"Wow, there are quite a lot of people."
Sakumo arrived at the arena's spectator stands, found a good seat, and sat down, ready to watch the duel between his son and his disciple.
The match hadn't started yet, so Sakumo, bored, looked around. He saw Might Duy, his son and disciple's reliable teammate, arrive at the opposite side of the field, excitedly find an empty seat, and sit down. Beside him was a boy who resembled him somewhat, likely his son.
His name was… Might Guy, if I recall correctly.
Just as he was thinking, a familiar gentle male voice reached his ears.
"Senior, do you mind if we sit here?"
Sakumo looked in the direction of the voice. Minato smiled, pointing to the seats beside him, followed by a grinning Kushina.
"Of course, sit down."
Minato nodded and said, "Thank you."
Kushina sat down close to Minato, explaining in a rapid-fire manner, "I haven't really seen that child Kakashi fight much. It's great that I have time today."
Minato added, "And Uchiha Naraku-kun. A child taken as a disciple by Senior; I'd really like to see him too."
"I wonder if they're lucky or unlucky to meet in the finals," Sakumo sighed, seeing Kakashi and Naraku enter the arena. He quickly said, "It's starting."
Kushina focused intently on the field. "Oh, oh!"
...Naraku and Kakashi in the arena both did not draw their swords.
Naraku took the initiative, throwing three kunai aimed at Kakashi's vital points. The latter easily dodged them, forming hand signs as he advanced. By the time he completely avoided the kunai, his hand signs were complete.
"Earth Release: Mud Swamp!"
Naraku was moving, but Kakashi predicted his footsteps. The next second, the earth beneath Naraku's feet instantly turned into a small swamp, swallowing his right calf.
At this moment, Kakashi was also in front of him, his hand already on his sword hilt.
Naraku didn't dodge, watching as Kakashi drew his sword and struck him.
Before the blade even touched Naraku, Kakashi realized something was wrong, but he couldn't retract his strength and slashed down.
Immediately, a puff of white smoke rose from Naraku. What the blade was tightly stuck into was a wooden log.
The real Naraku appeared behind Kakashi with a Body Flicker, his sword already unsheathed, and he delivered a powerful cleave.
Kakashi knew Naraku's moves too well. He ducked low, shifted half a step to the right, and turned to parry horizontally, using his blade to forcefully block Naraku's attack.
The two continued to entangle for over a dozen more moves. Lightning Release against Fire Release, sword art against sword art. Unfortunately, they were from the same master, so neither could gain an advantage over the other… "Their sword techniques are both exquisite, but…"
Minato, sitting in the stands, commented, "I always feel like Kakashi and Naraku can see through each other."
Kushina retorted, "That's what happens when you're taught by the same master."
"Well, and they both understand each other's abilities and techniques too well. Their strengths are also similar, so it's indeed difficult to determine a winner."
Sakumo watched the progress of the two children on the field with satisfaction. Compared to when they first graduated, they had grown much stronger.
"Once they both become Chunin, maybe they can even go on missions with Minato!"
Kushina excitedly envisioned the future, already seeing Minato leading Kakashi and Naraku across battlefields.
"Aside from their looks, they use the same sword techniques and Ninjutsu, making them seem like twins. It must be very interesting to do missions together, right, Minato?"
"Yes, I'm also looking forward to it."
...Seeing that he couldn't break Kakashi's defense, Naraku's eyes darted, and a plan formed in his mind.
In the original world line, Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi clashed with genjutsu, resulting in Kakashi being pulled into an illusion and beaten for three days and three nights, collapsing immediately afterward.
He hadn't used this move on Kakashi yet.
He sheathed his sword, retreated, and formed hand signs.
Enhanced Version: Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!
Kakashi felt a moment of disorientation, then was pulled into a chaotic space of black and red.
Beneath his feet was a pool of unknown depth. Each step left circles of white-glowing ripples on the water's surface.
"Genjutsu? It's even more powerful than before."
Kakashi silently sighed, raised two fingers to concentrate, and Chakra flowed wildly.
"Release!"
But there was no change around him.
It seemed different from ordinary genjutsu; it wasn't that easy to break.
A patch of water in front of him churned, forming a human shape, gradually taking on Naraku's appearance.
"I originally wanted to wait until this technique was completely finished before telling you."
"Naraku" looked around.
"As you can see, it's pitch black here. It's clearly an illusion, too many flaws."
"It's already very good. At least it's not that easy to break."
Kakashi calmly commented, not at all flustered, without any sense of being in danger.
He asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Hmm, at most, it would be easier to launch a surprise attack."
"Naraku" tilted his head slightly, a hint of a smile appearing.
"If Kakashi is ready, I'm going to attack."
Hearing this, Kakashi remembered his painful past lessons and couldn't help but shiver, saying with feigned courage, "Let's be clear: no using that weird technique!"
"Naraku" smiled and waved his hand. "No, no."
The human figure made of water returned to the surface of the pool, and silence fell all around.
Next, the water surface began to churn, and dozens of sharp water spikes emerged. Kakashi could see white, rapidly spinning spirals on their tips. If he were hit by one, it would definitely leave a large hole in his body.
If injured in an illusionary space, the body would believe it to be real. Even if the genjutsu was broken then, he would have no fighting power left.
The water spikes rushed forward one after another. Kakashi dodged and weaved, narrowly avoiding them as they grazed past him.
Seeing that he couldn't dodge the last few, he quickly formed hand signs and drew his short sword.
When the water spikes touched the small amount of Lightning Release Chakra attached to the blade, they surprisingly dispersed rapidly.
"Strange, Earth Release clearly counters Water Release…"
"Is it not a matter of elemental affinity?"
Kakashi gripped his short sword in reverse, plunging the tip into the water.
Lightning Release: Ground Flash!
The water, which was not countered by Lightning Release, gradually collapsed. He increased his Chakra output, and the water surface beneath his feet broke open, revealing a glimmer of light.
Then, this crack grew larger and larger until the entire illusion could no longer sustain itself and shattered completely.
It turned out that this genjutsu could simply be destroyed by Chakra. As long as there was enough, any element could succeed.
Kakashi returned to the arena, finding himself kneeling, his sword tip plunged into the ground.
He felt his Chakra reserves and found that he had very little left, having wasted a lot to break the genjutsu.
Naraku, who was in front of him, wasn't much better. This technique was still incomplete, with obvious flaws, and it consumed a lot of Chakra. If it couldn't waste the opponent's Chakra, its cost-effectiveness was indeed low.
In the eyes of the audience, Naraku formed a few hand signs, and he and Kakashi simultaneously froze in place for a moment. Then, when they could finally move again, both had consumed a lot of Chakra… Minato suddenly realized, "Genjutsu?"
Sakumo nodded and said, "Naraku's genjutsu talent is indeed very high. However, this technique seems incomplete; otherwise, he wouldn't have used so much Chakra himself, nor would Kakashi have broken free so quickly."
"He developed it himself? He's only eight years old, right?"
Kushina was dumbfounded. She thought about how she was fighting random boys in school at age eight, while he was already developing Ninjutsu on his own. She suddenly felt that people were indeed different…