"Didn't they say that all I need to do is defeat Hatake Kakashi?"
"In that case...."
"Let's begin now!"
Hyūga Shinichi calmly spoke these words, causing everyone present to turn their heads toward him. Mitokado Homura and the others, who had already looked away, now fixed their gaze back on Hyūga Shinichi.
Homura looked at the "innocent-looking" Hyūga Shinichi and couldn't help but chuckle:
"Child, your name is Hyūga Shinichi, correct?"
"Do you know who Hatake Kakashi is? He is the disciple of the Fourth Hokage-sama and a genius ninja who became a Jōnin at the age of twelve."
"He is currently fourteen, nine years older than you. It's much too early for you to challenge him!"
"We know you are interested in the Flying Thunder God Technique. The reason we made this requirement is because we hope you won't be overly ambitious."
"It's not too late to train and accumulate experience for a few years before setting your sights on the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"The Hokage's promise to the Hyūga Clan is still valid. There is no need to rush this moment."
Although Mitokado Homura internally regarded Hyūga Shinichi as an arrogant brat who didn't know his limits, out of respect for the Hyūga Main Family, he managed to control his tone and carefully choose his words to sound as agreeable as possible. He assumed that the young Hyūga Shinichi didn't recognize Hatake Kakashi.
However, Homura didn't know that Shinichi had already recognized the opponent based on his attire, hair color, and build. Under the Byakugan's transparent vision, Kakashi's young, handsome face perfectly matched the person in Shinichi's memory.
"Genius Ninja... Hatake Kakashi."
"I know."
Hyūga Shinichi did not look at Homura but at Kakashi, nodding lightly.
Homura had no idea that Shinichi's words were the result of deep consideration! The moment he learned that borrowing the Forbidden Scroll came with an additional requirement, Shinichi immediately began to contemplate how to proceed.
Turn back and go home now?!
How could he? Having come all this way, leaving just like that would be too embarrassing.
More importantly, Hyūga Shinichi did not believe that the requirement was impossible to meet. On the contrary... if he were to wait a few years before challenging Kakashi, as Minato and Homura suggested—waiting until Kakashi had fully mastered the Sharingan? Waiting until he copied a thousand Jutsu?
In that case, there truly would be no hope.
Although Shinichi was significantly younger than Kakashi, possessing the Byakugan bloodline limit meant he might not necessarily lose to the current Kakashi.
The strength of the Gentle Fist lay in its ability to negate power differences to a large extent. Even if Kakashi was hit by Shinichi's Gentle Fist, his chakra would still be blocked.
If defeating Kakashi was a prerequisite to borrowing the Forbidden Scroll, then now was the best time!
Since childhood, Hyūga Shinichi's most frequent sparring opponent was Hyūga Hiashi. Admittedly, with his current abilities, he still couldn't defeat Hiashi; even exerting his full strength only kept the loss from being too humiliating.
But... speaking of which.
If he, Hyūga Shinichi, couldn't defeat Hyūga Hiashi, could the 14-year-old Kakashi do it?! In a fight against Kakashi, who was stronger, it was completely up for debate! The reason Hyūga Shinichi was called a "genius" by his clan was precisely because his strength could not be simply measured by his age!
Hearing Hyūga Shinichi's statement, Hiashi, who had intended to leave, stopped.
Looking at his calm son, Hiashi quietly turned back, suddenly smiling:
"Fourth Hokage, my son wishes to try. If that is the case..."
"Would you please make the arrangements?"
Shinichi's words quickly cooled Hiashi's initial anger. Seeing that his son wanted to try, Hiashi immediately expressed his support without a second thought. He, too, had been momentarily intimidated by the title of Hatake Kakashi, Jōnin at age 12. Thinking carefully, his son was not without a chance.
The title of Jōnin was impressive and sounded formidable at first hearing. However, Hatake Kakashi became a Jōnin during the Third Great War.
Due to the war, almost all of Konoha's ninjas, regardless of age, were thrown into the war grinder, and the threshold for becoming a Jōnin had been significantly lowered in those years.
His son was exceptionally gifted, the most talented bloodline user the Hyūga Clan had seen in centuries, and even Hiashi himself had felt pressure from Shinichi during past sparring sessions.
While Hiashi always won due to his superior stamina and mastery of the Gentle Fist's chakra point striking, the outcome might be different if the opponent were anyone else...
Hiashi's sudden change of attitude stunned Minato and Hiruzen. It was only then that Danzō and the others looked seriously at Hyūga Shinichi.
Minato, hearing this, thought the father and son were acting out of spite. But after a moment of thought, he nodded:
"A simple spar doesn't require us to go elsewhere. We will hold it in the open space in front of the tower."
Minato had full confidence in Kakashi's strength. In his opinion, defeating a five-year-old child could be done instantly, right? Since that was the case, there was no need to go to a training ground; a quick fight would suffice. He planned to let Kakashi win, give Hiashi a few days to cool down, and then go apologize and smooth things over to ease tensions.
"The open space in front of the tower, then..."
Hiashi looked out the window and nodded.
"Sigh..." Kakashi sighed internally, glancing at Hyūga Shinichi beside Hiashi, a look of apology flashing in his eyes.
...
"What's going on? Why are the Hokage-sama and the Elders here?"
"What happened?"
As the two Hokage, the Elders, Hiashi, Shinichi, and the others arrived at the open space in front of the Hokage Tower, passing ninjas quickly sensed something was happening and began to gather.
In the open space, Kakashi had already removed his mask. Wearing his Anbu uniform, he stood face-to-face with Hyūga Shinichi, who was wearing a loose kimono. The distance between them was only about a meter.
"Form the Seal of Confrontation."
The Fourth Hokage acted as the referee, ignoring the rapidly growing crowd of spectators, and announced clearly. As soon as he spoke, Kakashi and Hyūga Shinichi both formed the Confrontation Seal.
"Begin!"
At Namikaze Minato's command, Kakashi rushed out almost simultaneously.
Kakashi had no intention of holding back. His thought process was similar to Minato's; he didn't want to waste time on the child and intended to end the fight quickly.
However, facing the rapidly approaching Kakashi, Hyūga Shinichi calmly raised his arms, the veins at the corners of his eyes fully pronounced.
"The Byakugan?"
"That little kid activated his Byakugan at such a young age?"
"How is that possible?"
Seeing Hyūga Shinichi's appearance, the observers—Hiruzen, Minato, and Danzō—were all stunned.
Even Kakashi's pupils constricted at the sight, but he had already rushed in front of Shinichi. With no time to change his move, he delivered a straight punch toward Shinichi's face.
"Are you... underestimating someone?"
Kakashi's movements were completely seen through by Shinichi. Watching his opponent strike, Hyūga Shinichi actually felt a little disappointed.
So... a genius Jōnin is only at this level?
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