Challenger

Konoha, Year 43.

During break, Toru sat at his desk refining Chakra while the two girls beside him, Kurenai and Anko, chatted about all sorts of interesting things that had happened recently.

"I heard Kakashi was promoted to Chunin." Anko leaned over, as if she were about to share some important news.

Yuhi Kurenai looked surprised and asked incredulously, "Really?"

"Yeah, my dad told me." Mitaraishi Anko answered honestly, assuring them that her information was reliable.

"Doesn't that make Kakashi the youngest Chunin in Konoha?" Kurenai said, looking at Toru, who was still training.

Toru never cared about empty titles, but Konoha's gossip-loving crowds had already ranked Kakashi and Toru as the two greatest geniuses of their generation.

So Kurenai was curious about what Toru thought.

Though Toru was refining Chakra, he could still hear what was going on around him, so he already knew that Kakashi had been promoted to Chunin.

Toru noticed Kurenai watching him, so he opened his eyes and met her gaze. "Kakashi's promotion to Chunin means his strength has improved considerably. But that has nothing to do with me. If the villagers want to rank the two of us together, that's their business."

Kurenai nodded, thinking that Toru really was indifferent to fame and fortune.

Just then, Uchiha Doka walked into the classroom with a message.

"Big Brother Toru, Hatake Kakashi just asked me to pass along a message at the school gate. He wants to fight you again!"

Uchiha Doka was so loud and boisterous that practically the whole class heard him.

The noisy classroom fell silent.

"What? Kakashi wants to fight Toru again?"

"Yeah, yeah! That Uchiha Doka is Uchiha Toru's underling. What they say must be true."

The class immediately erupted into another heated discussion. Everyone wondered whether Toru would accept the fight and, if it happened, who would win.

Doka went over to Toru and waited for his answer.

Under the gaze of the whole class, Toru said just two words: "Sure."

Doka immediately gave him a thumbs-up. "I knew you wouldn't be scared, Big Brother!"

Doka promptly went back out to keep serving as the messenger.

Beside him, Yuhi Kurenai asked with concern, "Can you win?"

"I can."

Toru's voice was perfectly calm, as though he were stating an established fact.

Kurenai felt as if she'd just been given a reassuring answer, and all the tension left her.

Nohara Rin clasped her hands to her chest and prayed silently, "Kakashi, you're going to win."

Though Rin said that, she wasn't at all sure.

After Kakashi graduated, she had spent less time with him, so she didn't know how strong he was now.

Even though Kakashi had been promoted to Chunin, Nohara Rin had no real concept of what that meant, so she couldn't imagine how strong he was.

But she could see Toru's strength with her own eyes.

After Kakashi left, Toru became the undisputed top student in the entire grade—and he was far ahead of everyone else.

So, in Nohara Rin's eyes, the outcome of a fight between Kakashi and Toru was hard to predict.

Seeing how concerned Rin was for Kakashi, Obito pouted sulkily. "Hmph, so what if he loses? Kakashi's already lost once."

But even though Obito said that, it wasn't necessarily what he really wanted.

Deep down, Obito didn't want Kakashi to lose again.

His reasoning went like this: if Kakashi lost to Toru twice, wouldn't that prove Kakashi wasn't as strong as people said? And if Obito had always looked up to Kakashi as someone to catch up with, wouldn't that mean all his hard work was pointless?

Obito wasn't the only one who thought that way. Might Guy felt much the same.

Might Guy had always considered Kakashi the person he needed to surpass, so he often dragged Kakashi into fights.

So far, Might Guy's record was zero wins, sixteen losses, and zero draws. It was a pretty miserable record.

But Might Guy never got discouraged, because he knew Kakashi was a genius even by the standards of the entire Shinobi World.

So, deep down, he didn't want Kakashi to lose either.

Toru and Kakashi were going to fight at the school.

After school, Toru went to the agreed-upon spot: the Training Ground on school grounds, just like last time.

Kurenai followed at Toru's side, with a large crowd of onlookers trailing behind them.

As it happened, everyone had long since gotten used to seeing Toru and Kurenai together.

When they arrived near the Training Ground, Kakashi was already waiting inside.

He wore a fitted black short-sleeved outfit. His neck and the lower half of his face were still hidden beneath a black mask, but even that couldn't conceal his lean, handsome appearance.

The iron guards on his arms gleamed coldly, while the Konoha Forehead Protector on his brow showed off his skill as a ninja and gave him an air of dangerous aloofness.

There was no denying it: Kakashi had grown even more handsome over the past year.

Kakashi's arrival made many of the girls at the Ninja Academy cheer.

Rin gazed at Kakashi tenderly, her eyes full of admiration.

Seeing this, Obito immediately felt that all his concern for Kakashi had been for nothing. "Kakashi, you might as well just lose."

Toru greeted Kurenai beside him, then walked into the Training Ground alone. Kurenai could only watch him go and silently pray for him.

"I didn't expect you to accept so readily. It's lucky I don't have any missions today," Kakashi said.

Indeed, as a Chunin, Kakashi was bound to have less free time than Toru.

So, when Toru accepted the fight that very day, it was naturally good news for Kakashi.

Toru smiled faintly. "Of course. But there's one thing you need to understand."

Kakashi looked up at Toru, a tuft of white hair fluttering between his eyes beneath his Forehead Protector.

Toru raised one finger. "You're the challenger."

His words carried on the breeze to everyone present.

Uchiha Doka and the others immediately cheered Toru on excitedly. "Big Brother, you're so cool!"

Kurenai thought Toru looked incredibly charming as he confidently said that to Kakashi. Her attention was completely fixed on him; she didn't even hear Anko calling to her from beside her.

Rin kept watching Kakashi, unwaveringly cheering him on.

Obito and Might Guy both found the situation a little strange. After all, if Kakashi was the challenger, then they were challengers to the challenger.

Just as everyone was discussing Toru's words, Kakashi spoke again.

"That's right. I'm the challenger."

Kakashi accepted the title of challenger without hesitation, which made Toru think more highly of him.

"Looks like you've improved quite a bit this year." Toru raised an eyebrow, mildly surprised.

Beneath his mask, Kakashi's lips curled up slightly. "You'll find out soon enough."