Chương 24: Storm

"[Magen: Jubaku Satsu]."

Kakashi's body was instantly immobilized, and his attack ceased immediately.

The spectators were all shocked, but Kurenai understood clearly.

The two had studied Genjutsu together, so she was well aware of Shintaro's Genjutsu skills.

Her father had once remarked that her Genjutsu talent was very high, not inferior to his own, but he also commented that Shintaro's Genjutsu talent surpassed both father and daughter.

This [Magen: Jubaku Satsu] was the best proof of Shintaro's Genjutsu talent.

This Genjutsu originated from the era of the First Hokage. Its effect made the enemy see an illusion similar to the Wood Release of the First Hokage, also making them mistakenly believe they were under attack by the First Hokage.

Such an effective Genjutsu was naturally not easy to learn.

Kurenai had not learned it yet, but Shintaro could already use it proficiently in actual combat.

Kakashi's ninjutsu and taijutsu were very strong, but his Genjutsu was somewhat lacking, which could be considered his current weakness.

However, this weakness was also relative, as most of his peers basically had never encountered Genjutsu, while Kakashi had already mastered some basic Genjutsu.

However, against Uchiha Shintaro, basic Genjutsu was useless.

Shintaro thought he was certain of victory, but at that moment, Kakashi broke free from the Genjutsu, stepped back several paces, and distanced himself once again.

Kakashi turned his head to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood, saying, "As expected, the seniors were right. When fighting the Uchiha, you mustn't look into their eyes. I just didn't expect your Genjutsu to be this strong now."

It turned out he recognized it was Genjutsu, so he immediately bit his tongue with his teeth and forced himself out of the Genjutsu using the pain.

Shintaro was greatly surprised by his action and said with great enthusiasm, "I like you, Kakashi!"

Kakashi replied seriously, "Sorry, I don't like men."

He silently complained that Shintaro was indeed a battle maniac.

Even Kurenai among the spectators pouted angrily. She never expected that one day Kakashi would become her love rival.

Shintaro continued to smile, but quickly formed seals with his hands, using a ninjutsu passed down through his clan.

"[Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu]."

He spat out a large fireball, emitting scorching heat and with a diameter of over two meters.

This made Obito, who also belonged to the Uchiha clan, feel ashamed. His [Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu] could only spit out a small flame at the moment.

Kakashi dared not relax in the face of this. He swiftly formed seals with his hands, then crouched down and slapped the ground.

"[Doton: Doryūheki]."

A wall of earth as large as the fireball rose from the ground, sufficient to block the attack.

It should be noted that the surface of the earth wall was carved with a dog's head. This seemingly trivial detail showed Kakashi's extraordinary chakra control.

The fireball hit the earth wall, and the remaining flames swept back along with high-temperature dust, bombarding and filling half the training ground, causing the spectators behind Kakashi to immediately retreat.

And Kakashi's figure was perfectly hidden within it.

More hidden weapons flew out from the dust, attacking Shintaro from all directions.

Shintaro easily raised his hands and blocked these moves flawlessly.

Then at that moment, a pair of hands suddenly emerged from the ground beneath him and grabbed his ankles.

However, such a sudden move seemed to have been predicted. Shintaro immediately jumped and avoided [Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu].

Kakashi failed to hit the target, but instead made himself passive.

However, he had no choice at this moment.

The distance between the two was so close, and he missed another move, exposing a significant weakness, so he had no choice but to stand close to Shintaro to gain a chance to win.

Even Kakashi didn't have time to pull out his ninja bag, so he could only step forward to fight barehanded, as Shintaro had just landed right in front of him.

Shintaro swung his kunai to attack, but Kakashi grabbed his wrist and forced it away.

However, Shintaro opened his other hand and struck. Kakashi was about to counter when suddenly a blue spiraling chakra ball condensed in the opponent's hand.

"[Rasengan]."

Kakashi had never seen this move before and was shocked, thinking: 'No hand seals?! How is this possible!'

Just like that, their movements stopped at the same time.

Kakashi held Shintaro's hand, standing beside him, while Shintaro held the [Rasengan] in his hand, stopping in front of Kakashi.

Although Kakashi made a move to block, the iron arm protector and the flesh-and-blood body clearly couldn't withstand the attack.

"I lost."

Shintaro replied, "Not necessarily. You could take my move by force. At worst, you would lose an arm, and there would still be room to fight."

Kakashi smiled bitterly and said, "This is just a competition, no need to go all out, right?"

Shintaro said honestly, "Every battle should be taken seriously."

Kakashi already knew Shintaro's battle fanaticism, shook his head silently, and then asked curiously, "What is this move of yours?"

Shintaro withdrew the Rasengan and said, "It's called [Rasengan], taught by Namikaze Minato. If you want to learn it, I can teach you, but you have to get Namikaze Minato's approval."

Kakashi's eyes lit up, clearly interested in the move that could defeat him, and said, "Alright, if you like any ninjutsu I know in the future, I will also teach you a move."

The two reached an agreement to teach each other ninjutsu.

Just like that, the battle between the two Konoha genius ninjas came to an end.

Shintaro and Kurenai went home together for dinner, and Kakashi also headed home alone.

The outcome of this battle caused a sensation in the village. Many believed that the two young geniuses in Konoha were now truly divided into first and second place.

Uchiha Shintaro was the number one genius in Konoha, and Hatake Kakashi could only rank second.

Although Shintaro was still in school and Kakashi had become a Chunin, after all, Chunin was just a professional title, not a measure of strength.

Kakashi had lost to Shintaro twice, so in the villagers' hearts, Kakashi's talent was indeed inferior to Shintaro's.

Rin soon comforted Kakashi, and Kakashi expressed his gratitude, but in reality, he didn't feel too lost. He only made a decision in his heart, 'It seems that after completing missions, training cannot be neglected.'

Returning home, his father, Hatake Sakumo, looked at him with a smile as he returned.

"Lost?"

Sakumo clearly knew his son had just gone to fight Shintaro.

As a result, it seemed he hadn't heard the rumors circulating in the village, but made his judgment from the beginning.

Seeing Kakashi nod, Sakumo spoke again, "Kakashi, you must understand that even if your talent is very high, there are people in this world with higher talent than you, and Uchiha Shintaro is one of them. I heard it only took him a week to learn the ninjutsu Minato developed in three years."

"If you want to become a strong person, both talent and hard work are indispensable. If you neglect your training, let alone Uchiha Shintaro, you might not even be able to defeat that boy named Might Guy in your class in the future."

Kakashi only felt his father underestimated him and couldn't beat Uchiha, which he could accept.

But he didn't believe he couldn't defeat Guy, who only knew taijutsu.

Kakashi silently vowed, 'I will train hard in the future and become a Jonin as soon as possible. I want my father to see my strength.'

Sakumo had a very high image in Kakashi's heart and was a hero of Konoha, so he hoped to be recognized by his father.

So he began special training with the goal of impressing his father, while also completing missions in the village.

This situation lasted for a full year until another storm hit the village.