Mirror

Another "Kakashi" was staring coldly at him from the glass bookcase.

After examining it closely for a moment, every hair on Kakashi's body stood on end. He finally understood where that eerie feeling had come from.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Kakashi finally found the thread connecting all the strange events.

"A month ago, that eerie feeling began to appear, and the only change was the furniture in the residence..."

"The person hiding beyond the corner of our eyes... They were clearly standing beside us and watching us, yet we could never discover them because they hid somewhere we would instinctively overlook."

"The 'person' in the mirror is something everyone is used to seeing. No one would think there was anything wrong with 'themselves' appearing in a mirror."

"But!"

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Kakashi's eyes spun rapidly. Everything around him slowed in his vision, and only then did the mirror image's strangeness reveal itself.

Kakashi slowly placed a hand on his ninja tool pouch, and his reflection made the same movement.

Yet under the Sharingan's gaze, the reflection's movement was a fraction slower than his own, delayed by several milliseconds.

How was that possible?!

A reflection should have been perfectly synchronized with him!

A delay of a few milliseconds was impossible for ordinary people to notice. Even many ninja would not be able to detect it.

Shinichi Kishimoto and the others had been watched by their reflections!

Although their naked eyes could not catch the reflection's abnormality, humanity's inborn instincts had sensed that something was wrong with the surrounding environment and relayed that information to their brains, giving them the feeling of being watched.

"A ninjutsu? No, there are no chakra fluctuations. What exactly are you?" Kakashi asked in a low voice.

"A... ninjutsu? No... chakra... fluctuations. What exactly... are you?"

A faint voice came from the mirror, as though it were imitating Kakashi's words.

Kakashi's expression chilled. "Are you imitating me?"

"Are you... imitating me?" The person in the mirror spoke again. Compared to before, its tone and voice were closer to Kakashi's this time.

Shinichi Kishimoto, who was standing nearby, was startled awake by Kakashi's voice. Seeing Kakashi converse with his reflection, he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Lord Tenzō, what happened?"

Kakashi did not look at Shinichi Kishimoto. He kept his full attention on the reflection before him.

"Get out first. Be careful not to let the mirror reflect you."

"Get out first. Be careful not to let... the mirror reflect you."

Shinichi Kishimoto was rendered speechless by the bizarre scene before him. He scrambled and crawled out of the room.

"What exactly are you?"

"What exactly are you?" The reflection's voice now sounded exactly like Kakashi's.

Kakashi stared intently at the reflection. The person in the mirror was becoming more and more like him when it spoke, and the unease in his heart reached its peak.

Suddenly, the mirror shattered. Countless fragments slowly came together in midair, forming a transparent figure.

Eyes, a nose, a mouth... The transparent figure gradually gained color, and its face became clear.

Kakashi's expression darkened. Wasn't the person gradually taking shape before him none other than himself?

The only difference was that the reflection's Sharingan was in its right eye.

"So it really is my reflection?" Kakashi said coldly.

This time, the reflection did not repeat his words. Instead, it seemed to be carefully examining Kakashi.

"You little fraud." Kakashi gently pulled down his mask and untied his forehead protector.

He hesitated no longer. With a flick of both hands, ten shuriken flew out along different trajectories, sealing off every possible route of escape.

"Rat—Tiger—Dog—Ox—Rabbit—Tiger, Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Red!"

The Phoenix Flower Jutsu coated the flying shuriken in flames. The blazing projectiles rained down on the reflection opposite him like phoenix flowers scattering across the sky.

"Rat—Tiger—Dog—Ox—Rabbit—Tiger, Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Red!"

To Kakashi's astonishment, the reflection opposite him used the exact same Fire Release technique.

Clang! Clang!

The shuriken from both sides collided in midair with feeble cries before falling heavily to the ground.

Was it an illusion?

The amount of chakra in the reflection's Fire Release just now, including the angle and posture of its attack, had been exactly the same as his.

But that Fire Release had merely been a feint. Kakashi had already silently appeared behind the reflection.

His kunai slashed down viciously, but it struck nothing.

"Not good, Shadow Clone!"

Kakashi swiftly dodged, evading the kunai flying from the reflection's hand.

It was not an illusion!

This reflection seemed to possess the exact same combat instincts and fighting ability as him!

"Snake—Dragon—Rabbit—Tiger, Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

A straight stream of flames shot forth, hurtling directly toward the reflection opposite him.

"Snake—Boar—Dog, Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

The reflection remained calm as an Earth-Style Wall blocked the incoming flames.

Seeing the huge dog head on the wall, Kakashi could not help grinding his teeth in frustration.

It could not be called completely identical. It was simply exactly the same.

The two clashed at close range, their kunai ringing with clang, clang, clank as they traded blows.

During the battle, Kakashi's mind raced as he considered how to break the deadlock.

The reflection possessed the same mind as him, and it knew every ninjutsu he knew. It was like fighting himself.

It knew when he was feinting and when he was deliberately exposing an opening. Their strength was evenly matched—how the hell was he supposed to fight this?

Kakashi dodged a low kick and glared at the other man. "Have I ever used such underhanded moves?"

The other did not back down. "I am you. What do you think?"

"Heh, take this—Thousand Years of Death!"

Kakashi used taijutsu as much as possible against the other, which would keep his pitiful chakra reserves from running dry.

The other also did not use ninjutsu, seemingly having the same idea.

Kakashi fell into thought.

He carefully recalled the entire sequence of events.

"Imitation... Imitation! It has been constantly imitating, imitating the people of Kishimoto Residence, imitating me."

"Perhaps the reason it can manifest is that it has fulfilled the conditions needed to perfectly imitate others."

"So perhaps it isn't using ninjutsu because everything it has came from imitating me!"

"It isn't that it doesn't want to use it—it doesn't have enough mana either!"

Kakashi's eyes lit up. If that was the case, then perhaps he could try that move.

Kakashi rapidly retreated, widening the distance between himself and the reflection.

"Hehe, try imitating this."

"Ox—Rabbit—Monkey—Snake—Ram, Pseudo-Senjutsu: Heavenly Thunder!"

Several bolts of lightning as thick as an adult's arm flew from Kakashi's hand. Roaring as they tore through the night, the lightning briefly turned the entire room as bright as day.

Kakashi stood amidst the lightning, his silver hair whipping about him like a thunder god from myth commanding heavenly punishment.