Challenging Kakashi

Boom!

A roar split the air.

Guy lashed out with another kick, slamming it into Obito's stomach.

Obito hit the ground again.

This time, he truly didn't want to get back up.

His whole body burned.

Every muscle ached fiercely.

Why is completing a mission so hard...? he thought.

"D-don't stop. Keep going!" Obito groaned shakily.

Anyone who didn't know better might have thought he was... enjoying a massage.

Across from him, Guy lowered his fists and shook his head solemnly.

"Obito-kun, I admire your will. But our match ends here!"

Even their teacher was moved by Obito's spirit.

He had misjudged the boy before.

With perseverance like that, Obito had the makings of a Jonin!

The teacher spoke with a gratified look.

"Obito, you've done well. Let's stop here."

Obito answered without hesitation.

"No!"

As someone with a severe need to see things through,

he couldn't allow a failed mission on his record.

He addressed Guy with blazing passion.

"Beast Bro, Youth allows no compromise."

"Keep beating me! I won't give up until my Youth burns out!"

He glanced at his system panel and muttered under his breath.

"Hmm. My fire of Youth has at least another six minutes and forty-seven seconds."

Everything Obito had said about Youth

struck Guy straight in the heart.

At that moment,

Guy felt as though he had found a kindred spirit. Tears streamed down his face.

"Obito-kun, this is Youth!"

"I'll keep giving it my all, because that's the greatest respect I can show you!"

Guy sobbed his eyes out

as he punched and kicked Obito on the ground.

The sight was so bizarre

that people couldn't help laughing.

No one knew who laughed first.

Soon laughter broke out all around them. Even Rin laughed through her distress.

Obito covered his face with both arms and lay on the ground in despair.

Guy was so painfully earnest...

He was actually hitting harder than before, damn it!

Obito felt a little melancholy.

He hadn't expected his first beating since crossing over to be one he'd asked for himself.

Fate was like a girl. You could never tell what she was thinking.

[Choice successful! Reward obtained: Taijutsu improvement (Genin level)!]

The instant the system notification sounded,

Obito shouted,

"Stop, stop! I surrender!"

Guy hurriedly pulled back his leg, crouched down, and helped Obito up.

"Are you all right, Obito-kun?"

Obito's legs trembled as he said bitterly,

"Do I look all right to you?"

Both his eyes were bruised, and blood ran from his nose.

His little face was swollen beyond recognition, not much smaller than a pig's head.

"I'm sorry, Obito-kun..."

Guy scratched his head awkwardly, feeling guilty.

Seeing him like that,

Obito felt a little embarrassed instead.

After all, he had asked for that beating.

If Guy had done anything wrong, it was only that he'd taken Obito a little too seriously...

With that thought,

Obito held out his hand, extending his index and middle fingers toward Guy.

Guy froze for a moment.

Then he extended his own hand and hooked two fingers around Obito's.

The Seal of Reconciliation was complete!

Their teacher led the applause.

The children around them clapped from the heart.

Even Kakashi joined in.

That match had changed his impression of Obito.

When the applause died down,

the teacher treated Obito with Medical Ninjutsu and offered his assessment.

"Thank you, Obito and Might Guy, for an excellent match."

Obito felt himself swelling with pride at the praise.

Then the teacher's next words crushed him.

"Although Obito's fundamentals are a complete mess and he has a great deal to improve,"

"his refusal to admit defeat is something we can all learn from!"

"Now, who's up next?"

From the crowd,

a freckled boy stepped forward. It was Nagano Nami.

He rolled his neck and declared loudly,

"I am! I challenge Kakashi!"

"Oh?"

The teacher's gaze sharpened, and he nodded.

"Very well. The second match is Nami versus Kakashi."

Kakashi stepped out of the crowd too.

The two took their places in the center of the clearing and formed the Seal of Confrontation.

"Good luck, Kakashi!"

"Oh my gosh, Kak looks so handsome making Hand Seals!"

"Just wait until Kak starts fighting. He'll look even cooler!"

The girls' cheers were all for Kakashi, and they grated on Nagano Nami.

Before Kakashi could lower his hand,

Nami roared, drew a kunai, and charged.

The kunai traced an arc through the air.

In a flash, it stabbed toward Kakashi's face.

But Kakashi shifted lightly on his toes.

A slight turn of his body was enough to dodge.

"Hmph!"

Nagano Nami snorted.

He drew the kunai back, turned the thrust into a slash, and swung at Kakashi again.

Someone in the crowd cried out.

"Ah! Watch out, Kak!"

Kakashi's eyes remained calm.

He seemed utterly unconcerned by the incoming kunai.

Instead of retreating, he stepped forward and raised his arm at an angle.

With an effortless palm strike, he hit Nagano Nami's wrist.

Clang!

Pain shot through Nagano Nami's wrist, and the kunai fell to the ground.

"Tch. He thought he could challenge Kak? He's way out of his league!"

"Exactly! Where did he get the nerve?"

The mockery cut into Nagano Nami like knives.

His face darkened.

Damn it!

Nagano Nami growled,

"I was only going to play around with you, but now I'll have to use that move."

"You forced me to... Taijutsu: Nagano Barrage!"

Nagano Nami's speed surged.

Punch after punch rained down, trapping Kakashi in a storm of blows.

The teacher's eyes lit up.

He nodded, then shook his head.

Nagano Nami's performance was impressive enough.

His father was a Chunin, after all.

That gave him an advantage many students lacked.

With a solid foundation passed down to him,

few children his age could match Nagano Nami.

Unfortunately... this time, his opponent was Kakashi.

The talent and family background Nagano Nami took such pride in

were nothing compared to Kakashi's.

As for talent,

in more than ten years of teaching, he had never seen a better student than Kakashi.

As for family background,

with Konoha's White Fang among them, the Hatake Clan was one of Konoha's most prominent families.

It was just a shame...

The teacher seemed to recall something and let out a long sigh.

The match continued.

Under Nagano Nami's relentless assault, Kakashi's movements were elusive.

He was like a small boat in a storm, rising and falling with towering waves.

Yet no matter how the waves tossed him, the boat never capsized.

Wasn't that infuriating?

At every critical moment,

Kakashi dodged Nagano Nami's attacks by a hair's breadth.

He came through the storm without a drop on him.

Nagano Nami spent ages attacking nothing but air.

After that entire combination, he hadn't even touched the hem of Kakashi's clothes.

All he had done was leave himself panting.

"Do you want to continue?" Kakashi asked calmly.

One was utterly composed; the other could only rage helplessly. The difference was plain to see.

The jeers around them grew louder.

Nagano Nami felt trapped in an embarrassing position.

Kakashi's calm question

sounded like a taunt to him.

He said nothing.

Burning with shame and anger, he charged Kakashi again.

I'll make him pay!

That was the only thought in his mind.