Chapter 588: Witness

"Shadow Clone?"

Su Xiao landed from midair, halting his rush toward Kakashi; in his perception, the three-headed dog was undeniably solid, yet at the instant the blade struck, an odd sensation arose.

"Roar!"

A growl rose from beneath his feet—a dog's head burst from the earth, snapping at Su Xiao's calf.

"Earth Release: Ground Rise Core."

Not far away, Kakashi slapped one hand against the ground; a pillar of rock erupted beneath Su Xiao's feet.

The pillar struck with immense force and appeared with suddenness—Su Xiao's center of gravity wavered, his body tilting sideways.

Crack! The three-headed dog's massive jaws clamped onto Su Xiao's calf; several fangs shattered—the dog had not bitten his flesh, but a hardened energy shield.

Su Xiao reversed the Longsword in his grip, switching from orthodox to reverse hold.

Zzzzz~

The shrill cry of lightning rang out—while Su Xiao battled the three-headed dog, Kakashi had already charged forward, lightning surging in his hand, thrusting straight for Su Xiao's chest.

Su Xiao ignored Kakashi entirely, summoning a 150-point energy shield before him, then stabbed the ground with a reverse slash.

Most of the blade sank into the earth; a muffled groan echoed—the blade had struck the three-headed dog beneath the ground.

Su Xiao twisted the hilt with both hands; Qinggangyingsuo energy crawled over the Longsword's surface. Two screams echoed from underground—Inuzuka Tsume and her ninja dog.

Dozens of energy spikes erupted from the blade's tip; the sounds beneath the earth vanished.

Su Xiao pulled out the bloodied longsword and turned to face Kakashi.

Kakashi was now roughly one meter away, his palm pressed against Su Xiao's energy shield; the instant Su Xiao dissolved the shield, he slashed at Kakashi.

As Kakashi's friend from Kai, his taijutsu was certainly no weak point—he leaned back just in time to evade the slash.

The longsword grazed Kakashi's nose tip; Qinggangyingsuo energy seared his cheek, causing a dull throb.

Having narrowly escaped that lethal strike, Kakashi's face darkened—he had closed the distance to save Inuzuka Tsume, but he had failed; worse, now it was nearly impossible to retreat from Su Xiao.

Kakashi lacked the ruthlessness—if he had been truly cold-blooded, he could have ignored Inuzuka Tsume entirely; she, obsessed with revenge, believed she could engage Su Xiao in close combat.

But in actual combat, Inuzuka Tsume realized it was nothing like that—her enemy's blade speed was astonishingly fast, his technique flawless; once locked in close quarters, retreat was impossible.

Inuzuka Tsume paid for her recklessness—dying beneath Su Xiao's feet in the soil; Kakashi paid for it too—now trapped in close range with Su Xiao.

Su Xiao swung the longsword in rapid succession, leaving silver trails in the air.

Kakashi retreated step by step, miraculously dodging four of Su Xiao's strikes; now he held a kunai, his face slick with sweat.

Ding ding ding…

The Longsword clashed with the kunai; sparks flew as the kunai's edge cracked into visible notches—Kakashi had blocked over a dozen of Su Xiao's strikes, a fact that surprised Su Xiao.

"Shaku Dan."

Su Xiao's slashing speed suddenly surged, reaching a dizzying pace; Kakashi's pressure spiked.

Each slash sent forth a blade aura; within seconds, Kakashi's green vest was shredded, his chest crisscrossed with deep cuts.

After several more exchanges, Su Xiao sensed something was off—Kakashi, though appearing battered after being closed in, was not dying anytime soon; this was vastly different from their last battle.

Su Xiao studied Kakashi closely—he suddenly noticed the veins on Kakashi's face bulging, his chakra flowing at an extreme speed, as if his body's limits had been removed.

"This is… the Eight Gates?"

Su Xiao finally understood why Kakashi could endure close combat with him so long—Kakashi had opened the second gate, the Gate of Rest; this was his absolute limit.

Given Kakashi's relationship with Kai, Su Xiao felt no surprise that he could open the gates.

Even with the second gate open, Kakashi's close-combat ability remained on a completely different level from Su Xiao's.

Su Xiao stepped sideways, raised the longsword above his head, and after a swift buildup, brought it down in a powerful slash.

The slash was diagonal, heavy, and lightning-fast—Kakashi instinctively raised his kunai to block.

Ting! The kunai shattered on impact; the longsword struck Kakashi directly.

Plosch! Blood sprayed—the blade carved through one side of Kakashi's cheek, the wound extending down his chest to his abdomen.

From Su Xiao's angle, he could faintly see Kakashi's pounding heart.

Kakashi's black face mask was cut open; before blood gushed from his wound, Su Xiao saw Kakashi's face.

Kakashi's lower face was normal—no thick lips or buckteeth.

Qinggangyingsuo energy invaded Kakashi's body; he groaned in agony, sweat pouring down his face, his body stiffening.

Su Xiao would not miss such an opening—he slashed again at Kakashi.

At that moment, a sharp sense of danger surged.

Boom!

The kunai in Kakashi's hand suddenly exploded; flames engulfed Su Xiao, a powerful shockwave slamming into him. Though he had formed an energy shield in front of him the instant the explosion occurred, it was still too late.

When the fire faded, blood seeped from Su Xiao's arm—a shard of the kunai had embedded itself inside.

Looking at Kakashi—he now had one arm blown off, half his face covered in severe burns.

If Su Xiao had delayed his shield by even one second, he would have been either killed or critically injured.

It had not been the kunai itself that exploded—it was a special explosive tag Kakashi had wrapped around its handle beforehand; after being critically wounded by Su Xiao's blade, he realized death was inevitable and activated the tag without hesitation.

This explosive tag was no ordinary one—it was a special variant developed by the Second Hokage, five times more powerful than a standard tag, obtainable only by high-ranking Konoha ninja.

"Huh… so this is how it ends."

Kakashi spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Let's go to hell together."

Kakashi gazed at Su Xiao not far away, a smile appearing on his blood-smeared face.

Su Xiao's pupils contracted sharply—danger surged from below.

"Lei Dun…"

Kakashi's lone arm pressed against the ground, channeling lightning into the earth—an unsealed, experimental jutsu, consuming enormous chakra; had he still possessed his Sharingan, he could never have used this jutsu in actual combat.

"Sensei Kakashi!"

A desperate cry rang from afar; hearing that familiar voice, Kakashi—who had been ready to die alongside his enemy—froze. The voice was too familiar: his subordinate, Naruto.

Zing!

A blade aura flashed—Kakashi's movements halted, the lightning in his hand dissipated.

Su Xiao looked down at the ground—he had sensed Kakashi's attack; the jutsu was slower than his blade aura—he had won.

Kakashi collapsed with a thud, his head severed clean off—he died instantly.

No World Source notification appeared; a pale golden treasure chest fell to the ground.

Su Xiao stepped forward, picked up the chest, tucked it away, then pulled the kunai shard from his arm.

Naruto witnessed Kakashi's beheading—he stood frozen, eyes wide, unable to believe what he saw.

"Sensei… Kakashi?"