The forest around the tower shimmered in the haze of late afternoon, alive with tension. Uchiha Shigure crouched low in the undergrowth, his eyes fixed on Kakashi, Obito, and Rin as they secured the third score card. Every breath was measured, every heartbeat timed with care.
Not yet… wait for the opening. Don't be impatient… stay calm.
The three Team Minato genin relaxed for only a fleeting moment after stowing their prize. That was when Shigure's gaze hardened.
"Now! Attack!" he barked, voice sharp as steel but no louder than a whisper against the breeze.
Hyūga Akane and Hatake Kusuo sprang forward instantly, flanking him on either side as their ambush was unleashed.
"Wind Style: Breakthrough!" Kusuo shouted, hands flashing through seals. A pressurized torrent of wind blasted down the clearing, howling toward Team Minato.
Shigure's own seals flowed seamlessly in sync with Kusuo's jutsu. "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
An immense dragon-shaped torrent of flame spewed from his mouth, its roaring inferno immediately caught and multiplied by Kusuo's gale. Though the combined release wasn't a true kekkei tōta fusion, the effect was devastating: the fire grew in intensity, scorching the sky with amplified heat as the blast streaked forward.
"Move!" Kakashi shouted, his instincts screaming. He wrenched Obito and Rin with him, diving aside as the ground behind them exploded in a thunderclap of heat and smoke. A gaping crater fumed where they had been standing seconds before.
"What power…!" Kakashi muttered, genuinely rattled.
But it wasn't carelessness that saved them—it was Shigure's intent. While the flame-dragon raged, he had subtly guided its path, deliberately missing the three targets. His mouth curved faintly as the battlefield split exactly the way he wanted. Akane lunged toward Rin, their clash beginning with the sharp snap of kunai. Kusuo's movement blurred, locking Obito into a duel neither of them could easily escape.
That left Kakashi facing Shigure.
Their eyes met, sparks flying in the silence between their breaths.
"It's you, Uchiha Shigure," said Kakashi, pupils narrowing with recognition. "I've been waiting for this. I wanted the chance to test myself against you… and to prove I can defeat you."
"Shigure?!" Obito's voice cracked as shock distracted him for half a moment—enough time for Kusuo to force him back with relentless offense.
Even Rin gasped, realizing who their ambushers were. "So it really was you… Master Shigure."
Shigure straightened, his tone calm but edged with confidence. "Don't call it bullying. You left your backs wide open. If I hadn't held back, the blast just now could have wiped all three of you out at once. I gave you a chance by splitting the battlefield. Consider this my respect as your junior."
His onyx eyes gleamed. "Defeat the one before you, even just one of us, and we'll hand over all our cards and leave this tower quietly. That is my promise."
For a breath, silence reigned. Then Kakashi's mouth curved upward in a razor grin.
"A promise, huh? You think you're so far above us, so confident your side can't lose. But since you're underestimating us—" He drew the short White Fang tanto from his back, its steel flashing with his father's legacy. "—then I'll prove your arrogance wrong through battle!"
With a cry, Kakashi charged.
Shigure blurred forward as well, their clash unleashing sparks as kunai struck the White Fang blade. Kakashi reacted with lightning reflexes, flipping backward and slashing for a counterattack. But Shigure read his movements as if turning the pages of a book.
Kakashi's strengths were clear: speed, talent with the blade, and the beginnings of his father's teachings. His Chidori was still new, undeveloped, and chakra-draining. At the moment, all he had to rely on was swordsmanship—against someone even faster.
Shigure's eyes narrowed. He palm-struck the air.
"Eight Trigrams: Empty Palm!"
A burst of compressed force thundered invisible but undeniable. Kakashi instinctively raised his tanto, diverting the shockwave, but the sheer momentum shoved him backward. Dust curled upward as he stabbed the blade into the earth to brace himself.
"That… force?!" Kakashi hissed. His arms ached from the transmitted impact.
Shigure didn't give him time to recover. The moment Kakashi found his footing, a boot struck his chest and launched him across the clearing. The dust rose thick, obscuring his form.
Shigure's silhouette flickered. In an eyeblink, he reappeared behind Kakashi mid-air, kunai poised for a killing strike.
Kakashi twisted just in time, his tanto intercepting with a screech of metal. Sparks rained—
—but Shigure's free hand churned with spinning chakra.
"Rasengan!"
The spiraling sphere slammed into Kakashi's shoulder and blasted him backward into a wall of stone. Rock and dust erupted around him. The pace left no breathing room.
"Kakashi!" Rin and Obito cried.
But Shigure only shook his head. "How disappointing, Kakashi. You're too predictable."
And then—wood splinters flew. Kakashi exploded into a log.
"Substitution technique…" Shigure muttered, as silver flickered in the corner of his vision. His danger sense spiked.
"Chidori!"
Lightning crackled like a thousand birds, Kakashi diving in fast from behind.
But Shigure's speed eclipsed him. With a step that blurred, he vanished and reappeared directly in Kakashi's path. His kunai-free hand snapped around Kakashi's wrist like a vice, halting the Chidori mid-thrust.
"Too naive." Shigure pressed down, the sparks of the chidori guttering weakly against his grip. "Chidori is strong, but full of flaws. Show me something else, Kakashi."
Kakashi smirked suddenly. "Something else? Fine. But you won't like it."
Shigure's eyes narrowed. The Kakashi in his hand puffed into smoke.
"Shadow Clone?!" The realization struck fast as his instincts screamed in warning. "So inside that dust—he didn't just Substitute. He split his chakra again!?"
"Too late!"
The real Kakashi streaked in from behind with a fully charged Chidori, the rasping cry of thunderbirds deafening. Before Shigure could pivot—
The lightning blade pierced him clean through.
Shigure's eyes widened, his vision flashing. Then his body convulsed and dropped heavily to the earth.
"I… won." Kakashi's face was fierce, breath ragged but grin unshaken. "We're both rising stars of Konoha… but it looks like Hatake Kakashi stands higher."
Obito froze, horror dawning in his wide black eyes. Rin's hands flew to her mouth.
"Shigure!" Rin gasped. "Kakashi—what have you done?! You struck him down!"
"This isn't war!" Obito shouted, distraught. "We were just competing, and you… you stabbed him like that?!"
Kakashi grunted, lowering his sparking hand as the crackle died. "Relax. I missed his vital points. He's only unconscious, not dead. But if you keep this up…" His eyes flicked to Akane and Kusuo's fights. "I can't promise he'll stay safe."
The weight of his words hit like a hammer. The battle had turned—and for the moment, Kakashi stood victorious, his tanto shimmering with menace.
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