Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

In the evening, the children walking home from school didn't go straight home. Instead, they grouped together and headed toward the mountain behind the village.

The challenge issued by Kakashi Hatake was a rare excitement in their otherwise dull school life.

"Have you all heard the news? Kakashi already passed his graduation exam during the day!"

"Wow! Does that mean he's officially a ninja now?"

"That's not even important! The key point is he graduated early within the first year of enrollment. This entirely breaks the school record!"

"He's truly a prodigy. I doubt anyone will ever be able to break this record again!"

Listening to these conversations around him, Obito and others couldn't help but feel a surreal sensation.

A classmate who had been attending school with them just yesterday was already graduating today!

"This is what it means to be a genius, huh..." Obito muttered bitterly. "That guy Kakashi..." His mood unusually dropped. He couldn't help acknowledging how discouraging it was having such a monster in the same class.

"Don't be too discouraged," Shuunen encouraged while patting his shoulder. "Look at me—I awakened my Sharingan and studied for several more years, yet still can't even catch sight of Senior Seiki's back. Ha… ha…"

Obito weakly smiled, "If even awakening the Sharingan isn't enough, then I should really give up!"

Meanwhile Might Guy was excited, "I wonder who will win this battle?"

Without hesitation, Obito replied, "Obviously Senior Seiki..."

However, this time there were different voices from the crowd.

"It's really hard to say this time! You guys haven't heard yet, have you? Kakashi Hatake has already learned an A-ranked Jutsu!"

When someone nearby said this, Obito expressed some helplessness, "I'm his classmate. I definitely understand better than you. Plus Kakashi himself told me—he actually mastered the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu before our last fight!"

The other person was initially stunned, then exclaimed, "How impressive! Did Kakashi learn such a powerful technique even before entering the academy?"

Obito looked somewhat dazed, "What I'm trying to say is, despite knowing an A-ranked Jutsu, he still lost to Senior Seiki!"

Waving it off, the other person continued, "That's because Kakashi didn't go all out. If he had used that technique earlier, things wouldn't have turned out that way!"

Seeing the self-righteous expression on the man's face—"You simply don't understand Kakashi"—Obito could only stand aside feeling somewhat existential crisis.

At a distance away, Seiki was already quietly waiting.

Beside him, Asuma asked, "Seiki, how many seconds do you plan to end this fight this time?"

Seiki gravely shook his head, "You're overestimating me. This time, it might become a difficult battle."

Asuma displayed an expression full of contempt. You always tell me that before our duels, and then... he didn't even want to recall those moments anymore!

Realizing Asuma clearly didn't believe him, Seiki felt he had to explain further, "You still haven't understood his determination yet? Graduating early, challenging me—it's all about proving himself, proving that he's different from the White Fang. Fighting with that kind of determination, he won't be caught in Genjutsu this time!"

"Lord White Fang was indeed too weak," Asuma sighed slightly upon hearing Seiki mention the name. "I actually used to admire him."

Seiki made no comment, his gaze fixed calmly ahead. "He's here."

Unlike before, Kakashi now wore a tanto strapped across his back.

"The White Fang's inheritance?" Seiki instantly understood.

To others, however, Kakashi's most notable change was that he had become colder—like a block of ice, emanating an aura that warned others not to approach.

"Senior Seiki, sorry to bother you again." Looking at Seiki, Kakashi's lifeless eyes seemed to gain a flicker of vitality.

"Don't worry about it. Fighting someone as talented as you is also a way for me to improve!" As always, Seiki smiled gently.

Without unnecessary words, Kakashi formed the [Mark of Opposition] and then directly drew the tanto from his back.

Then he dashed forward abruptly.

[Shunshin no Jutsu]!

Chakra gathered on Kakashi's feet propelled him forward like a gust of wind, rapidly closing the distance between them.

At the very moment Kakashi moved, Seiki began forming seals—his hands danced swiftly, leaving only blurred afterimages in everyone else's eyes.

[Genjutsu: Kasumi Retainer Technique]!

Kakashi halted momentarily, his figure reappearing from the [Kasumi illusion].

"Got him!" Asuma first felt joy, but the next moment, he saw Kakashi moving again at high speed using [Shunshin no Jutsu].

"Just as I expected," Seiki murmured, not at all surprised. This Kakashi was at the height of his conviction; defeating him with illusions alone wouldn't be easy.

With that thought, Seiki suddenly clenched his right fist tightly.

The distance between them had never been great. Even with a brief delay, Kakashi using [Shunshin no Jutsu] could easily close in.

"This is… Hatake swordsmanship!" Eyes determined, Kakashi gripped the tanto with both hands and slashed downward violently.

"Lightning Release chakra? Is it similar to a weapon-based form of Taijutsu?" Watching the faint blue glow flashing across the edge of Kakashi's blade, Seiki threw a punch to meet him head-on.

Crack!

An arm flew into the air, but the next moment, Seiki's severed limb transformed into a wooden log.

[Substitution Jutsu]... Kakashi warily scanned his surroundings when suddenly he noticed part of the sunlight above being blocked out. "No! It's [Transformation Jutsu]!"

The severed arm morphed into Seiki's shape, delivering a crushing punch downward.

Kakashi barely had time to react—he threw up his blade to block.

Clang~Boom!

Under Seiki's crushing blow, even the blade bent slightly.

In the next instant, Kakashi flew backward like a cannonball.

Damn it! I don't have enough battle experience! Kakashi realized his inadequacy but felt powerless—experience couldn't simply be compensated by talent alone.

And there was no time to think further.

Seiki dove down from midair. Kakashi quickly dodged sideways.

Boom!

As the lush green grass crumbled into a crater beneath Seiki's fist, even Kakashi couldn't suppress a jolt of fear. Such strength—if I take one direct hit, I won't be able to continue fighting anymore!

A purely taijutsu strategy won't cut it after all!

Seiki let out a sigh and grabbed a handful of shuriken from his tool pouch.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly. Of course, he knew his senior's throwing technique was also extremely formidable.

In the next instant, a storm of shuriken rained down on him.

Kakashi dodged them all, but before he could catch his breath, the shuriken lying on the ground snapped back toward him, tugged by invisible chakra threads.

What unsettled Kakashi even more was that his senior was now rushing toward him, manipulating the chakra threads with one hand while throwing punches with the other—handling both at once.

"So it can be done this way too? If my senior can do it, then…" Kakashi formed a series of hand seals. A brilliant burst of lightning erupted from his left hand as he removed the tanto from his mouth with his right hand. "I can do it too!"

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