Chapter 192: Fallen Genius

"Shisui and Kakashi, how are your preparations?" Muyue asked.

"I can fight at any time," Shisui quickly replied with a faint smile on his face.

"I'm fine, we can start the fight," Kakashi said calmly, nodding. With timely treatment and enough rest, he had fully recovered.

"Then there's no problem," Muyue said with a smile, letting Shisui and Kakashi walk to the battlefield to prepare for the fight.

Seeing Kakashi's indifferent expression, Muyue internally mourned for Kakashi for 0.1 seconds.

Since Shisui had defeated Obito while Kakashi was watching, Kakashi had a general understanding of Shisui's strength and methods.

But this was actually not a good thing for Kakashi; instead, it would cause Kakashi to misjudge Shisui's strength.

Because Shisui never liked one-shot kills; he would use just enough strength to defeat his opponent. If Shisui had used his Sharingan, Obito would have been completely controlled by Shisui's genjutsu, but until the end, Shisui didn't use it.

Furthermore, Shisui's age was deceptive; Kakashi would never have expected that Shisui, who was two years younger than them, was strong enough to hold back in his fight against Obito.

Of course, even if Kakashi didn't misjudge Shisui's strength, Kakashi probably still couldn't beat Shisui. Under normal circumstances, Shisui and Kakashi were roughly equal in overall strength, but if Shisui used his Sharingan, the situation would be different.

Following the sparring custom of Konoha, the two exchanged opposing hand seals.

"At the same age, I am indeed inferior to him," Kakashi thought as he looked at the serious-faced Shisui.

Although he couldn't go back two years to fight Shisui, Obito's current strength had already surpassed Kakashi at age six, and Shisui had defeated the current Obito. By indirect comparison, Shisui was indeed, as Obito had said earlier, even more talented than him.

However, Kakashi was still somewhat confident in this fight. He felt that Obito's loss was not due to strength but rather poor combat skills. Although Kakashi had trained less in the past two years, he hadn't skimped on missions, so his combat experience was very rich.

"Begin!" After the two assumed their stances, Muyue announced the start of the fight.

Kakashi immediately drew the White Fang short blade from his back and swung it at Shisui.

Clang!

Shisui used the Breathing Method to enhance his physical abilities, quickly took out the short blade Muyue had given him, and blocked Kakashi's slashing White Fang short blade.

Kakashi's expression did not change; his movements were extremely fast, and his sharp blade continuously struck at Shisui's vital points.

Kakashi's incredibly fast sword technique put considerable pressure on Shisui, leaving several scratches on his clothes.

Shisui realized the power of Kakashi's close-combat sword technique, immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to create distance, and then quickly formed hand seals.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Shisui opened his mouth and expelled a large amount of flame, which ultimately formed a three-meter-wide fireball that hurtled toward Kakashi.

Faced with the blazing hot fireball, Kakashi did not choose to withstand it head-on; instead, he threw a smoke bomb and dodged away.

The moment Kakashi threw the smoke bomb, he immediately hurled a large number of shuriken toward the edge of the smoke.

Boom!!

The fireball plunged into the smoke, hit the ground and caused an explosion; at the same time, the shuriken that had torn through the air also all flew into the edge of the smoke.

There was no sound of metal clashing. The smoke cleared, revealing only some scorched earth and a ground full of shuriken, but no sign of Kakashi.

Shisui looked thoughtful. With two leaps, he climbed a tree, used Shadow Clone while hiding in the tree, and then observed the movement to the north. A moment ago, he had thrown his shuriken to the south.

Shwish, shwish, shwish!!

As expected, Kakashi suddenly appeared from behind a large tree in the direction Shisui was observing, and hurled a large number of shuriken.

Shisui likewise threw shuriken to knock down the incoming ones, and through the collisions, he made several shuriken fly toward Kakashi at a very strange angle.

Clang, clang!

Kakashi dodged some of the shuriken and knocked down the others, but just as he successfully dealt with the shuriken, Shisui was already holding a kunai and thrusting it toward him.

"Kakashi-senpai, the fight is over," Shisui said.

"The fight is indeed over, but the winner is me," another Kakashi said as he rushed out from a nearby tree, holding a kunai aimed at Shisui's vital point.

"You should be more careful of opponents who have already disappeared," Kakashi reminded him calmly.

"Kakashi-senpai, what you said makes a lot of sense."

Just when Kakashi thought he had won, Shisui walked out from behind a tree, immediately used Body Flicker to appear beside Kakashi, and pressed a kunai against Kakashi as he spoke.

"Looks like I won after all," Shisui said with a faint smile.

【】

"You are indeed cautious, and as a student you are already excellent, but you need to be a bit more cautious." Kakashi, with a kunai at his throat, said unhurriedly.

The next moment, a hand suddenly reached out from the ground where Shisui was standing, pulling him into the earth, leaving only his head above.

"If you had been a little more cautious, you might have had a chance to win, but this time I won." Kakashi, appearing beside Shisui, declared his victory.

Obito, watching from the sidelines, was dumbfounded by the constantly reversing situation and couldn't help but complain:

"That Kakashi guy is really cunning. Both of his Shadow Clones were bait."

Might Guy scratched his head, feeling that all this flashiness was not as good as just kicking with full force.

Just when Kakashi thought he had won, a sudden change occurred. Shisui's Shadow Clone counterattacked and took out both of Kakashi's Shadow Clones along with itself.

A shuriken on the ground suddenly turned into Shisui. Shisui quickly activated his Sharingan and said:

"Kakashi-senpai, you're right. A shinobi should indeed be cautious, and then more cautious."

Kakashi subconsciously looked at Shisui and directly saw Shisui's blood-colored eyes.

"Sharingan!" Kakashi's heart shook violently. He had not expected to see the Sharingan, which made the Uchiha famous throughout the ninja world, in Shisui, a student still in his first year at the ninja academy.

The next instant, Kakashi suddenly found his body bound by a tree that had sprouted up, immobilizing him.

Kakashi knew of a jutsu that could control plant growth; it was famous in Konoha and the ninja world—the Wood Style used by the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.

But as an Uchiha, Shisui naturally couldn't use Wood Style. Kakashi quickly guessed that he had fallen under a genjutsu. He tried to dispel it, but Shisui's series of attacks were too fast. Kakashi soon felt a sharp blade pressing against his body.

The genjutsu ended, and Kakashi saw Shisui who had already appeared beside him.

"I concede the match, Kakashi-senpai." Shisui said with a calm smile.

Winning against Kakashi was within his expectations. Although he often heard the ninja academy teachers comparing him to Kakashi, calling him a second Kakashi, Shisui did not think he would lose to Kakashi, because he was Muyue's first disciple.

When Kakashi first used the smoke bomb, Shisui directly activated his Sharingan to track Kakashi's position. The subsequent series of attacks were all deliberately bait set by Shisui.

After the first exchange, his victory was already decided.

"There's no such thing as letting me win. You won through sheer strength." Kakashi said with a complicated expression.

Before today, he had never lost to a peer, or even to ninja several years older than him.

Today, he lost twice: once to Might Guy, who was the same age as him, and once to Uchiha Shisui, who was two years younger than him.

Losing to Might Guy, Kakashi was surprised but found it reasonable. After all, Might Guy was so hardworking and had even earned the recognition of his father.

Losing this fight to Shisui, Kakashi was truly convinced. Shisui's overall strength displayed had indeed surpassed him.

"Can I still be considered a genius?" Kakashi asked himself inwardly.

Two years ago, when others called him a genius, Kakashi wouldn't smile because of it, but he inwardly felt acknowledged.

He graduated early from the ninja academy at age five with the top grades, and at age six he directly passed the Chūnin Exams to become a chūnin. If that doesn't make him a genius, then what does?

But could he still be considered a genius now? It was already a new year. If not counting by exact age, he could already be considered nine years old.

How much had his strength improved compared to when he was six? And what kind of genius feats had he accomplished?

None. His raw strength hadn't improved much; only the accumulation of experience made it seem like he was progressing. He hadn't achieved any more extraordinary feats. He was merely a young chūnin.

Perhaps the him of the past could be called a genius, but now he no longer had the right to be called one.

Kakashi thought about when exactly he had become like this. As he pondered, the image in his mind gradually became clear. It was a deep night, a night tinged with blood. From that night onward, when Kakashi shouted 'I'm home,' there was no one left to respond.

"Kakashi, are you feeling unwell?" Muyue asked gently, noticing Kakashi's pale face.

Muyue's voice pulled Kakashi out of his memories. When he came to, what met his eyes was Muyue's warm and gentle smile. Kakashi relaxed a little, then shook his head and replied:

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."

Muyue placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder and said with a smile:

"If you're tired, you can rest more. Training is important, but the body is the capital for training."

Kakashi nodded slightly, then returned to the viewing area to rest.

"Rin, see? I told you Kakashi couldn't win. Shisui can even defeat me; dealing with Kakashi is a piece of cake."

As soon as Kakashi arrived at the viewing area, he saw Obito badmouthing him.

"I really can't beat Shisui, but it's easy for me to defeat a Uchiha who hasn't awakened his Sharingan." Kakashi said rudely.

After hearing Obito's words, Kakashi's motivation to train doubled. No matter what, he couldn't lose to Obito.

"Damn Kakashi, I'll get a Sharingan like this sooner or later." Obito retorted upon hearing Kakashi's voice.

Kakashi replied to Obito with a sneer.

Obito immediately realized his words just now admitted that without the Sharingan he was no match for Kakashi, and quickly changed his tune: "Even without a Sharingan, I can still defeat you."

"Then prove it to me. If you defeat Guy, then you truly have the strength to beat me." Kakashi said calmly. Up next was Obito and Might Guy's fight.

"I..." Obito was momentarily speechless. Given the speed and power Might Guy had shown in the morning, Obito was truly a bit unsure.

"Alright, you're both amazing. Obito, you should get ready for the fight." Rin Nohara said with a gentle smile.