"That movement… did Guy teach him?"
Hatake Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he watched Uchiha Sasuke on the screen, the thought slipping out unbidden.
That entire sequence of movements was way too familiar. He and Guy had sparred and bickered for years. If he had to rank the most important people in his life, Uchiha Obito would be first, mainly because he was dead. The living could never compete with the dead.
Second was Guy.
Precisely because they had clashed so many times, Kakashi knew the Konoha Whirlwind style inside and out. The resemblance was uncanny. Almost identical.
From what he could tell, the reason he and Sasuke arrived late was obvious. There was a very high chance he had put Sasuke through some kind of special training. What he did not expect was that the training focused on Guy's Konoha Whirlwind-style taijutsu.
Come to think of it, Kakashi himself knew those moves too. With the Sharingan, he had picked them up instinctively. If he could copy something as complex as ninjutsu, taijutsu was even easier.
If he had passed on the taijutsu he learned from Guy to Sasuke, then everything made sense.
They probably trained so seriously that they lost track of time.
But before he could think further, he saw Sasuke vanish from the spot in an instant as Gaara's sand attacked, displaying shocking speed.
When Sasuke reappeared, he was already behind Gaara.
"So fast. Just like that guy back then."
The image shifted to Gaara's earlier fight with Rock Lee, where Lee had broken through Gaara's defense using pure taijutsu. Gaara had not even had time to react.
The punch Sasuke threw now was filled with Rock Lee's shadow. It was almost a perfect replica of Lee's movements.
That finally answered one of Kakashi's questions. So it was not Guy who taught him, but Guy's student, the one called Rock Lee.
And Lee's speed was terrifying in its own right. Kakashi thought about it. That kid had only graduated last year, just a Genin. Yet purely in terms of speed, he was almost on par with an ordinary Tokubetsu Jonin.
In taijutsu, speed was power.
"Guy, what kind of monster did you raise?" Kakashi murmured with a sigh.
Even Guy himself on the screen was stunned by Sasuke's speed. It was practically Rock Lee's standard pace, and even the taijutsu movements were exactly the same.
"So this is the Armor of Sand? Come on, then."
Sasuke beckoned with his hand, a smug grin on his face.
"He really is showing off."
Uchiha Itachi could not help laughing as he watched his brother's behavior. It was strangely amusing.
No wonder Kaede Kitahara teased him about it. Sasuke really did look for every chance to show off.
On the screen, Gaara seemed momentarily stunned, failing to counterattack immediately. Sasuke clearly could not hold back anymore. He wanted to show the results of his training.
He launched himself at Gaara with astonishing speed, so fast that Gaara could not even react in time.
Almost instantly, one kick sent Gaara flying.
"What's wrong? Is that all you've got?" Sasuke said coolly, one foot raised.
Outside the screen, Sasuke watched himself and could not help pursing his lips. Fine, maybe it was a bit showy, but it was really cool.
And that future version of him was incredibly fast. So fast that his current self needed to activate the Sharingan just to follow his movements.
If he fought that future version of himself now, he would not stand a chance. Even if his eyes could keep up, his body could not.
It looked like the closest future to him so far. In that future, he trained with Kakashi, and his strength had increased by an absurd amount.
That meant Kakashi was still holding back plenty of his true skills.
Sasuke's heart had been restless before. The thought of Uchiha Itachi's overwhelming power, and Shimura Danzo lurking in the shadows, made him feel powerless. Because of that, he had been almost desperate to seek out Orochimaru.
But now, his impatience eased slightly.
Konoha was not without its own path to strength. After all, it was the strongest ninja village in the world. Even Hatake Kakashi, who had seemed unremarkable at first glance, could raise his strength this much.
Of course, that "unremarkable" was only in comparison to the Kage Level monsters who appeared later.
As long as one did not compare him to Kage Level fighters, Hatake Kakashi was not afraid of anyone.
"That armor… let me peel it off."
Sasuke sneered as he launched another attack.
He was moving too fast. Just running across the field stirred up violent gusts of wind.
Everyone could see his growth. This fight had turned into a one-sided beating, Gaara being sent reeling again and again.
"Sasuke-kun, you really are a genius beyond anything I imagined. It took me many years to reach that level of speed, and you… you did it in just one month."
Rock Lee stared at Sasuke in shock.
He did not know where Sasuke had learned his movements, but there was no doubt about it. Reaching this level in just one month left him utterly stunned.
So this was what a true prodigy looked like.
At this point, though, both fighters were already panting heavily.
Such intense taijutsu exchanges consumed enormous stamina. Even for Sasuke, the burden was immense. As for Gaara, who had been taking the hits, he was gasping for breath as well.
Whether attacking or being attacked, both were burning through vast amounts of energy.
Soon, Kakashi on the platform revealed the truth, clearing up the confusion for everyone. Guy and Rock Lee inside the scene, and Itachi and Sasuke watching from outside.
It turned out Sasuke had once activated his Sharingan and mimicked Rock Lee's movements. With only a single tomoe, he could not fully replicate techniques like a three-tomoe Sharingan could, but taijutsu was not ninjutsu. After watching a few times, he had memorized the motions.
Of course, that only covered the movements. Achieving a speed close to Rock Lee's after removing his weights was not something the Sharingan could copy.
During that month, Sasuke had suffered plenty to reach this level.
"But taijutsu alone isn't enough to defeat that guy from Sunagakure."
Rock Lee thought back to his own battle with Gaara. Taijutsu at this level was not enough.
If it were, he would have beaten Gaara back then and would not have had to wait until now.
At the time, he had not only used his standard speed. He had even opened the Fourth Gate, yet still failed to defeat Gaara.