At the same time, by the lake beside Training Ground Three.
Water exploded upward.
Spray scattered across the surface as Sakura fixed her gaze on the disturbance, every muscle taut. Her fight with Kakashi had begun in the forest, but he had subtly drawn her toward the water. She had noticed. And she had followed without hesitation.
For a water-style shinobi, terrain mattered.
The ripples settled. Kakashi was gone.
"…Gone?" Sakura murmured.
A sharp rush of air sounded behind her.
Kakashi surfaced from the lake without warning, fist driving straight toward her back. At that distance, there was no time to dodge or block.
Impact.
Sakura was struck and sent flying, skimming across the surface—
No.
Kakashi's expression tightened.
The body he hit dissolved into water and vanished into the lake.
A water clone.
"So that's it," Kakashi thought. "Just like the reports."
The surface beneath his feet churned.
Streams surged upward, twisting into whips that wrapped around his limbs and torso, locking him in place.
"Water Style: Water Whip," Sakura said, reappearing nearby. "Got you."
Kakashi glanced at the bindings.Mist techniques. Capture-grade.
"Your chakra control is excellent," he said lightly. Even bound, he noticed how the water calmed around her feet, perfectly restrained. "Impressive."
Sakura snorted. "If I'm not mistaken, you're a shadow clone."
Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "Why do you think so?"
"Because Sasuke is the strongest of us," Sakura replied evenly. "You wouldn't face him with a clone unless you were serious. Sending one after me means you underestimated me."
She paused, then added, almost casually, "Though if it's Sasuke doing it, I don't mind."
…What?
Kakashi decided not to pursue that thought.
"If you're just a clone," Sakura continued, hands coming together, "then I won't hold back."
Kakashi burst his chakra, dispersing the water whips. At the same moment, Sakura formed the seals.
Ox. Monkey.
Water Dragon.
Kakashi's eyes sharpened.
He started sealing as well, fingers blurring. He intended to counter with the same technique, to show her the difference.
"Sakura," he said mid-motion, "your analysis and control are excellent, but your hand seals are still a—"
"What?"
The lake roared.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
The water behind Sakura surged violently, a massive dragon rising with a thunderous cry, charging straight at him.
Kakashi leapt back, seals flashing. The dragon chased relentlessly, tearing through the surface, closing the distance.
He finished his technique and stopped.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
A second dragon rose behind him and collided head-on with Sakura's.
The moment they met, Kakashi's dragon collapsed, its body torn apart like wet paper.
He poured in more chakra, barely stabilizing it.
The two dragons clashed again.
The impact shook the lake. Waves tore outward in concentric rings, wind ripping across the shore. Pebbles rattled and jumped under the force.
Then both dragons shattered, raining down in sheets of water.
Kakashi felt it instantly.
The droplets clung, drawing chakra out of him.
"…Absorption?"
He vanished in a flicker, escaping the rain's reach just in time.
"Condensed seals, greater force, chakra-draining water," Kakashi thought, staring back at the lake. "Second Hokage–style techniques."
And her teacher is… who, exactly?
His clone's chakra was nearly gone.
Through the falling spray, a figure burst forward, cutting across the water at high speed.
The fight wasn't over.