In Naruto's perception, there were two Kakashis in the field, both solid bodies. They were likely prepared by Kakashi long before he entered Sage Mode.
The one speaking was just a phantom, a simple Shadow Clone Jutsu taught at the Ninja Academy.
One had to admit, Kakashi was truly pushing himself to save chakra.
Shadow Clones were very special. Naruto couldn't distinguish which was the original body, so he and Sasuke could only split up and pursue.
Within the forest, Naruto quickly approached, forming a hand blade and directly thrusting it into a tree, his hand passing clean through it.
Behind the tree, Kakashi looked at the hand that had just grazed him. His kunai jabbed back, aiming straight for the wrist.
On the other side, Naruto retracted his arm and, from behind the tree, unleashed a side kick towards Kakashi.
The tree snapped under the kick. Kakashi had already retreated two steps, flashing out of the attack range.
He had calculated that even if he plunged the kunai into Naruto's leg, the subsequent force would be enough to make him cough blood, while Naruto would just pull out the kunai and be fine in less than two seconds.
Looking at Naruto emerging from the wood splinters, Kakashi said, "That's ruthless. Aren't you afraid I'd poison the kunai?"
"Not afraid, I have a medical ninja backing me up," Naruto said with a smile. Sakura could even concoct an antidote for Sasori's poison; other poisons were naturally no problem.
Speaking of poison, he thought of the medicine Sakura secretly slipped him, instructing him never to mention it. He reached into his ninja tool pouch behind him and pulled out a... brick.
Brick: Ancient Divine Artifact. Possessing this artifact allows one to forcefully reason with an opponent, or apply a red buff to them.
Enchantment Effect: After applying a red buff to a male, continue to apply a hidden buff. Hormones rapidly secrete. This effect is extremely difficult to detect, and triggers after eight to ten hours.
Being able to detoxify naturally meant being able to concoct poisons. Although she didn't always use it, Sakura's poison was definitely not weak. So, after obtaining that colorless and odorless poison, Naruto cautiously found a place to enchant his weapon. And to lower vigilance, he even went so far as to enchant a brick.
An ordinary person would truly never think that someone would poison a brick.
Gripping the brick, Naruto accelerated towards Kakashi, aiming to strike his head.
"Tsk." The kunai scraped against the brick, sending small fragments flying and scattering in the air.
Letting go, Naruto retracted his hand before Kakashi's other kunai could stab him. He clenched his fist and hammered towards Kakashi's chest, but Kakashi lifted his elbow, deflecting the punch upwards towards his shoulder. Kakashi crouched slightly, dodging the punch, and leaned his upper body back.
Naruto's sweeping punch aimed at the head missed. He swiftly grabbed the still-falling brick and aimed it again at Kakashi's newly raised head.
The Sharingan's observational abilities and his excellent physical reactions allowed Kakashi to prepare sufficiently. He raised his hand and blocked with his kunai.
"Tsk."
The kunai and the brick clashed again, once more sending fragments flying.
Jiraiya, observing the battle, lightly nibbled on a twig as he reminisced. "I always feel like Kakashi's going to get shafted."
"What makes you say that?" Tsunade asked, keeping her eyes fixed on the sparring pair, without turning her head.
"My intuition. Intuition born from being shafted," Jiraiya's tone was indescribably glum. When he first took Naruto out of the village, he already had the intention of preventing Naruto from dragging Konoha into trouble. This kid would screw over anyone who got close to him.
From the results, it was indeed so. At least, he himself was severely shafted.
He, the great Sage Jiraiya, now gets subtly asked if he feels nauseous when he goes to the Kabukicho district. Who would believe that?
On the other side, as Naruto fought, he noticed something was off with Kakashi. He dodged a somewhat inhuman move and sensed Kakashi's strangely flowing chakra. He glanced up at Kakashi's forehead. "You activated the Eight Gates Released Formation!"
"The Second Gate, within safety limits," Kakashi replied. His clone had already died, and Sasuke was definitely coming over. If he didn't end this quickly, he might get sandwiched.
He hadn't learned the Fourth Hokage's Sage Mode well, nor had he ever used it. This was Kakashi's first time seeing someone use Sage Mode, and his feeling was:
What the hell is this thing? This close-combat suppressive power is on par with Guy opening five gates, and there's no time limit. Are you even human?
Left with no choice, he could only open two gates to release his physical limitations. Otherwise, once Sasuke arrived, he might be taken down in less than two minutes.
Looking at Naruto's surprised gaze, Kakashi smiled and said, "Naruto, a reminder: do not look directly into the Sharingan during battle."
His tomoe spun. Kakashi activated a genjutsu: "Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique."
Immediately after, he quickly made hand seals: "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu."
As soon as he sank underground, there was a loud bang above his head. Kakashi suppressed the surging qi and blood, a wry smile playing on his lips.
He dispelled a Sharingan-enhanced genjutsu that quickly. How am I supposed to fight?
On the ground, Naruto pulled his leg out of the earth, a smile on his lips.
Although Kakashi escaped, his goal was achieved. By engaging Kakashi in combat amidst the brick fragments, even with his mask, Kakashi would inhale some. And by inhaling it, the Hatake clan's population might double.
From one to two, this would prevent every battle Kakashi fought from becoming a clan-wide battle.
This was much more tragic than the time they almost wiped out the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans fighting the Grass Ninja Village. This was a true clan-wide battle.
Naruto felt that he had truly gone to great lengths to prevent the Hatake clan's extinction.
At this moment, Sasuke Uchiha, who had left the village after the Fourth Great Ninja War in the original story, arrived. He stared at the ground. "Where is he?"
Naruto didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Sakura, who had arrived later, and shouted, "Sakura-chan, ten meters to the left, smash!"
Sakura didn't say a word. With two steps, she clenched her right fist and slammed it down: "Ha!"
"Boom."
Sakura was indeed a woman who could make Kaguya bow. Shattering mountains with a single punch was nothing to her.
With just one punch, the ground shattered, and the entire forest trembled. Even Iruka in the distance was almost shaken off the tree.
Sakura retracted her fist and looked at Kakashi, who had jumped out, smiling mischievously. "Found you, Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto landed on a larger rock, turned his head, and asked, "Can you take it?"
Sasuke knew what he was asking. Thinking of his own defense, he calmly said, "No, I can't."
He really couldn't take it, but she couldn't hit him either.
Kakashi looked at the three students opposite him, displaying a pitiful expression. "Can I surrender?"
"No, you can't. We've just warmed up," Naruto pulled out a Kusanagi blade and tossed it to Sasuke. He had originally come to eat and hadn't brought any weapons.
Sasuke took the blade and swung it diagonally, cutting through the air to express his meaning. He didn't even need to test the feel of it; he was familiar with it.
"Exactly, exactly," Sakura echoed. She felt good. At least this time she got an assist.
"Alright then, give me some time to prepare. Sigh, my chakra..." Kakashi also felt that ending it right after starting was a bit unreasonable. He covered his eye with one hand and said, "Speaking of which, I have to thank you, Sasuke, for those materials you sent me. They made me realize another way to use the Sharingan."
When he removed his hand, he revealed a Sharingan in his eye with a boomerang pattern—a Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Impossible!" The cool young man's serious expression crumbled. He said in shock, "How could you have that?"
He had found the conditions for unlocking the Mangekyo Sharingan in the Uchiha underground altar and had worked for so long without unlocking it. Yet, a "dead fish" just unlocked it casually. How could he accept that?
"We'll talk after the fight." Naruto patted Sasuke, telling him to calm down. He was familiar with this road. Kakashi was playing mind games again.
Naruto channeled Nine-Tails Chakra. His eyes turned into a crosshairs, aiming at Kakashi's face. Now, if he had an AK, he could get a headshot.
He took out a tablecloth from his space and was about to tear it, but then he saw lightning crackling around Sasuke's body. Chidori extended from his hand and enveloped his entire body. He was familiar with this; it was Chidori Current, Sasuke's self-created ninjutsu, combining offense and defense.
But the next action Sasuke made baffled him.
He saw the electric current on Sasuke's body surging, contracting, and finally pressing into his skin. Suddenly, it burst out from one point, then darted to another side and disappeared. The current moved faster and faster, finally looking like a layer of hollowed-out armor.
Naruto was startled. "Lightning Armor!?"
You even copied that?
"Improved version." Sasuke's lips curved slightly. This way, I shouldn't be left too far behind by you.
The shock Sasuke received from the Raikage, who, covered in Lightning Armor, suppressed a cheating Naruto in their battle, was immense. He had never seen a ninjutsu that could activate cells to such an extreme. Most importantly, it could suppress Naruto. So he copied it.
But the Raikage's was a family-inherited improved ninjutsu. With a different physique, it wouldn't have the same effect. So Sasuke spent over three months combining it with his Chidori Current to create an initial version.
Naruto pursed his lips. He was more familiar with this routine: copy first, then improve, then defeat the originator.
However, whether he could defeat the Raikage was something Naruto couldn't bother with now. Defeating Kakashi was more important.
He tore a strip of cloth, blindfolded his eyes, and tied a knot behind his head. Naruto gestured at Kakashi in a starting stance. "Are you ready, Kakashi-sensei?"
Kamui's power was too immense, so Kakashi wouldn't use it. However, the Mangekyo Sharingan's genjutsu could control even Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts. Although he didn't know if Kakashi could use it, he had to be cautious.
If Kakashi managed to see the Fox's current appearance through his eyes, Konoha would definitely experience a Sage-Pig chaos today.
So Naruto directly covered his eyes. Anyway, with Sage Mode, he didn't need his sight.
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