Su Bai vs. Kakashi

Half an hour later, after eating and drinking their fill, the group came before Kakashi and surrounded him.

Seeing this, Kakashi quickly put away the Icha Icha Paradise in his hand and readied himself.

"Go ahead and attack. Don't worry about whether I live or die."

He spoke with a calm expression.

The four exchanged glances, then launched a joint attack on Kakashi.

Naruto made the first move. Forming hand seals, he shouted, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

In an instant, several Naruto clones charged at Kakashi, throwing punches.

Kakashi nimbly dodged Naruto's attacks, then casually struck one of the clones, making it vanish with a poof.

Seizing the opportunity, Sasuke swiftly threw several kunai straight at Kakashi's face.

Kakashi twisted aside. The kunai grazed past his ear and embedded themselves in the tree trunk behind him with several thunks.

"Girls shouldn't be so violent, you know~"

Kakashi smiled at Sakura, who was rushing at him with an angry punch. He poked her forehead with one finger, sending her stumbling backward again and again.

At the same time, Su Bai gripped his Zanpakutō and rushed behind Kakashi at incredible speed, slashing down hard.

Kakashi reacted quickly, leaping to the side and barely avoiding the blow.

The scorching blade nearly singed his handsome silver hair.

The four worked together seamlessly, attacking and defending in turn as they launched wave after wave of assaults, completely surrounding Kakashi.

For a moment, the battle grew fierce, and even Kakashi found himself struggling to fend them off.

After fighting for a while, Kakashi's body suddenly swayed, seemingly revealing an opening.

Naruto was overjoyed. He dashed forward and threw a punch at him.

But just as his fist was about to touch Kakashi, Kakashi's figure suddenly vanished!

"It's a shadow clone!"

Sasuke's pupils contracted as he shouted.

Naruto's punch hit nothing but air, and he stumbled to the ground.

When he looked up again, Kakashi was already more than ten meters away, watching them leisurely.

"I told you, if you want the bells, show me what you're really capable of."

Kakashi shook the bells in his hand. Before his words had even faded, he turned and ran.

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei, don't run!"

Naruto shouted and, in a hotheaded rush, chased after him.

Su Bai sensed something was wrong and immediately warned him, "Don't go! It's a trap!"

"What?"

Sure enough, after Naruto had only run a few steps, a rope noose suddenly swung down from a nearby tree with a snap, hoisting him into the air in the blink of an eye.

As Naruto dangled from the tree after falling into the trap, Kakashi calmly stepped out from the shadows.

"You lot, ganging up on someone with fewer people isn't exactly honorable."

He snorted, then formed hand seals and used the Shadow Clone Technique to create three identical copies of himself.

"It's the Shadow Clone Technique!" Sakura cried out.

As the most knowledgeable member of Team 7 when it came to theory, she knew the characteristics of the Shadow Clone Technique.

The user's chakra would be divided evenly among every clone, so each individual clone would be weaker.

But their strength lay in their numbers. With coordinated teamwork, they could give any lone opponent a terrible headache.

The three Kakashis charged at Sasuke, Sakura, and Su Bai respectively, and they were soon locked in fierce combat.

Though each Kakashi had been weakened, he was still a seasoned jonin. Even divided into three, he was not someone a few genin could deal with easily.

"Damn it, we've been divided!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he blocked Kakashi's attacks, inwardly groaning.

Su Bai knew that the key now was to end the fight quickly. Whichever side defeated their opponent first could turn the tide by using greater numbers against fewer.

Although he had gained the upper hand with his basic swordsmanship, he also understood that it would be difficult to completely defeat Kakashi in a short time by himself.

Sasuke, who was fighting Kakashi, quickly realized the key issue as well.

As long as either Sakura or Su Bai lost, Kakashi could send his shadow clones to gang up on him.

The battle raged on, with everyone doing their utmost to defeat their opponents as quickly as possible.

Just as Su Bai expected, Sakura was the first to fall.

Facing Kakashi's fierce assault, she managed to hold on for a while, but ultimately could not overcome his seasoned combat skills. She was caught in a genjutsu and collapsed to the ground.

"Sakura!"

Seeing his companion collapse, Naruto shouted anxiously from the tree, but he could do nothing.

The Kakashi clone that had defeated Sakura did not stop there. It immediately changed direction and rushed toward Sasuke, who was fiercely fighting another clone.

Sasuke, who had originally held the advantage, was instantly forced back step by step by the two Kakashis attacking from both sides.

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse. In only a few exchanges, Sasuke was defeated as well.

One Kakashi firmly pinned him to the ground, stomping heavily on his head and holding him down so tightly that he could not move.

"Damn it! Let me go!"

Sasuke shouted unwillingly, his eyes bloodshot.

But it was useless. The force restraining him seemed as though it would grind his face into the dirt.

"Sasuke! You bastard, Kakashi-sensei, let Sasuke go!"

Seeing his friend suffer such a crushing defeat, Naruto was practically exploding with rage. He struggled desperately in midair, only tangling himself up even tighter.

On the battlefield, Su Bai was the only one still fighting alone.

With all three teammates out of the fight, he now had to face two Kakashis at once. His situation was extremely perilous.

Su Bai clenched his teeth, his eyes rapidly searching the battlefield for anything he could use.

While fighting Kakashi earlier, he had noticed a few openings. As long as he seized the right moment, he could turn the situation around.

With that thought, he took a deep breath, resumed his fighting stance, and waited for that crucial moment.

A few exchanges later, Su Bai found it.

He suddenly hurled his Zanpakutō with all his strength.

A flash of cold light streaked through the air as the blade plunged straight into one Kakashi's chest, piercing him through where he stood.

He had successfully taken out one of Kakashi's clones.

However, Su Bai paid a price for it—while he was retrieving his sword, the other Kakashi moved first and seized his weapon.

"Give up, Su Bai."

Kakashi held the captured blade, a trace of admiration in his voice. "I admit that your swordsmanship is indeed impressive, but without your sword, you can't beat me."

Sasuke, pinned to the ground, was stunned when he heard that. Then he closed his eyes in understanding.

In his view, Su Bai was doomed to lose after losing his sword.

"Damn it! Su Bai, you can't give up! Come on!"

Naruto shouted and struggled anxiously from the side, seeming even more worried than Su Bai himself.

To everyone else, Su Bai's situation seemed dire.

Without the Zanpakutō, his greatest source of strength, facing Kakashi with a weapon in hand and outnumbered, his defeat seemed only a matter of time.

But unexpectedly, Su Bai not only refused to surrender, but calmly assumed the opening stance of bare-handed combat.

"Come at me, Kakashi-sensei."

Su Bai planned to use the basic bare-handed combat taught at Shin'ō Academy to fight Kakashi.

He spoke calmly, his gaze resolute. "I haven't lost yet."

"Oh? Don't tell me you know taijutsu too?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You can try me."

Su Bai smiled faintly, signaling for him to give it his all.

Kakashi said no more. With the blade in hand, he charged straight at Su Bai.

The two quickly closed in and began fighting hand-to-hand.

Because of the clones, Kakashi's strength had dropped significantly.

Fighting while holding a sword was an even greater mistake.

From Su Bai's perspective as a swordsman, Kakashi was skilled with the blade, but only skilled.

That instead limited his performance.

The two traded blows at close range, fists and kicks flying as they fought to a standstill.

Su Bai was not inferior in the slightest, leaving everyone present astonished.

No, Su Bai was even gaining the upper hand!

His punches were swift as the wind, their force sharp and fierce, every strike carrying the sound of air tearing apart.

His footwork was even more agile and unpredictable. At times, he darted and leaped; at others, he stood as steady as a mountain.

Though Kakashi gave it everything he had, he gradually fell into a disadvantage before Su Bai's exquisite techniques.

"Hah!"

With a sharp shout, Su Bai's fist suddenly erupted with dazzling white light.

He threw a straight punch at Kakashi's face. The blow carried overwhelming force, and Kakashi nearly failed to dodge it in time.

So this is the basic bare-handed combat of Shin'ō Academy? It's so strong!

Su Bai could not help but marvel inwardly.

Every punch and kick of his looked simple, yet each contained the power of chakra and carried astonishing force.

His unexpected footwork and body movements made him even harder to defend against.

This scene made everyone understand that Su Bai was not merely highly skilled with a sword.

In taijutsu, he was equally gifted and not to be underestimated.

Seeing this, Sasuke widened his eyes and clenched his teeth. "Damn it..."

"He hid it so well!"

Meanwhile, Naruto, hanging in the air, excitedly cheered for Su Bai as though doing so could lend him strength. "Go, Su Bai! You can definitely win, believe it!"