Kakashi's Shortcoming

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."

Kakashi paid no mind to Rouga Nadare's words; after rapidly weaving hand seals, he opened his mouth and exhaled a massive fireball.

The intense heat generated by the fireball evaporated the surrounding snow.

"Heh, brat, using Fire Release in the Land of Snow? You really are quite naive," Rouga Nadare said, his figure shifting as he easily dodged the fireball's attack.

He dodged it!

Kakashi was not surprised that the Great Fireball failed to injure his opponent. There was already a gap in strength between him and Rouga Nadare, and in this environment filled with heavy snow, the opponent's Ice Release was undoubtedly even stronger.

However, Kakashi had his own plan. He turned his head to glance toward the other side, where Naraku's figure was already nearly vanishing from his line of sight.

That was right; he had no intention of truly fighting Rouga Nadare right now—at most, he was just stalling for time.

At this moment, Rouga Nadare realized this as well, his gaze shifting toward Naraku. "I can't just let you people get away."

"Ice Release: Rouga Nadare Technique."

The snow on the ground rose rapidly, gathering together until it finally formed several snow wolves.

The snow wolves opened their maws and lunged fiercely at Kakashi.

Kakashi did not panic in the slightest. He pushed off the ground with his legs to retreat while his hands continued to weave seals.

"This is?"

Rouga Nadare, whose attention had been fixed on Kakashi, wore an expression of surprise upon seeing the familiar hand seals.

"Ice Release: One-Horned White Whale."

As Kakashi completed the seals, he gave a low shout, and a massive white whale erupted from the snow.

This white whale looked no different from the one Rouga Nadare had used earlier, save for being slightly smaller in size.

The giant whale charged rapidly into the pack of wolves, the immense impact kicking up a flurry of white snow.

BOOM!

The white whale collided with the wolf pack, sending shards of white ice flying in all directions. After the impact, more than half of the wolves were destroyed, and the white whale's body was left riddled with deep pits.

"It's actually the Sharingan."

Looking at Kakashi's crimson left eye, Rouga Nadare muttered to himself.

He had spent several years traveling outside the Land of Snow with Fuyubana Dotō; while he wasn't intimately familiar with the Sharingan, he was certainly no stranger to it.

At that moment, he cast aside his inner contempt and began to treat Kakashi as an opponent of equal standing.

BANG!

Pushing off with both feet, Rouga Nadare shot toward Kakashi, his hands moving in a blur of seals.

"Ice Release: Young Eagle Pecking Strike."

Instantly, dozens of young eagles formed from ice manifested around him.

The eagles were the size of an adult's palm, their sharp beaks glinting with cold light as they all surged toward Kakashi at high speed.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The sound of air being torn apart echoed continuously.

"If that's how it is,"

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique."

Kakashi reacted with extreme speed. Almost instantly, dozens of spinning shuriken descended before him.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The shuriken collided violently with the ice-formed eagles, the massive impact churning up the snow on the ground.

Rouga Nadare looked solemn now, the sky full of swirling snow obscuring his vision.

SHING!

Suddenly, a piercing sound cut through the air as a short silver blade tore through the snow, stabbing fiercely toward Rouga Nadare.

How could a mere flurry of snow block the observation of the Sharingan?

The short blade landed heavily on Rouga Nadare, but the next moment, Kakashi sensed something was wrong. In his line of sight, the blade had been blocked by the armor on Rouga Nadare's body.

"Heh heh, brat, you're still too young," Rouga Nadare chuckled, and the next moment, a burst of white mist sprayed from his armor.

Wherever the white mist touched, the surrounding air instantly froze into ice.

So it's armor infused with special energy, Kakashi thought, retreating several dozen meters as he looked at the peculiar armor on Rouga Nadare.

His brow furrowed; Kakashi felt the situation becoming increasingly troublesome. He pulled a kunai from his robes, while the short blade from before had already been encased in the white mist sprayed by the armor, turning into a lump of ice.

Following this, the two engaged in a fierce battle once more.

"Ice Release: One-Horned White Whale."

"Ice Release: Rouga Nadare Technique."

Noticing that Naraku had already traveled far away, Rouga Nadare felt a sense of urgency. The order Fuyubana Dotō had given him was to bring back Fuyubana Koyuki; Kakashi was not his target.

Desperate to make a quick escape, he unleashed two ninjutsu in rapid succession.

A massive White Whale and dozens of ice wolves charged toward Kakashi, while he himself turned and dashed in the direction of Naraku.

There is no way I'm letting you leave, Kakashi whispered to himself, and then a brilliant azure glow rose from his hands.

The blue lightning shrieked like a thousand birds chirping in unison.

"Chidori!"

With lightning in his grasp, Kakashi shattered the White Whale and tore through the pack of wolves, then stood before Rouga Nadare once more without a moment's hesitation.

"Hah... hah..."

His chest heaved; having released ninjutsu back-to-back, Kakashi's chakra was running low, with enough left for at most one more Chidori.

"He should be far away by now," Kakashi muttered.

"Ice Release: Snow Tiger Pounce!"

Rouga Nadare did not give him much time to catch his breath; after a rapid sequence of hand seals, he unleashed another powerful technique.

Two white tigers, each over two meters tall, manifested instantly. Like real beasts, they leaped forward, lunging at Kakashi.

Rouga Nadare had already realized that Kakashi's chakra was nearly depleted, while he himself, bolstered by the environment, consumed very little chakra for his Ice Release techniques and remained at full strength.

Therefore, as long as he kept up the pressure with ninjutsu, he could wear Kakashi down until he collapsed.

Kakashi was naturally aware of his opponent's intent, but he had no good countermeasure; after all, his limited chakra reserves were indeed his greatest weakness.

In truth, his chakra levels were not actually low; while the Hatake Clan was not known for massive reserves, they still possessed more than the average ninja.

It was only after he had transplanted Obito's left eye that more than half of his original chakra had been drained away.

Because Kakashi lacked the bloodline of the Uchiha Clan, he could not deactivate the Sharingan, meaning the eye was constantly draining his chakra—which was the very reason he kept it covered with his headband.

Even so, that only served to slow the consumption slightly.

With his chakra reserves nearly exhausted, Kakashi chose not to face the attack head-on this time, instead using his agility to dodge the white tigers' assault.

I need to find a way to retreat, Kakashi thought with a sense of helplessness.

Kakashi knew all too well that with his chakra running so low, he could no longer hold his own against Rouga Nadare.

Roar!

Just then, the white tigers that Kakashi had dodged suddenly pivoted and lunged at him once again.