“Yo, Kakashi. Back already? I heard you’ve been pretty active lately.”
The moment Kazan spotted him, he stepped directly into Kakashi’s path.
Kakashi raised his eyes.
Seeing that it was Kazan, he said nothing and simply moved around him, intending to continue home.
He was dressed exactly as Kazan remembered, with a short blade strapped to his back.
The only difference was that the Sharingan was still sitting in Obito’s eye socket at this point, so Kakashi’s coolness factor was somewhat lower than in the original story.
Kazan sidestepped and blocked his path again.
“What exactly do you want?”
Kakashi finally spoke, frowning as he looked at him with obvious displeasure.
At this stage of his life, Kakashi viewed all of his peers the same way.
Nohara Rin, Uchiha Obito, Might Guy, Asuma Sarutobi…
They were all just a bunch of immature children.
They knew nothing of the cruelty of the shinobi world, living peaceful lives under the protection of their parents.
“Find somewhere and fight me, genius.”
“I’m not interested in fighting you. Move. I’m going home.”
Of course Kakashi had no intention of fighting Kazan.
They hadn’t spent much time together, but he knew that, like Might Guy, Kazan focused almost entirely on taijutsu.
And…
His father had spoken very highly of Kazan.
Father.
The instant that word surfaced in his mind, Kakashi remembered that night.
The father he had admired more than anyone—the White Fang of Konoha—had taken his own life at home.
A shinobi’s duty was to complete the mission.
Not to compete over strength like a child.
“Oh? So you’re saying we don’t need to find somewhere else?”
“Then we’ll just fight right here!”
Kazan casually tossed the bear hide aside.
His foot pushed off the ground, and his body shot forward like a cannonball, a fist already hurtling straight toward Kakashi’s face.
“You bastard! Didn’t I just say I don’t want to fight you?!”
Kakashi hurriedly crossed both arms in front of his chest to block.
BANG!
Kazan’s punch sent him flying.
That monstrous strength immediately reminded Kakashi of Tsunade, one of the Sannin, who possessed similarly inhuman physical power.
“A man doesn’t get to back down when someone challenges him.”
Kazan continued advancing.
He had simply made up an excuse on the spot.
Either way, Kakashi wasn’t escaping this fight tonight.
As a genius, Kakashi had graduated from the Ninja Academy at five, become a chūnin just one year later, and would reach jōnin at the age of twelve.
He hadn’t become a jōnin yet, but genin, chūnin, and jōnin were ultimately just titles.
What mattered was actual strength.
Hadn’t Konoha’s genin eventually fought all the way to the moon?
Even if Kakashi didn’t possess jōnin-level combat strength yet, he shouldn’t be too far off.
“So fast!”
By the time Kakashi reacted, Kazan had already closed the distance again.
A chill ran across Kakashi’s skin.
Kakashi could fight Might Guy on roughly even terms, yet Kazan placed him under enormous pressure.
BANG!
Another fist tore through the air with powerful wind pressure.
This time, Kakashi stopped retreating.
He raised an arm to block Kazan’s punch, pivoted sharply, and swept Kazan several meters away with a whipping kick.
Kazan was unharmed.
He casually rolled his neck out of habit.
“Not bad. You’re much stronger than you were at the Academy. Looks like the world outside the village really does train people better than school ever could.”
“The shinobi world isn’t as wonderful as you imagine, Kazan.”
Kakashi’s gaze turned cold.
“I’m telling you one last time. I’m going home. If you don’t want to get hurt, disappear from in front of me.”
His voice was quiet and almost devoid of emotion.
Even when speaking to a former classmate, he sounded as if he were addressing a stranger.
“Compared to your strength, the thing that’s improved the most is your ability to talk big.”
Kazan grinned and refused to let up.
He bent his knees—
Then exploded forward.
In an instant, he appeared behind Kakashi.
“Whether the shinobi world is good or bad, I’ll see it for myself! As for you, your father died unjustly and suddenly you think that makes you better than everyone else? Don’t get ahead of yourself, Kakashi.”
Fist Bone!
Impact!
Kazan roared the words inwardly as his fist ripped through the air.
Unlike the probing attacks from earlier, this one was thrown with everything he had.
Kakashi felt a chill run down his back.
But what truly enraged him was Kazan’s words.
“Demolition! Someone call for help!”
Their fight immediately drew the attention of the nearby residents.
People let out strange cries and hurried to put distance between themselves and the battle before turning around to watch.
That was the genius Kakashi!
And the neighborhood’s little demon king, Kazan!
“You don’t understand anything!”
Kakashi had finally lost his temper.
No one even saw when he formed the hand seals.
Poof!
The Kakashi in front of Kazan exploded beneath his fist and vanished into a cloud of smoke.
In the next instant, Kakashi appeared behind Kazan.
His ten fingers moved like those of a max-level pianist flaming people in a toxic game lobby.
In the blink of an eye, a projectile formed from flames erupted from his mouth, bringing a scorching wave of heat with it.
Normally, Kakashi would never use ninjutsu inside the village.
It was against the rules.
But tonight, Kazan had genuinely enraged him.
“A shinobi’s duty is to complete the mission! Someone who can’t complete the mission is worse than trash!”
Fire Style: Flame Bombs!
Kazan badly wanted to punch straight through the incoming flames, but without having awakened Armament Haki, he couldn’t do that yet.
He twisted sideways and rapidly evaded the attack.
The fireball slammed into the ground behind him, blasting out a crater and scorching the soil black.
It didn’t so much as singe his clothes.
“Is that so?”
“Is that really what you think?”
“Because your eyes are telling me something completely different!”
Too fast!
Once again, Kakashi marveled at Kazan’s lightning-fast speed.
So even before this, he hadn’t been going all out.
Kakashi tried to dodge, only to realize that it was already too late.
He could only watch as Kazan’s five fingers clamped around his neck.
The grip was like an iron vise, cutting off his breath.
Then Kazan’s deafening voice exploded beside his ear.
“Someone who’s lost his way is far too cowardly!”
Kazan seized Kakashi and launched himself high into the air with a roar.
“Blue Hole!”
The muscles of his right arm bulged.
Gripping Kakashi, Kazan hurled him toward the ground with all his strength.
BOOOOM!
Kakashi’s small body slammed into the street like a meteor, creating a crater more than twice the size of the one caused by the Flame Bombs.
“Urgh—!”
Blood burst from his mouth.
He couldn’t evade.
While airborne, he hadn’t even been able to make the slightest defensive maneuver.
The enormous centrifugal force had completely controlled his body, denying him even the chance to form hand seals.
All he could do was barely gather chakra along his back to reduce the impact.
And just like that, Hatake Kakashi—the historic genius of Konoha—was smashed unconscious.
Yet even in the final second before darkness took him, Kazan’s words continued echoing through his mind.
“I’m… lost?”
Tap.
Kazan landed at the edge of the crater.
Looking down at the unconscious Kakashi, he suddenly felt a small surge of nervousness.
“See? People in the Naruto world really are glass cannons!”
“I haven’t even awakened Haki yet. Once I do, am I going to kill people in one move?”
“Wait…”
“Kakashi isn’t actually dead, is he?”
Kazan cautiously approached and lightly kicked Kakashi a few times.
“Hey. Hey! If you’re still alive, make a sound!”
Kakashi gave no response whatsoever.
Kazan became even more nervous.
He leaned down and checked Kakashi’s breathing.
Good news.
Still breathing!
Bad news.
The Uchiha from the Police Force were already coming!
He had started the fight.
He had also wrecked the street.
And there were plenty of witnesses.
“Tch. I told you we should fight somewhere else. Why wouldn’t you move?”