"Sigh~"
The sound, long and profoundly weary, drifted down from the branches of a large tree. Perched comfortably against the trunk, Hatake Kakashi held a vibrant orange book—his beloved Make-Out Paradise—but his single visible eye wasn't really reading the words. He felt… superfluous. His own team of disciples had seemingly been adopted by the Green Beast of Konoha, leaving him with an unprecedented amount of free time.
While a part of his soul, the part that cherished laziness and a good read, rejoiced, another part felt a twinge of uselessness. This feeling was compounded by his current financial state. Just this morning, he had ventured to the Hokage's Office Building with the simple goal of picking up a quick, one-day mission.
What he found was a scene of pure chaos.
"Good heavens," he had muttered, his eye widening slightly. A line of shinobi from the Sarutobi clan stretched from the mission desk, down the stairs, and all the way down another street! It was a desperate, all-hands-on-deck operation. By the time the line inched forward enough for his turn, the mission board was barren. Not a single scroll remained. Not even the lowly D-ranks—pulling weeds, painting fences, or searching for lost kittens—were left. They had all been snatched up by the Sarutobi Genin!
Looking at his already deflated wallet, Kakashi could only sigh again. He was now pinning all his financial hopes on the personal, higher-paying mission Tsunade-sama had for him. If that fell through, he'd be eating cup ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner next month.
His gaze drifted downward to the training field below. His three disciples, along with Team Guy, were deep-squatting with massive logs balanced on their shoulders. His eye lingered for a moment on Haruno Sakura. The faint but definite definition of muscle on her arms was new. His heart was no longer calm. A quiet, nagging thought whispered in his mind.
Perhaps… I should also train?
He was at a bottleneck. His mastery of ninjutsu had plateaued, and while the Sharingan was a powerful tool, it drained him constantly. He recalled the Hatake clan's ancestral kenjutsu, techniques he had neglected for years. And then there was the… insight he had gained from observing Namikaze Raimon's unorthodox methods. The 'anal probing' technique, while crude, was terrifyingly effective. His own Lightning Cutter was fast, but it wasn't instant like the Flying Thunder God. However, what if he used raw speed to achieve a similar result?
It was like a League of Legends assassin with no teleport. But if you stack enough movement speed items—like Kraken Slayer, Boots of Swiftness, and The Collector—and activate your ultimate, you can still outmaneuver your opponent and land a devastating blow. The effect is the same! Even the Raikage with his legendary lightning armor wouldn't be safe. Your body may be hardened to an insane degree, but certain… orifices… are always vulnerable!
"Sasuke! I'm faster than you, believe it!" Naruto's voice, brimming with obnoxious energy, cut through his thoughts. The blond, fueled by the seemingly endless recovery of the Nine-Tails' chakra, always managed to push ahead during their endurance training, immediately entering a gloating taunt mode. He'd flash a triumphant grin at Sasuke and then sneak a glance at Sakura, hoping for a sliver of admiration.
This, of course, made Hyuga Hinata, who was secretly watching from a nearby bush, turn a shade of green that rivaled the leaves she was hiding behind, her byakugan eyes shimmering with jealous tears.
"Hmph! Baka," Sasuke retorted, turning his head away. If he was slower, he would just do more reps. He would burn his youth, push his limits, and he refused to believe he couldn't surpass a certain man! "My foolish Nii-san… I will make you pay for everything!" he vowed silently, already deciding to continue his training late into the night.
"OHHHHH~!"
With a triumphant roar, Might Guy himself descended from the sky, performing a spectacular three-thousand-seven-hundred-and-eighty-degree spin before landing perfectly in front of the six genin, striking his iconic Nice Guy pose, thumbs-up and teeth gleaming with a literal sparkle.
"The sweat we pour out today is the glorious testament of our YOUTH!"
"Might Guy-sensei! I feel my blood boiling with passion!" Rock Lee, still confined to his wheelchair with tears streaming down his cheeks, shouted back. His bones, meticulously set by Tsunade, were healing, but the medic-nin had been firm: a hundred days of rest. Three months in this chair felt like an eternity to the boy who lived to train.
"Might Guy-sensei! Once I can stand, I will burn my youth twice as bright! No, three times as bright!"
During a water break, Naruto's boundless curiosity surfaced. "Hey, Uncle Guy? Who's stronger, you or Kakashi-sensei?"
Might Guy didn't even need a millisecond to think. "That goes without saying! Of course, it is I who is stronger!" He declared with absolute conviction. "My rival is as weak as a groom who has been… ahem… fighting for three days and three nights straight!"
Sasuke, ever the loyalist to his first teacher, scowled. "No way. I think Kakashi-sensei is stronger."
He had felt the devastating power of the Chidori, a technique Kakashi had personally taught him. And he had seen the Sharingan in action. It was a legendary dojutsu of the Uchiha clan; how could it be weak?
Up in the tree, Kakashi looked down at Sasuke, a wave of genuine relief washing over him. This kid… I didn't teach him for nothing.
"How can that be? Kakashi-sensei always looks so lazy and weak!" Naruto argued, puffing out his cheeks. "He's always late and talks like he's half-asleep! He has none of Uncle Guy's passion!"
The others—Sakura, Shino, Hinata, and even the stoic Neji—remained silent, watching the debate unfold. In their perception, Kakashi's cunning and intelligence were top-tier, but they had never witnessed Might Guy go all out. It was a difficult call to make.
"Uncle Guy! Why don't you just fight Kakashi-sensei and prove it!" Naruto yelled, getting excited. "Uncle Guy! Your youth demands a fiery battle with your rival!"
Kakashi, still in the tree, felt a cold sweat drip down his temple. Why me? Getting kicked by Guy hurt. And he knew his friend was dangerously susceptible to this kind of 'youthful' provocation. There was no escaping this.
"OHHH! Little Naruto, you are absolutely right!" Might Guy's eyes burned with the fires of passion, a visible aura of energy beginning to shimmer around him. "Kakashi! Stop hiding with your book! Come down and face me!"
Kakashi, who had just snapped his book shut and was about to make a tactical retreat via Body Flicker, froze. He was caught.
"Heh heh… Guy, let's just call it a day, yeah?" Kakashi tried, his voice dripping with feigned nonchalance. "I have a mission tomorrow. Wouldn't want to pull a muscle."
"Kakashi! A challenge born from youth cannot be ignored!" Might Guy declared, pointing a determined finger at his rival. "And Kakashi! I've been preparing a special new technique! Just for you!"
Kakashi's eye twitched violently. "A special technique? Prepared just for me? Guy… I f***ing thank you."
As Guy's best friend, Kakashi knew the man's true power was no joke. The man who single-handedly kicked away the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist was Might Guy's father. Kakashi didn't for a second believe that Maito Dai hadn't passed that terrifying secret technique down to his son. The question was, how far had Guy progressed in its mastery?
"Kakashi-sensei, don't be a coward!" Naruto jeered.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura chimed in, spurred on by Sasuke's earlier stance. "Show him the power of Team 7!"
With a final, internal sigh of resignation, Kakashi dropped down from the tree, landing softly on the grass. There was no way out. He had to fight.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said, walking up to him with a clenched fist. "You can do it."
"Heh heh~" Kakashi offered a faint, tired smile before turning to face his exuberant rival. The genin quickly scrambled back to a safe distance, their eyes wide with anticipation.
"Guy, let's make this quick. A light spar, understood?" Kakashi said, his lazy tone belying his sharpening focus.
"Kakashi! Youth requires you to give it your all! And I told you, I have a new move!" Might Guy's gleaming white teeth seemed to sparkle again. "I can't hold it back any longer! The pressure of my youth is too much!"
Knowing the battle was inevitable, Kakashi's posture shifted. The laziness evaporated, replaced by the lethal grace of a seasoned Jonin. He reached up and pulled down his hitai-ate, revealing the crimson, three-tomoe Sharingan that whirled to life in his left eye.
A collective gasp came from the genin.
"How… how does Kakashi-sensei have the Uchiha clan's Sharingan?!" Sakura exclaimed.
Neji, his own Byakugan active, nodded grimly. "I sensed strange chakra from that eye… So it's true."
"Kakashi! That's more like it! The famed Copy Ninja of Konoha!" Might Guy wasn't fazed in the slightest; he'd known about the eye for years. He also knew its limitation—it could copy a thousand ninjutsu, but he was a taijutsu master. What was there to copy?
"Kakashi! Are you ready?" Guy roared, his passion reaching a fever pitch.
Seeing Kakashi give a slight, solemn nod, Might Guy didn't hesitate any longer. He crouched low, and the air around him began to warp with intense, green chakra.
"Hachimon Tonkō! Kai!" (Eight Gates Release!)
The ground at his feet cracked.