On the training field, the two stood facing each other.
"Shinichi, you've got this!"
Ryū's rough voice was the first to break the silence.
"Go, Shinichi!"
"Show him what we can do!"
"Go!"
With Ryū taking the lead, Class Two erupted into cheers for Shinichi, making it clear that he was quite popular within his class.
Faced with the sudden surge of support from Class Two, Class One fell silent for a brief moment. Then, as if stirred by some collective awareness, shouts rose up as well: "Kakashi, beat him!"
"Show them the power of a genius!"
"Go!"
Although Kakashi was aloof and distant by nature and rarely had playmates, his talent that crushed those of his peers, his calm and prematurely mature demeanor, and the aura of having the "makings of a Hokage" had still earned him considerable popularity among peers who admired strength.
Among them, the voice of a girl with short brown hair and two purple markings on her face rang out especially clear and forceful.
"Go, Kakashi!"
Nohara Rin cupped her hands around her mouth. Her face flushed red with excitement, her eyes shining brightly as she fixed her gaze tightly on the silver-haired boy's back at the center of the field.
"Hmph!" Seeing this, Obito also shouted loudly, "Hey! You from the class next door! Step it up—make sure you knock that smug Kakashi flat!"
"The first live-combat assessment: Higashino Shinichi versus Hatake Kakashi. Both sides, form the opposing hand seal!"
In the field, Shinichi and Kakashi raised their right hands at the same time, holding them upright before their chests to complete the concise opening salute.
The difference was that Shinichi's gaze remained steadily fixed on his opponent, while Kakashi's eyes stayed calm—one might even say casual.
"Then, please take care of me, Kakashi."
As soon as the words fell, Shinichi surged forward like a ferocious tiger that had been gathering strength for a long time. He tore through the air, carrying a scalp-prickling, howling wind, and in an instant crossed several meters, lunging straight in front of Kakashi!
So fast!
Kakashi's pupils contracted sharply. The casual look vanished from his face, and he had no time at all to dodge. He could only cross his arms in a flash and brace in front of him.
Bang!
At the instant fists and legs collided, a dull thud rang out. Kakashi felt as if his arms had been smashed by a heavy hammer. They went numb at once, his bones seeming on the verge of cracking.
His body was forced backward against his will. He slid back more than ten meters before barely managing to dig in with his heels and stabilize himself.
The dust had not yet settled when the fierce wind struck again!
Kakashi had only just barely steadied himself when the next attack was already upon him.
A black figure flashed into view right in front of him. The right leg snapped straight like a steel whip, sweeping out with tremendous force.
The air was torn apart by the gale of the kick, like a giant axe chopping down with brutal weight. The shockwave it kicked up even blew the white hair on his forehead back.
"Is that Konoha's wind-splitting strike?" Ryū at the edge of the field gaped in shock. He was far too familiar with this move—this was a taijutsu technique that Master Chen had taught him.
Who would have thought that after sparring with him only a few times, Shinichi would learn it from combat.
On the field, Kakashi's expression changed, but he was, after all, a true genius. Since childhood he had received the guidance of the White Fang of Konoha, and he possessed excellent combat instincts.
At the critical moment!
Relying on astonishing flexibility and reaction speed, his body rolled sharply to the side and back.
At the same time, in the midst of the roll, his wrist braced hard against the ground. Chakra erupted instantly, and using that point of support, his body sprang up like a coiled spring. His right leg traced a sharp arc, kicking straight at Shinichi's chin!
However, Shinichi seemed to have already anticipated that counterattack. His steps shifted lightly and precisely to the left, perfectly letting that dangerous high kick skim past the tip of his nose.
At the same time, his left hand formed a palm, the base of the fingers tensed like refined iron. A sweeping palm strike rose from below with a howling force, smashing fiercely toward Kakashi's chin.
Bang!
A dull impact sounded. Kakashi's vision went black for an instant. Stars burst across his sight, the violent shock forcing his thoughts into a momentary blank, and his body pitched backward completely out of control.
Shinichi gave him no chance to catch his breath. The instant Kakashi lost balance, a heavy kick slammed into his abdomen!
Kakashi was sent flying back like a sandbag struck at full speed. Curled up, he shot backward even faster than before, crashing into the trunk of a large tree at the edge of the training ground.
The thick trunk shuddered violently. Withered yellow leaves rustled down, scattering all over him.
"Cough!"
Kakashi slid down to the ground with his body hunched, clutching his aching lower abdomen and coughing hard. Only then did his mind recover a trace of awareness.
He clenched his teeth and braced against the ground, trying to climb back up and fight again, but a point of icy-cool contact quietly pressed against his neck.
Shinichi—who knew when—had already closed in again like a ghost, a kunai held against his throat.
He lost!
The entire training ground fell into a deathly silence.
All the cheering, the chatter, even the wind—it was as if an invisible hand had suddenly cut it off.
Whether they were Class One students, Class Two students, or the two teachers, everyone stared at the unbelievable scene in the field, dumbstruck.
Even other classes in the distance that were conducting live-combat assessments had noticed what was happening here.
That supergenius Hatake Kakashi, who bore the illustrious reputation of having the "makings of a Hokage," shining like a dazzling star—had been crushed in this head-on confrontation.
The sunlight was still blazing, yet it could not disperse the shock and bewilderment that permeated the entire field, nearly congealed in the air.
How was this possible!?
The question exploded in the minds of almost everyone. Their gazes turned to the one still standing—Higashino Shinichi. A civilian orphan with no prominent family background, no inherited Kekkei Genkai, and, according to rumor, someone who had only mastered the most basic three basic techniques in ninjutsu.
Although his grades were excellent and he was a model student, in the ninja academy that was simply ordinary—so ordinary it could hardly be more so.
What they did not know was that Shinichi possessed an advantage uniquely his own.
That was the power of Entries, transformed from a carefully constructed "persona" refined over years.
[Robust], [Swordsmanship Apprentice], [Tenacity]… these white Entries were no empty names. They tangibly and continuously optimized and strengthened his physical attributes.
Especially the Entry [Robust]. As early as the time when he had helped out at a blacksmith's shop, he had already discovered that he possessed pure strength surpassing that of many adult master blacksmiths—bearing in mind that blacksmithing itself was a profession renowned for strength.
And when the white Entry [Robust] underwent a qualitative change and became the green Entry [Innate Divine Strength], Shinichi's power experienced an explosive increase, multiplying severalfold.
As for Kakashi—he truly was a once-in-a-century genius. But he had an objective limitation he could not overcome: age.
He was only five years old. No matter how extraordinary his talent, there were physiological limits to bodily development, bone strength, and muscular load-bearing capacity.
Without the assistance of chakra, his strength was always far inferior to Shinichi's.
What Shinichi possessed was a monster-level physique far beyond this age range, forged by years of training stacked upon the Entry system.
His values in strength and constitution were simply far too high compared with those of his peers.
More important still was mindset and preparation.
Kakashi may not have underestimated Shinichi, but for a long time, the reality of being unmatched among his peers had invisibly given him a certain composure.
He might have imagined that this opponent he first met—who carried a huge stone to school—had some strength, or perhaps a few special taijutsu techniques.
But he never expected Shinichi's power to be this great—so far beyond his imagination that the very first strike was a mountain-crushing, tsunami-like onslaught, completely exceeding his limits of force tolerance.
And Shinichi, for this moment, had been planning for five years!
"Did you hear? White Fang-sama's child was born…"
"I heard. The child's name seems to be… Kakashi?"
No one knew that five years ago, at the entrance of the village's western orphanage, there had been a one-year-old child sitting on the steps, staring blankly at the sky—and when he heard passersby chatting idly, it was as if something ignited deep within his eyes.
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