Kisame snorted.
"Need backup just to save one person? Asuma Sarutobi… is this the resolve of the Hokage's son? You don't even sound like a real shinobi."
Even facing three opponents at once, Kisame showed zero fear.
"Come at me together."
He activated the Infinite Armor. Both hands gripped stolen ninja swords as he lunged straight for Asuma.
Asuma's eyes widened.
"He's locking onto me?"
He had no confidence against Kisame. Chakra absorption jutsu combined with an absorption tool was a hard counter to pure ninjutsu users—and Asuma was exactly that. A ninjutsu specialist who wasn't even that strong.
"Asuma, watch out!"
Kakashi's support arrived just in time.
On the other side, Kurenai hit Kisame with another genjutsu.
For a moment, Kisame looked like he was being overwhelmed by numbers.
Then a young Sand shinobi stepped forward.
"Ganging up? That's not skill. That's cowardice. Who wants to fight me one-on-one?"
"Ox-Ox Fruit — Great Horned Bull form!"
His body exploded in size. Two massive, razor-sharp horns burst from his skull. The pressure was suffocating.
The bull-man grinned and charged straight at Kakashi—no jutsu, no weapons, just those deadly horns.
Kakashi barely dodged. The horns smashed into a tree trunk and sheared it clean in half. The upper half crashed toward Asuma.
Asuma dove aside.
The bull shinobi immediately abandoned Kakashi and thundered after Asuma instead.
Asuma's pupils shrank.
"Damn it!"
The clashes between the young fighters didn't decide the whole battle, but they revealed something important.
Konoha had more natural geniuses.
But once Sunagakure armed ordinary chunin with Devil Fruits, those same chunin could suddenly stand toe-to-toe with Konoha's brightest.
"What the hell are these Devil Fruits?"
"They're broken…"
"A regular chunin turns into something that can fight Kakashi? That's insane."
"How many does Sand even have? Where did they get them?"
"Why doesn't the Leaf have any?"
A Leaf jonin shook his head.
"Devil Fruits aren't all-powerful. They give a huge boost to chunin, but the effect drops sharply on jonin. For elite jonin and above? Almost useless. And they're nothing like the story. Only animal types so far. No broken Logia fruits that turn you into an element."
Someone muttered, "Maybe they're just holding back the Logia ones?"
"Unlikely. If they had something that immune to physical damage, they would've shown it already."
Kisame was still dominating Asuma and Kurenai at the same time.
The bull shinobi fought Kakashi alone.
Kakashi found his advantage: agility. He couldn't match raw power, but speed and sharp direction changes were his game. Lightning chakra sparked along his legs, stimulating the muscles for explosive bursts.
The bull shinobi's face darkened.
Leaf shinobi cheered.
"That's our genius!"
"Devil Fruit or not, he still can't beat Kakashi!"
"Kakashi's about to win!"
But one Leaf ninja who had just arrived looked at Kakashi with complicated eyes.
A comrade noticed. "What's wrong?"
The ninja shook his head and stayed silent, but his gaze kept flicking between Kakashi and the Sand side.
Please don't let them know that rumor…
If they do, they'll scream it the second they get the chance.
That would destroy Kakashi.
The more he prayed it wouldn't happen, the faster it arrived.
A Sand shinobi sprinted straight toward them and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Kakashi Hatake! Do you know how your father really died?"
"Suicide? That was just the surface. Pressure from rumors? Also just the surface."
"The one who truly killed the White Fang of Konoha… is the man you're fighting for right now. The Third Hokage — Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
"Your father's achievements grew too great. They threatened Hiruzen's seat. Just like Minato Namikaze."
"Hiruzen was scared of Minato, so he used the Nine-Tails attack as an excuse to send him to his death. He was scared of Sakumo Hatake, so he deliberately gave him an impossible mission—choose between your comrades and the mission. Either way, Sakumo's dream of becoming Hokage was finished."
"The entire ninja world already knows the truth!"
"Kakashi… are you still going to fight for the Leaf? Are you still going to stay loyal to the man who murdered your father?"
Kakashi's face went white.
He stared at the Sand shinobi like he'd been stabbed.
The Sand ninja looked back with genuine pity.
Every word hit Kakashi like a kunai to the chest.
The death of Sakumo Hatake had been the shadow over Kakashi's entire life.
Now that shadow had a name.
And it was the name of the man he had sworn to protect.