spit.

Rin, sitting to the side, tugged at him, which finally calmed him down, though he looked a bit embarrassed.

"Hey, Kakashi, I heard you're going to duel Uchiha Suifeng again!"

"Sarutobi Asuma, why are you here?!"

Seeing the newcomer, Obito started shouting again. The child with the delinquent look was none other than the Third Hokage's son, Sarutobi Asuma.

"If you can come, why can't I!" As a second-generation shadow, Asuma was also a cocky kid at the time. He walked to the table, sat down, and looked up at Kakashi. "That guy Uchiha Suifeng hasn't been to school for over a month. I heard he's training in his clan and won't be satisfied until he beats you!"

"Hey, Kakashi already said he won't accept Uchiha Suifeng's challenge again!"

"Oh?!" Asuma looked confused. "No way, I just heard from the old man that Uchiha Suifeng will apply for early graduation at the end of this semester, and you'll be responsible for proctoring him!"

"What?!"

"There's such a thing?!"

Kakashi's movements paused, his dead-fish eyes freezing in place.

"Hmph, Kakashi, don't you dare go easy on him when the time comes. Damn it, I want to graduate early too, but the old man just won't let me!" Asuma lamented, oblivious to the others.