"Since our teacher put it that way, there's no need to hold anything back. Show him everything you've got~ After all, I think you're both just as curious as I am to find out how far we still have to go against a real elite Jōnin."
The corner of Hinata's slender lips curved into a smile that was equal parts alluring and predatory. The veins at her temples swelled and branched outward as the Byakugan surged to life, its full-spectrum vision swallowing every detail of the surroundings in a single, malice-laden pulse.
"Tch~ So this worn-out old man is a Jōnin? Then I figure I'm basically Hokage already! Yahahaha~~"
Naruto stood hands on hips, cackling at the sky. Across from him, Kakashi gave a dismissive nod. "Well, you're not wrong to dream. After all, anyone can manage a daydream."
"Why you—!"
The jab sent Naruto's temper flaring, but behind him Hinata cut in cold as frost: "Whoever gets eliminated this time wears the dress permanently. No more taking it off."
"Urk!"
Naruto stumbled mid-charge, face draining of color. The emotion on display was unmistakably fear. He still didn't know how strong Kakashi really was, but Hinata? He'd had plenty of firsthand experience.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Hands snapping through the seal, Naruto's massive chakra reserves let him split into twelve copies in the blink of an eye. Clones and original split into teams of three and scattered into the surrounding forest from four cardinal directions—a textbook encirclement.
Smart. Since Naruto lacked the perceptive eyes that Hinata and Sasuke possessed, he'd compensate by maximizing confusion. And unlike ordinary clones, shadow clones were solid—even Kakashi's Sharingan couldn't distinguish the real one from the copies.
Naruto didn't even need to do anything fancy. Simply maintaining encirclement pressure from all sides was enough to keep whoever was surrounded on edge.
"Hmph~! I'll get the truth about that eye out of you soon enough."
Sasuke tightened the straps on his gauntlets, then kicked off the ground in a clean backward leap into the tree line. He positioned himself in the gap between two of Naruto's clone squads, forming a five-pointed star formation that boxed Kakashi in from every angle.
Hinata remained in the clearing, eyes narrowing with anticipation. "Well then~ shall we begin, Kakashi-sensei? Please—show us what you've got."
The formation Team 7 had deployed gave Kakashi a sense of pressure he hadn't felt in a long time. Even through the lens of an elite Jōnin's appraisal, he couldn't find a single crack in their coordination.
Naruto held the outer ring, generating pressure and confusion. Sasuke occupied the middle zone, harassing with ninja-tool traps and mid-range strikes. Hinata anchored the center, engaging in close-quarters combat. The three-layer structure seamlessly integrated the Byakugan, the Sharingan, and the power of a Jinchūriki.
Because Hinata possessed panoramic vision, escape was off the table. No Body Replacement, no Clone Technique, no Body Flicker could evade the Byakugan's tracking. If Kakashi tried to break past her to deal with Sasuke or Naruto first, he'd have to navigate whatever traps Sasuke had laid in the forest—and that was assuming he could even locate the real Naruto among a dozen shadow clones. And all the while, Hinata would be on his heels. Suicide.
That left only one path: neutralize Hinata first—the one with the all-seeing eyes—then Sasuke, who was the easier of the remaining two to identify, and finally Naruto under his blanket of shadow clones.
But even this was the hardest option on the board.
Hinata's specialty was taijutsu. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Naruto would absolutely be launching harassment attacks from the flanks, which meant Kakashi would need to hold back three-tenths—no, half of his focus just to monitor those two.
In practical terms, only half his strength could be brought to bear against Hinata.
Half power. And given the close range and the Byakugan's detection radius, ninjutsu beyond taijutsu would be nearly impossible to pull off.
A flawless tactical plan. Specific limitations aside, this was the optimal formation and strategy for engaging a single opponent.
Kakashi's expression hardened. And the instant his gaze dropped, Hinata's right arm whipped forward. A tongue of searing flame slithered along the ground like a hungry red viper and lashed straight at him—South Dipper Flame-Slaying Fist: Yami Barai!
No hand seals?!
The tomoe in Kakashi's Sharingan spun at maximum speed as he confirmed Hinata had formed zero signs. A sharp kiai burst from her throat as she pivoted and launched herself skyward. Her straight, slender right leg cracked down at Kakashi's forehead like an iron whip—the R.E.D. Kick, plummeting from directly above. Paired with the ground-level Yami Barai, it was a simultaneous pincer from sky and earth.
Fwip-fwip-fwip!!
As if synchronized with Hinata's assault, two volleys of shuriken whistled out of the undergrowth on Kakashi's left and right flanks, cutting off both lateral escape routes.
Sasuke and Naruto?!
Judging position by the sound of the wind, Kakashi's eyes snapped to razor focus. The net looked airtight, but there was still a gap. He dove forward, threading his body through the narrow space between Hinata and the Yami Barai's ground-level flame trail like a needlefish threading a ring of fire—leaving Hinata herself, the blaze, and both shuriken volleys behind him in one clean movement.
But the instant Kakashi's feet touched down, a voice brimming with triumph erupted from his immediate left.
"Take this!! Sonic Boom!!"
A serrated blade of compressed air shredded through a thicket and screamed toward Kakashi. This was Naruto's real attack.
In a flash of realization, Kakashi understood the trick. Those two shuriken volleys had both come from Sasuke alone—a pair of wire-triggered traps set in opposing bushes, designed to fire simultaneously. Child's play for someone with Sasuke's ninja-tool expertise. Meanwhile, Kakashi's attention had been split between the forest full of Naruto clones and Hinata's ferocious opening salvo, leading to a critical misjudgment.
No time for hand seals. No room to dodge.
Kakashi gritted his teeth. Lightning crackled in his left fist as the Raikiri blazed to life—and he swung it directly into the incoming air blade.
CRRZZZT—!!
The collision sang like coarse glass grinding against itself. Pain spiked through Kakashi's left hand and he couldn't entirely keep the wince from his face.
The Raikiri wasn't designed for this. It was a pinpoint armor-piercing technique meant to exploit weaknesses identified by the Sharingan—not a clash-of-waves move. Catching a wind-natured projectile at point-blank range meant both forces detonated against his own palm. Worse, wind-natured chakra held an elemental advantage over lightning.
The crackling died in under a second. Raikiri and Sonic Boom annihilated each other simultaneously, but Kakashi's left glove was shredded to ribbons, his palm a mess of blood. He'd clearly come out worse for it.
But a Jōnin was still a Jōnin. Kakashi didn't so much as glance at his wound. Using the blood on his left hand, he flew through seals. "Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique!"
Part summoning, part Earth Release—this jutsu called forth his ninken with a temporary ability to burrow through the ground, enabling surprise attacks from impossible angles.
"Wha—?! Where'd the dogs come from~?!"
Naruto's yelp echoed from somewhere in the trees, followed by barking and snapping jaws—though the sounds cut off almost instantly. The dogs had only caught a shadow clone.
"Aragami!!"
But as Kakashi executed the Tracking Fang, Hinata was already closing the distance again. She'd timed her approach to hit the instant after his jutsu completed—that unavoidable instant of recovery. No shinobi, no matter how skilled, could cast a ninjutsu and move seamlessly without the slightest gap—which meant he had no choice but to turn and take Hinata's attack head-on.
THWAM!!
The impact sounded like flame catching dry wood. Kakashi's right hand shot out and clamped around Hinata's incoming wrist with pinpoint accuracy—his three-tomoe Sharingan read the angle of her punch with ease. Catching the blow avoided the direct force of her strike, but it didn't stop what came after.
Both of Hinata's hands were sheathed in Sacred Fist Gauntlets. The specialized ninja tools didn't just channel and transmit fire—their hardness rivaled defensive arm guards. With the gauntlets in the way, neither crushing her wrist nor snapping the bone was an option. And under the surge of flame chakra, the gauntlets' surface temperature was climbing toward branding-iron levels, to say nothing of the fire already licking across them.
Kakashi's right glove began to smoke almost instantly. Searing pain shot through his hand.
"I see... So this is the South Dipper Sacred Fists you've all been training. Formidable—a dominating taijutsu style. Without the same conditioning, an ordinary fighter couldn't even block it bare-handed."
Registering the burn, Kakashi spoke evenly. Hinata, her wrist still locked in his grip, only bared her teeth in a silent snarl. She had zero interest in mid-fight banter. The Byakugan user simply poured more chakra into her right arm. The flames wreathing her forearm surged higher, coiling toward Kakashi like ravenous serpents.
But Kakashi had already read her intention. He released her wrist and snapped backward in a short hop—finally earning himself a breath. His hands blurred through seals at blistering speed.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The ground beneath Hinata's feet liquefied into a churning bog. The five-meter radius gave her no chance to leap clear. She could only sink, snarling, into the earth.
"Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique!!"
Without pause, Kakashi fired off a second jutsu. By this point, he was going all-out as a Jōnin. His entire body sank into the ground as smoothly as diving into water—taking the fight underground where Naruto's harassment couldn't reach, and positioning himself for a far more dangerous assault from below.