Kakashi Hatake leaned against the tree trunk, waves of pain surging through his body.
He tried moving his wrist, and his joints gave faint creaks. It was not too serious, but moving freely anytime soon would probably be difficult.
For now, he could only focus on recovering from his injuries.
But what Kakashi wanted to know more at that moment was who the enemy was and which faction he belonged to.
The enemy's taijutsu was simple and efficient. Every punch and kick was perfectly placed, without any unnecessary movements or obvious signs of a particular school.
His ninjutsu was ordinary, too: Wind Release: Rending Wind Palm, a perfectly standard B-rank ninjutsu.
His chakra reserves were enormous, at least at Kage level, but not yet at the suffocating level of a tailed beast.
"Strange..." Kakashi said quietly.
He recalled every moment of the fight.
The enemy had never used his full strength.
Kakashi could feel it. Those punches and kicks had looked fierce, but each time, the enemy had pulled his strength before striking a vital point.
When he had kicked Kakashi away, he could easily have used a kunai instead, or aimed for his throat, heart, or temple.
But he had not.
His attacks had always landed somewhere that would cause injury, but not death.
The final palm strike had sent him flying into a tree.
At the time, Kakashi had been down on one knee, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, completely unable to continue fighting.
Yet his opponent still had not seized the opportunity to attack.
He could easily have killed Kakashi.
But he had not.
He had even simply turned around and left.
"He didn't want to kill me..." Kakashi murmured.
He leaned against the tree and closed his eyes.
*He didn't want to kill