The two boys stood facing each other on the playground.
"Shinichi, do your best!"
Takashi Ishizuka's gruff voice broke the tense silence.
"Come on, Shinichi!"
"Show him what Class 2 is made of!"
"You got this!"
Following Takashi's lead, the entirety of Class 2 erupted in cheers for Shinichi. It was clear that his diligent, helpful persona had made him quite popular among his classmates.
Faced with the sudden surge of support for their rival, Class 1 fell silent for a moment. Then, as if stirred by a collective need to defend their honor, they too began to shout.
"Kakashi, take him down!"
"Show them the power of a true genius!"
"Let's go, Kakashi!"
Although Kakashi possessed a cold, aloof personality and rarely engaged in play, his undeniable talent, calm temperament, and the widespread rumor of his "Hokage potential" commanded respect. He had built up considerable popularity among peers who admired strength.
Among the voices, one was particularly clear and forceful.
"Do your best, Kakashi!"
Rin Nohara cupped her hands around her mouth, her face flushed with excitement. Her bright eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the back of the silver-haired boy in the arena.
"Hmph!"
Seeing this, Obito Uchiha scowled and shouted loudly, his voice cracking slightly. "Hey! You in the other class! Give it everything you've got! Beat that arrogant Kakashi to a pulp!"
The proctor stepped forward, raising a hand.
"First match of the joint practical assessment: Shinichi Higashino versus Kakashi Hatake. Form the Seal of Confrontation!"
In the center of the arena, Shinichi and Kakashi simultaneously raised their right hands, extending their index and middle fingers in the traditional sign of respect and readiness.
The difference lay in their eyes. Shinichi's gaze was locked onto his opponent with predatory focus, while Kakashi's eyes remained calm, bordering on bored.
"Please take care of me, Kakashi."
As soon as the polite phrase left his lips, Shinichi moved.
Like a tiger uncoiling after a long wait, he tore through the air. He crossed the several meters between them in a heartbeat, the wind whistling chillingly in his wake.
*Fast!*
Kakashi's pupils contracted violently. His nonchalance evaporated in an instant. He didn't even have time to dodge; instinct took over, and he crossed his arms in a desperate block just as the attack landed.
*BOOM!*
Fist met forearm with a heavy, muffled thud.
Kakashi felt as if he had been struck by a war hammer. A jolt of agony shot through his nerves; his arms went instantly numb, and he felt the ominous creak of bone under stress.
The force lifted him off his feet. He slid backward across the dirt, plowing two deep furrows with his heels for more than ten meters before finally skidding to a halt.
Before the dust could settle, the wind screamed again.
Kakashi had barely regained his balance when the next attack arrived.
A black blur materialized in front of him. A leg, straight and rigid like a steel whip, swept out with terrifying momentum.
The air seemed to tear apart under the pressure of the kick. It felt less like a limb and more like a giant axe cleaving down. The shockwave alone blew Kakashi's silver hair back from his forehead.
"Is that the Leaf Whirlwind?" Takashi gasped from the sidelines, his jaw dropping. He knew the move well; it was a signature technique of the Strong Fist style taught by his master, Chen.
Shinichi had seemingly mastered the mechanics of the move just by observing Takashi's sparring matches.
On the field, Kakashi's expression tightened. But he was, after all, a prodigy trained by the White Fang. His combat instincts were superb.
At the critical moment, he displayed amazing flexibility. His body folded backward, rolling with the momentum of the incoming kick rather than fighting it.
As he rolled, Kakashi slammed his wrist into the ground, channeling a burst of chakra to spring himself upward. He used the rotational force to launch a counterattack, his right leg snapping up in a sharp arc aimed directly at Shinichi's chin.
But Shinichi had anticipated it.
With a light, precise step to the left, he allowed the dangerous kick to graze past his nose by a hair's breadth.
Simultaneously, his left hand shot out. Fingers rigid as iron, he drove a palm strike upward, catching Kakashi under the chin.
*BANG!*
A dull impact echoed. Kakashi's vision went black as stars exploded behind his eyelids. The violent concussion left his mind blank for a split second, and his body was knocked backward, completely out of control.
Shinichi gave him no chance to reorient himself.
The moment Kakashi lost his balance, Shinichi stepped in and delivered a powerful, piston-like kick to his abdomen.
Kakashi was launched through the air like a ragdoll. He flew back faster than before, crashing violently into the trunk of a large tree at the edge of the training field.
The thick trunk shuddered from the impact, sending a shower of withered yellow leaves drifting down to bury the fallen boy.
"Cough!"
Kakashi slumped to the ground, clutching his stomach and coughing violently. His mind was slowly clawing its way back to consciousness.
He gritted his teeth, forcing his trembling limbs to push him up. He had to keep fighting.
But before he could rise, a cold, sharp touch pressed against his throat.
Shinichi stood over him, silent as a ghost, the tip of a kunai resting gently against Kakashi's jugular.
"Match over."
The entire training ground fell into a deathly silence.
The cheers, the trash talk, the whispers—it was all severed as if by an invisible blade.
Class 1, Class 2, the teachers... everyone stared in disbelief at the scene. Even students from other grades paused their own sparring to gawk at the outcome.
Kakashi Hatake. The super genius. The boy with the potential to become Hokage. The dazzling star of their generation.
Defeated. Utterly and completely.
The sunlight beat down on the field, but it couldn't dispel the frozen shock that permeated the air.
*How is that possible?*
The question exploded in the minds of nearly everyone present. They looked at Shinichi Higashino—a civilian orphan with no clan, no bloodline limit, and a reputation for being merely a diligent model student.
What they didn't know was that Shinichi possessed a unique advantage: the power of his System Traits.
[Robust], [Swordsmanship Apprentice], [Resilient]... These white-tier labels were not empty words. They were active modifiers that continuously optimized his biology.
Specifically, the [Robust] trait had been derived from his time working at the blacksmith shop, a profession known for immense physical power. When that trait evolved into the green-tier [Innate Superhuman Strength], Shinichi's physical parameters had multiplied exponentially.
Kakashi was a once-in-a-century genius, but he faced an insurmountable limitation: biology.
He was five years old. No matter how brilliant his mind or how potent his chakra, his bones and muscles were still that of a small child.
Shinichi, on the other hand, possessed a monstrous physique honed by years of targeted training and system enhancements. Without chakra reinforcement, Kakashi's raw strength was simply not in the same league.
But more importantly, it was a matter of mindset.
Kakashi had not underestimated Shinichi per se, but his long-standing status as "unbeatable" had bred a subconscious superiority complex. He likely expected Shinichi to be strong, perhaps even tricky.
He never expected Shinichi to hit like a freight train.
Shinichi had unleashed overwhelming, limit-breaking force from the very first second.
He had been planning for this specific moment for five years.
*("Have you heard? White Fang's child has been born...")*
*("I heard the name is... Kakashi?")*
No one knew that five years ago, a one-year-old toddler sitting on the steps of the orphanage had heard those casual words from a passerby. And in that moment, a fire had ignited in his eyes that would burn until this very day.