“You want to spar with me?” Muzan looked at the ready stance Kakashi had assumed with growing interest.
The seriousness on his brother’s face told him this fight was unavoidable.
He removed his outer cloak.
It was already nighttime, so he decided to be honest.
“At night, my strength increases dramatically.” “You’d better be prepared.” Even the slightest hint of pressure emanating from his crimson eyes carried an overwhelming sense of superiority.
It wasn’t that Muzan looked down on Kakashi personally.
It was simply the instinct inherited through his bloodline.
Beneath the bright moon, his thirst for blood became even stronger.
Kakashi was already an exceptional Genin.
He had mastered the Three Basic Techniques as well as the fundamental ninja arts.
He truly deserved the title of Konoha’s greatest young genius.
Even the pressure coming from his own older brother couldn’t make him retreat.
“Hmph!
Don’t underestimate me!” “I’ll show you how a real ninja fights!” The trees within the Hatake courtyard swayed gently in the night breeze.
A sharp light flashed across Kakashi’s eyes as he burst forward, instantly closing the distance.
Thanks to Muzan’s suggestion, Kakashi had spent the past several days sparring endlessly with Gai.
His taijutsu had improved tremendously.
He had even begun training while wearing sand-filled weights.
If an ordinary person took one of Kakashi’s kicks, they would likely suffer broken bones and lose consciousness on the spot.
Bang!
Muzan crossed both arms to block.
The explosive force pushed him nearly four inches backward across the ground.
A dull ache spread through his forearms.
He wasn’t quite accustomed to it yet.
But he adjusted almost immediately.
“That was a nice flying kick.” “Looks like you’ve been training hard.” “Whose fault do you think that is?” “But…” Kakashi smiled.
“Nii-san really has gotten stronger.” Regardless of who won, Kakashi was genuinely happy.
Muzan’s fragile health had always been the shadow hanging over their family.
Even though that exchange had merely been a test, Kakashi could clearly feel how much his brother’s body had changed.
His awakened kekkei genkai had transformed him completely.
“Then I’ll stop holding back.” Kakashi’s greatest advantage was obvious.
Muzan couldn’t use ninjutsu.
His weak body had prevented him from learning it for years.
Now was the perfect opportunity to capitalize on that weakness.
“Very good.” Muzan nodded in approval as Kakashi suddenly vanished from sight.
Rather than attacking immediately, he calmly praised him.
He had only recently begun studying ninjutsu himself.
Most of his recent training had focused on chakra control and kunai throwing.
Sparring against Kakashi allowed him to better understand how shinobi actually fought.
“But…” “It’s still not perfect.” Kakashi had overlooked the most important detail.
Concealing his presence.
Muzan could clearly distinguish the aura of every living creature around him.
Much later in life, Kakashi’s ninja hounds would compensate for exactly this weakness.
“What?!” Bang!
Kakashi narrowly escaped Muzan’s punch using the Substitution Technique.
Turning around, he looked at the tree behind him.
A clean hole had been punched straight through its trunk.
His face twitched.
“How did you know where I was hiding?” He had always been confident in his concealment skills.
Looking into Muzan’s crimson eyes, Kakashi wondered…
Could they function like the Hyuga clan’s Byakugan?
Could he somehow see hidden chakra?
If so…
Perhaps Muzan was better suited to become a sensory ninja.
“When you defeat me…” “I’ll tell you.” The instant Kakashi landed, he was greeted by a relentless barrage of punches.
Muzan attacked like a violent storm.
Forced backward step after step, Kakashi soon began showing signs of exhaustion.
“I have to create some distance.” “Nii-san’s physical abilities after awakening his kekkei genkai are just too overwhelming.” At the moment Muzan threw another punch, Kakashi activated the Substitution Technique again, swapping places with a nearby log.
Finally gaining breathing room, several kunai appeared in his hands.
He threw them simultaneously.
They completely blocked every possible route of escape.
“So ruthless.” “You’re really going all out against your own brother.” Muzan twisted his body into an impossible angle.
His bones visibly shifted out of place.
Having devoted himself to becoming a medical ninja in order to better understand and improve his own body, Muzan possessed extensive medical knowledge.
Only his joints had been dislocated.
The instant the kunai flew past…
Everything snapped perfectly back into place.
“And you have the nerve to say that?!” Kakashi’s hands had already swollen badly from blocking Muzan’s earlier attacks.
Compared to him…
Muzan had been far more merciless.
“Hahaha!” “Then let me show you the power of my Blood Demon Art.” Watching Kakashi shake his aching hands, a smile naturally spread across Muzan’s face.
When he raised his head, his crimson eyes locked onto his target.
“Blood Demon Art…” “Black Blood Brambles.” Black thorn-like tendrils erupted from his arms.
They resembled the razor-sharp thorns of a rose, spiraling around his body under his complete control.
Wherever they lashed across the ground…
Deep scars appeared.
Even the stone paving beneath them shattered cleanly in half.
“What kind of ability is this?!” It was Kakashi’s first time fighting someone with a kekkei genkai.
Watching the approaching forest of black thorns, he instantly realized that if he became trapped…
The battle would be over.
Using another Substitution Technique, he narrowly escaped before rapidly forming hand seals.
Flames gathered inside his mouth.
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!” The thorns weren’t real plants.
They were weapons created by manipulating Muzan’s own cells into thorn-like structures.
Fire still burned them.
Pain still reached him.
“So this…” “…is the power of ninjutsu.” “The Great Fireball Technique gathers chakra inside the mouth.” Muzan had clearly seen Kakashi’s hand seals.
Unfortunately…
He still couldn’t fully understand the flow of chakra.
Otherwise, with his own chakra reserves, he could already perform the technique himself.
“Your Great Fireball isn’t enough to destroy my thorns.” “Give up, Kakashi.” The mass of black thorns converged together.
The Great Fireball was crushed apart before it could even reach him.
At this moment, Muzan barely resembled a human anymore.
“Not happening, Nii-san.” His confidence remained.
His body, however, told a different story.
Although Kakashi possessed affinity for all five chakra natures, his young body simply couldn’t hold much chakra.
The Great Fireball Technique was already one of his strongest offensive ninjutsu.
And it hadn’t harmed Muzan in the slightest.
Kakashi quickly searched for another solution.
With so little chakra remaining…
Victory would have to come through the Three Basic Techniques and clever use of kunai.
Several kunai flew through the air.
At first, Muzan assumed they were nothing more than a distraction.
Then…
He sensed something was wrong.
“As expected of someone personally trained by Father.” “Your combat instincts already surpass those of most Genin.” The instant Kakashi threw the kunai, he used the Substitution Technique to exchange places with one of them.
Immediately afterward, he used the Transformation Technique, disguising himself as one of the flying kunai.
Using that trick, he slipped past the wall of black thorns unnoticed.
Just as he thought his plan had succeeded…
A massive cluster of black thorns suddenly closed around him.
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke burst outward.
Kakashi was completely trapped inside the prison of thorns.
His chakra was exhausted.
Cuts covered his body.
There was no longer any chance of turning the battle around.
“You lost, Kakashi.” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Hidden_Quill Thank you so much for reading!