บท 22: Challenger
Konoha, Year 43.
After class, Shintaro was refining his chakra at his desk. Kurenai and Anko were chatting about all the interesting things that had happened recently.
"I heard Kakashi has been promoted to Chunin." Anko revealed a crucial piece of information.
Kurenai was slightly surprised and asked in disbelief, "Really?"
"Yes, I honestly overheard my father talking about it."
"Then Kakashi has become the youngest Chunin in Konoha." Kurenai said, looking at Shintaro who was training.
Shintaro never cared about this kind of false reputation, but the people of Konoha had labeled Kakashi and Shintaro as the two strongest geniuses at the moment.
Thus, Kurenai was somewhat concerned about his thoughts.
Even though Shintaro was refining his chakra, he could still hear the noise outside, so he also knew about Kakashi's promotion to Chunin.
He noticed Kurenai looking at him, so he opened his eyes, looked at Kurenai, and said, "Kakashi's promotion to Chunin shows that his strength has made great progress. But this has nothing to do with me. The villagers want to compare me to him; that's their business."
Kurenai nodded, feeling that Shintaro truly didn't care about fame.
But at that moment, Kotetsu entered the classroom, bringing news.
"Boss Shintaro, Hatake Kakashi just asked me to tell you something at the school gate. He wants to challenge you again!"
He was so cheerful that almost the entire class heard him.
The originally noisy class suddenly became silent.
"Why does Kakashi want to challenge Shintaro again?"
"Uchiha Kotetsu is an underling of Uchiha Shintaro. What he says must be true."
The students in the class immediately engaged in an unprecedentedly heated discussion, speculating whether Shintaro would agree to this fight and who the winner would be if the fight happened.
Kotetsu came to Shintaro, waiting for his answer.
Under the attention of the entire class, Shintaro agreed, "Sure."
Kotetsu immediately gave a thumbs up and said, "I knew the boss wouldn't be afraid."
He immediately went out and continued playing his role as a messenger.
Kurenai asked with a worried face, "Can you win?"
Shintaro replied, "Nah, I'd win."
His tone was very calm, as if stating an indisputable fact.
Kurenai felt reassured, and her heart was at ease.
Rin placed her hands on her chest and prayed, "Kakashi, you must win."
Although she said this, she felt very uncertain inside.
After Kakashi graduated, their interactions became less frequent, so Rin didn't know Kakashi's current strength.
Even though Kakashi was promoted to Chunin, Rin knew nothing about the term Chunin, so she couldn't imagine Kakashi's current strength.
But she could see Shintaro's strength with her own eyes.
After Kakashi left, Shintaro became the undisputed number one in the entire class at the school, leading by a large margin.
Therefore, in Rin's view, the outcome of the fight between Kakashi and Shintaro was unpredictable.
Seeing her so concerned about Kakashi, Obito pursed his lips angrily and said, "Hah, if you lose, you lose. After all, Kakashi has already lost once."
But even though he said this, he didn't necessarily think so in his heart.
Obito didn't want Kakashi to lose again.
The logic was this: if Kakashi lost to Shintaro twice, wouldn't that prove that Kakashi's strength was indeed not up to his reputation?
And Obito always regarded Kakashi as a target to pursue. Wouldn't that mean his efforts were meaningless?
It turned out that not only Obito thought this way, but Guy also had similar thoughts.
He always believed that Kakashi was the one he wanted to surpass, so he often dragged him to fight with him.
Guy's current record was zero wins, sixteen losses, and zero draws, which could be considered pitiful.
However, he never gave up because he knew that Kakashi was a genius in the entire ninja world.
So now, unconsciously, he didn't want Kakashi to lose.
The place where Shintaro and Kakashi would fight was at the school.
After school, Shintaro came to the agreed place, the same school training ground as before.
Kurenai followed him, and behind them was a large group of spectators.
Everyone seemed accustomed to seeing Shintaro and Kurenai together.
A group of people arrived near the school training ground, and Kakashi was already waiting in the training ground.
He was wearing a short-sleeved black outfit. His neck and the lower part of his face were still hidden behind a black mask, but it couldn't hide his slim and handsome appearance.
The iron arm guards shining on his arms and the Konoha forehead protector on his forehead showed Kakashi's status as a ninja and his dangerous aura that strangers should keep away from.
Kakashi's arrival made many little girls in the Ninja Academy cheer.
Rin looked at Kakashi tenderly, full of longing.
When Obito saw this scene, he immediately felt that all his worries about Kakashi were in vain, "Kakashi, you better lose."
Shintaro walked to the training ground alone.
Kurenai could only see Shintaro's back and pray for him.
"I didn't expect you to agree right away. It happens that I don't have a mission today."
Indeed, as a Chunin, Kakashi's daily time must be less leisurely compared to Shintaro's.
Therefore, Shintaro agreeing to fight that day was, of course, a good thing for Kakashi.
Shintaro smiled slightly and said, "Looks like you got the wrong idea, so lemme tell ya..."
Kakashi raised his eyes and looked at him. A tuft of white hair stuck between his eyes by his forehead protector, slightly swaying in the wind.
Shintaro extended his finger and said, "You're the challenger here."
This sentence was heard by everyone present.
Kotetsu and the others immediately cheered Shintaro on enthusiastically, "The boss is so cool!"
Kurenai felt that Shintaro, confidently saying this to Kakashi, was so charming. She was so distracted that she couldn't even hear Anko calling her.
Rin still focused on Kakashi, cheering for him silently.
Obito and Guy just felt strange. After all, if Kakashi was the challenger, then they were challengers as well.
While everyone was discussing Shintaro's words, Kakashi spoke again.
"Indeed, I am the challenger."
Kakashi calmly accepted the title of challenger, which made Shintaro think more highly of him.
"It seems you have made a lot of progress this year." Shintaro raised his eyebrows in surprise.
The corner of Kakashi's mouth under the mask lifted slightly, and he said, "You will see whether there has been progress or not."
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