Kakashi initiated the battle, rapidly approaching his opponents while changing directions several times to disrupt their judgment of his attack vector.
When the opponent was busy searching for him and revealed an opening, Kakashi launched a Lightning Release attack at the leader, Xi.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Needle!"
In less than two seconds, the hand signs were completed.
Several thick, long flying needles, condensed from lightning-natured Chakra, shot out like bullets, reaching Xi in an instant.
"Not good!"
Xi's pupils constricted. Before his brain could even process, his body instinctively reacted, flipping backward to dodge most of the Thunder Needles. He quickly drew a kunai, intending to deflect the two he couldn't avoid.
But the Thunder Needles were not physical objects; they were Chakra. Trying to block them with a kunai only made his arm go numb from the electricity.
He didn't even need to try; he knew from the feeling that, for a short period, it would be difficult for this hand to even form hand signs.
It seemed he had greatly underestimated the son of the White Fang, who was known as a genius.
"Xi!"
Yuko cried out in alarm.
Without even time to speak, Xi looked up to see Might Duy leaping into the air, plummeting with immense force.
"Konoha Gale!"
He was about to exert force to jump away, but his feet sank into the mud, surrounded by active Earth-natured Chakra—clearly some kind of Earth Release.
Seeing Xi trapped, Yuko wanted to help block, but a dozen or so senbon, appearing from nowhere, were already before her eyes, glinting coldly and aimed at vital points.
Left with no choice, she could only save herself first, dodging and blocking, finally avoiding being hit.
Fortunately, Heliang arrived at Xi's side in time, ready to take Might Duy's attack for him.
But the next second, this strange and seemingly weak uncle roared, directly kicking Xi away.
Xi didn't even let out a scream, arcing through the air, breaking several branches before falling to the ground, creating a shallow pit. He struggled a few times at the bottom of the pit but still couldn't get up.
"You've got to be kidding me..."
Yuko felt her legs trembling slightly.
What kind of monsters did we provoke...
After dealing with one enemy, Might Duy did not relax but continued to activate the Eight Gates.
"First Gate, Gate of Opening, Open!"
Feeling the sudden surge of Might Duy's aura, Heliang and Yuko's hair stood on end, a chilling sensation as if locked onto by a fierce beast.
Kakashi pressed his advantage, rushing behind Heliang, drawing his blade and slashing upward. The blue-white blade drew a crescent moon in the dim light.
Heliang timely dispelled the Earth Release binding him, quickly flipping backward to dodge the strike. Without time to even catch his breath, he had to parry with all his might, barely blocking Kakashi's subsequent attacks.
That sharp blade, filled with lightning-natured Chakra, made him tremble with fear; there was no escaping it.
Combined with Might Duy's oppressive taijutsu, which occasionally struck in between Kakashi's attacks—a hit meant injury, a graze meant incapacitation—he could only frequently use the Body Flicker Technique to evade. In less than half a minute, his Chakra was nearly depleted.
Yuko tried to provide support multiple times, but whenever the two of them approached each other, that elusive Uchiha would either use shuriken to stall for time or a Fire Release to block their path.
If this continued, the two of them would only have their Chakra exhausted and be at their mercy.
"Wait! We surrender!"
Heliang shouted.
Might Duy's fist suddenly veered at the last moment, grazing Heliang's face as it smashed into the tree trunk behind him.
The large tree let out a grating creak, slowly toppling over, crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Surrender?"
Kakashi had not yet relaxed his guard, the tip of his blade touching the ground, his eyes fixed on Heliang.
Heliang bravely replied, "Yes, we surrender. Let's end this battle here."
Even Heliang, as the acting leader, had lost his fighting spirit. Yuko, even more resigned, slumped to the ground, complaining, "I told you we couldn't win..."
"You initiated the battle, and now you say you don't want to fight anymore? You want to back out?" Kakashi sneered.
"You can have our team's mission tags. Take them all."
Heliang pulled out a cloth pouch from his pocket. From its shape, it probably contained two tags.
Kakashi didn't fall for it at all: "Those are supposed to be our spoils of war. You're using them as a bargaining chip? Do you take us for fools?"
Naraku watched Kakashi's arrogance from the shadows, remembering a famous line from his previous life:
Fool, if I take you down, these will be mine anyway!
Shaking his head to clear these distracting thoughts, Naraku appeared beside Kakashi, his tone slightly helpless.
"They don't want to fight anymore. There's no point in pursuing it further."
"Hmph."
Kakashi let out a short snort, sheathed his sword, and snatched the cloth pouch from Heliang's hand.
He opened it; inside were "Water" and "Lightning."
He took out the blue "Water" tag and handed it to Naraku, then threw the remaining "Lightning" tag, along with the pouch, back.
Heliang caught it, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Why not take both?"
Kakashi rolled his eyes, speechless: "We already have a 'Lightning' tag."
"Even if you already have this tag, taking them all could reduce the chances of others passing, like us."
Kakashi put his chakra blade back on his back, his tone indifferent: "No need."
Looking at the calm-faced Kakashi, Heliang was slightly awed by his aura and confidence. After a moment of silence, he sighed, "Truly the son of the White Fang."
This was an undeniable compliment.
However, Kakashi was not satisfied.
Since he could remember, he had heard such praise countless times. When people called him a genius, they always added: "Truly the son of the White Fang."
His goal was not just to be a son his father was proud of.
He wanted to surpass his father, to surpass Konoha's sharpest White Fang.
One day, he would make people say, when mentioning Sakumo Hatake: "Look, that's Kakashi Hatake's father."