Who had ever seen the Hidden Leaf Village at four in the morning?
Kakashi saw it every day.
He woke from nightmares at four in the morning every day.
As soon as he woke up, he saw someone outside the window.
Uchiha Ling waved at him.
Kakashi knew the appointed time for their duel had arrived.
The sky had only just begun to lighten when Kakashi leaped out the window.
The two of them ran one after the other until Uchiha Ling led Kakashi into the dense forest behind Kage Rock.
This was the most secluded place Uchiha Ling could find. The guard patrols on the Hidden Leaf Wall couldn't see it.
Once they stopped, Kakashi stared at Uchiha Ling with his dead-fish eyes.
"What secret do you know about my father's death?"
Uchiha Ling smiled with the sinister air of a villain.
"Kakashi Hatake, I don't just know about it. I was one of the people who carried it out.
Do you want to know? Come on, defeat me. I only respond to force, not persuasion. You can beg me all you want, and I won't say a word. But if you defeat me, I'll immediately admit defeat."
Anger flared in Kakashi's heart.
What do you mean, you were one of the people who carried it out? What did you carry out?
The two of them threw their Kunai at the same time.
The Kunai whistled through the air before colliding precisely, ringing out with a sharp metallic chime.
Uchiha Ling glanced at the point where the Kunai had collided. It was closer to him.
The two of them formed Hand Seals at the same time.
After six Hand Seals, Uchiha Ling spat out a Great Fireball as tall as a person.
The Great Fireball rolled and spun, scorching the grass on the ground.
An Earth-Style Wall burst from the ground and rose in front of Kakashi.
The Great Fireball slammed into the Earth-Style Wall and exploded.
After the explosion, Kakashi charged out of the thick smoke with a Kunai in hand, moving incredibly fast.
Uchiha Ling frowned. Everyone said Might Guy's Taijutsu was powerful, yet Might Guy had never beaten Kakashi in their Taijutsu sparring matches.
Uchiha Ling formed Hand Seals again. After three Hand Seals, he used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
The way he used Great Breakthrough was extremely strange. After forming the seals, he pressed both hands against the ground and lowered his head.
A high-pressure torrent of wind surged forward, while his hair rapidly grew and transformed into strands of pitch-black steel needles. Like a dense metallic storm, they shot toward Kakashi.
Kakashi's heart tightened, and his pupils shrank. Uchiha Ling had actually mastered such an advanced combination technique?
He hurriedly dodged, but the Black-Gold Steel Needles and the wind stream turned at the same time and continued pursuing Kakashi.
Kakashi performed three consecutive forward rolls, dodging the Black-Gold Steel Needles that followed close behind. However, before the needles could run out of force, the final wave struck him.
A dozen or so Black-Gold Steel Needles were embedded in Kakashi's body.
Uchiha Ling was quite pleased. The combination of Wind Release and Black-Gold Steel Needles was difficult for even Kakashi to evade.
He named this Combined Ninja Art Black-Gold Wind Needles.
Bang!
Kakashi had actually turned into a cloud of white smoke.
Shadow Clone Technique?
A sound of something cutting through the air rang beside his ear.
Uchiha Ling hurriedly raised his Kunai to defend himself.
Clang!
The sound of Kunai colliding beside his ear made his scalp crawl.
Kakashi's Kunai was only twenty centimeters or so from his ear.
The two moved at incredible speed, their Kunai constantly clashing. Sparks from the metal flashed brightly as they skimmed past Uchiha Ling's eyelashes.
In their final clash, the two pressed their Kunai together and struggled for leverage. The scraping sound of the blades stirred up an unbearable aversion to noise, like fingernails scraping across glass or metal, making one's scalp crawl.
With a clang, the two retreated from each other and formed Hand Seals again.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
This Great Fireball was even larger, two people in diameter.
The Great Fireball dragged along the ground, plowing a shallow trench through it.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Kakashi had already mastered two defensive elemental techniques. That was unexpected.
Water Release countered Fire Release. When the Great Fireball crashed into the Water Formation Wall, its heat was rapidly exhausted.
Behind the water mist, Uchiha Ling heard a dense series of footsteps.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique? Or something else?
The footsteps suddenly vanished.
Eight Ninja Hounds abruptly emerged from the ground around Uchiha Ling, their consecutive barks sounding right beside him.
Uchiha Ling hurriedly gathered Chakra and sent it surging into his hair.
Before the Ninja Hounds could bite him, his hair rapidly coiled around him, wrapping him up like a dumpling and blocking the hounds' sharp teeth.
"Hey! Kakashi! Have your dogs had their Rabies Vaccine? How can you be so uncivilized?"
After using trash talk to draw Kakashi's attention, the Black-Gold Cover extended spikes, about to pierce the Eight Ninja Hounds.
The Eight Ninja Hounds were extremely cautious. When their first strike missed, they immediately withdrew, dodging the Black-Gold Thorn.
The two sides' probing techniques ended in another draw. Neither could do anything to the other.
The two raised their Kunai and clashed again, rapidly exchanging blows.
Uchiha Ling silently concentrated Chakra in his feet. Then, a second wave of Chakra surged toward his legs.
His Double Chakra Body Flicker Technique, combined with the eruption of Chakra from the acupoints in his legs, greatly increased his speed. He suddenly crashed into Kakashi's arms.
The Kunai slashed upward toward Kakashi's chest, and Kakashi hurriedly raised his hand to evade it.
Chakra erupted from the acupoints in Uchiha Ling's arm.
For a moment, it was impossible to tell which of them was more skilled in the Taijutsu techniques of the White Fang of the Leaf.
Clang!
Kakashi's Kunai was knocked away.
Uchiha Ling came to a stop, his Kunai already resting at Kakashi's throat.
Kakashi stared at Uchiha Ling in shock.
He had just taken first place in the Chunin Ninja Exams, yet Uchiha Ling's strength was actually greater than his?
"Kakashi, with this level of strength, you still dare to wear that gloomy face every day because of your father's death?
Who are you trying to make unhappy?
You kept a cold expression even during the Chunin Ninja Exams award ceremony. You're really bold.
You're practically asking to die.
If the people who fanned the flames behind White Fang's death saw you looking like this and decided you were holding a grudge, your future would be miserable. They wouldn't let any opportunity to deal with you pass.
You will face enemies far beyond your capabilities. You will get yourself killed, and you will also get your teammates killed."
After being defeated by Uchiha Ling, Kakashi was already unsettled. Hearing these taunts sent his emotions into even greater turmoil.
Uchiha Ling lowered his Kunai, stepped forward half a pace, and leaned close to Kakashi's ear.
"Do you remember what happened on your last day at school, when I taunted you and you smashed my head?
To tell you the truth, I was deliberately doing it at someone else's orders.
The White Fang of the Leaf certainly caused the Hidden Leaf Village to suffer losses. To a certain extent, abandoning the mission for the sake of his comrades was his own fault. But people also fanned the flames afterward.
Kakashi, you're too weak. At this level, how are you going to investigate the truth?"
Kakashi asked in horror, "Who? Who was fanning the flames?"
"**Live on with hatred and anger, and continue growing stronger.
One day, I'll reward you with an opportunity to challenge me.
I won't tell you who ordered me to do it—unless you can defeat me someday.**"
Kakashi's entire body instantly collapsed, and he stared dumbfounded in disbelief.
[The host has caused a nearby ninja to suffer a defense breakdown. The Defense-Breaking System is activating...]
He had successfully caused Kakashi at this stage to suffer a defense breakdown.
Given Kakashi's tragic fate, it wouldn't be difficult to cause him to suffer another defense breakdown in the future.
Poor Kakashi...
Before you continue