But by the time he reacted, it was already a little too late.
The instant Kakashi met those Sharingan eyes, a wave of dizziness hit him, and even the chakra flow inside his body fell into disorder for a moment.
Since he possessed a Sharingan himself—a Mangekyo at that—Kakashi’s resistance to genjutsu was naturally quite high.
As long as it wasn’t a Mangekyo-level technique like Tsukuyomi, Kakashi could usually break free within a short period.
The instant he sensed he had fallen under an illusion, Kakashi immediately began to disrupt his own chakra flow.
Being an elite Jonin, it took him just over a second to break the genjutsu.
However, in the world of shinobi, a single second is often enough to decide the outcome of a battle.
This was especially true given that Kakashi had hesitated just moments before.
“Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!”
A massive sphere of flames roared past Kakashi’s ear, slamming into the training ground’s floor and erupting in a violent explosion.
Since this was merely an assessment, Genya had no intention of actually killing Kakashi.
Kakashi realized this as well.
If Genya hadn’t held back just now, that Great Fireball would have taken at least half his life.
Looking at Genya, Kakashi’s expression became more complex than ever before.
He gave Genya a deep, lingering look before finally declaring his surrender.
Though he still had his Sharingan and hidden trump cards unused, a loss was a loss.
Many present could see that if this had been a real battlefield, Genya would have already roasted Kakashi into a charred corpse.
The entire engagement had lasted less than a minute.
Between two elite Jonin-level shinobi, life and death had been decided in an instant.
No one thought there was anything wrong with this; such was the nature of the shinobi profession.
In battle, the survivor isn’t always the stronger one, but the one who doesn’t expose a weakness first.
A momentary lapse is all it takes to decide one’s fate.
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s expression was somewhat sour.
After all, this was the ‘Copy Ninja’ they had been promoting so heavily, yet he had actually lost to a legitimate Uchiha member during a Jonin assessment.
This defeat meant that his previous calculations had all gone up in smoke.
An Uchiha youth who had just awakened his three-tomoe had easily defeated the heavily marketed ‘Copy Ninja’ Kakashi.
In a way, this was a resounding slap to the face for the leadership.
Hiruzen forced a thin smile toward Uchiha Yashiro, who was standing beside him.
“Uchiha Genya did exceptionally well.
He will surely become a pillar of Konoha in the future.”
Yashiro’s expression didn’t change at all.
There wasn’t even a hint of pride in his eyes as he looked at Genya.
“As an Uchiha who has awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, victory is a matter of course.”
Indeed, this was what Uchiha Yashiro had believed from the very beginning; this was the pride of the Uchiha.
It wasn’t because he had immense faith in Genya as a junior, but because he had absolute faith in the three-tomoe Sharingan.
The fact that a mere imposter with a single transplanted eye had gained the title of ‘Copy Ninja’ was nothing short of a joke to them.
A true Uchiha never cared for such hollow fame.
Hiruzen choked on his words, momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
In a foul mood, Hiruzen immediately announced that Genya had passed the assessment and was now a Jonin.
The moment he officially became a Jonin, a voice echoed in Genya’s mind.
[SYSTEM: NOVICE TASK COMPLETED: PROMOTED TO JONIN]
[SYSTEM: REWARD OBTAINED: ONE MULTIVERSE GACHA OPPORTUNITY]
[SYSTEM: WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE IT?]
‘No.’
He was still in public.
No one knew what form the reward items would take when they appeared.
To be safe, it was better to wait until he was alone at home.
Hiruzen gave another speech about the Will of Fire before taking Kakashi back with him.
Uchiha Yashiro patted Genya on the shoulder and said earnestly:
“Don’t forget to attend tonight’s clan meeting.”
Genya nodded casually.
He didn’t care about such things at the moment.
His priority was getting home quickly to see what good things he could get from the gacha.
…
Back in his office, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Kakashi how it felt to fight Genya.
Although he had watched the entire battle, there were things only someone who had personally fought Genya would understand.
After Kakashi briefly described the flow of the battle, Hiruzen took out his pipe and began to puff away.
A moment later, Hiruzen asked, “If you had used your Sharingan, do you think Genya would have been your match?”
Kakashi hadn’t used his Sharingan in this fight.
While his carelessness played a part, it was mostly because he hadn’t even had the chance to use it.
Kakashi thought for a moment before replying, “I feel like Genya was still holding back.
He didn’t use his full strength.”
“However, I’ve been practicing a special ninjutsu lately.
Taking that into account, I’d say it’s a fifty-fifty chance.”
Kakashi was being quite modest; what he really meant was that he wasn’t certain he could beat Genya.
Hiruzen’s face darkened further.
He had already guessed as much.
Uchiha Genya had used very few techniques throughout the fight, yet he had suppressed the battle-hardened Kakashi in a short amount of time.
Ninjutsu wasn’t about how many you knew, but whether you could use the right one at the critical moment.
The Uchiha clan…
why did they produce one or two such brilliant geniuses in every single generation?
“One more thing.
When Genya…
when he met your gaze, what exactly did he make you see?”
An old fox like Hiruzen had naturally noticed that Kakashi had been unusually silent on the way back.
It wasn’t hard to guess that Genya had shown Kakashi something out of the ordinary within the genjutsu.
As a shinobi, doing such a thing was perfectly justifiable.
In a genjutsu, it was common to mentally torment an opponent to find a breakthrough.
But due to the nature of the Uchiha, this matter cast a shadow over Hiruzen’s heart, making him worry that Genya might be one of those ‘evil Uchiha’ who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
Kakashi remained silent.
He truly didn’t know how to explain it, because Genya had used that gap in the genjutsu to convey a message to him.
Just as he was debating whether to tell Hiruzen the truth, the office door was kicked open with a loud bang.
A man leaning on a cane, his head wrapped in bandages that covered his right eye, walked in.
“Danzo, how many times have I told you?
Knock before you enter!” Hiruzen snapped, visibly annoyed.
Danzo merely huffed, showing no intention of changing his ways.
Seeing this troublesome figure arrive, Kakashi, who wanted nothing to do with Danzo Shimura, immediately excused himself.
“Lord Third, I shall take my leave now.”
He had seen this scene many times before.
Every time, the Third Hokage and Danzo would part on bad terms, and their dialogue was almost always the same.
He had no interest in watching this repetitive drama.
Hiruzen waved him off, and Kakashi gave a brief bow to Danzo before departing.
After all, no matter how disliked Danzo Shimura was, he was still the Hokage’s Assistant and a high-ranking official of Konoha.
Once the bystander was gone, Danzo’s voice grew louder, sounding as if he were interrogating Hiruzen.
“Hiruzen, I heard another genius has emerged from the Uchiha clan.
He awakened the three-tomoe at such a young age and even defeated Kakashi!”
“When are you finally going to wake up?
Such an evil bloodline should never be allowed to remain in Konoha!”
Hiruzen continued to smoke calmly.
“That doesn’t seem to be your concern.
Just look after your Root.”
Danzo snorted.
“You don’t expect that brat to be like Shisui, do you?
The Uchiha are born evil!
We must tighten the surveillance measures against them!”
Hiruzen slammed his hand on the desk.
“Enough, Danzo!
I am the Hokage!”
As if those words were a trigger, Danzo turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him while leaving a final warning.
“Hiruzen, you will regret this!”