"After you forfeit, you'll be teleported outside the barrier. The Konoha Medical Division will be waiting there," Kakashi explained calmly, laying out his plan with flawless logic.
But no one answered him. Instead, everyone stared at Kakashi as though he had lost his mind.
"Why hasn't anyone given up yet?" Kakashi muttered in confusion. "Is Shigure really that unpopular? He's on the verge of death, and his teammates are just… laughing? That doesn't make any sense!"
Then came a single noise.
Bang!
White smoke erupted. The audience snapped their heads toward the sound—where Uchiha Shigure had supposedly fallen. The body dissolved in smoke.
"This… impossible!" Kakashi's voice cracked in disbelief. "That was a clone?! Shigure was a shadow clone this whole time?! How?!"
Before he could collect his thoughts, a voice spoke directly behind him.
"Kakashi… you lose."
Shigure's tone was calm but commanding. The boy pressed a kunai lightly to Kakashi's throat. One wrong move, and the genius of the Hatake clan would be finished.
Kakashi froze. "N-no… I've been watching you! The whole time! How could you possibly… when did you even cast a Shadow Clone?!"
He replayed the fight in his mind. He had held back nothing—he had wielded the White Fang sword style, unleashed Chidori, shifted seamlessly between offense and tactics. There had been no opening, no chance Shigure could stand there unscathed.
"You truly cannot accept it, can you, Hatake Kakashi?" Shigure said, voice steady. "Then I'll tell you. I didn't create a clone midway."
"What do you mean?!" Kakashi demanded, sweat trickling down his cheek. "If you didn't, then how is this possible? Was the one I fought some kind of ghost? Even if it was a clone, why did it withstand my Chidori for so long?! A Shadow Clone disappears immediately!"
Shigure finally lowered his kunai and smiled faintly, raising a finger.
"The answer is simple: from the very beginning, the one fighting you was my Shadow Clone."
Kakashi's eyes went wide. He felt as if lightning itself had ripped through him.
"And that clone didn't vanish right after being hit… because my technique is stronger than normal. Maybe it's just because I'm strong," Shigure added, flashing a wry smile.
"Because you're strong?! That's not an explanation! That's—!" Kakashi staggered back, stunned. His mind reeled.
He had just been given a reality too cruel to accept: that he had fought, bled, and gone all out against a clone.
"How…? How is this possible? I am Konoha's number one genius! And yet… I lost to a five-year-old's clone?! This can't be real!"
Beside them, Uchiha Shigure's teammates—Hyūga Akane and Hatake Kusuo—watched in silence. The familiar duo of Obito and Rin exchanged uneasy glances before speaking up.
"Enough, Kakashi," Obito said reluctantly. "We lost. Even if the three of us fought together, we wouldn't defeat Shigure."
"Don't call him 'Junior Master!'" Kakashi snapped, still trembling. His chest heaved with angry, ragged breaths. "Uchiha Shigure! Why did you only send your Shadow Clone to fight me? Do you look down on me that much?! Am I not even worthy to face your real self?!"
Shigure tilted his head. This Kakashi… so obsessed. Then again, it was precisely that obsession that would keep driving him forward.
"Kakashi," Shigure said softly, "I didn't use my clone because you were weak. I used it because my real strength is too overwhelming. If I had fought you personally… I might have killed you by accident."
There was a beat of stunned silence. Even Rin and Obito stammered, unsure if they'd heard correctly.
"You're claiming that you're too strong?" Rin whispered, incredulous.
Kakashi's fists shook. "Don't mock me! Even if that's true, I would rather lose to your real body! Otherwise, I, Hatake Kakashi, will never acknowledge this defeat!"
Typical Kakashi—arrogant and unyielding, but unwavering in his pride.
Shigure sighed. He glanced at Kusuo, Akane, Rin, and Obito. Then he looked back into Kakashi's blazing, determined eyes.
"Very well," Shigure declared. "One final chance. Fight me directly. But if you lose… no denials, no anger. You admit I'm stronger. Next time, greet me properly—call me Uncle Shigure. Any objections?"
Kakashi didn't even flinch. "No more talk! Come at me!"
With a sharp glare, he drew the White Fang's short sword and lunged. His blade gleamed as he aimed to cut Shigure down in one decisive strike.
"This kid…" Shigure muttered, shaking his head. "Even Naruto had the sense to use clones first before charging…"
His form shimmered—and vanished with a bang. Kakashi's eyes darted wildly in every direction.
"Where are you?! Show yourself! Fight me properly!" Kakashi shouted, voice cracking in desperation.
Obito and Rin stared with wide eyes. Neither had ever seen their brilliant teammate lose his composure so completely.
Then Shigure's voice thundered through the arena. "You want the truth? I'll show you what no textbook or scroll can teach—the strongest technique in the ninja world!"
His chakra flared; the ground itself seemed to vibrate. Kusuo frowned deeply, sensing the danger.
"Shigure, don't go too far," Kusuo called out. "He's still my cousin."
"As comrades of Konoha, show mercy!" Rin pleaded desperately.
"Uncle Shigure! Enough!" Obito shouted. "We admit defeat! Please, don't kill him! Kakashi may be annoying, but he doesn't deserve death!"
But Shigure remained silent, performing hand seals with precision. The air pulsed with ominous energy.
"Oh no…" Obito gasped, dread flooding his heart. "He really means to kill Kakashi…"
"Run, Kakashi!" he cried desperately. "Otherwise you'll die!"
Death. Kakashi froze, chest tightening. Could Shigure really…? No… but why do I feel it? Am I admitting defeat already...?
It was then that Shigure's voice boomed behind him, as chilling as a death sentence.
"Escape? Too late. The technique is ready. This is the strongest secret in the ninja world! Hatake Kakashi… prepare yourself!"
His hands locked into a Tiger seal. Rin screamed in terror. "No! Uncle Shigure, stop!"
Shigure leapt forward, eyes blazing with deadly intent. "Ninjutsu! Thousand Years of Death!"
Puff!
Two fingers speared upward, striking Kakashi with pinpoint accuracy in the most undignified place imaginable.
For one surreal moment, silence consumed the world. Even the wind seemed to stop blowing.
Obito's jaw dropped. Rin slapped a hand to her mouth. Kusuo buried his face in his palm.
Hatake Kakashi collapsed onto the ground, twitching and wide-eyed in humiliation.
And Shigure… stood proudly with a perfectly serious face, as though he had just unleashed the deadliest technique ever devised.
The arena remained frozen in stunned silence. Then, at last, Obito wheezed out a laugh he could no longer contain.
"Kakashi… taken down by the strongest secret art!"
But the genius of the Hatake clan was in no laughing mood. His face went pale as rage and shame clashed inside him. Slowly, shakily, he began to rise again.
And Shigure… merely looked down, expression unreadable, as if the battle had yet to truly begin.
--
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