Just as Obito was starting to celebrate his victory in his mind, something unexpected happened.
The Kakashi hit by the explosion from the Fire Release vanished into smoke with a 'poof'.
Obito naturally didn't think he had killed Kakashi, the body should still be there if he was blown up by the Fire Release.
"It turned out to be a Shadow Clone!" Obito suddenly felt something was wrong, but it was too late; just as Obito relaxed, Kakashi, hiding underground, took decisive action.
"Konoha Hiden Taijutsu Secret Technique: Thousand Years of Death!"
Kakashi formed a Tiger Seal with his hands and suddenly shot out from the ground, attacking Obito's weak spot.
"Ahhhh!" Obito's face instantly changed drastically, and the intense pain from his vulnerable spot made him jump several meters high. Even as he fell to the ground, Obito's hands were still covering the heavily injured weak point, but it was useless.
Obito lay on the ground with his butt in the air, yelling angrily, "Kakashi, you despicable bastard!"
"You were too careless," Kakashi said calmly, stepping forward.
"The enemy had already disappeared before your eyes, and when you saw them again, you didn't carefully observe and rushed in. If I were an enemy, you would've died several times already," Kakashi said unceremoniously.
"Damn..." Obito couldn't refute, because he indeed lost, not on some powerful Ninjutsu, but to a Shadow Clone.
If he had lost in a Ninjutsu duel, Obito wouldn't be so unwilling; it was purely his combat experience being crushed.
Unlike him, his student, Kakashi had already been a ninja for more than three years and had experienced real life and death battles.
"Stop bragging. If you want to dream of defeating me, you'll have to train for a few more years," Kakashi said with a calm expression.
However, Kakashi's heart was not as calm as his appearance; he was actually very surprised.
Because, after the battle just now, Kakashi judged that Obito now had the strength he had at six years old, meaning Obito now had the strength to pass the Chunin Examination, just not the qualification to take the exam yet.
This greatly shocked Kakashi. A few months ago, Obito wasn't even sure he could beat a five-year-old him, and now he had the strength he had at six. This progress was enormous.
If it weren't for his battle experience overwhelming Obito's, defeating Obito would have taken Kakashi quite an effort.
Though more than two years have passed since he became a Chunin, Kakashi hadn't made much qualitative improvement in strength compared to when he was six because he wasted more than a year due to certain things.
"Why did his strength suddenly improve so quickly without activating the Sharingan…" Kakashi was somewhat puzzled in his heart.
If Obito had activated the Sharingan, such rapid progress would be normal, but Obito hadn't used the Sharingan just now, which was strange.
"Damn, if only I had the Sharingan, if I had succeeded in cultivating Breath of Flame…" Feeling the waves of pain from his weak spot, Obito resentfully pounded the ground.
If he had the level of Breathing Technique like Sage Mokgetsu, Kakashi couldn't have left him in such a sorry state.
"Damn Kakashi, I was careless just now. Once I recover, be prepared for your defeat," Obito felt that he gained valuable experience from this failure, and maybe he could do it next time.
"With your current level, even if you challenge ten thousand times, you can't win," Kakashi said calmly.
Obito's strength was decent now, but thinking of winning was too optimistic.
"Just wait and see," Obito felt underestimated, and while holding his rear, he walked toward the door.
"Uh, did we come at a bad time?"
"Maybe, Hatake, the teacher said to gather at the Hokage Building later; there's a task today."
Kakashi's teammates happened to arrive and saw this bizarre scene.
Kakashi stood there calmly, while Obito left, covering his private area with a look of humiliation and unwillingness.
"Not a bad time, our battle just ended, and he's quite free now," Obito said, and he left without looking back.
"Let's go." Glancing at Obito's back, Kakashi said coldly.
"There's still some time, we can get prepared, the teacher said this mission will be difficult," a teammate reminded.
"As a ninja, I'm always ready for missions," Kakashi said directly, heading toward the Hokage Building.
Since Kakashi said so, his two teammates naturally had no objections and followed him.
...
Because the injured area was rather awkward, Obito delayed for quite a long time before going to find Mokgetsu, hoping Mokgetsu could help him review the battle and then challenge Kakashi again.
After all, Kakashi was going on a mission; if he was slow, it might take weeks to half a month for him to return. He could use this time to become stronger before challenging him again.
"You used Full Concentration Breathing too early," after listening to the details of the battle between Obito and Kakashi, Mokgetsu shook his head and said.
"With your current stamina and Chakra, you can't maintain the Breathing Technique for long. The critical Full Concentration Breathing burst must be reserved for key moments to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy."
Though he hadn't personally witnessed the two's battle, Mokgetsu found all sorts of flaws just by listening.
"I see, after using Full Concentration Breathing, I indeed felt a bit tired," Obito listened carefully to Mokgetsu's analysis.
"But it's already commendable to reach this level; the opponent is that genius Kakashi, after all. Even as a new teacher like me, I occasionally hear about the legends he left at the Ninja Academy," Mokgetsu said with a smile.
"Just Kakashi, I will defeat him sooner or later," Obito said, hoping that he too could become famous and make Mokgetsu proud of him in the future.
"I believe you can defeat Kakashi one day," Mokgetsu said warmly.
"But for now, it's difficult; it requires more diligent cultivation," Mokgetsu roughly described Kakashi's current strength to Obito.
As for Chakra, currently, Obito only has 1,100 Chakra points, while Mokgetsu saw Kakashi had 2,500 a few months ago. In terms of Chakra alone, Obito was completely outmatched.
Regarding Ninjutsu, Mokgetsu didn't know Kakashi's exact data and hadn't used the upgraded Identification Jutsu on Kakashi, but judging from the earlier Earth Flow Wall, it's certain that Kakashi's level isn't inferior to and is most likely stronger than Obito's.
Also, from Obito's description, it's known that Kakashi could quickly recover from an initial disadvantage and counteract, suggesting his Taijutsu and combat experience are superior to Obito's.
Comparing around, aside from the not fully mastered Breathing Technique, Mokgetsu couldn't even find Obito's point of winning.
"So Kakashi is actually that strong!" Obito listened to Mokgetsu's analysis and realized he had underestimated Kakashi's strength.
"I'm glad I came to find Teacher Mokgetsu," Obito thought with relief. He truly didn't want another round of the Thousand Years of Death.
Just as the thought that only Teacher Mokgetsu could help him arose in Obito's mind, Mokgetsu also received a notification.