"Kakashi, duel me today!"
Uchiha Obito clenched his fists, his fighting spirit blazing. He had lost carelessly at the ninja academy last time—but today's him was completely different from last year. He would definitely shock Kakashi.
"I'm busy. And don't bother me—I'm on a mission right now."
Kakashi's face remained expressionless, though inwardly he was wondering why Uchiha Yoichi was late today. Normally, by the time Kakashi arrived, Yoichi would have already been training for quite a while.
But Kakashi's refusal didn't make Obito give up.
He listened attentively in class and trained hard in private, all for one purpose—defeating Kakashi in front of Nohara Rin.
Just imagining the moment he beat Kakashi, with Rin looking at him in admiration, made Obito's heart flutter. When that happened, he would finally earn her respect.
Thinking of this, Obito subconsciously turned his head to look at Rin—only to see her gazing admiringly at Kakashi instead.
Jealousy instantly surged in Obito's heart.
"Kakashi, duel me! This is a challenge between men!"
"Stop pestering me. If you want to duel, wait until you become a real ninja."
Kakashi remained unmoved. Fighting Obito was far less interesting than sparring with Uchiha Yoichi—at least Yoichi had real achievements, even killing a jonin.
Obito might be the same age, but Kakashi had no interest in bullying academy students.
Crackle!
A continuous, faint rumble of thunder echoed as a figure wrapped in lightning flickered through the forest and appeared in front of Kakashi.
"Kakashi."
The figure arrived first; the voice followed.
Kakashi froze, shock flashing through his eyes.
The person before him was Uchiha Yoichi, and his speed left Kakashi genuinely stunned.
He had noticed the lightning racing through the forest earlier—but it was too fast, far faster than Kakashi himself.
"I ran into a bit of trouble today. The mission's changing—can you help me block the person chasing me?"
"Wait. If you don't explain clearly, I won't help. And changing the mission like this violates Konoha's commission rules."
Kakashi refused decisively, then asked with curiosity,"This is Konoha—and you're an Uchiha. Who's chasing you?"
"One of the Three Sannin—Lady Tsunade."
Yoichi had wanted to make up a name to fool Kakashi, but he forgot that right now he was painfully honest.
"…I'll take my leave," Kakashi said calmly."Even if my father were here, he wouldn't dare interfere with Lady Tsunade."
He stepped aside at once and continued,"Looks like today's sparring will have to be postponed. I'm heading back."
"Kakashi, I told you—if I don't ask you something, don't question me."
That single sentence delayed him just a little.
Yoichi had originally planned to use Hatake Sakumo's name to draw Tsunade's attention, buying himself time to escape farther.
Who knew Kakashi's question would cost him precious seconds?
Crackle.
Lightning flashed, and Yoichi vanished from where he stood.
Two seconds later, another figure appeared before Kakashi.
The beautiful face, heroic bearing, and iconic blonde hair—combined with what Yoichi had just said—made Kakashi instantly recognize who it was.
"Hey," Tsunade said coldly,"what did that Uchiha brat just say to you?"
"I'm Hatake Kakashi. I accepted Uchiha Yoichi's sparring commission. Just now, Yoichi asked me to block Lady Tsunade, but I refused."
Facing the visibly furious Sannin, Kakashi answered honestly, without hiding anything.
"Sakumo's son?" Tsunade muttered."At least you're honest."
She then glanced to the side.
One was that evil little Uchiha brat, and the other looked like a ninja academy student. Judging by the look of admiration in Nohara Rin's eyes, Tsunade immediately knew the girl was one of her fans.
But Tsunade had no interest in chatting right now.
With a push of her foot, she vanished in a Body Flicker, chasing after the direction Yoichi had fled.
The longer she failed to catch him, the angrier Tsunade became.
At first, inside the village, she hadn't wanted to go all out. She only meant to question Uchiha Yoichi about something.
But the moment she saw him, memories of being brutally beaten while transformed into a boar surfaced, souring her tone.
Then came the verbal harassment—that was what truly ignited her fury.
A ninja's speed depended on chakra. Any Body Flicker or rapid movement technique required chakra support. As long as the body could adapt to the speed of chakra flow, one's movement speed could rise endlessly.
Seeing Yoichi pulling farther ahead, Tsunade increased her chakra output again, instantly doubling her speed.
The distance between them rapidly closed.
Yoichi felt danger pressing in.
Setting aside why Tsunade was chasing him, just that one flirtatious line already guaranteed there would be no peaceful conversation. Worse, he was still under the ability's effect—he couldn't communicate properly at all.
He had to gamble.
Quickly recalling what he knew, Yoichi confirmed Tsunade didn't seem to have sensory ninjutsu. He pulled several smoke bombs from his ninja pouch.
Pushing his Body Flicker to the limit, he sharply changed direction and hurled the smoke bombs behind him.
In the next instant, three lightning-wreathed figures burst from the smoke, splitting off in different directions.
"Shadow clones?" Tsunade sneered."You want to compete with me in chakra, you evil little Uchiha brat?!"
She swiftly formed the Tiger Seal, creating two shadow clones of her own. Together with her original body, the three Tsunades chased the three Yoichis.
She wasn't worried about her clones being destroyed. If her clones couldn't handle a brat like him, she wouldn't deserve the title of Sannin.
Several dozen seconds after Tsunade sped away, the smoke slowly dispersed.
Only then did a human-sized boulder go poof—its Transformation Technique解除.
Using smoke to block her vision, hiding the existence of the rock, and using shadow clones to divert her attention—it had actually worked.
"Lucky thing hot-headed people are this easy to fool… but my chakra's almost—ugh!"
Before Yoichi could finish his thought, the memories from a shadow clone rushed back into him.
He didn't linger for even a second, immediately turning and leaving the area.
A minute later, Tsunade returned the same way—but Uchiha Yoichi was nowhere to be found.
Realizing she had been fooled by a kid—and an Uchiha at that—filled her with humiliation and rage.
"…Second Grandpa was right!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two ANBU appeared beside her in a Body Flicker and spoke respectfully:
"Lady Tsunade, the Hokage is requesting your presence."
"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Tsunade snapped irritably."That old man—making a fuss over such a small thing. Doesn't he have anything better to do?!"
She didn't need to guess why her teacher was calling her. Making such a big deal out of something so minor—truly ridiculous.