On the playground, the two stood facing each other.
"Shinichi, go for it!"
Ishizuka Ryu's rough voice was the first to break the silence.
"Get him, Shinichi!"
"Show him how tough we are!"
"Go!"
With Ryu leading the way, the entirety of Class 2 erupted in cheers for Shinichi, showing just how well-liked he was within his class.
Facing the sudden wave of support from Class 2, Class 1 fell silent for a moment. Then, as if sparked by some collective consciousness, they too began to shout:
"Kakashi, beat him!"
"Show them the power of a genius!"
"Go!"
Although Kakashi had a cold and distant personality and few playmates, his talent that crushed his peers, his calm and mature temperament, and the halo of "Hokage Material" had still garnered him considerable popularity among his peers who admired strength.
Among them, the voice of a girl with short brown hair and two purple markings on her face was particularly clear and forceful.
"Go for it! Kakashi!"
Rin Nohara cupped her hands around her mouth, her small face flushed red with excitement, her bright eyes fixed tightly on the back of the silver-haired boy in the field.
"Hmph!" Seeing this, Obito Uchiha also shouted loudly: "Hey! You from the other class! Put some effort into it! You have to beat that cocky guy Kakashi into the ground!"
"First match of the practical combat assessment: Higashino Shinichi versus Kakashi Hatake. Both sides form the Seal of Confrontation!"
In the field, Shinichi and Kakashi simultaneously raised their right hands, holding them vertically in front of their chests, completing the simple opening etiquette.
The difference was that Shinichi's gaze remained steadily fixed on his opponent, while Kakashi's eyes maintained a calm, one might even say casual, look.
"Well then, please guide me, Student Kakashi."
The moment the words fell, Shinichi lunged forward like a tiger that had been storing power for a long time. Tearing through the air with a scalp-numbing whistling sound, he crossed several meters in an instant, pouncing fiercely right in front of Kakashi!
So fast!
Kakashi's pupils constricted abruptly. The casualness vanished from his face entirely. He had absolutely no time to dodge and could only cross his arms lightning-fast to block in front of him.
Boom! The instant fist met arm, a muffled sound rang out. Kakashi felt as if a heavy hammer had smashed ruthlessly into his arms. Immediately, his arms went numb, and his bones felt as if they were about to crack.
His entire body was forced backward involuntarily, sliding back a full ten meters or so before he barely managed to stabilize himself by plowing his heels into the ground.
Before the dust settled, another gale force arrived!
Kakashi had just barely steadied himself when the next attack came.
A black figure appeared right before him, right leg straight as a steel whip, sweeping out with immense force.
The air was torn apart by the wind of the kick. Like a giant axe hacking down heavily, the wave of air it stirred up even blew the white hair on his forehead backward.
"Is that the Leaf Hurricane?" Ishizuka Ryu on the sidelines gaped in astonishment. He was all too familiar with this move; it was a Strong Fist style taijutsu taught to him by Teacher Chen.
He hadn't expected that Shinichi, who had only sparred with him a few times, would learn this move from combat.
On the field, Kakashi's expression changed. But he was, after all, a true genius. Having received guidance from the Konoha White Fang since childhood, he possessed excellent combat instincts.
In the nick of time!
Relying on his astonishing flexibility and reaction speed, he violently rolled to the side and back.
Simultaneously, during the roll, his wrist pushed fiercely against the ground. Chakra exploded in an instant. Borrowing that single point of leverage, his body sprang up like a coiled spring, his right leg describing a fierce arc, kicking straight for Shinichi's chin!
However, Shinichi seemed to have anticipated this counterattack. With a light and precise shift of his feet to the left, he allowed that dangerous high kick to graze past the tip of his nose.
At the same time, his left hand formed a palm, the base of his fingers taut as refined iron. A palm strike, whistling with force from the bottom up, struck ruthlessly at Kakashi's chin.
Thud!
A dull impact sounded. Kakashi's vision suddenly went black, stars exploding before his eyes. The violent concussion sent his thoughts into a momentary blank, and his body fell backward completely out of control.
Shinichi gave him no chance to catch his breath. In the instant Kakashi lost his balance, a heavy kick slammed viciously into his abdomen!
Like a sandbag hit at full speed, Kakashi curled up and shot backward even faster than before, crashing into the trunk of a large tree at the edge of the training grounds.
The thick trunk trembled violently, and withered yellow leaves rustled down, showering all over him.
"Cough!"
Kakashi slid to the ground, curled up, coughing violently while clutching his aching abdomen. His mind had just regained a sliver of consciousness.
He gritted his teeth, pushing against the ground, wanting to get up and fight again, but a cold touch quietly pressed against his neck.
Shinichi, like a phantom, had closed the distance again without anyone noticing, holding a kunai to his neck.
He lost!
The entire training ground fell into a deathly silence.
All the cheering, the discussions, the wind—it was as if an invisible hand had suddenly cut them all off.
Whether it was the students of Class 1, Class 2, or the two teachers, everyone stared dumbfounded at the unbelievable scene in the field.
Even students from other classes and grades conducting practical assessments in the distance noticed this scene.
That super genius, Kakashi Hatake, who bore the prestigious reputation of "Hokage Material" and shone like a dazzling star...
In this head-on confrontation, he had been crushingly defeated.
The sunlight was still blazing, yet it could not dispel the shock and confusion that filled the field, nearly solidifying the air.
How is this possible!?
This question exploded in almost everyone's mind. They looked at the standing Higashino Shinichi, this commoner orphan with no illustrious family background and no inherited Kekkei Genkai, who was even rumored to only know the most basic Three Techniques in terms of ninjutsu.
Although his grades were excellent and he was a model student, in the Ninja Academy, this was as ordinary as ordinary could be.
What they didn't know was that Shinichi possessed an advantage unique to him.
That was the power of traits transformed from the "persona" he had meticulously constructed day after day for years.
[Robust], [Sword Apprentice], [Agility]... these white traits were not empty names. They tangibly and continuously optimized and strengthened his physical constitution.
Especially the [Robust] trait. As early as when he was helping out at the blacksmith shop, he discovered he possessed pure strength surpassing many adult blacksmiths—and blacksmithing was a profession known for great strength.
And when the white trait [Robust] qualitatively changed into the green trait [Natural Divine Strength], Shinichi's strength saw an explosive increase, multiplying several times over.
As for Kakashi, he was indeed a genius seen once in a century, but he had an insurmountable objective limitation—age.
He was only five years old. No matter how superb his talent, his physical development, bone strength, and muscle capacity all had physiological upper limits.
Without chakra enhancement, his strength would always be far inferior to Shinichi's.
Shinichi, on the other hand, possessed a monster-level physique far exceeding his age group, thanks to the trait system stacking years of training.
His stats in strength and constitution were simply too high compared to his peers.
More importantly, it was mindset and preparation.
Kakashi might not have underestimated Shinichi, but the long-standing status quo of being unmatched among his peers invisibly gave him an attitude of composure.
He might have imagined that Shinichi, this opponent he first saw carrying a giant rock to school, had some strength or some special taijutsu moves.
But he absolutely never expected that Shinichi's strength would be so great, exceeding his imagination. The very first strike was a fierce onslaught like a landslide or tsunami, completely beyond his upper limit to withstand.
And Shinichi had been planning for this moment for five years!
"Have you heard? Lord White Fang's child was born..."
"I heard. The child's name seems to be... Kakashi?"
No one knew that five years ago, at the entrance of the orphanage in the west of the village, a child only one year old, sitting on the steps staring blankly at the sky, had something ignite in his eyes when he heard passersby chatting.