"You ready Naruto?"
I nodded as I looked out over the village. "Ready as ever sensei."
We both disappeared in a shunshin, as the greatest sparring match in the history of Konoha was set to take place.
Naruto Uzumaki vs Kakashi Hatake! Must see action!
The village came out to see this, the shinobi excited to see two big shots fighting, the civilians because it was ninja fighting. All in all, it was set to be spectacular.
As much ninja possible were recalled to bear witness. The Daimyo himself came to watch as well. Every civilian closed their stores or stopped their plans to come out.
The Konoha 11 sat in the shinobi section with the other jounins and chunins as the crowds started to settle in.
"Man, can you believe this! Everyone came to see Naruto get his face pounded in the ground!"
"Kiba, how do you know that will happen?" Shikamaru, the smartest man questioned the thoughts of his comrade.
"It is Naruto! The deadlast!"
"Chuunin exams, three years ago, that ring a bell?"
Kiba just started spouting nonsense as Sakura sighed at the boy's antics. 'Inuzuka I swear.'
"I think we all will be surprised." The group turned to see Kurenai leading the Jounin sensei to the chairs behind the Konoha 11.
"I agree Kurenai-sensei, why, because Naruto is the most unpredictable ninja." The group nodded at that statement.
"He better not lose me money though!"
Everyone turned to see Izumo and Kotetsu holding tickets as they sat down in the section.
"You betted on Naruto?" The Sarutobi sensei was bewildered that the eternal gate guards betted against the Copy Ninja.
"You bet! I guess you guys have not seen him. You will know what I mean."
The group started to ponder what Kotetsu meant until a certain person of youth showed up.
"YOSH! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH WILL BURN BRIGHT SOON!"
Gai flashed a signature grin and thumbs up as he sat down in a chair next to Asuma.
"GAI-SENSEI, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! OUR DAILY EXERCISE WAS LACKING YOUTH WITHOUT YOU!"
"LEE I WAS HELPING MY ETERNAL RIVAL GET READY FOR THIS MATCH OF COURSE! HE ASKED ME TO FAN HIS FLAMES OF YOUTH!"
"He asked for you to help him train?" Asuma's bewilderment continued to grow. 'Kakashi would never ask Gai to train, unless it is serious.'
"He is taking this more serious than anything in the last few years. I am very surprised about his attitude. I do not know if this is what brought it on." Gai's uncharacteristic serious behavior threw everyone for a loop.
"Who is that walking out?"
Hinata's question pulled the group out of its loop as a man with a senbon and a bandana.
"Hello Konoha spectators, I am Genma Shiranui and am the proctor of this match. Rules are fight ends when one opponent is incapacitated, surrenders, or is unable to continue by my discretion. Since this is friendly spar, no killing or maiming. Will Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki please come down to the field?"
For a minute nobody showed up. Murmurs started going around the crowd.
"Where is Kakashi-sensei and Naruto?!" The pink haired girl voiced the opinion of everyone. With that, everyone heard a crack of lightning.
In the middle of the arena, a bolt of lightning struck the ground. It was so bright; everyone had to close their eyes or look away. When the light faded, in his glory, they all saw Kakashi Hatake. This one though was different, he was dressed in his Anbu Captain uniform. He was intimidating to say the least. The most he ever has been in most of the people's eyes. The Konoha 11's eyes were all bugged out at the sudden change of demeanor in the usually slouched and nonchalant man.
"Woah." Asuma's words summed the crowd's thoughts up.
"Yo." Ah the vocabulary we are accustomed to. "Where's Naruto? Thought he would be here."
On cue, everyone heard it. A loud howl erupted from the distance. They all turned in that direction to see a giant white wolf flying through the sky. Its chakra figure was menacing as it headed in the direction of the stadium.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF KAMI-SAMA!"
The wolf eventually reached the stadium as it crashed into the dirt of the arena. Dirt and smoke filled the arena as everyone started coughing from the residues.
"No way...is that-"
"Naruto Uzumaki, reporting to the fight."
I decided to use my Yang chakra to build a construct of a wolf to enter the arena, I knew Kakashi would have a flashy entrance, so I had to match it equally. I stood in the middle of the arena, dressed in my battle wear, or as Jiraiya called it, war fit. I dawned my armor over a black turtleneck and had black pants with white tape keeping the leg sleeves tight. I had black boots on the feet and fingerless gloves on the hands. My samurai belt held up my katana and pouches while on the back I had my twin kodachi. My headband was on proud display for all to see.
"Naruto Uzumaki, reporting to the fight." I looked up to see my sensei, in Anbu gear looking at me in surprise. Genma gave me a look that I did not process. I looked around the stadium as Genma continued processing what he saw. The crowd's stunned silence told me everything I knew. 'Wonder what my friends are thinking right now.'
The Konoha 11 could not believe their eyes. Naruto looked like nothing of the Naruto that left the village. The one that left was loud, bright, short, and not very cool. The one in the arena was tall, serious, screamed power, and was really cool.
"T-t-that's N-naruto?" Ino's words were what was going through everyone's minds.
"Someone came back quite different." Asuma picked the cigarette off the ground as it fell out in shock.
'Naruto...' Sakura looked at her teammate that was scanning the crowds when suddenly she saw his eyes fall on their group. The eyes that looked so calculating, gained the same warmth she remembered they had before. 'You are not as different as you look.'
The crowd was buzzing as the sight of the young hyperactive orange ninja was replaced with the black, all powerful ninja.
"This is going to be better than some of us thought, why because Naruto just proved his unpredictability."
'You troublesome bastard, you might be even better than your Bingo book entry.'
"YOSH NARUTO SHOW YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH!" "YES LEE! WE NEED TO CHEER OUR YOUTHFUL RIVALS ON IN THIS RIVETING DISPLAY OF YOUTH!"
"YES GUY-SENSEI!"
The group zoned out the two estranged males in green as Genma started talking again. "Again, the rules of the match are simple, no killing or maiming, I will decide the match when either I see one is unable to continue or if one forfeits. Are you two ready?"
Both occupants nodded. "Then let the battle commence!" The crowd roared in anticipation.
"You believe that this boy can stand up to Kakashi, Tsunade?" The Fire Daimyo sat with Tsunade at the top of the arena as they watched in anticipation for the scene to unfold below.
"Jiraiya said he can, so I guess we will see if Jiraiya speaks the truth or not." The Fire Daimyo nodded as he fanned himself. "I always liked Jiraiya, I guess I will trust his words."
"Seems like you have gone all out Kakashi-sensei."
The former Anbu captain just chuckled as he clipped on his mask with his signature Inu mask.
"I have to win what you offered." I nodded as we both slid into our stances. I went into my Frog Kata as he slid into a stance of his own. I dropped my new resistance seals, as I knew I would have to use maximum speed to keep up with Kakashi.
"Begin!"
At those words, Kakashi and I disappeared in a flash as our initial battle of taijutsu started the battle off.
"Woah."
The chuunin of the Konoha 11 saw that Naruto was matching Kakashi's speed with ease which surprised them.
"I thought he would at least struggle, but he is fully keeping up." Kurenai watched as Naruto met Kakashi punch and kick equally. It was an impressive taijutsu bout.
"Naruto is doing very well, he might be able to land a hit if Kakashi did not use his Sharrigan. Kakashi is more experienced and has faster reaction, however, Naruto's unpredictability is actually making the Sharrigan less advantageous in counter attacking." Gai was watching with very intent eyes as he spotted the two on the fight floor. The taijutsu master could break down any taijutsu battle known. The group saw what Gai was talking about as Naruto would usually switch up his attack while attacking, throwing chaos into his style. Kakashi's guard did not break once as he blocked or parried every single strike.
"Why are they just using taijutsu right now?" "They are feeling each other's speed right now Ino." Asuma looked at the young boy who was challenging one of the best shinobi in the village.
"What is that?!" Kiba's holler brought everyone to laser focus on the fight as white chakra started to envelop Naruto.
Kakashi and I were at a stalemate, that is where I decided to show off where I got the name 'White Flash'. My yang chakra started to envelop me as I let it flow out of my body. I saw Kakashi's eyes widen as he felt the power I was radiating now.
I poured yang chakra in a leg kick as Kakashi tried blocking it. His mistake was trying to block it as he was sent flying across the arena. He righted himself before landed and dusted his clothes off.
"What is that chakra Naruto?"
I stood up straight, ready to announce one of my trump cards. "Pure Yang chakra." Every jounin's eyes widened as they understood what strength that statement carried. "Call it an Uzumaki specialty."
"What is so powerful about yang chakra Asuma-sensei?" Choji stopped eating his chips as the battle warranted full attention. Gai spoke up to explain.
"Chakra is both yang and yin combined. Yang is the physical while yin is spiritual. Generally, clan jutsu either use chakra with a higher portion of yang or yin in their chakra. Yang only chakra would boost one's physical attributes to some of the highest in the world. I would not be surprised if it is equal to opening two to three gates." That made the chuunin realize truly how powerful that Yang chakra is.
"Woah." That word was the most spoken word that day.
Kakashi recovered the fastest as he chuckled. "I suppose I will have to pull out a trump card of my own." His body started having small bolts of lightning spark off his body. "Not as good as the Raikage, but it works well."
"Let's see if it can keep up then." I debated on whether to use the kodachis or the katana, and I decided I would use both. A change in swords would make his defense falter.
I gathered chakra up for my flash step as I placed a hand on my katana.
I flash stepped in an instant as unsheathing my sword I swipe at Kakashi who barely reacted in time with his own sword off his back. However, like before, my strike was a lot stronger, and Kakashi was forced on to his back leg as my sword started to weigh down on him.
"Tcch."
Kakashi used a seal less kawarimi as he got out from our deadlock. I looked over to see where he ended up seeing him standing there with his hands in a seal. Lightning was sent in my direction. I dodged it with my superior speed, and blitzed Kakashi with my sword. I flowed gracefully, trying to get an angle on Kakashi. Kakashi was not on my level, but his reaction time being faster than mine meant he did not need to beat me, just for an opening to end the sword fighting.
We danced for a minute, my blade cutting him slightly a few times. On the fifth cut, I sheathed my katana as I grabbed both kodachi's. The twin swords radiated with a hum as my yang chakra filled them with life. Power exploded from me, as I went after Kakashi with a new vigorous rhythm. Kakashi would later tell me that each swing felt like getting hit by an elephant. The swords lacked the grace of the katana, but their power together was almost unrivaled by any swords. My slashes would be too much for Kakashi as he would be forced to dodge or parry. The parries were not good enough to stop me for long. The parries would result in his blade getting chips and wear.
"How about we switch to ninjutsu Naruto?" Kakashi asked me while he gained a little distance away from me. "Sure sensei."
My white chakra started dying down as I got prepared for the largest ninjutsu battle of my life.
'Kage Bunshin no jutsu.'
I summoned three clones, as they preoccupied Kakashi while I built up chakra for one of my largest jutsu in my arsenal.
Kakashi handled them quickly as he then started to head to my position, but he was a second too late.
'Kamikaze kami no ikari.'
I exhaled a magnificent amount of wind that eventually settled into three separate tornados. I controlled them as I sent them towards Kakashi who was frantically dodging them. The object of this jutsu was to summon clouds in the sky, potentially clouds with lightning. I finally felt that one of the clouds had what I needed, so I let the winds raged as I summoned three clones to perform my biggest collaboration jutsu to date.
A combination of fire, wind, water, earth, and lightning. The Five Element Destroyer. A feat very few in history could do and continue fighting, the last one the God of Shinobi.
"Kakashi and all, bear WITNESS!"
The lightning struck in the middle as the tornados all came together, a combination of fire, earth, and water hitting them. The lightning crashing down as well hit the other four elements. A flashing light appeared in the middle as it all came to one. A blinding light took over the arena, as everyone looked away from the light. It took a few seconds for it to fade.
"..."
"What on Kami's green Earth are we witnessing." If the Konoha 11 was not surprised by Naruto's display yet, they were now. The jounin in the stands were not faring any better.
"So let me get this straight, so far he is as good as Kakashi in taijutsu, better than him in kenjutsu, and can use all five nature transformations as well as pure yang. What can he not do?!"
Kotetsu's statement really summed up the thoughts of everyone in the stands.
'Naruto...how far ahead are you from all of us?" Sakura started second guessing her skills over the last few years. What she seemed to be amazing process; her teammate has proved was nothing compared to his progress. 'And he has not even used the Kyuubi either.'
"Does he have anything left to show honestly?"
Kiba could not have said anything truer.
"Kakashi, how did you escape from that?"
I sensed the man pop up on my radar seemingly out of nowhere. He looked a little worse for wear, but he was pretty fine all things considered.
"That will remain a mystery for now Naruto." Kakashi took the offense as I tried recovering chakra from my last jutsu. I used my katana to stay on the defense as his ruthless offense did not allow me recovery.
'Kage Bunshin no jutsu.'
Going back to an old strategy of mine, I tried summoning clones to overwhelm Kakashi while I continued to collect chakra again. The clones hardly stood a chance as Kakashi was a lot more vicious now than before.
'Three...two...one...'
I bit my thumb as I now had enough chakra to summon. "KUCHIYOSE: TAITAN."
A large humanoid figure raised out of the ground as lava spilled from his joints.
"Rise titan, protector of volcanoes, champion of Uzu, guardian of the spirit, arise to glory!"
The titan was dark brown and stood at 80 feet in height. He roared as he held his hands up and sent lava flying towards Kakashi. Kakashi was once again on the back pedal as the lava attacks were fast enough that he did not have time to pause. I was so focused, that I did not see him substitute with a shadow clone he spawned nor did I see him weave the signs for a lightning jutsu.
"Raikiri!"
I whipped my head around to see a lightning blade heading my direction. I was forced to jump off and watch as he shut down my titan summoning with his lightning jutsu. The titan sunk back down into the earth as it crumbled to pieces.
"You are definitely a lot better Naruto."
"You are a lot better than you lead on as well Kakashi-sensei."
He just shrugged as we both got ready to resume our fight once again.
For the match, there were three judges for Naruto's performance.
One was Ibiki Morino, head of the Torture department in T .
The second one was Inoichi Yamanaka, head of the Intelligence department in T .
Lastly, Shikaku Nara, Jounin Commander.
All three were highly praised and respected. Their high positions in the village being the reason they were selected for this judging position now.
"Talent and skill wise, he is Elite-Jounin almost Kage level. His strategy is also very solid and is quite a battle monster. I think Jounin is very easy. If his leadership is good as well, Elite Jounin is certainly possible in a year." Ibiki nodded at that statement while Shikaku had his eyes closed.
"He is actually a lot more strategic than it looks at first glance. We will see how much of a strategic mind he is after, but I think he might be a diamond in the rough." Shikaku did not take his eyes off the field as the other two exchanged glances. Shikaku must be seeing something spectacular for him to praise Naruto in that way.
"Can't believe that is the runt from 3 years ago screaming about being Hokage, he continues down this path, he will carry it through."
'Katon: Zukokku.'
I launched a severing fire at Kakashi as he narrowly dodged.
I switched signs immediately as I sent an earth jutsu at him designed to get him stuck.
'Doton: Doryuu Taiga.'
The Earth turned to mud as it caught Kakashi in a bind as the mud flowed. Kakashi needed to kawarimi out of that spot, and I knew that. I got ready for my white flash as I waited for him to substitute.
'There!'
I used my yang chakra at full speed to launch my fastest speed attack to date. I anticipated where he would wind and launched in that direction with fist. My prediction was spot on as I hit Kakashi dead on with a heavy punch. My excitement faded, as Kakashi puffed into smoke, and a lightning hand came up and popped me in the face.
"BOOM!" I hit the other side of the arena hard, as the lightning punch hit extremely hard.
'How do I beat him-'
"You cannot Naruto." I get out of my thoughts as I see Kakashi walking towards me calmly. "I know you are thinking of how you can beat me, but you cannot."
I gritted my teeth as I continued to think. "Oh, how do you know that sensei?"
Sensei just shrugged as he got a kunai out for close range combat.
'Well, there is one crazy idea.'
I launched at Kakashi again with a kunai of my own. We launched into a flurry of taijutsu until I landed a solid hit on Kakashi. Then I landed another. A kick to the chin.
"Hmph, I see what you are doing Naruto. That is pretty clever." I grinned in satisfaction as I did not stop my relentless attack.
By activating my resistance seals mid punch or kick, I would slow myself down enough that Kakashi's Sharrigan would be off rhythm when trying to block. Kakashi pulled his regular hitai-ate out of his pouch as he covered up his Sharrigan. What ensued was pure taijutsu, no enhancements, no jutsu, just hands. It was one of the peak levels of shinobi, two high grade ninjas', using just the basic fundamentals of kicking, punching, and blocking to try and get an upper hand.
It was a show. A very thing all would remember. The highest level of taijutsu witnessed by most. I was faster than Kakashi as my younger body was much more active; however, Kakashi was stronger, and had much better reaction time and experience meaning we were both struggling to get hits. Eventually, Kakashi got me with feint, and striked me hard in the face which sent me rolling. I stood back up and dusted my clothes off, as I realized it was time to end this.
"One last go Kakashi." I held my hand out as blue chakra started swirling in my hand. "Let us go then, Naruto." Kakashi held out his hand as blue lightning encased his hand.
"RASENGAN!"
"RAIKIRI!"
We both disappeared in an instant, both traveling towards the halfway point in between us. For a second, when I saw Kakashi only a foot away, I felt time freeze. The man looked determined, but yet seemed to have a ghost of a smile being hidden behind his mask.
The student will always be the student, until he surpasses his master.
'Thank you for everything sensei.'
The two jutsu hit each other as a bright light encased both fighters, shielding the crowd from knowing what happened.
"KAKASHI!"
"NARUTO!"
The crowd was worried and amazed at the high pinnacle of shinobi arts being shown now; however, the bright light flashing showed nobody the results.
"WHO WON?!" Kiba the impatient as always.
"I can't look my Byakugan would be blinded by the light." Neji was equally impatient, but showing it was below his standards.
'Let's go Naruto!' The quieter Hyuuga whispered in her mind as she held her hands together in anticipation.
A gasp escaped them all as the light dissipated and the smoke cleared out.
Naruto and Kakashi stood past one another, backs facing each other. For a minute, neither moved, until they both fell to the ground.
Genma ran over to check both fighters, first stopping at Kakashi. 'He is out cold.'
Genma than ran to Naruto to check his condition. 'Also out cold...looks like.'
"Neither Naruto or Kakashi are able to continue, since they both are unable at the same time, this fight is a draw!"
For the bookkeepers, this was the best thing ever. Most of the crowd did not care about the gambled money anyway as it the fight was well worth the time and loss of money. This showed a glimpse of what could be considered an apex in the shinobi world. Where the student pushes his master, gaining an equal footing to the one who taught him.
Kakashi and Naruto would go down as the greatest spar in the history of Konoha, at least for now.