Fang Xu raised his leg to block, but the impact drove him back half a step.
Kakashi immediately pressed the attack, bringing his short sword down from above.
Gritting his teeth, Fang Xu raised his kunai.
Clang!
This time, he blocked it.
But the short sword chipped the edge of his kunai.
The impact jolted Fang Xu's arm, and pain shot through the web of his hand.
"A sword sure has the advantage over a kunai."
Fang Xu let out a breath.
Kakashi did not let up.
"You can change weapons."
"Didn't bring another."
Lightning flashed beneath Fang Xu's feet, and he charged again.
They exchanged another dozen or so moves.
The longer Fang Xu fought, the clearer it became.
Kakashi was far too steady.
Lightning Mode boosted his speed and explosive power, letting him gain an advantage for brief stretches.
But Kakashi surpassed him in swordsmanship, reactions, and combat judgment.
If he kept fighting only at close range, Kakashi would find an opening sooner or later.
Sure enough.
Kakashi angled his short sword, suddenly slipping past the face of the kunai and striking at Fang Xu's wrist with the back of the blade.
Fang Xu was forced to pull his hand back.
The next instant, Kakashi stepped in close and thrust his short sword straight at Fang Xu's chest.
Fang Xu immediately formed hand seals.
Poof!
White smoke burst out.
Two clones rushed out from either side of him.
Kakashi's gaze remained unchanged as he swept his short sword across.
The clone on the left was cut apart.
He kicked the clone on the right into nothing as well.
But in that brief instant, Fang Xu had already opened up some distance, and his kunai stabbed toward Kakashi again, wreathed in lightning.
Kakashi turned sideways to evade it and slashed back with his short sword.
"Finally using the Three Body Technique?"
Fang Xu's voice was steady.
"If I didn't, you'd overwhelm me."
Kakashi said nothing.
He pushed hard off the ground, and his short sword moved even faster.
Fang Xu used the Clone Technique to disrupt his view, then the Transformation Technique to briefly throw off his judgment of his position.
But Kakashi had far more experience than others his age.
A fake was still a fake. Clones had no weight.
The Transformation Technique changed appearances, but not the rhythm of his footwork.
Within moments, Kakashi had seen through most of Fang Xu's supporting tricks.
"It's over."
Kakashi spoke quietly, slipping his short sword around Fang Xu's kunai and sweeping the back of the blade toward his ribs.
The strike was too precise. Fang Xu could not dodge it.
Poof!
The instant the back of the blade struck, Fang Xu turned into a substitution log.
Kakashi's expression changed.
Substitution Technique!
"Behind me."
He immediately spun around.
Fang Xu had already appeared three meters behind him.
His hands rapidly formed seals.
Lightning Release chakra gathered in his palm, and blue-white lightning instantly compressed into a ball.
Crackle!
A piercing electrical crackle erupted.
Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Technique!
At such close range, every hair on Kakashi's body stood on end.
This was no ordinary clash of kunai during a spar.
If that lightning ball hit him head-on, he would be seriously injured even if he survived.
Fang Xu did not hesitate. He flicked his wrist.
The lightning ball shot out with a roar.
Kakashi had no time to dash clear and could only form hand seals as well.
Poof!
White smoke burst up.
His body vanished instantly, leaving only a substitution log in his place.
Boom!
The lightning ball slammed into the substitution log.
The log exploded into pieces on the spot, sending charred fragments flying in all directions, while electrical arcs scorched a patch of grass along the riverbank black.
Fang Xu landed, his breathing noticeably heavier.
Kakashi appeared a short distance away, his chest heaving too.
He glanced at the shattered substitution log, then looked at Fang Xu.
"That move of yours was pretty brutal."
Fang Xu shook out his numb hand.
"You weren't exactly gentle with that last sword strike either."
Kakashi fell silent for a moment.
That was true.
If Fang Xu had not used the Substitution Technique just then, his ribs certainly would have suffered, even though Kakashi had used the back of his blade.
They faced each other from over ten meters apart. Neither charged in immediately.
Eight or nine minutes had passed since their first clash.
Throughout those eight or nine minutes, their speed had barely dropped.
Intense close-quarters combat drained far more energy than ordinary training.
Kakashi's sword hand was trembling slightly.
The impacts had opened tiny cracks in the web of his hand, his palm was numb, and his fingers still stung with lingering electricity.
Fang Xu was not faring well either.
Maintaining Lightning Mode continuously drained his stamina quickly.
He had also just used the Three Body Technique and the Lightning Ball Technique in succession, depleting a portion of his chakra.
The electrical arcs across his body were no longer as stable as they had been at the start.
If they kept fighting, this would no longer be a spar.
Kakashi slowly lowered his short sword.
"Let's stop."
Fang Xu did not stand down immediately.
Kakashi caught his breath, his tone calm.
"Call it a draw."
Fang Xu watched him for a few seconds, then let out a breath too.
"I'm nearly at my limit too."
He released Lightning Mode.
The blue-white arcs across his body gradually dispersed, and a distinct wave of exhaustion immediately swept through him.
Fang Xu looked down at the kunai in his hand.
Several more chips now marred its edge.
If he kept meeting the sword head-on, this kunai would most likely be ruined.
He put the kunai back into his Ninja Tool Pouch.
Kakashi sheathed his short sword as well.
For Fang Xu, this fight had been well worth it.
Those three thugs in the alley had been no test of his limits at all.
But Kakashi was different.
His short sword, taijutsu, combat judgment, and timing with the Substitution Technique had all put Fang Xu under tremendous pressure.
It was precisely that pressure that had made Fang Xu truly link Lightning Mode, sword techniques, the Three Body Technique, and the Lightning Ball Technique together for the first time.
Before, he had only practiced them separately.
Lightning Mode was Lightning Mode.
Sword techniques were sword techniques.
Lightning Ball was Lightning Ball.
The Three Body Technique was the Three Body Technique.
But just now, he had needed to decide what to use in an instant.
When to charge in with Lightning Mode.
When to use sword techniques to seize position.
When to use the Clone Technique to obscure his opponent's view.
When to use the Substitution Technique to escape a lethal attack.
When to use Lightning Ball to force Kakashi to use a substitution.
This spar had been more useful than ten days of training alone.
Fang Xu also gained a clearer understanding of where he stood.
He could already overwhelm ordinary students.
Against a genius like Kakashi, he could fight to a draw, but he relied on Lightning Mode and bursts of ninjutsu to do it.
If they competed purely in swordsmanship and taijutsu, he was still at a disadvantage.
He still needed to shore up his fundamentals.
Kakashi walked over, his expression somewhat complicated.
"Why do you hide your abilities at school?"
Fang Xu looked at him.
"I wasn't deliberately hiding them."
Kakashi clearly did not believe him.
"Lightning Mode, the Lightning Ball Technique, and that kendo just now. You call that not hiding your abilities?"
Fang Xu shook his head.
"I only developed Lightning Mode recently."
"I haven't had the Lightning Ball Technique down for long either."
"I really wasn't this strong before."
Kakashi stared at him for a while.
"Recently?"
"Yeah."
Fang Xu answered calmly.
"War is coming. I don't want to die too soon after graduation, so I've been training pretty hard lately."
Kakashi did not ask any more questions.
The explanation sounded reasonable.
Yet it was a little too reasonable.
An ordinary student had started working hard under the pressure of an impending war, then developed Lightning Mode, mastered Lightning Release ninjutsu, and reached the beginner level in kendo, all in a short time.
Had anyone else said that, Kakashi probably would not have believed a single word.
But Fang Xu had not fought like a seasoned veteran just now.
Many of the details genuinely showed the roughness of a beginner.
Kakashi still had doubts.
But every ninja had secrets.
He was not someone who would reveal all his trump cards either.
Since Fang Xu did not want to say more, there was no need to keep pressing him.