Yuichi's ninjutsu display had left the entire square stunned.
Shikaku's brows furrowed. This isn't good… will Kakashi be defeated so easily?
Barely ten seconds had passed since the fight began, and already the tempo had been ripped out of Kakashi's hands.
But Yuichi knew better. He, more than anyone, understood—
Hatake Kakashi was not so simple.
This was a man who could stand against Zabuza and even Kaguya, who wore the infamous moniker of "Copy Ninja" and "Fifty-Fifty Hatake" for a reason.
Kakashi grew stronger the more desperate the fight. A shinobi of cunning and impossible adaptation.
Even Yuichi did not dare relax.
Kakashi, caught under Yuichi's relentless Water Style barrage, was pressed hard—yet still, he deflected Yuichi's water clones with precise cuts and movements.
Though a clone's strength was only a fraction of Yuichi's true power, they were no easy feat to dispatch in the middle of a raging current.
Then Kakashi leapt high into the air, hands flashing through seals so fast they blurred.
The crowd of jōnin murmured in awe. His speed was incredible.
But Yuichi only smirked faintly.
No matter how fast your seals are… compared to me, it doesn't matter.
Clap!
His hands came together. A surge of water welled up from nothing, spiraling around him into the shape of a massive dragon.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
The serpent of water rose, roaring as it rushed toward Kakashi in midair.
At the same moment, Kakashi's own jutsu flared—lightning sparking violently at his fingertips.
"Lightning Style: Ground Walk!"
Zzzzt!
Crackling arcs of lightning exploded outward, racing along the air currents. The thunder coursed through the water dragon instantly, leaping from the jutsu straight into Yuichi's own waters.
The electricity tore toward Yuichi's body.
The onlookers gasped. He's using lightning to travel through water?! Is Kakashi insane?
Even Yuichi blinked in surprise. For Kakashi to counter Water Style with Lightning Style was practically suicidal. It would mean both were caught in the backlash.
But it was too late to question.
The electricity leapt through the water, crawling across Yuichi's body. His limbs stiffened, muscles locking in paralysis.
"Gh—!"
His leap faltered, his left foot caught as lightning snaked up his frame.
And in that same instant, the electrically charged Water Dragon smashed into Kakashi.
A deafening boom.
Both fighters vanished in spray and smoke—
—until Kakashi's body burst into white vapor.
A shadow clone.
The jōnin in the stands froze. When?! When did he…
None of them had seen it. None of them had caught the moment Kakashi had replaced himself.
Shikaku's calm voice broke the silence.
"He must have switched at the moment Yuichi's Water Style engulfed him. His seals weren't for Lightning Style alone… he changed the final sign midstream and formed a Shadow Clone instead."
The crowd stared in disbelief.
To alter a jutsu at the last second, in the middle of seals—switching years of ingrained muscle memory into something entirely different—was a feat beyond ordinary shinobi.
But for Kakashi Hatake, it was second nature.
The ground behind Yuichi cracked apart with a violent bang.
Lightning shrieked as Kakashi erupted upward, his true body emerging from underground with his hand engulfed in thunder.
"Raikiri!"
The thousand birds sang as his blade of lightning roared to life.
His Sharingan spun, locking mercilessly onto Yuichi's paralyzed body.
Then he vanished in a blur of light.
The audience barely had time to breathe.
"It's over!"
"This is Kakashi-sensei's Raikiri—!"
Yuichi's eyes widened as the thunder-clad figure closed in.
I can't move…!
So this is the power of the Copy Ninja… fifty-fifty Hatake.
He hadn't even sensed Kakashi's burrow beneath the ground.
Lightning shrieked closer.
Zi-zi-zi!
The dazzling blade filled Yuichi's vision, descending toward his chest.
Kakashi's movements slowed deliberately, precision guiding his strike. He didn't intend to kill—only to wound, to prove superiority.
All he needed was one cut.
One decisive blow.