Chapter 160: Battle with Kakashi - Conclusion

Chapter 160: Battle with Kakashi - Conclusion

Kakashi went to a nearby tree and sat down under the shade. He closed his Sharingan eye and took in a few deep breaths. He felt some relief after drinking some water from a small bottle stored in his pouch.

Hiruzen was watching the battle from time to time. He was impressed with how Daichi survived so far. 'Kensei and Tsunade taught him well. To push Kakashi like this He's no doubt beyond Chunin. I made the right choice passing him.'

Kakashi took a few minutes break to catch his breath and recuperate some energy. 'Based on his Medical skills, I'm sure he's already healed himself.'

Letting out a long breath he stood up, and bit his thumb. With the needed blood as sacrifice he spread the bloody thumb on a scroll and began to make several seals. Once he reached the final seal he slammed his palm on the ground. 'Summoning jutsu.'

In a large puff of smoke 8 dogs of all sizes appeared wearing ninja gear.

"Hey guys." The man smiled looking at his ninja dogs.

The small pug sitting on top of the large black dog took a look at his summoner and was taken back.

"What happened to you Kakashi?" The small dog asked in a deep, gruff voice.

"Hey. Pakkun"

"What's going on?"

"Well, I'm currently putting my student through a survival exam."

The dogs looked around the place and noted the destruction. "Must be one hell of an exam." One of them said.

"Yeah" Kakashi took a piece of clothing and handed it to Pakkun.

"I took this during our battle. I need you guys to track him. He's somewhere inside this Training ground."

Pakkun took a whiff of the torn piece of clothing and concentrated on the smell Once he had the scent he closed his eyes and searched for his target.

A few seconds later the ninja dog opened his eyes and spoke. "Got him. West of here."

Kakashi nodded. "Track him and capture. But be careful. He's strong and he has powerful senses."

"Understood." With those words the ninja dogs disappeared.

-

Daichi got away from his enemy and stopped near the border of the training field. 'Kakashi will take at least a few minutes to rest. His Sharingan must be taking its toll on his body by now. So this is my chance.'

He created a shadow clone and sat down, controlled his breathing and within a minute entered the meditative state. His clone began healing his injuries and his meditation skill fastened the healing effects. 'Now that I can enter meditation quickly it helps with healing wounds and speeding up the chakra and health regen.'

In just several minutes the debuff notifications vanished and his arm was fully healed. Daichi took a medical pill from his inventory and quickly ate it. 'That will ensure my body will have the Protein and Vitamins needed for healing other large wounds. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.'

"How do you feel?" The shadow clone asked as it took a step back and asked his creator.

"Not bad considering the situation. I'll go hide and rest some more. I need you to distract Kakashi." Daichi told his counterpart.

Replying with a nod, the clone took off in Kakashi's direction.

As the real Daichi stood up and was about to leave the place, several ninja dogs burst out of the ground and bit down on his body. 2 dogs clamped their jaws on each of his arms and another 2 held on to his legs. A large black dog was on Daichi's back with his jaws near the boy's neck.

Daichi was surprised as he was completely trapped. 'Shit! I didn't even sense their movements underground. And because I didn't use Mana scout they escaped my detection. But even so, to escape my senses, these ninja hounds must be pretty exceptional.'

At that moment another small dog appeared out of the ground. He looked at the trapped prey and narrowed his eyes. 'So this is the student. Kakashi was right. I can already tell from his chakra This kid is extremely dangerous.'

Daichi recognized the dogs around him. Especially the one that made the latest appearance. 'Pakkun. So Kakashi actually summoned them huh He's actually kinda cute.'

"Do you wanna touch my paw?" Pakkun suddenly asked him.

"What?" Daichi was slightly taken back by the question.

"My paw. Do you wanna touch it? It's soft" The small pug raised its right front leg and showed Daichi it's paw.

Daichi gave a large innocent and angelic smile and replied. "Sure. I'll touch your paw. It looks so smooth and it does look soft. If you just tell your buddies to let go I'll shake your paw. I'll even pet you. Dogs are my favorite, you know."

"Aww really?" Pakkun tilted his head and smiled at the boy.

"Yup."

"Ok. But I'll let you go after the test. Then you can pet me." The small dog had a smirk on his face as he replied.

"Damn it!" Daichi's smile fell and he mumbled.

At that moment sounds of battle were heard coming from the direction his clone took off. It lasted for a dozen seconds before the forest became silent again. Daichi got the memories of his vanquished clone and almost cursed. 'Kakashi went for killing blows and quickly finished off the clone. He must want to end this now. I'm not gonna give you that chance.'

A few seconds later footsteps were heard and Kakashi's form became visible to all. He walked with his hands in his pocket, his Sharingan eye closed and a nonchalant look on his face. Once he reached the spot he looked at Daichi and spoke.

"You've done well in this test. Far better than I had thought. But this is where it ends." Kakashi spoke with a serious tone.

Despite the situation he found himself in, Daichi still managed to smile. "Do you really believe that?" He asked the man.

The Jonin wasn't surprised at the boy's defiance. He half expected it. "I do. And you think you can escape this situation because you don't understand it. Those are ninja dogs that are currently biting down on your body. And since you're a great medic I'm sure you already know where their teeth are currently resting."

With that the man opened his Sharingan eye again.

Daichi narrowed his eyes and replied after a second. "My vital areas."

The man nodded. "Exactly. Now before you do anything rash, you should listen to what I have to say"

The Jonin paused and taking Daichi's silence as a yes, he continued.

"If you make one move, try to gather chakra for a jutsu, I will know and before you can even execute it, I will give them the order to tear you apart. These dogs are specially trained to take down even high level shinobi. They will tear through flesh and bone and can rip their target to pieces on command. Your neck, the muscles, arteries, bones and veins through your arms and legs, once they chomp down you'll receive critical injuries and you'll bleed to death in seconds."

Daichi raised an eyebrow at the grim picture Kakashi just painted. He had a plan but for it to work he needed to turn off the Gamer's Mind. 'I need to test something. Turning off the Gamer's Mind is the only way. It's not the best move but it's my only option.'

Daichi mentally opened the options panel and turned off the Gamer's Mind.

He then asked the man a question with a small smile. "Would you really kill me?"

"During this test, yes. If it comes to it I will." Kakashi replied without hesitation. "This is a survival exam. I told you from the start. I'll be coming with the intent to kill Now, we can avoid that if you just surrender."

At that question Daichi looked down and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Hihihihi. HAHAHAHA..." The small chuckle quickly turned into full blown laughter. Kakashi was taken back by Daichi's unexpected response.

Pakkun and the other dogs became weary. Their animal instincts were predicting a coming danger but they weren't sure what.

A few seconds later the laughter died down and Daichi looked at the man. He had a dangerous and maniac smile on his face that set Kakashi on edge.

"Kakashi" Pakkun called out his name in a slightly scared tone. The small ninja pug had a feeling things were about to get a lot more dangerous. Kakashi ignored him and kept his attention on his student.

"Do you remember?" Daichi asked the man at that moment.

"Remember what?"

"What I told you that day? During the Genin exam When you had me pinned down with my arm behind my back?"

At that, Kakashi remembered the memory of that moment. He clearly recalled the words Daichi said to him. 'You have no idea of the strength of my resolve.'

Daichi looked at the man with a dangerous grin on his face. "I have no intention of dying for the foreseeable future. And even if I somehow do It won't be from a few dog bites."

Kakashi's danger sense, born from years of facing strong enemies, suddenly reared its head. The hairs on his body suddenly stood as he felt the rise of an ominous intent.

Daichi emitted a powerful Killing Intent that spread throughout the area petrifying everyone in their spot.

Due to turning off the Gamer's Mind and amplifying the strength of his emotions, the effects of his special stats and with a small bit of chakra mixed in, his intent became sufficiently potent and much stronger than most.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he felt the strength of Daichi's murderous intent. 'What is this? How can he produce such powerful killing intent?'

Daichi's flowing aura contained the helplessness and rage he felt in the last day of his previous life, his desire to live as he bled out in the street, his strong resolve to survive as he battled the various powerful enemies throughout the years and the cold merciless brutally he was willing to unleash on his enemies.

Daichi thought about the points stored up but decided not to use them. He didn't want to see them as a crutch or a safety whenever he ran into trouble.

Daichi created a few clones and had them meditate for as long as they could while he went to look for the traps Kakashi planted. Before long he came across one. He looked around and saw that it would launch shuriken and kunai with a few paper tags in a certain direction. Just as he was about to enter and disable the trap he stopped himself. He had a thought that ran through his mind that froze him in his tracks.

'Always look underneath the underneath. That's his mantra Could it be'

Without moving, Daichi carefully looked around the whole place with a critical eye. As he was carefully searching he noticed a ninja wire painted green running through the leaves. He followed the wire and soon found that he was right.

'That bastard. He rigged a trap around the boobytrap. If I were to disarm the first one the second would go off. And he made the first one somewhat easier to find so that I wouldn't look deeper and find the hidden one. That sly motherfucker He's clever I have to give him that.'

He looked around to see if there were more traps but after a while he found none.

Daichi jumped back and gained some distance. 'Well, if I can't disarm it, then the next best thing to do is let it go off. But this time it will be on my terms.' He took a few kunai and sent them at the wires of the trap.

-

Kakashi raised his head and looked to the side as he heard the sound of an explosion followed by the wind blowing through the place. "So he found one of the traps huh. I wonder if he got caught or if he saw through it?"

Kakashi got up and went to the location. He didn't find Daichi but the next moment he heard the sounds of shuriken hitting a tree trunk near him. By the time he reached the place Daichi was already gone.

'It seems he saw through my little ruse. Well, he isn't exactly dumb so I half expected that. Based on the location of the two traps that were triggered, he's moving south. Unless I'm wrong he must have already reached the next one I set there. I'll intercept him at the fourth one.'

Kakashi moved quickly and took a long round path with the idea to confront Daichi when he reached the place. But contrary to his expectations he didn't see Daichi and after several minutes heard another one of his traps go off in a completely different direction. The man narrowed his eyes and then sighed in frustration.

'This kid is starting to become a real pain. I could have been at home reading my books but no. I had to take this seriously I'm beginning to regret this whole thing.'

-

Daichi smiled as he set off another trap. 'When I checked the location on my Mini Map it was obvious that the traps were set in a certain order with a similar distance between each one. You thought you could track me like this? I won't be that easy to manipulate'

Daichi then moved in a random direction in search of the next trap. At that moment he got the chakra and memories of a clone that was dispelled by Kakashi. 'Hmm Seems he's starting to get frustrated. Ha! That's what you get when you mess with me, you walking scarecrow.'

-

The cat and mouse game continued for hours. The two ninjas often confronted each other and would then disappear into the forest. Kakashi took another Ration pill to keep up with the chakra demands of his body and Daichi created clones to generate chakra, stamina and health points for him. The contest of strength now turned into one of tracking, evasion and capture. The Jonin would try to capture Daichi and would come close several times but the boy would find some ways to escape.

The sun went down and the moon slowly began to rise in the sky. The darkness of the night was often illuminated by a fireball or a lightning strike. The sounds of trees and rocks getting crushed by winds and water jutsu could be heard. And if one was near the place they would often feel the movements of the ground as if there was a small earthquake happening.

Daichi was sitting under a tree with his back resting against its large wide trunk. He was breathing hard as the intensity was starting to take its toll on him. 'Come on. How much longer?'

As if to answer his prayers the sound of an alarm bell going off was clearly heard throughout the training ground. 'Fucking Finally. It's over. I won I haven't gotten the end of quest reward yet but it must be because it's not officially acknowledged by Kakashi But it's not that big of a deal. The bell rang. And I won. That's all that matters'

Daichi chuckled and laid on the ground. He took several breaths and looked at the sky. He soon stopped smiling and sat up. 'Time to see this through.'

-

Kakashi was at the clearing of training ground 3 near the three stumps waiting for his student. He reached the place a minute after the alarm went off. A couple minutes later he saw his student appear in a body flicker.

The man smiled as he looked at his student. His headband covered the Sharingan eye and the serious intent that was around him earlier wasn't present as if it was never there to begin with. "Well, I have to admit. I am impressed. You survived till the bell went off. To be honest I didn't see that coming."

Daichi smiled as he looked at the man. "You really put me through the ringer sensei. And you almost had me too if it weren't for some lucky breaks I had"

Kakashi sighed as he scratched his head. "Well it doesn't matter how but you survived. So congratulations, you pass. Now, I'm going home and gonna take a long bath. I'll see you later Daichi."

"A bath does sound relaxing. I could use that. Good night sensei." Daichi smiled and turned around. He only took a step forward before he felt a kunai to his throat.

Daichi slowly tilted his head and looked at his teacher. "What's going on? You said I passed."

Kakashi once again had the cold expression he had during the test. "Never trust anything your enemy says. They don't play by your rules."

"You said the test is over once the alarm rings"

"Did I say that? Think back to what I said carefully."

Daichi recalled every word Kakashi said when they met in the morning. "You just placed the clock on the stump. You never did say that the alarm would signify the end of the test. You just wanted me to think that."

"Exactly. I said this test would be over exactly at midnight. I set the alarm to go off 15 minutes before midnight. So technically this is still not over"

Daichi was silent as he heard the words. Kakashi, not wanting the boy to feel depressed, spoke in a somewhat gentle tone. "When in prolonged combat our mental state gets worse and after some time we look for a way to finish the battle quickly or to escape. And in that desperate moment people often choose an easier path that opens up that will later become a trap You were becoming tired and wanted to finish this quickly. So when you heard the alarm ring your subconscious mind told you that it's safe. You let your guard down. It's something that happens to almost every person. It's not something we can control You did splendidly in this exam. You have nothing to be ashamed about Now that being said I win."

Daichi heard the speech and he slightly chuckled. The man narrowed his eyes and looked at the kid.

Daichi spoke after calming down. "You're right. It's something that happens to almost every person."

"But I'm not one of them." That voice came from behind Kakashi.

The Jonin's one visible eye widened and he looked behind and saw another Daichi with two daggers positioned millimeters away from his kidneys. The Jonin looked at the one he held at knife point and came to a realization. 'A shadow clone.'

"How?" The man asked.

"Even before I joined the Academy, I trained hard. And after I joined that place my training time only increased. I've spent so many days training till midnight and then some. I trained till I was on my knees struggling to take the next breath. Once I was done I would spend some time looking at the sky. At the stars and at the moon. I did remember that you specifically said the exam ends at midnight. Before I came here I happened to look at the moon. I noted its position and realized that you set the alarm early. And knowing your personality, I knew it was another trap."

Kakashi had to fight off a smile as he heard that. 'This kid'

"You said that as our situation worsens so does our desperation and the need for a way out. I'm not someone who would make such a careless mistake and I don't think you're the kind of person who would make an error in judgment like that as well So why didn't you use a shadow clone to confront me " The boy asked his sensei.

Kakashi sighed and replied to that question. "If I had used a Shadow clone, and it turned out you had fallen into my trap then I would have won and the test would have ended immediately. But if it was a clone then we would have been in a stalemate and I doubt I could have found the real you and subdued you in the remaining short time. And I would have ended the test then and there Either way this test was bound to end quickly. I didn't see a need to waste anymore of my chakra and so I came by myself."

He took the kunai off clone Daichi's throat and placed it in his pouch.

"Oh come on. We don't know who will win for certain. We still have a few minutes before midnight. Wanna try your luck?" Daichi asked the man as he took a few steps back.

"No. I'm good. You pass Daichi. For real this time. There's no point in continuing this."

At that moment Daichi received a system message.

[Quest 'Pass the Survival Test' Completed.]

---------------

Author's Note:

Oh Man. Finally! It's completed. Even after writing 3 chapters with over 2K words, it still took another chapter with over 5.6k words to finish the whole battle.

This is my longest chapter in the series yet. A whopping 5.6k word count chapter without status page or skill list mentioned. That's a first.

Now that I've posted the whole battle sequence, I'M curious as to the response. Did you guys enjoy it?

This would be a perfect time for you guys to go back a few chapters and reread the whole fight.

I wanted to show that, while Daichi is strong, he isn't powerful enough to steamroll someone like Kakashi. Well, not without using the saved Stat Points anyway. But I also wanted to show that the last several years weren't a waste.

Daichi would have survived and outlasted Kakashi but wouldn't have beaten him. Kakashi survived till midnight only due to taking ration pills. That will be explained in the next chapter. So I didn't make him unnaturally stronger than his canon counterpart.

I wanted to strike a balance that showed Daichi was strong but not yet too OP(that would be boring if I did that this early.) Writing the whole thing with that balance in mind was a bit challenging.

Now I'm dying to know the verdict. Did you guys enjoy it? Or Do you think it's lacking something? Comment without holding back. This will make me want to try even harder for the next fight.

Alright, now with that out of the way I have some good news and bad news.

The good news is that you get to read a long ass 5.6k word chapter. I didn't want to split this whole fight even more than I already did and torture you guys.

The bad news is, I'm gonna take a short 2 or 3 day break.

I thank you all in advance for your patience.

If you like my story and want to read ahead, then check out my P.a.T.R.E.0.N page. I've uploaded up to 30 additional chapters there.

Patre /MonkWithAPen (No space)