Faced with the signature technique of a former equal, Kakashi's expression finally sharpened.
He lifted his forehead protector.
The eye beneath opened, crimson, three tomoe turning slowly as they locked onto the battlefield.
So he's using it, Sasuke noted.
His own gaze remained dark.
Not from arrogance. From choice.
Kakashi's chakra pressure shifted the moment the Sharingan came into play, sharpening his movements, tightening his perception. Sasuke felt it clearly. Still, he didn't answer in kind.
"Careful, Kakashi-sensei."
The words had barely left his mouth when the field exploded into motion.
Sasuke and the surrounding figures surged forward together, wind screaming as they closed the distance. Shadows flooded Kakashi's vision from every angle, too fast, too numerous. No clear center. No obvious body.
Too clean.
Even through the Sharingan, Kakashi couldn't immediately separate substance from illusion.
So he retreated, blade flashing in tight arcs. Steel rang again and again as strikes collided, sparks scattering with each impact.
Then Kakashi made a decision.
A sharp swing forced the attackers back a fraction. His hands blurred through seals.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall."
A surge of water roared up in front of him, rising like a vertical river. Sasuke's crimson blade hissed as it cut into the flow, steam curling into the air.
Kakashi didn't pause.
"Lightning Release: Ground Flow."
Electricity snapped into the water. The surrounding figures shattered instantly, their forms breaking apart under the surge. Lightning raced onward through the flooded ground, aimed straight at Sasuke.
Sasuke shifted back half a step.
His grip turned.
The chakra-metal blade changed color, red fading to white as lightning coiled around it. Kakashi's attack poured into the sword as if drawn by instinct, the weapon blazing with violent light.
"Lightning Release: Return."
Sasuke leapt, both hands on the hilt. Wind and thunder tore at the air as he brought the blade down in a brutal arc.
Kakashi didn't flinch.
"Chidori."
Blue lightning condensed in his palm, screaming like a thousand birds. He drove it forward.
The collision shrieked.
Sasuke's lightning was severed cleanly. The residual force carved a shallow notch into his blade before dispersing.
Sasuke twisted away midair, landing hard but controlled.
So that's it, he thought. Finally.
Kakashi was already moving.
He closed in relentlessly, pressure unbroken. Sasuke met him head-on, but this time his style changed. No Uchiha blade forms. No fire-enhanced cuts.
White Fang techniques.
Steel clashed in rapid succession. Blades struck, slid, rebounded. Lightning flared and vanished with each exchange. Their movements blurred together, speed matching speed, neither yielding ground.
Then Kakashi broke away.
"That's enough."
He stepped back, exhaling slowly.
Sasuke followed suit, sheathing his sword after a brief pause. His breathing steadied. His face gave nothing away.
Kakashi studied him for a long moment.
"When I was twelve," he said quietly, "I wasn't at this level."
It wasn't praise given lightly.
They both knew what that meant.