Naruto: Strength Through Teaching

The continuously changing situation in the arena amazed the audience.

When Obito unleashed such a powerful Fire Release, they thought he would win. However, Kakashi unexpectedly broke through the blockade of the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet and completed a counterattack in an instant.

Even Hiruzen was quite surprised; he never expected Kakashi to unleash such immense power at the last moment, breaking through the fiercely powerful Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.

"My dear friend, I can feel your passion to battle with me!"

Seeing Kakashi's Thunder Flash breaking through the sea of fire to defeat Obito, Guy clenched his fists and vowed to give his all in their fight, responding to Kakashi's enthusiasm with one hundred and twenty percent of his own strength.

"These two guys are really unexpectedly strong," Asuma sighed.

After personally battling Obito and then watching the fight between Obito and Kakashi, Asuma deeply felt that the gap between him and them was even larger than before.

He had trained intensely with Obito in the past; at that time, Obito was stronger than him, but only to a limited extent. Now, Asuma felt that if Obito had unleashed this level of Fire Dragon Flame Bullet from the very beginning, he wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Their strength has increased so much!" After watching the fight, Shisui's expression changed from calm to shocked.

Although they usually trained together, during training, it was impossible to push themselves this hard. Shisui was truly taken aback by them.

Shisui felt a bit uneasy because he realized that if he were to fight them now, whether against Kakashi or Obito, his chances of winning were slim. It's worth noting that he was Mutsuki's first disciple and the only one in Mutsuki's team to maintain an undefeated record, previously being the undisputed strongest disciple.

Shisui felt an unprecedented sense of urgency; he couldn't wait to go back and train.

"Maybe they really can become the new Sannin," Jiraiya sighed inwardly.

He had high hopes for Mutsuki's three disciples back on the battlefield, and their current performance proved Jiraiya's insight.

Not only did Kakashi and Guy, who entered the decisive battle, show exceptional strength, but even Obito, who was defeated by Kakashi, displayed extraordinary power.

"I hope they're okay," Rin said, looking worriedly at the two who were down.

Clearly, both had fought to their limits; both Kakashi and Obito were injured and exhausted.

"Tsunade-sama, could you please help treat Kakashi and the others? Otherwise, they won't be able to continue with the upcoming exams," Mutsuki asked Tsunade, who was nearby.

Konoha had given a decent amount of rest time for the final match, but the treatment time was a concern, and Tsunade was pretty free anyway.

"Treatment is not a problem, but next time, if I make any requests, you can't refuse, since my consultation fee is quite high," Tsunade said, crossing her arms and nodding.

Tsunade's meaning was quite simple: taking advantage of her was not allowed; he owed her a favor.

"As long as it's within my capabilities, Tsunade-sama, just give the order," Mutsuki agreed readily.

What could Tsunade ask him to do? Most likely, something related to food, so Mutsuki had no hesitation in agreeing.

If it were someone ambitious, like Danzo or Orochimaru, Mutsuki would have to think twice.

Of course, Mutsuki wasn't naive; he had flexible boundaries. It was impossible to rely on a verbal agreement to get him to do something shady.

Although Tsunade was in a slump, she would still fulfill her promises. After Mutsuki spoke, she went directly to Konoha Hospital to personally treat Obito and Kakashi.

With Tsunade's intervention, Kakashi and Obito quickly regained consciousness.

"Damn it, if I had just held on for a few more seconds, maybe I would have been the one to win," Obito lamented as he noticed Kakashi in the bed next to him.

It was clear that Kakashi had also been seriously injured in the recent battle; otherwise, he wouldn't be in the hospital with him.

"But the fact is, I'm the victor of the battle, and that's an unchangeable truth," Kakashi said calmly.

"You're acting all smug because you won once, as if I've never beaten you," Obito said with an annoyed expression, sensing the arrogance emanating from Kakashi.

"You've only beaten me once." Kakashi emphasized the word "once."

Although Obito could now keep up with him, a year ago, Kakashi could easily defeat him.

Obito had nothing to say, because Kakashi's words were all true. He felt a bit of regret; he should've fought Kakashi more when he was stronger than him. Maybe then Kakashi wouldn't be so cocky now.

"Honestly, even in this state, you still won't rest properly."

At that moment, Rin's voice suddenly came from the door. Obito quickly looked toward the entrance, where Rin stood, with Mutsuki right behind her.

"Feeling better?" Mutsuki asked with a concerned expression.

"Mm-hmm, I feel ready to take on Kakashi again," Obito replied, patting his chest.

"My body is fine; it's just that my stamina hasn't fully recovered," Kakashi answered honestly.

"That's okay. Considering your injuries, the rest time has been extended a bit; it won't affect the battle," Mutsuki reassured him with a smile.

Kakashi nodded. If he lost to Guy because he wasn't in top form, it would definitely bother him.

As the finals approached, Kakashi had returned to his peak condition. Together with Mutsuki and the others, he headed back to the Chunin Exam arena and entered the waiting room for the battle to officially begin.

Seeing Kakashi fully recovered, Guy flashed a cheerful smile and said, "My dear friend, I've been eagerly awaiting our fight."

"You won't be disappointed," Kakashi replied calmly.

At that moment, Hiruko's voice echoed through the waiting room.

"For the final match, Might Guy versus Hatake Kakashi. Contestants, please prepare for battle!"

Kakashi and Guy exchanged a glance, and Guy flashed his bright white teeth, giving Kakashi a thumbs-up.

The corners of Kakashi's mouth, hidden behind his mask, lifted slightly, and he returned the thumbs-up gesture to Guy.

As Kakashi and Guy walked side by side into the arena, the crowd erupted into a massive cheer.

"Guy, go for it! Let your youth burn even brighter!" Duy stood up and shouted from the stands, offering his son moral support.

Although Guy couldn't hear the voices from the audience, he knew his father was definitely cheering for him, so he responded with a radiant smile toward the crowd.

"With Guy's Eight Inner Gates and Stone Breathing, his strength and speed are incredible. This time, first place should go to Guy," Obito casually predicted, pretending to be an impartial observer.

If Kakashi ended up taking first place, Obito would feel worse than when he lost his own battles.

In his heart, Obito kept silently rooting for Guy, hoping he would beat Kakashi soundly under Rin's watchful eyes.

Hiruzen stroked his small beard and smiled. No matter who won, this Chunin exam was quite successful, fully showcasing Konoha's strength.

Finally, amidst the crowd's anticipation, Hiruko shouted for the battle to begin.

"Stone Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing!"

"Eight Inner Gates, Gate of Opening, Open! Gate of Rest, Open! Gate of Life, Open!"

The long-awaited battle finally commenced. Guy instantly maximized his power, opening three gates in a split second and pushing his breathing to the limit.

In that moment, an incredibly powerful aura erupted from Guy; just the surge of Chakra stirred the air and lifted the dust from the ground.

"Thunder Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing!"

Faced with such an overwhelming Guy, Kakashi didn't dare to hold back and immediately entered his limit breathing state, with Chakra gathering in his feet, ready to unleash incredible speed at any moment.

Guy was filled with excitement; battling Kakashi in this environment was exactly what he had been looking forward to.

"Konoha Great Whirlwind!"

Guy's powerful Chakra exploded from his legs, transforming into a green light as he charged toward Kakashi, creating a gust of wind from his incredible speed.

Without a moment's hesitation, Kakashi immediately conducted a Nature Transformation with the Chakra in his legs, stimulating his body and vanishing in a flash of lightning.

Guy's fighting style was pure violence; the combination of three gates and Total Concentration Breathing greatly enhanced his physical capabilities. Kakashi didn't want to take such an attack head-on.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!

As he dodged, Kakashi seized the opportunity to throw several Shuriken imbued with lightning Chakra at Guy.

If they were ordinary Shuriken, Guy might have used the airflow from his Taijutsu to deal with them, but these weapons, enhanced by Nature Transformation, were not so easy to counter. Guy chose to use Soru to evade.

Kakashi wasn't anxious when the Shuriken missed; both of them could be considered speed-type ninjas, moving at incredible speeds, and it all came down to who would show a flaw first.

Kakashi was quite confident in this regard because, compared to Guy, he had many more techniques at his disposal, and his talent in Ninjutsu was no less impressive.

Whoosh!

After dodging Kakashi's attack, Guy didn't pause for a moment and immediately launched another assault on Kakashi.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" Kakashi summoned a long, thick earthen wall to block Guy's path while retreating.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Kakashi quickly formed hand signs and created a Shadow Clone, then used both himself and the Shadow Clone to perform Clone Jutsu, generating over a dozen illusory Shadow Clones.

Illusion Shadow Clones have no physical form and are ineffective against Sharingan and Byakugan, as they can be seen through, making them a waste of Chakra. However, Guy didn't possess special eyes and hadn't mastered Transparent World, so they could serve to confuse him to some extent.

As Guy stood atop the Earth-Style Wall and looked down, he was met with the sight of multiple identical Kakashis.

"Konoha Strong Whirlwind!"

Guy didn't stop his advance toward Kakashi; he channeled immense power into his legs and kicked out a tremendously strong Whirlwind Kick. The force of the wind alone was enough to dissipate some of the Clones into mere illusions.

The Shadow Clones, despite using their full strength to enhance with Lightning Release Chakra, dissipated into smoke under that kick.

Just as all the Shadow Clones were eliminated before Guy, Kakashi's real body emerged from the ground, with brilliant purple lightning crackling in his hands.

Guy didn't feel particularly surprised by this; after all, it wasn't the first time Kakashi had used this tactic, and he was prepared, gathering Chakra in his palm.

"Konoha Hand Blade!"

Guy's palm erupted with Chakra as he swiftly turned and struck out a transparent air blade from thin air.

"Purple Electricity!"

Meanwhile, Kakashi unleashed a torrent of purple lightning toward Guy. Even Guy couldn't evade such a vast area of lightning at this distance.

Boom!

The purple lightning struck Guy, forcing him to stagger backward, his watermelon head turning into an explosive hairstyle.

Bang!

Guy's hand blade struck Kakashi precisely, sending him flying into the Earth-Style Wall.

"Guy has actually mastered this move," Kakashi said, frowning as he touched the area where he was hit; the bone there was already broken.

According to his plan, Guy should have only been able to dodge part of the lightning and wouldn't have been able to counterattack.

The power of Purple Electricity is strongest at close range; he had deliberately used it at a distance to spread out and increase the area of effect for safety, yet he still ended up trading injuries.

"But can you still dodge my Thunder Flash now?" Kakashi quickly stood up and rushed toward Guy.

Being hit by Purple Electricity had a paralyzing effect. Even though Guy's body was incredibly strong, it was impossible for him to remain unaffected. While his bone was broken, it wasn't a critical area, so aside from the pain, the other impacts weren't particularly significant.

"Flash!"

Kakashi didn't directly use Thunder Flash, which he was still unable to fully adapt to; instead, he opted for Flash, which he could react to.

After all, while Stone Breathing increased power, it also enhanced defense. There was a chance that the paralysis wouldn't be effective against Guy, and if he didn't react in time, he would surely miss the opportunity.

Yellow lightning appeared around Kakashi's legs as he performed Nature Transformation, adding a dazzling yellow glow to the scene.

Swish!

Guy erupted with Chakra to evade, but his body felt slightly slower than usual.

It was this small difference that prevented Guy from completely dodging Kakashi's slash. Blood burst from his chest as his body staggered backward.

"My body is reacting more slowly. So that Ninjutsu has this effect as well," Guy thought as he quickly steadied himself.

It was his first time enduring an attack from Purple Electricity, so Guy was unaware that it had such a powerful paralyzing effect.

He had been hit by Lightning Release before, but he hadn't experienced any issues.

"Guy, you're too anxious!" Obito said with a worried expression; it was hard for him to see Kakashi about to win.

From Obito's perspective, Guy was being too hasty. With Kakashi creating so many Clones, he surely had a plan in mind, and it would have been better to take it slow.

Duy didn't shout loudly at Guy; he simply watched the center of the arena with a serious expression.

He knew that his son would never be stalled by a little difficulty.

"Looks like it really is effective," Kakashi steadied himself, gathering a large amount of Chakra to prepare for Thunder Flash to end the battle.

If Guy couldn't even dodge Flash, there was no way he could avoid Kakashi's Thunder Flash.

Zzzzzz!!!

A dazzling array of yellow lightning enveloped Kakashi, and the White Fang Tanto in his hand transformed into a lightning blade. At this moment, Kakashi poured everything he had into enhancing his power to unleash that ultimate strike.

"Ha." Guy let out a long breath. His chest was bleeding profusely, and he felt sharp pain shooting through his muscles, but as he looked at the brilliant Kakashi, he couldn't help but smile genuinely and even laugh heartily.

"Hahaha!" Guy laughed heartily.

He was very satisfied, satisfied with the dazzling Kakashi.

The reason he considered Kakashi his lifelong rival was that Kakashi had once been incredibly brilliant, a genius who overshadowed everyone.

While others were still struggling to learn Clone Jutsu, Kakashi had already mastered Shadow Clone. When others were working hard to hit targets with Shuriken and Kunai, Kakashi could hit the bullseye with precision. At that time, it seemed there was nothing Kakashi couldn't do; he overwhelmed everyone in every aspect.

In contrast, Guy was always at the bottom of the ranks in every category, and his first challenge against Kakashi ended with Kakashi defeating him in one move.

Yet even then, Guy firmly believed that through hard work, he could reach or even surpass a talent like Kakashi.

In fact, he did achieve that; just a few months ago, he managed to defeat Kakashi for the first time, accomplishing a goal he had worked so hard for.

But was one victory enough? Of course not; he had lost to Kakashi many times and had only won against him once.

He was no longer the underdog who could be defeated in one blow by Kakashi. Now, he had the Stone Breathing taught by Yumi-sensei, the Eight Inner Gates taught by his father Duy, and the Taijutsu taught by Chen-sensei.

How could he give up on the victory that was not far from his grasp?

Guy's breathing focused like never before, his eyes widened, and he channeled all his breath into breaking through the fourth gate that had yet to be successfully opened.

"Eighth Inner Gates, Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain, Open!"

Whoosh!

A powerful Chakra erupted from Guy, instantly elevating his momentum to a new peak, creating a gust of wind around him.

In that moment of breaking through the gate, all the teachings from Mutsuki, Duy, and Chen-sensei flashed through Guy's mind in a split second.

"Thunder Flash!"

Boom!

A thunderous roar erupted, and an extremely bright yellow lightning burst forth from Kakashi, with powerful Lightning Release Chakra coalescing on the White Fang Tanto. The overwhelming power of the lightning seemed capable of tearing apart everything in the world, felt even by the audience outside the arena.

"Kakashi, this is a technique I've trained hard for just for you, Konoha Dragon God!" Guy shouted, his voice filled with fury. The immense Chakra provided by the Eight Inner Gates detonated at that moment, and the Stone Breathing concentrated like never before, greatly enhancing his physical strength. Even the wounds inflicted by Kakashi were rapidly healing.

In fact, Chen-sensei hadn't fully taught Guy the Konoha Dragon God technique, as he had been unable to use it before, only having done a portion of the training. However, just now, while recalling, Guy had quickly grasped the basics of Konoha Dragon God based on Chen-sensei's demonstrations.

With Mutsuki's Stone Breathing, Duy's Eight Inner Gates, and Chen-sensei's Konoha Dragon God, Guy was now fully unleashing his potential, erupting with unprecedented power.

As Guy's body continued to spin rapidly, a bluish-green dragon quickly formed and appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Konoha Dragon God, Guy has actually mastered this!" Hiruzen exclaimed in surprise, gazing at the dragon in the arena. The Konoha Dragon God, as Chen-sensei's ultimate technique, is known to be an extremely high-level Taijutsu. Besides Chen-sensei, no one in Konoha could use it, and it was unexpected that Guy had mastered it after only a few months of training with Chen-sensei.

Chen-sensei, renowned as Konoha's strongest in Taijutsu, naturally had a reputation for his signature Taijutsu, and many Jonin in the audience began discussing it.

"This kid, I didn't even finish teaching him how to use it," Chen-sensei, sitting in a corner of the audience, remarked with some astonishment. He realized that the current Guy was completely different in strength from the Guy who had participated in the bell test; the Guy in this state could easily defeat his former self.

"Impressive, Guy! So you were holding back a trump card!" Obito decided to retract his earlier evaluation of Guy; it wasn't eagerness but confidence.

Boom!

As the yellow lightning clashed with the dragon, the arena erupted in a massive explosion, the roaring sounds echoing throughout. A large crater formed around Kakashi and Guy, with traces of lightning slashes and powerful cutting marks scattered around.

Bang!

A white-haired figure quickly retreated, slamming hard against the wall of the arena.

"So strong," Kakashi panted as he looked at the dragon before him. This was the first time his Thunder Flash had failed in a direct confrontation. The current Guy was terrifyingly strong; Kakashi felt that in this state, Guy could single-handedly defeat Akutami Hideyuki.

"Am I going to lose?" Kakashi sensed the condition of his body. Previously, his bones had been broken by Guy's Konoha Hand Blade, and the recent clash had left him with extensive injuries all over.

Not only were his injuries severe, but his Chakra and stamina were nearly depleted as well. Although he had only used Thunder Flash and Flash once, the consumption from using Ninjutsu and Purple Electricity was significant.

Kakashi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, answering his inner questions with action.

He unsteadily stood up again; as long as he could still stand and swing his blade, there was still a chance of victory.

He desperately tried to enter that transparent world once more, the only hope for his counterattack.

The movements of the Konoha Dragon God were swift. Without needing Kakashi to advance, the dragon quickly surged in front of him upon noticing that Kakashi had risen again.

At that final moment, Kakashi saw it—just like a month ago—he saw his own body and Guy's body.

"Turns out Thunder Flash has so many drawbacks," Kakashi realized in that instant, optimizing his Thunder Flash.

At this moment, Kakashi had no more thoughts; the little strength he had left wouldn't support any further contemplation.

His mind was solely focused on swinging the blade—if he could just make that one strike, there was still hope.

"Slash!"

After infusing Chakra into the White Fang Tanto, it elongated again, transforming into a Lightning Release longsword.

Without any flashy effects, Kakashi simply swung at the oncoming dragon.

Boom!!

A flash of yellow light sliced through the air, the sound of thunder erupted, dust flew, and a long, charred gash appeared on the ground.

After this strike, the dragon was gone, leaving only a green-clad figure standing amidst the gray.

"Friend, you truly deserve this," Guy gave a thumbs up to Kakashi before expending all his strength and collapsing.

Clatter!

The White Fang Tanto fell from Kakashi's hand. With his last ounce of energy, he also gave Guy a thumbs up, and in the next moment, he fell as well.

"Hatake Kakashi wins!" Hiruko announced the first place of the Chunin exam!

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