Chapter 145 Triggering Mission

Just as Obito was celebrating his victory in his mind, something unexpected happened.

Kakashi, who had been hit by the aftershock of the Fire Release explosion, directly turned into smoke with a ‘bang’ and vanished.

Obito naturally wouldn’t think he had killed Kakashi; if he had been blasted to death by Fire Release, his body should still be there.

“It was a Shadow Clone!” Obito felt a sudden premonition of danger, but it was already too late; the moment Obito relaxed, Kakashi, hidden underground, decisively made his move.

“Konoha Secret Taijutsu Ultimate Art: One Thousand Years of Death!”

Kakashi formed the tiger seal with both hands, burst out from underground, and attacked Obito’s vulnerable spot.

“Ahhh!” Obito’s face instantly changed dramatically, the intense pain from the unfortunate spot made him leap several meters high, and even after falling to the ground, Obito’s hands were still protecting the heavily injured weakness, but it was useless.

Obito lay on the ground with his butt sticking up, letting out an unyielding roar of anger: “Kakashi, you despicable bastard!”

“You were too careless,” Kakashi said calmly, walking forward.

“The enemy already disappeared from your sight, and after you saw them again, you rushed forward without careful observation; if I were an enemy, you would have died many times over,” Kakashi said unceremoniously.

“Damn it…” Obito couldn’t retort, because he had indeed lost, not to some powerful Ninjutsu, but to a Shadow Clone.

If he had lost in a Ninjutsu confrontation, Obito wouldn’t have been so unwilling; this was purely a crushing defeat in combat experience.

Unlike him, a student, Kakashi had been a Ninja for over three years and had experienced true life-or-death battles.

“You should talk less big, if you want to dream of defeating me, you’ll need to train for a few more years,” Kakashi said with a calm expression.

However, Kakashi’s inner thoughts were not as calm as his surface suggested; in fact, he was quite surprised.

Because after the recent battle, Kakashi judged that Obito now had the strength he possessed at six years old, which meant Obito currently had the strength to pass the Chunin Exams, though he wasn’t yet eligible to take the exam.

This greatly shocked Kakashi; it was important to know that just a few months ago, Obito might not even have been able to defeat him at five years old, and now he actually had the strength of his six-year-old self; this progress was simply too significant.

If it weren’t for the crushing combat experience advantage over Obito, Kakashi would indeed have had to put in some effort to deal with Obito.

Although more than two years had passed since he became a Chunin, Kakashi had neglected his training for over a year due to certain events, so his strength had not undergone a qualitative increase compared to when he was six years old.

“Why has his strength suddenly improved so quickly, and he hasn’t even activated his Sharingan…” Kakashi felt some doubt in his heart.

If Obito had activated his Sharingan, rapid progress would be normal, but Obito hadn’t used his Sharingan just now, which was very strange.

“Damn it, if only I had the Sharingan, if only my Flame Breathing cultivation had succeeded…” Feeling the waves of pain from his vulnerable spot, Obito pounded the ground in frustration.

If he had Muzuki-sama’s level of Breathing Technique, how could a mere Kakashi make him so disheveled?

“Damn Kakashi, I was careless just now, just wait until my injury heals, and then prepare for your defeat.” Obito felt that he had learned from this failure, and next time, he might succeed.

“At your current level, even if you challenge me ten thousand times, you won’t win,” Kakashi said calmly.

Obito’s current strength was good, but he was thinking too much if he believed he could win against him.

“You just wait and see,” Obito felt underestimated, and walked towards the door, supporting his butt.

“Uh, are we here at a bad time?”

“Perhaps so, Hatake. Sensei said to gather at the Hokage Building later; we have a mission today.”

Just then, Kakashi’s teammates arrived and witnessed this strange scene.

Kakashi stood calmly in place, while Obito, full of humiliation and unwillingness, slowly walked away, covering his sensitive area.

“What bad time? Our battle is over, he’s very free now,” Obito said, and then left without looking back.

“Let’s go,” Kakashi said coolly, glancing at Obito’s retreating back.

“There’s still some time; you can prepare. Sensei said this mission will be quite difficult,” a teammate reminded him.

“As a Ninja, I am always ready for a mission,” Kakashi walked directly towards the Hokage Building.

Since Kakashi had said so, his two teammates naturally had nothing to say and followed him.

…

Because the injured area was rather awkward, Obito took a while to recover before going to find Muzuki, wanting Muzuki to help him review the battle before fighting Kakashi again.

After all, Kakashi was going on a mission, and if it was a long one, he might not return for a week or even half a month; he could use this time to become stronger before challenging him again.

“You used Total Concentration Breathing too early,” Muzuki said, shaking his head after listening to the details of Obito and Kakashi’s battle.

“With your current stamina and Chakra, you can’t maintain the Breathing Technique for too long. The crucial burst of Total Concentration Breathing should be saved for the critical moment to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.”

Although he hadn’t personally witnessed their battle, Muzuki heard nothing but flaws just from listening.

“I see, I do feel a bit tired after using Total Concentration Breathing,” Obito listened carefully to Muzuki’s analysis.

“However, being able to do this is already very good; your opponent is that genius Kakashi. Even a new teacher like me occasionally hears about the legends he left behind at the Ninja Academy,” Muzuki said with a smile.

“A mere Kakashi, I’ll defeat him sooner or later,” Obito said. He hoped that one day he too would gain fame and be known by Muzuki, making Muzuki proud of him.

“I believe that one day, Obito, you will be able to defeat Kakashi,” Muzuki said gently.

“But for now, it’s very difficult; you need to train harder,” Muzuki roughly described Kakashi’s current strength to Obito.

In terms of Chakra, Obito currently only had 1,100 Chakra, while Muzuki had seen Kakashi with 2,500 a few months ago; in this aspect of Chakra, Obito was completely outmatched.

Muzuki didn’t know Kakashi’s exact data for Ninjutsu, as he hadn’t used the upgraded Appraisal Technique on Kakashi, but judging from the previous Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall, his level was certainly no worse than Obito’s, and most likely stronger.

Furthermore, from Obito’s description, it was clear that Kakashi could quickly recover from an initial disadvantage and counterattack, indicating that Kakashi’s Taijutsu and combat experience were superior to Obito’s.

After comparing everything, aside from the not-yet-fully-mastered Breathing Technique, Muzuki didn’t know where Obito’s winning point was.

“So, Kakashi is actually that strong!” Obito listened to Muzuki’s analysis sentence by sentence and only then realized he had underestimated Kakashi’s strength.

“Good thing I came to Muzuki-sensei,” Obito thought with relief. If he had to endure that One Thousand Years of Death again, it would truly be a terrible ordeal.

Just as Obito was thinking that Muzuki-sensei was indeed the best, Muzuki also received a notification.