But by the time Kakashi realized what had happened, it was already too late.
The instant his gaze met those Sharingan, his mind went blank for a moment.
Even the flow of chakra within his body became disrupted.
Because Kakashi possessed a Sharingan himself—and that eye had already evolved into a Mangekyō—his resistance to genjutsu was considerably higher than normal.
As long as it wasn’t a Mangekyō-level illusion like Tsukuyomi, Kakashi could still break free within a short period of time.
The moment he realized he had fallen under a genjutsu, Kakashi immediately began disrupting the chakra flow within his own body.
As expected of an elite jōnin, it took him barely more than a second to dispel the illusion.
But in a battle between shinobi, a single second was often enough to decide life and death.
Especially when Kakashi had hesitated during that second.
“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!”
A massive fireball screamed past Kakashi’s ear and slammed into the ground behind him.
BOOM!
A violent explosion tore through the training field.
This was only an examination, after all.
Shinya had no intention of killing Kakashi.
Kakashi understood that as well.
If Shinya hadn’t deliberately held back just now, that Fireball Jutsu would have left him half-dead at best.
He stared at Shinya with an exceptionally complicated expression.
After a long moment, Kakashi admitted defeat.
He still had his Sharingan and other trump cards he hadn’t used.
But a loss was a loss.
Most of the people watching could see it clearly.
If this had been a real battlefield, Shinya would have already roasted Kakashi into charcoal.
The entire battle had lasted less than a minute.
Yet between two shinobi with elite-jōnin-level combat ability, that was more than enough time to decide who lived and who died.
No one present found that strange.
That was simply the nature of being a shinobi.
In battle, the survivor was not always the stronger person.
More often, it was simply the one who didn’t reveal an opening first.
A single moment of disorientation could decide life and death.
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s expression was not particularly pleasant.
After all, Kakashi was the Copy Ninja they had spent so much effort promoting.
And now, during a jōnin promotion exam, he had lost to a genuine member of the Uchiha clan.
With that defeat, Hiruzen’s little plan had completely fallen apart.
A young Uchiha who had only just awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan had easily defeated the Copy Ninja Kakashi they had so heavily publicized.
In a sense, it was a resounding slap in the face.
Hiruzen forced a faint smile as he turned toward Yashiro Uchiha.
“Shinya Uchiha performed exceptionally well.
In the future, I’m certain he’ll become one of the pillars supporting Konoha.”
Yashiro’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
There wasn’t even any visible pride in his eyes as he looked at Shinya.
“For an Uchiha who has awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, victory is only natural.”
That was what Yashiro had believed from beginning to end.
This was the pride of the Uchiha.
It wasn’t that he had extraordinary confidence in Shinya personally.
He had confidence in the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Their opponent was nothing more than an outsider carrying a single transplanted Sharingan, yet somehow he had earned a ridiculous title like the Copy Ninja.
It was almost laughable.
A true Uchiha had no need for such empty fame.
Hiruzen choked on whatever response he had been about to give.
For once, he genuinely didn’t know how to continue the conversation.
Already in a foul mood, Hiruzen promptly announced that Shinya had passed the examination and was officially promoted to jōnin.
The instant Shinya became a jōnin, a familiar voice rang inside his head.
[Starter Mission Completed: Become a Jōnin.]
[Reward Obtained: One Multiversal Lottery Draw.]
[Use now?]
No.
They were still standing in public.
There was no telling what form the lottery reward would take when it appeared.
To be safe, it would be better to wait until he returned home and was alone.
Hiruzen gave yet another speech about the Will of Fire before taking Kakashi and leaving.
Yashiro walked over and patted Shinya on the shoulder.
With a serious expression, he reminded him,
“Don’t forget to attend tonight’s clan meeting.”
Shinya casually nodded.
He couldn’t care less about that right now.
Getting home as quickly as possible and finding out what he could pull from the lottery was far more important.
…
After bringing Kakashi back to his office, Hiruzen asked him how it had felt to fight Shinya.
Although Hiruzen had watched the entire battle himself, there were some things only Kakashi, who had personally fought Shinya, could understand.
Kakashi briefly explained the battle from his perspective.
Hiruzen pulled out his pipe and began puffing away.
After a moment, he asked,
“If you had used your Sharingan, do you think Shinya would still have been able to defeat you?”
Kakashi hadn’t used his Sharingan during the battle.
Part of that was because he had underestimated Shinya.
But the greater reason was simply that Shinya had never given him enough time to activate it.
Kakashi thought for a moment before answering.
“I get the feeling Shinya was still holding something back.
I don’t think he used his full strength.”
“But I’ve also been developing a special ninjutsu recently.”
“If we fought seriously…
I’d say it could go either way.”
Kakashi was already putting it rather politely.
What he really meant was that he had no confidence he could defeat Shinya.
Hiruzen’s expression darkened slightly.
Truthfully, he had already reached the same conclusion.
Throughout the entire fight, Shinya had used very few ninjutsu.
Yet even with such a limited arsenal, he had suppressed the battle-hardened Kakashi in an extremely short amount of time.
A shinobi didn’t need to know hundreds of techniques.
They only needed the right technique at the right moment.
The Uchiha clan…
Why does every generation of that clan produce one or two monsters like this?
“There’s something else.”
Hiruzen stared at Kakashi.
“When Shinya made eye contact with you…
what exactly did he show you?”
Someone as experienced as Hiruzen had naturally noticed that Kakashi had been unusually quiet ever since the battle ended.
It wasn’t difficult to guess that Shinya had shown him something unusual during the genjutsu.
For a shinobi, doing such a thing was perfectly normal.
People used genjutsu specifically to attack an opponent’s mind and force them to expose openings.
Showing someone their ancestors’ graves being dug up would hardly qualify as excessive by genjutsu standards.
But because Shinya was an Uchiha, Hiruzen still couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
He worried that Shinya might prove to be another of those ruthless Uchiha who would use absolutely any means necessary to achieve their goals.
Kakashi fell silent.
“…”
He genuinely didn’t know how to answer.
Because during that brief moment inside the genjutsu, Shinya had also passed a message to him.
Just as Kakashi was debating whether he should tell Hiruzen the truth—
BANG!
The office door was kicked open with tremendous force.
A man entered carrying a cane, his head wrapped in bandages that covered his right eye.
“Danzō!”
Hiruzen snapped irritably.
“How many times have I told you to knock before entering?!”
Danzō merely snorted.
He clearly had no intention of changing his behavior.
The moment Kakashi saw the troublesome newcomer, he decided he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Danzō Shimura.
He immediately excused himself.
“Lord Third, I’ll be leaving now.”
Kakashi had witnessed scenes like this more than once.
Every time, Hiruzen and Danzō ended up parting on terrible terms.
Even their dialogue was practically identical every single time.
Kakashi had no interest in watching the same performance again.
Hiruzen waved him away.
Kakashi gave Danzō a brief respectful nod before leaving.
No matter how unpopular Danzō might be, he was still the Hokage’s advisor and one of Konoha’s highest-ranking officials.
Once the troublesome outsider was gone, Danzō immediately raised his voice, sounding almost as though he had come specifically to interrogate Hiruzen.
“Hiruzen!
I heard the Uchiha clan has produced another genius!
He awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan at such a young age, and he even defeated Kakashi!”
“When are you finally going to wake up?!”
“Such an evil bloodline should never have been allowed to remain in Konoha!”
Hiruzen calmly continued smoking his pipe.
“That doesn’t seem like something you need to concern yourself with.
Just manage your Root properly.”
Danzō snorted.
“You aren’t seriously expecting that brat to turn out like Shisui, are you?”
“The Uchiha are inherently evil!
Surveillance on them must be tightened immediately!”
Hiruzen slammed his hand heavily against the desk.
“Enough, Danzō!”
“I am the Hokage!”
Those words seemed to flip a switch inside Danzō.
He stormed out and violently slammed the door behind him.
But before leaving, he threw back one final sentence.
“Hiruzen, you’ll regret this!”