Chapter 144: Obito vs Kakashi
"Next, you need to engage in more battles to better comprehend the Breathing Technique."
"Battles, huh? Damn it… does that mean I have to go find Kakashi again?" Obito muttered with a sigh, recalling Mugetsu's words.
Might Guy's strength was on par with his, and Shisui could easily suppress him—but both were still focused on practicing the Breathing Technique, leaving no time to spar with him, the one progressing the fastest.
That left only one option in Obito's mind: Kakashi.
He couldn't exactly challenge Asuma. With his current strength, unless he deliberately avoided using the Breathing Technique, defeating Asuma would be far too easy. But without using the Breathing Technique in battle, there was no way to improve it. That was the problem.
In the end, Obito concluded Kakashi was the only suitable opponent. His strength was solid, he wasn't overly busy, and—most importantly—Obito finally felt confident enough to challenge him. After all, he had achieved Total Concentration Breathing.
If not for feeling it was still a little unstable, he would have even called Rin along to watch him defeat Kakashi—to show her who the true genius of Konoha was.
The thought made Obito break into loud, self-satisfied laughter.
"Why are you standing in front of my house laughing like that?" Kakashi's voice came from the doorway, catching him mid-grin.
"Laughing? This is a hearty pre-celebration for victory!" Obito shot back, realizing he had wandered to Kakashi's doorstep without noticing.
"So you've come to challenge me?" Kakashi asked plainly.
"That's right." Obito nodded firmly. "Kakashi, prepare to lose! Just a few days ago, I became the top student in my year at the Ninja Academy!"
"Is that really something to brag about? I got tired of those years ago," Kakashi replied casually.
"By the way, Obito, how many times have you been first? Just once? I was top of my year every term before graduation."
"Tch, the number of times isn't important. The point is, I'm now the top student in my year—just like you were." Obito gave up on arguing over grades.
"Seeing you so confident, I thought you'd already graduated and become a shinobi. After all, even though we're the same age, I've been a Chunin for years now." Kakashi's voice stayed calm, but the jab landed clean.
Obito's mouth twitched. Graduating at five and making Chunin at six—so what? If I'd graduated that early, I'd have never met Teacher Mugetsu. He clung to that thought as a small victory.
"Kakashi, enough talking. Let's fight already," Obito cut in, not wanting Kakashi's words to mess with his focus.
"Fine. This won't take long anyway," Kakashi said, leading the way to their usual training ground.
"Damn it, you'll regret underestimating me!" Obito's anger flared. He was determined to teach Kakashi a lesson.
It had been just over three months, but he was no longer the same Uchiha Obito who could be beaten in an instant by a simple Body Flicker. Now, he had mastered Shave, learned Flame Breathing, and could use both Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique and Phoenix Sage Flower Claw Crimson. His strength was on a whole new level.
"Let's begin," Kakashi said evenly.
He still didn't take Obito's challenge seriously. If it had been Might Guy, he might have shown interest—Guy's progress had been impressive in their last spar. But Obito? Kakashi's impression was still stuck in the time a few months ago when Obito came for evasion training.
Obito took a deep breath, entering the Breathing Technique state. Oxygen flooded his body, his muscles tightening with power.
Whoosh!
His figure vanished, reappearing in front of Kakashi with a fierce punch aimed at his abdomen.
Kakashi's pupils narrowed sharply—Obito's speed was faster than expected. With no time to dodge, Kakashi raised his arm to block, the impact sending him skidding back more than two meters.
"Such power… and speed," Kakashi thought, his gaze shifting. If not for his battle experience, he might have been caught completely off guard.
No longer underestimating him, Kakashi drew a shuriken and flung it at Obito.
Obito blurred with Body Flicker, evading it, then lunged forward again.
This time Kakashi was ready. As Obito closed in, Kakashi's counterpunch nearly caught him in the face. His sharp, relentless offense quickly forced Obito back, dust clinging to the younger boy's clothes.
"Damn it… is Kakashi's Taijutsu even stronger than Might Guy's?" Obito gritted his teeth. Against Guy, he could hold his ground in Breathing state, but Kakashi was suppressing him outright.
Bang!
A punch and a follow-up kick from Kakashi sent Obito crashing to the ground.
Rolling away to create distance, Obito decided to abandon a pure Taijutsu exchange. His hands formed seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive, four-meter fireball roared toward Kakashi.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall," Kakashi countered, summoning a towering wall of stone before him.
Rumble!
The fireball slammed into it, scorching but not shattering the barrier. The carved dog head in the wall's center was now battered and smoking, which only made Obito scowl.
He had planned to force Kakashi to dodge, then strike using Total Concentration Breathing. But Kakashi had shut it down with defense instead.
"Flame Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing!" Obito's voice rang out. He would show Kakashi his true limit.
Leaping atop the wall, he spotted Kakashi just beyond it. With Breathing's boost, he lunged, lightning-fast, flames bursting from his palm to engulf him.
Kakashi reacted instantly, using Body Flicker to slip just out of reach.
Seeing Kakashi's caution, an idea flashed in Obito's mind—one he had yet to pull off: performing ninjutsu with a single hand seal.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Claw Crimson!"
Three kunai flashed into his right hand. With his left concealed behind him, he quickly formed the seal, then hurled all three at Kakashi. Two of them blazed with flame—success.
Almost at the same time, Kakashi flung two kunai of his own toward Obito.
Sidestepping Kakashi's throw, Obito grinned. His kunai weren't ordinary—they would explode. He wanted to see how Kakashi would handle it.
Rumble!
The distance was too close. Though Kakashi avoided the direct hit, the blast went off right beside him.
"I won!" Obito thought, his heart leaping.
It wasn't enough to seriously injure Kakashi, but from here on, the fight would be far from easy for him.
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