"Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!"
At Shengu Xuan's command, over a hundred Shadow Ninjas instantly became a black tide, surging toward Kakashi Hatake at the center of their encirclement from every direction, leaving no blind spots!
Flashing blades, darting spears, and the whistle of flails cutting through the air wove together into a symphony of death!
"Bring it on!"
Facing an assault that would have made any Kage-level fighter's scalp prickle, Kakashi's combat instincts were fully unleashed! His languid air vanished, replaced by the sharpness befitting the son of "Konoha's White Fang"!
"Lightning Blade!"
The piercing chirping of birds erupted! A mass of violent blue lightning gathered in Kakashi's right hand, and he became a bolt of white lightning, charging straight into the tide of shadows!
"Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!"
Nothing could withstand the Lightning Blade's penetrating power! Every Shadow Ninja Kakashi struck head-on was instantly shredded by the violent Lightning Release chakra, turning into a wisp of black smoke.
In a single brief charge, he took down seven or eight Shadow Ninjas!
Yet before Kakashi could catch his breath, he glimpsed the black smoke he had scattered rapidly gathering again behind him out of the corner of his eye!
In less than a second, those seven or eight Shadow Ninjas stood up again, completely unharmed, their crimson eyes still locked firmly on him, as though that lethal attack had merely scratched an itch!
"Immortal bodies?!" Kakashi was shaken to his core.
His Sharingan could see through every ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, yet it could not decipher the composition of these things before him at all! They seemed to exist outside the laws of this world!
"If Lightning Release won't work, I'll use Fire Release for a wide-area attack!"
Kakashi instantly leaped backward, putting distance between them as his hands rapidly formed hand seals!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
An enormous fireball erupted from his mouth, instantly engulfing a dozen or so Shadow Ninjas ahead.
Yet the result was the same. Once the flames dispersed, the Shadow Ninjas shook off the lingering sparks, completely unscathed. They were composed of pure shadow energy; a physical attack like fire could not inflict any real damage on them at all.
"Damn it!"
For the first time, Kakashi's combat rhythm was disrupted.
His opponents feared neither life nor death, never tired, were immune to physical attacks, and were barely affected by ninjutsu. Meanwhile, every time he used the Lightning Blade or a large-scale ninjutsu, he drained tremendous amounts of his own chakra and stamina.
This was a battle of attrition he could never have won from the outset!
"Whoosh!"
A Shadow Ninja wielding a flail swung it at Kakashi's legs from an extremely tricky angle. At the same time, a katana on either side cut off his escape routes.
Kakashi could only bend backward awkwardly, arching his body to evade the attacks, but more attacks followed one after another.
Spears, kunai, punches, kicks... endless attacks came like a violent storm, leaving him no opening even to form hand seals.
Sasuke, buried in the ground, watched in a complete daze.
What was he seeing?
That legendary Copy Ninja, Konoha's Number One Technician, Kakashi Hatake, was actually... being overwhelmed by a group of summoned creatures?!
And he could not fight back at all!
Every attack Kakashi made was precise and efficient, enough to kill any Chunin instantly. But against this unkillable army, all his skill and experience seemed so powerless.
He was like a peerless master trapped in a mire, possessing tremendous skill yet sinking ever deeper.
And the one responsible for all of this, Shengu Xuan, simply stood leisurely outside the battle with his hands in his pockets, as though enjoying a splendid play.
There was not even the slightest change in his eyes.
As though crushing an elite Jonin was as simple to him as eating or drinking.
"This guy... is he really human?" For the first time, Sasuke began to doubt his own reputation as a "genius."
Compared to Shengu Xuan, the Fire Release and Shurikenjutsu he took such pride in were practically children's toys.
"No... at this rate, I'll run out of chakra!"
Kakashi kept twisting and dodging amid the assault, sweat already soaking through his vest. The intensive use of his Sharingan was also making his head begin to ache.
He understood that the only way to break this deadlock was to capture their leader first!
As long as he subdued Shengu Xuan, the caster himself, this bizarre army would naturally crumble!
His mind made up, Kakashi stopped trying to fight. He abruptly hurled several smoke bombs behind him!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Thick white smoke instantly enveloped the entire battlefield!
"Now!"
Under cover of the smoke, Kakashi concentrated all his chakra in his feet and bypassed the Shadowkhan's blockade at top speed, shooting like an arrow straight toward Shengu Xuan outside the battle!
His Sharingan locked firmly onto Shengu Xuan's figure, anticipating every possible move he could make!
Just one second! He was confident he could close in within one second and subdue this arrogant brat with taijutsu!
In the smoke, Shengu Xuan watched Kakashi rushing toward him, and an expectant smile finally curved his lips.
"Finally couldn't help yourself?"
Just an instant before Kakashi's fingertips could touch Shengu Xuan's collar-
[Ding!] [Host detected facing a high-speed surprise attack. Activation conditions met!] [Congratulations! Host has unlocked a new ability: Rabbit Talisman (lightning-fast, utterly unpredictable, absolute speed)!]
Boom-!
An indescribably light and nimble power instantly spread through every part of Shengu Xuan's body!
He felt the entire world slow down at that moment.
Kakashi's lightning-fast charge became as slow as a crawling snail in his eyes. He could even clearly see the three tomoe slowly rotating in Kakashi's Sharingan, along with that startled expression of being "just about to succeed" on his face.
"Too slow."
Within Kakashi's Sharingan vision, Shengu Xuan's figure abruptly, without any warning-vanished.
It was not an afterimage from the Body Flicker Technique, nor a log from the Substitution Technique, but a genuine disappearance into thin air from his locked-on gaze!
"What?!" A towering wave of shock surged through Kakashi's heart!
His Sharingan had actually lost track of him?!
"Sensei, are you looking for me?"
A teasing voice sounded leisurely beside his ear, like a ghost.
Kakashi's body instantly went rigid!
Slowly, with immense difficulty, he turned his head, only to find that Shengu Xuan had appeared behind him at some unknown point.
Even more terrifying, Shengu Xuan was toying with two jingling... bells!
The two bells that should have been hanging at his waist!
He had not even felt when the bells were taken!
"This... is impossible..." Kakashi's voice was dry and hoarse, the shock in his Sharingan already beyond words.
Beyond the Sharingan's ability to track motion?
What kind of speed was this?!
"Fast" could no longer describe it. This was nothing short of... domination at the level of the rules themselves!
Shengu Xuan shook the bells in his hand, making them ring crisply.
He glanced at the alarm clock on the wooden post. Its hands had just reached ten.
"Looks like I didn't need ten minutes."
Shengu Xuan casually tossed one bell to Sasuke nearby, who had only his head sticking out and had already turned completely to stone.
"Here's one for you."
Then he walked over to Sakura, whom Kakashi's genjutsu had rendered unconscious, and tucked the other bell into her hand.
After doing all this, he dusted off his hands, as though he had done something utterly trivial.
"Snap."
Another snap of his fingers.
The hundred-plus Shadow Ninjas that had covered the entire training ground and driven Kakashi into a desperate corner instantly turned into black water, merged into the ground, and vanished without a trace.
The thick smoke dispersed, and sunlight shone down once more.
All that remained on the training ground were Kakashi, panting and drenched in cold sweat; Sasuke, his head sticking out as he questioned his life; Sakura, unconscious but holding a bell; and Naruto, who had just climbed out of the river, looking utterly bewildered.
And Shengu Xuan, who had remained calm and composed from beginning to end, as though everything were under his control.
Shengu Xuan walked up to Kakashi, picked up the copy of Icha Icha Paradise that had fallen to the ground, and handed it back to him with a harmless smile.
"Kakashi-sensei, do we pass now?"
Kakashi stared fixedly at Shengu Xuan. Beyond shock, what filled his eyes even more was a fear that came from the depths of his soul.
Strength, an immortal army, and speed beyond the limits of comprehension...
This had gone completely beyond his understanding of "ninja" and "kekkei genkai."
This was no "treasure of Konoha"!
This was a... monster in human skin! A... demon capable of overturning the entire Shinobi World!
How was he supposed to report everything that had happened today to the Third Hokage?
Say outright that he, Kakashi Hatake, had been utterly... crushed from beginning to end by a twelve-year-old Genin using powers he had never heard of or seen before?
"Who... exactly are you?" Kakashi did not take the book. Instead, in a tone more solemn than ever before, he asked the question that had taken root in his heart.
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