“Yesterday?”

  Kyoichi quickly pieced it together.

  After pointing Might Guy in Kakashi’s dire, it seemed Kakashi had been unwilling to let it go. He must have fronted Guy to identify the “culprit” and the up this ambush as revenge.

  But...

  He was still a bit g.

  Kakashi’s assassination teiques and swordsmanship were exceptional, and his adaptability was endable. Unfortunately for him, Kyoichi’s mastery of Earth Spear didn’t require hand seals and his body was far too resilient. It made taking Kakashi’s bde almost effortless.

  Of course...

  The key to his success had been dodging the initial attack.

  “Ugh...” Kakashi wao turn and leave, but his father’s short bde was still in Kyoichi’s hand.

  He had only inteo teach Kyoichi a lesson and hadn’t even uhed his bde. Yet somehow, he ended up losing—along with his pride.

  Damn it!

  “Do you know why you lost?”

  “Uh...” Kakashi stared ily at him.

  Kyoichi smiled. “First, you uimated your oppo.”

  “Mm...”

  Kakashi nodded without protest.

  He had indeed uimated Kyoichi, thinking he was just a lowly in teacher unworthy of . But as soon as the fight began, it became clear that Kyoichi’s strength was on airely different level.

  It wasn’t just his Earth Release and taijutsu.

  Even his Body Flicker Jutsu carried an elusive mystery that Kakashi couldn’t unravel.

  More importantly...

  He was just too fast!

  Kakashi prided himself on his speed, outpag even many Jōni pared to Kyoichi, he was noticeably slower.

  From the momeacked to the point where his blow nded on a e, he couldn’t figure out when Kyoichi had cast the Body Flicker.

  “Sed...”

  Kyoichi twirled the short bde in his hand with practiced ease.

  The flourish was unnecessary in bat but served as a subtle message: I know my way around a bde too.

  Kakashi narrowed his eye, fixating on Kyoichi and waiting for the rest of the expnation.

  “I think it’d be better if you reflected on it yourself,” Kyoichi said with a shrug.

  Kakashi was stunned.

  After all that waiting, this was the clusion?

  He could’ve just said so earlier!

  Grabbing his short bde, Kakashi turned a in frustration.

  Kyoichi couldn’t help but chuckle.

  No matter how serious he tried to act, Kakashi was still just a kid.

  Gng at Might Duy and Guy, Kyoioted that Duy had just finished disciplining his son after Guy’s earlier mog of Kakashi. The se had been rather violent, but now they were back to training.

  Kakashi, meanwhile, trailed behind.

  Though he had initially walked away, his mi returning to the fws in his performance.

  But...

  What fws?

  Kakashi was fident in his abilities. Against most oppos, he believed he could win with enough time and effort.

  That was the fidence of a genius.

  However...

  Kyoichi was different.

  At just fifteen, the gap between them was both small and vast. Kyoichi was skilled in every area, leaving no obvious weaknesses.

  For the first time, Kakashi doubted himself.

  “Fws...”

  He repyed the battle in his mind, searg for answers. Suddenly, it clicked.

  The bde!

  His eyes lit up as he rushed forward to catch up. “Was it my bde?”

  “Well, well, Kakashi. You didn’t leave after all! I k—you want to challenge me to a youthful and fiery battle!” Guy interjected enthusiastically.

  Kakashi ignored him.

  This guy...

  Even though Kakashi had beaten him yesterday, Guy still acted as though he had won. It was irritating.

  Fog on Kyoichi, Kakashi demanded, “Is the problem my bde?”

  Kyoichi chuckled. “Your swordsmanship, ninjutsu, and taijutsu are all excellent. But none of them stand out. Your bde skills are strong, yet deep down, you reject them. You don’t fully embrace or refihem.”

  “Ugh...” Kakashi ched his fists, his forehead twitg with irritation. “What gives you the right to say that?”

  “Am I wrong? From what I’ve heard, the Hatake were inally samurai before they became ninja. Swordsmanship is your family’s legacy. If you truly believed in it, why haven’t you ied your ninjutsu and taijutsu into your bde teiques?”

  Kyoichi didn’t know the full details of White Fang’s swordsmanship.

  However...

  Based on both the anime and his brief exge with Kakashi earlier, it was clear that Kakashi didn’t truly trust his bde.

  He depended on it, yet he resisted it.

  That was Kakashi’s current state.

  “Ugh...” Kakashi fell silent.

  Sakumo’s swordsmanship was nothing like his.

  Sakumo had mastered ninja swordsmanship, blending chakra and bat skills seamlessly. The White Fang short bde was a chakra on designed for this very purpose.

  Yet Kakashi rejected it.

  Because every time he used the bde, he couldn’t help but think of his father—the man who had brought shame upon their family.

  “Do you really uand your father?”

  “If you think White Fang was a disgrace, then abandon the bde altogether. As you are now, you’re unworthy of wielding it. Someone else could put it to better use.”

  Kyoichi smiled slyly. “If you’re willing, I could trade you my Earth Release jutsu and a secret teique in exge. It’d be a great deal for you.”

  Those words...

  Cut to the heart.

  Might Duy turo Kakashi and said solemnly, “Your father was a great man.”

  Duy had known Sakumo Hatake—a great man, not just a great ninja.

  From a ninja’s perspective, Sakumo had failed when he abandoned his mission to save his rades. But as a person, he had protected those he cared about, even at great personal cost.

  That kind of man deserved respect.

  “You don’t uand anything!” Kakashi shouted, gripping the White Fang bde tightly before disappearing with the Body Flicker Jutsu.

  Kyoichi shrugged. “Looks like he doesn’t get it. Let’s tiraining.”

  “Sigh...” Duy let out a soft sigh.

  Guy, oher hand, was fused.

  Lag the sharpness for deep refle, Guy remained oblivious to the plex emotions in py.

  “Well, he’s still reliant on his bde. Even so, he refuses to abandon it,” Kyoichi remarked, his tone pointed.

  He knew Kakashi hadn’t gone far. With a ninja’s keen hearing, Kakashi could still catch every word.

  But Kyoichi wasn’t about to chase after him.

  There was a limit to how much guidance he’d offer.

  As a life mentor, he wasn’t some desperate teacher begging for students. If Kakashi wao uand, he could figure it out himself—or let Minato deal with him.

  Kakashi, meanwhile, sat on a tree by the river, staring at his bde in silence.

  “Do you really uand your father?”

  That question echoed in his mind.

  It was direct, pierg. Others had said simir things before, but Kyoichi’s words stung more deeply this time.

  Resisting the bde?

  Kakashi didn’t know.

  After a while, his fists ched.

  No!

  His father had abahe mission, disgrag their family. That was why he had taken his own life.

  That was why the Hatake had lost their honor.

  Frustrated, Kakashi stormed off.

  Kyoichi received no system notification, but he wasn’t surprised. Kakashi was stubborn; if words alone could reach him, he wouldn’t have been stu his own head for so many years, earning the disdain of his peers.

  Still...

  It stung a little that Kakashi hadn’t even remembered Kyoichi from their brief time on the same team.

  Shaking it off, Kyoichi resumed trainihe woods. This time, he focused on mastering the Seven Heavens Breathihod.

  Gcell