15 You Can Have the Knife, I Don't Need It

"Yesterday?"

Kakashi finally understood.

He had led Might Guy to find Kakashi. It seems Kakashi was not willing to give up in the end. He asked Might Guy who the "culprit" was and came today to get revenge.

However, his abilities were still lacking.

Kakashi's assassination skills and swordsmanship were formidable, and his adaptability was also quick, but unfortunately Kyōichi had mastered the Earth Spear technique and didn't even need hand seals to use it. Plus his powerful physique allowed him to directly disarm Kakashi of his knife.

Of course, the key was still dodging the first wave of attack.

"..."

Kakashi really wanted to turn around and leave, but the White Fang's tantō was still in Kyōichi's hand.

He had only intended to punish Kakashi a bit, so he didn't even draw his blade. But he didn't expect that in the end, he would lose so badly that even his knife was taken away.

Damn it!

"Do you know where you went wrong?"

"..."

Kakashi glared at him.

Kyōichi smiled and said, "First, you underestimated your opponent."

"Hmm."

Kakashi nodded, not denying it.

He did underestimate his opponent.

He mistakenly thought Kyōichi was just a middle-ranked teacher, no threat at all. But after attacking, he realized the other's skills were formidable.

Not just Earth Style, taijutsu.

The Body Flicker technique he used also seemed to have hidden mysteries that Kakashi couldn't figure out for now.

The key was...

He was too fast!

Kakashi prided himself on being fast, even faster than many upper-ranked ninjas. But compared to Kyōichi, he was still much slower.

From attacking to hitting the "clone", he didn't understand when the other had used the Body Flicker technique to make hand seals.

"Secondly..."

Kyōichi's fingers nimbly twirled the tantō in his hand.

It looked very flashy! Useless in combat, but it showed a bit - that he also knew kenjutsu.

Kakashi didn't understand.

His exposed eyes stared fixedly at Kyōichi, waiting for the rest of the answer.

"I think it's better if you reflect on this issue yourself."

???

Kakashi was instantly confused.

After waiting so long, this was the answer he got?

He should have just said it earlier!

He took back the tantō and turned to leave.

Kyōichi couldn't help but laugh out loud.

No matter how serious he acted, after all he was still just a child.

He looked at Might Duy and his son. After Guy's cold ridicule and scolding earlier, Duy had also lectured him violently. The scene was extremely brutal, and only now did they stop.

The three of them then continued training.

Kakashi followed behind.

At first he really left, but after thinking about it, his mind kept pondering over the flaws in himself that were mentioned.

However, he felt...there were no problems at all!

Kakashi was arrogant.

If it was someone else, he would not think there was anything wrong with his loss. He would only feel that given time, he could eventually surpass the other person.

That was the confidence of a genius!

However, Kyōichi was different.

He was only fifteen.

The six year age gap was neither big nor small, but the other was very well-rounded, with almost no weaknesses.

Kakashi did not have enough confidence.

"Flaws..."

Scenes from the earlier fight flashed through his mind. He had some vague ideas.

The knife!

The problem was with the knife!

He understood in a flash and quickly caught up to ask, "Is it the knife?"

"Oh Kakashi, you didn't leave after all? I knew you must want to challenge me to a passionate battle of youth!"

Might Guy instantly became excited.

Kakashi ignored him.

This guy.

Clearly he was the winner yesterday, but his reaction made it seem like he was the loser.

Annoying!

He stared at Kyōichi.

Kyōichi smiled and said, "Your swordsmanship, ninjutsu, taijutsu are all good, but you don't have any particularly outstanding abilities. Your swordsmanship is great, but deep down you resist it, unwilling to strengthen it."

"..."

Kakashi clenched his fists, his forehead veins bulging as he glared at Kyōichi and angrily said, "What makes you say that?"

"Isn't it true? I heard the Hatake clan were originally samurai, only later becoming shinobi, so swordsmanship has always been passed down in your family. If you truly trusted your swordsmanship, why don't you incorporate ninjutsu and taijutsu into the sword?"

Kyōichi didn't know what Sakumo's swordsmanship was like.

However, based on the anime and the earlier exchange, he didn't think Kakashi really believed in the tantō.

Reliant yet resistant.

That was Kakashi now.

"..."

Kakashi had no words.

Sakumo's swordsmanship was naturally not like his.

Sword Techniques!

That was Sakumo's swordsmanship. And the White Fang tantō he held was actually a chakra blade that could be combined with chakra to exert even greater power.

However, he resisted it in his heart.

Because Kakashi would unconsciously think of his father, the man who had "shamed" him and his clan.

"Do you really understand your father?"

"If you feel the White Fang was very shameful, you might as well abandon the sword. Because someone like you is not worthy of using the White Fang tantō. It would be better to give it to someone who needs it more."

"If you're willing, I can exchange it for the Earth Style ninjutsu and a secret technique I used earlier. It would absolutely be a worthwhile trade."

Kyōichi said with a smile.

These words...

Were heart piercing.

Might Duy looked at Kakashi.

"Your father was a great man."

Duy had seen Kakashi's father before. He was a great man.

Yes, a man rather than a shinobi.

From a shinobi's perspective, it was dereliction of duty for Sakumo to abandon the mission to save his comrades. But as a human, he protected his comrades and dared to give up something for them.

This kind of person was very worthy of respect.

"You don't understand anything!"

Kakashi clenched the White Fang tantō and used the Body Flicker technique to leave directly.

Kyōichi shrugged and said, "It seems he doesn't understand. Let's continue training."

"Sigh..."

Might Duy sighed lightly.

Guy didn't really understand either.

In many ways, he wasn't that smart to begin with. Otherwise he wouldn't have been called a "beast".

"But he is still very mentally dependent on it, unwilling to give up swordsmanship even like this."

Kyōichi seemed to imply something.

Kakashi hadn't gone far. With a shinobi's hearing he could certainly hear these words.

However, Kyōichi really left after that.

There was a limit to being a good teacher.

Chasing and preaching to someone went too much against his style.

He was a life mentor, not some incompetent teacher lacking students. Whether Kakashi understood or not was up to him to figure out himself. It had nothing to do with Kyōichi. Let Minato Namikaze get a headache over it.

Kakashi sat in a tree by the riverbank, staring blankly at his knife.

"Do you really understand your father?"

This sentence echoed in his ears.

Very direct!

It wasn't just one person saying this, but this time Kakashi reacted particularly strongly.

Because the other's words seemed unreasonable, yet made him very concerned.

Resisting the knife?

He didn't know.

After thinking for a while, Kakashi hardened his fist again.

No!

It was precisely because he abandoned the mission that he committed suicide, shaming the Hatake clan.

He left in anger.

Kyōichi didn't get a system prompt, but he wasn't surprised. If Kakashi could be persuaded so easily by words, he wouldn't have been so stubborn for so many years, and wouldn't be so hated among other shinobi.

However, earlier "he" really had no presence. Despite having been briefly on the same team as Kakashi, the brat didn't recognize "him" at all.

After running for a while, he went back to train in the same forest as before.

This time he deliberately trained the Seven Days Breathing method!

(End of chapter)