Chapter 160: Alliance

But what Kakashi didn't expect happened: the Muyue in front of him also turned into white smoke and disappeared like his own shadow clone just now, and no bells fell.

"It's a shadow clone!"

Kakashi's pupils suddenly contracted, and he immediately wanted to slash behind him, but when he had that thought, a cold kunai pressed against his neck.

"When you use the shadow clone tactic, you also have to consider whether the enemy is using the same tactic," said Muyue, appearing behind Kakashi.

"After all, I'm not always in your line of sight."

Kakashi was silent; he had just lectured Obito not to be reckless, and now it was his turn to be lectured.

Hearing Kakashi get criticized, Obito rushed over immediately to mock him.

"The enemy had already vanished from your sight, but you still charged straight in without careful observation. If Teacher Muyue were an enemy, you'd be dead," Obito said bluntly.

Seeing that Kakashi had also failed, Obito felt his own pain lessen a bit.

It didn't matter if he failed; as long as Kakashi didn't succeed either.

"At least I took out Captain Habune's shadow clone, unlike you who got knocked down without even touching him," Kakashi immediately retorted, hearing Obito use his own words against him.

Muyue smiled without saying a word; with Kakashi, Obito, and Might Guy as they were now, if he didn't hold back, even his shadow clone could easily take them all out.

Since Kakashi was personally entrusted to him by Hiruzen Sarutobi, and although Muyue didn't think Hiruzen would be bored enough to spend hours watching them grab bells, to be cautious he still didn't reveal too much of his strength, in case Hiruzen saw something through the Telescope Technique.

He had already checked the surroundings in advance with the Byakugan and sensory ninjutsu; there were no ANBU watching.

"After all, Kakashi isn't his son; he shouldn't care that much," Muyue thought to himself.

"Because the one I faced wasn't a shadow clone at all. I lasted a while against Teacher Muyue's real body, but you couldn't handle it the moment his real body showed up," Obito retorted.

"Maybe the one that knocked you out in the beginning was also a shadow clone," Kakashi said coldly.

"Definitely not!" Obito firmly denied Kakashi's words.

"Right, Gai?" Obito said, seeing Might Guy also approaching, trying to pull him into his side.

"Arguing about this is pointless; we all failed," Might Guy said.

He thought whether it was shadow clone or real body, they were all defeated and couldn't grab the bells—everyone was the same.

Might Guy's words were unexpected to Obito; Might Guy took neither side and formed his own.

"It's good to summarize failures, but you should also pay more attention to where you fell short," Muyue stopped their argument.

"There's still some time before sunset; you still have a chance."

"Actually, your strength isn't weak among your peers. Why not try teamwork? The power born from cooperation can make one plus one greater than two," Muyue reminded them.

This classic bell-grabbing exercise was actually meant to test teamwork; as long as he saw the students cooperating, the instructor would let up to some extent—it's impossible for three freshly graduated genin to actually snatch something from a jonin.

By starting with this classic exercise, Muyue also wanted Kakashi, Might Guy, and Obito to communicate more, so Kakashi would realize his teammates were different from before.

Hearing Muyue's words, the more mature Kakashi basically understood Muyue's implication; he had been a chunin for over two years and was quite clear about all this.

"Looks like cooperation is necessary." To complete the bell-grabbing task, Kakashi decided to reluctantly cooperate and finish the mission first.

On the other side, although Obito was very reluctant, he quickly adjusted internally and walked up to Kakashi, saying:

"Kakashi, now you should know whether you can do it alone or not. Let's cooperate; the three of us will work together."

"Let's burn our youth together!" Might Guy also extended an invitation to Kakashi.

"We can cooperate, but I must be the one to make the battle plan," Kakashi said expressionlessly, ignoring Obito's previous words.

"Why does it have to be you? Can't we discuss it together?" Obito said a bit defiantly.

"Because I've been a chunin for over two years—is that enough?" Kakashi said flatly.

"Your arrangements were too crude. If Captain Habune hadn't been taking it easy, you wouldn't have had any chance at all."

Kakashi directly used his ninja rank to assert authority, and Obito couldn't think of a rebuttal for a moment; he only regretted not meeting Muyue earlier, or else he would definitely be at least a chunin by now.

But it was impossible for Obito to truly submit to Kakashi, so Obito said:

"Don't end up failing even with your battle plan."

"Then we'll talk about it after we lose," Kakashi calmly replied.

If they still lose after going this far, Kakashi can only say that Muyue never intended to let them pass this training from the start.

Then Kakashi instructed Obito and Might Guy to set up traps, and carefully explained the next battle plan to Obito and Might Guy.

"I arranged a shadow clone to keep an eye on Captain Hanyu earlier. The one sitting over there now is a shadow clone; the real body is hidden. Later I'll have the shadow clone lure Captain Hanyu's shadow clone over here. His real body will surely follow, and then we will..."

"Pay attention, don't do anything unnecessary." After explaining, Kakashi warned.

Then Kakashi had Obito and Might Guy hide, and he also hid his real body, commanding the shadow clone to lure Muyue.

When Muyue's shadow clone was lured by Kakashi's shadow clone to the trap area, instantly shuriken flew from all directions toward Kakashi's shadow clone and Muyue's shadow clone.

Kakashi's shadow clone knew its mission, and without dodging, it directly turned back and used Lightning Release to delay Muyue. In an instant, both shadow clones were pierced and dispelled.

"What a good tactic. If it weren't a shadow clone, it would have been dangerous." Muyue quietly said to Kakashi, who was observing his surroundings.

God knows how astonished Kakashi was at that moment—Muyue had silently crept up to his side again!

Kakashi used Body Flicker Technique to go to the ground, putting some distance between himself and Muyue. Muyue's praise just now had really scared Kakashi into a cold sweat.

But Muyue wasn't in a hurry to attack. He jumped down to the tree and continued laughing: "This time is not bad; you learned from last time's lesson."

Although the situation was unfavorable, Kakashi, who had faced real life-and-death crises, could still remain calm. He carefully observed Muyue and immediately shouted:

"This is not the real body, it's a shadow clone. Don't come out yet, keep waiting for the right moment!"

He remembered that Muyue had rested on the grass. Even if he brushed off the grass roots and dust, he couldn't be so clean as to have not a speck of dust. But the Muyue in front of him looked as if he had changed into an identical new set of clothes.

Then Kakashi cautiously stared at Muyue. Whether it was the real body or a shadow clone, Muyue was hard to deal with—too fast.

"Is it really okay on your own? Have you forgotten how you failed not long ago?" Muyue continued charging at Kakashi, throwing a punch as he spoke.

Muyue was very fast and also had considerable strength. Even with Kakashi going all out, it was very difficult. He soon took two punches and a kick, looking quite disheveled.

"Coming out now would be failure. As long as they stay hidden, there's still a chance to snatch the bells." Kakashi retorted.

If they exposed everyone's location just to defeat a shadow clone, then the combination attack they had prepared would be completely useless. They had no chance of winning in a direct fight.

Better for him to hold off Muyue's shadow clone now, and let Might Guy and Obito keep hiding and look for Muyue's real body's location. That way there could still be a glimmer of hope for victory.

Kakashi's plan sounded good in his mind, but holding off Muyue was harder than he thought.

His rich battle experience and his swift, precise, ruthless sword techniques were completely ineffective against Muyue. Muyue seemed to see through all his attacks. Kakashi couldn't even touch a corner of Muyue's clothes, and he had already endured who knows how many of Muyue's attacks.

Muyue was much stronger than Kakashi had imagined—so strong that Kakashi couldn't understand why a ninja of this level would be a teacher at the Ninja Academy. With this strength, doing missions would earn money like crazy.

Kakashi grew more and more exhausted, while Muyue's attacks became fiercer and fiercer. He was gradually unable to hold on.

Even though the dust on him was increasing, Kakashi still had no intention of calling Obito and Might Guy out.

He still had the same thought: if they didn't come out, there was still a chance of success; if they came out, all efforts would be wasted and only failure remained.

For the mission, he could abandon his teammates, and at the same time, he could abandon himself. Not to mention this wasn't even a real fight to the death.

Thud!

Muyue seized Kakashi's opening, knocked the short blade out of his hand, and then threw a punch at Kakashi.

Just as Kakashi braced himself to take a heavy blow, a passionate voice rang out.

"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"

Suddenly, Might Guy had somehow crept over and delivered an extremely fast whirlwind kick toward Muyue, forcing him back and saving Kakashi from disaster.

Kakashi, having been saved, did not show a smile but frowned and asked:

"Didn't I say not to come out? If we reveal our position now, there's no hope of success."

"I don't understand what you're saying, but I know this: I didn't train just for training's sake. This power is meant to protect what I want to protect!" Might Guy said, glaring at Muyue.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Then a fierce-looking fire dragon suddenly appeared, flying straight at Muyue. When Muyue tried to dodge, it also turned and charged, successfully forcing Muyue back another step.

"You've got to be kidding me! If victory requires abandoning comrades, then I, Uchiha Obito, don't need it!" Obito continued to throw shuriken at Muyue as he spoke.

Seeing that Obito had also come out, Kakashi's frown deepened. In his heart, this training was destined to fail.

But he wouldn't give up outright either. Since it had come to this, he would make one last desperate attempt.

There will be more later. I'll finish writing today.