Chapter 166: Sense of Crisis

“To cooperate well with your teammates, you must have a sufficient understanding of them. Next, you will fight each other one by one to understand your teammates’ abilities.” Muzuki announced the content of the upcoming training.

“Yo, Kakashi, let’s have a battle that burns with youth!” Might Guy flipped upright and challenged Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded in agreement. He couldn’t refuse training, and he was curious about how far Guy’s Taijutsu had progressed.

It had been several months since Guy’s last challenge, but Kakashi had seen Guy fight against official Ninja, so he knew Guy had made significant progress.

“Kakashi, you have to use your full strength, or else I might kick you flying,” Might Guy reminded him.

According to Muzuki, his Rock Breathing was extremely close to success. Compared to himself a few months ago, Might Guy could now instantly kill his former self, who hadn’t practiced a Breathing Technique, with a single kick.

“Instead of worrying about me being kicked flying, you should worry about how many minutes you can last,” Kakashi replied.

If Might Guy hadn’t made much progress and his Taijutsu was still at that level, he could easily handle him.

Compared to Might Guy, he felt that Obito’s progress was even more astonishing, with a greater leap.

“As expected of my fated rival and best friend, such confidence!” Might Guy gave a thumbs-up, revealing his gleaming white teeth, and laughed heartily.

“Begin!”

At Muzuki’s command, Might Guy instantly changed his breathing rhythm, inhaling a large amount of oxygen into his body. At the same time, his Chakra erupted, greatly enhancing his physical abilities!

Whoosh!

Using the Body Flicker Technique, Guy instantly vanished from his spot and reappeared beside Kakashi, launching an incredibly swift whirlwind kick.

“Leaf Whirlwind!”

Although Kakashi was prepared, Might Guy’s demonstrated speed still somewhat exceeded his expectations. In a hurry, he couldn’t defend properly and was knocked back over two meters.

“Both speed and strength are far beyond before. How did he do that?” Kakashi was very puzzled.

It was one thing for Obito to show astonishing progress, but why was Might Guy’s progress so exaggerated too?

Before Might Guy delivered that kick, Kakashi thought he could easily defeat Might Guy with a little seriousness. After Might Guy delivered that kick, Kakashi realized he needed to go all out.

“Haha, Kakashi, you need to be even more careful now! That wasn’t my strongest power yet!” Might Guy laughed.

Kakashi’s expression showed vigilance. He didn’t think Might Guy was the type of person to bluff.

“Rock Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing!” Might Guy further concentrated his already focused breathing, further enhancing his physical abilities.

“Leaf Great Whirlwind!”

Might Guy’s figure instantly vanished, reappearing beside Kakashi. This time, Kakashi already knew Might Guy’s prowess and used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge away.

Boom!

The large tree where Kakashi had just been standing was instantly snapped by Might Guy’s powerful kick, and wood chips flew through the air.

“Such powerful strength.” Seeing the gruesome state of the broken tree, Kakashi understood the terrifying power of Might Guy and completely gave up on the idea of fighting Might Guy in Taijutsu bare-handed.

Kakashi silently drew the White Fang Short Blade from behind him.

Although Kakashi’s swordsmanship was sharp, he found it difficult to gain an advantage against Might Guy in his Total Concentration Breathing state. Might Guy’s movements were too fast.

Upon realizing this, Kakashi immediately changed his strategy and used Ninjutsu.

A massive earth wall blocked Might Guy’s offensive.

When Might Guy leaped over the earth wall, he was instantly attacked by two Kakashi.

“Is it the Shadow Clone Technique?” Might Guy carefully observed the two Kakashi but couldn’t distinguish the real one from the fake.

Might Guy didn’t care. He directly attacked one of the Kakashi with full force. After all, a Shadow Clone would disappear with a single touch.

As he expected, that Shadow Clone couldn’t withstand his strength and quickly dissipated into smoke upon impact. However, at this moment, the other Kakashi also seized the opportunity to attack, throwing several Shuriken at Might Guy.

Might Guy once again focused his breathing, erupting with extreme speed to easily dodge the Shuriken. Just as Might Guy was about to continue his attack, he sensed something and instantly dodged.

The next moment, a hand reached out from underground, grabbing at the spot where Might Guy had just been standing.

“He’s a bit harder to deal with than Obito,” the real Kakashi thought as he stood back on the ground.

He had created two Shadow Clones to confuse Might Guy and launch a surprise attack, but Might Guy was more vigilant than Obito, and he didn’t succeed with a single attempt.

Although the sneak attack failed, maintaining Total Concentration Breathing required a lot of stamina. As time passed, Might Guy would gradually fall into a disadvantage.

“Alright, you two have understood enough. Take a break. Next is Obito and Kakashi, then Obito and Guy.” Muzuki stopped their fight.

He hadn’t forgotten that Might Guy still had Kakashi’s training mission on him. It wouldn’t be good if the mission was settled directly with a battle outcome.

Both of them nodded without objection.

“Why did Guy’s strength also improve so much?” During the break, Kakashi still couldn’t figure out this question.

Opponents he could easily deal with before now required him to be serious and go all out. The immense progress of both Might Guy and Obito left him very puzzled.

If they had graduated and made this much progress, he could somewhat understand it, as progress is very fast under high-pressure environments. However, making this much progress while still attending the Ninja Academy was quite exaggerated.

After recovering his stamina, Kakashi and Obito fought another match, and Kakashi became even more confused.

Because Obito had actually made even more progress!

Building on his last huge improvement, Obito had actually progressed further. That incredibly swift one-handed Phoenix Sage Flower Claw Crimson truly impressed Kakashi.

This battle, too, was stopped by Muzuki after its climax, without a clear winner.

Kakashi believed he could win if the fight continued. His combat experience was richer, and his overall strength was greater, but a terrifying thought arose in Kakashi’s mind: he might be surpassed, surpassed by Obito and Might Guy.

If Might Guy and Obito could continue to progress at this rate, perhaps in another year, or even half a year, he would be surpassed.

Kakashi couldn’t even imagine what kind of smug expression Obito would have if he beat him then.

A sudden surge of motivation to train welled up in his heart. Whatever it took, he couldn’t lose to Obito.

After three battles, Muzuki let the disciples rest for a while longer, then began to arrange their training tasks.

Obito and Might Guy’s tasks were largely similar to before. Muzuki’s main focus was on Kakashi.

“Kakashi, you have currently learned Earth and Lightning Nature Transformation, correct?” Muzuki asked Kakashi.

There’s still more to come.