Chapter 23: Genius versus Genius
Shintaro was still wearing a white outfit and a black jacket with the Uchiha Clan emblem, standing upright against the wind.
The two stood facing each other again in this training ground after a year, making people lament the passage of time.
Since the teacher was absent, Shintaro asked Kurenai, who was at the side of the training ground, to be the referee.
Under the spectators' expectations, Kurenai uttered a few words symbolizing the beginning of the battle: "Both sides form the symbol of friendship, and the battle begins."
Shintaro and Kakashi naturally formed the symbol of friendship.
Kakashi took the lead, which seemed to confirm what they both said earlier, that he was the challenger.
He took a kunai from his ninja tool bag, rushed towards Shintaro, raised his hand, and struck.
Shintaro lifted his head to avoid the kunai, then raised his leg and launched a fierce attack to force the opponent back.
Since class had just ended, he didn't even bring his ninja bag, so he could only fight barehanded.
Seeing this, Kakashi threw the kunai in his hand towards Shintaro.
The kunai flew deliberately slow, but Shintaro caught it steadily and thanked him.
Kakashi said, "I don't want to win by default, I will win with dignity."
Shintaro laughed and said, "Win? It seems you are mistaken again. This word needs to be fought for."
He was in a good mood and spoke more.
"Do you know? Fighting is a pleasure for me, even more than just hunting and playing the shamisen."
"The shamisen makes me feel peaceful and mysterious. Hunting can relieve stress and relax my body and mind. Only fighting can give me direct happiness."
"Kakashi, let's enjoy the battle together!"
Kakashi gripped the kunai in his hand and replied, "That's what I meant."
The two closed in again and quickly fought with kunai in their hands. The clash between kunai and kunai continually produced sharp metallic sounds.
The two's subtle attacks left the spectators amazed.
"Is this really a fight between our comrades?" Many people pondered this question.
"This is genius, this is a battle between geniuses." Guy sighed with a bit of reluctance.
He would envy geniuses, but he would never give up on himself because of this, instead, he would turn his envy of geniuses into double the demand on himself.
"The training will be doubled after school today. I will definitely catch up to them." Guy clenched his hands and swore silently. His palms were already full of scars from training.
Obito was stunned by the dazzling fight in front of him and could only sigh in his heart that these two were indeed strong.
It is worth mentioning that Shintaro's first opponent was defeated by Hayate. He coughed slightly and sighed in his heart: "It wouldn't be shameful for anyone to lose to these two."
There was also Shintaro's semi-love rival, Asuma, who thought a bit depressed: 'Initially, I thought the gap between me and these two wasn't too big, but I didn't expect...'
Shintaro and Kakashi's current strength had overwhelmed all their peers in Konoha.
Only Shintaro could be compared to Kakashi, and only Kakashi could be compared to Shintaro.
Outside the field, two little girls cheered for the geniuses they admired. One of these two girls was named Yuhi Kurenai and the other was Nohara Rin.
Back on the field, Kakashi and Shintaro clashed several times in a short period, almost without results.
Kakashi's kunai slashed towards the opponent's waist, Shintaro avoided the attack without changing his expression, then stepped to Kakashi's side and swung the kunai towards his neck.
Kakashi quickly lifted his kunai, trying to block the strike.
*Clang*
Since the attack was aimed at a vital point, Kakashi did not dare to be careless, so he used a bit more force to counter it.
However, he did not expect that the opponent's move was just a feint.
Shintaro only used his kunai to slightly collide with Kakashi's kunai, causing Kakashi's kunai to tilt outward, making him unbalanced for a moment.
It was a small weakness that Shintaro exploited.
Shintaro immediately spun his kunai and slashed downward. The sudden attack caught Kakashi off guard.
*Clang*
There was another clang, and Kakashi was forced to retreat.
Just now, he had hurriedly used his arm to shield his chest to block the blow.
If it weren't for the hard arm guard on his arm, the attack just now would have turned the fight bloody.
Rin was very worried and anxiously exclaimed, "Kakashi!"
Kakashi looked at Rin outside the field, waved his hand to reassure her, then turned to look at Shintaro. "Why aren't you using your full strength?"
Shintaro understood very well why the other party asked this.
Because he had not used Cursed Energy from beginning to end.
In the first fight with Kakashi, he used Cursed Energy to defeat him.
So Kakashi could clearly understand that Shintaro still had a trump card.
Shintaro smiled faintly and said, "Hahaha, you noticed."
"Why not use full strength? Because this is a fair fight between ninjas."
Kakashi did not understand why Shintaro considered his trump card unfair and not part of a ninja's skills.
But since the other party said this, it meant it wasn't because he looked down on him.
Kakashi got this answer and came up with an idea.
So he said, "Okay, let's continue."
Shintaro said, "Sure."
The battle continued.
Kakashi threw the kunai in his hand. This time the kunai was fast and accurate, directly aiming at Shintaro's forehead.
Shintaro raised his hand to deflect the attack with his kunai, while Kakashi took the opportunity to start forming seals.
Kakashi realized that even if Shintaro wasn't using his full strength, he would still have a hard time gaining an advantage in physical skills.
However, he believed that taijutsu alone was Shintaro's strength, but ninjutsu was different.
In his opinion, when he was studying at the ninja school, his ninjutsu achievements were stronger than Shintaro's.
In the first fight against him, he relied on his various ninjutsu to gain the upper hand.
Therefore, it was only natural for the fight to reach a stalemate.
Kakashi had been promoted to Chunin this year, and his ninjutsu skills had been further improved.
"[Futon: Kūdan]."
Kakashi formed seals with his hands and blew a gust of wind from his mouth.
The strong wind blew the training ground into flying sand and stones, and most of the spectators around the training ground were mesmerized for a moment.
Shintaro raised his hand to cover his face to reduce the impact of the great breakthrough on himself. At the same time, he concentrated chakra on the soles of his feet to prevent himself from being blown away by the strong wind.
Kakashi took advantage of the victory and pursued, throwing several secret weapons to seal Shintaro in all directions.
The shurikens were extremely powerful under the blessing of the strong wind, and even Shintaro dared not relax at all.
He repeatedly swung his kunai, dodging and countering to prevent the kunai from penetrating his body.
Kakashi saw that he had the upper hand for the moment and immediately pursued victory.
As the effect of the wind gradually weakened, all the secret weapons were blocked by Shintaro.
Kakashi had already rushed forward, not prepared to give the opponent a chance to breathe.
At this moment, Shintaro quickly formed seals with his hands, and Kakashi watched warily and attacked, but he never expected that this move would lead him into a trap.