Seeing the opponent, Kakashi didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately spread out his formation to pursue, with seven Kakashi clones following closely behind the enemy like a pack of wolves.
Uchiha Mukaku cursed inwardly, 'What a joke! That Kakashi, who is only five years old, possesses excellent six-point Ninja stats, and is known as the Ninja World's most 'kidney-deficient' man, actually used the A-rank Ninjutsu Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu to ambush me after creating a smoke screen!'
However, they were still in the midst of battle, so no matter how shocked he was, he could only deal with the current situation. Uchiha Mukaku moved quickly while swiftly forming hand seals: Rat - Tiger - Dog - Ox - Rabbit - Tiger.
His chest expanded slightly, and he turned around, immediately releasing a cluster of fireballs that were visually striking, like the fruit of a balsam pear.
These fireballs dispersed in front of Uchiha Mukaku, completely obscuring his figure, and traced agile trajectories through the air, whistling towards his pursuers.
Kakashi had absolute confidence in his agility, so he didn't choose to use Ninjutsu to block, as Ninjutsu would obstruct his vision and cause the enemy, whom he had finally locked onto, to escape his sight.
Sure enough, Kakashi and his Shadow Clones easily dodged the dense barrage of fireballs manipulated by the opponent's Chakra.
However, what surprised him was that Uchiha Mukaku, who was fleeing ahead, suddenly raised his hand and pulled at the empty space. Immediately, from among the fireballs that had passed behind Kakashi and his Shadow Clones, countless Shuriken were pulled out by concealed threads. Dozens of precisely controlled Shuriken scratched Kakashi and his Shadow Clones.
The Shadow Clones were already fragile, and upon being hit by the Shuriken, they made 'pop, pop' sounds, leaving only a puff of smoke before disappearing from everyone's sight.
Seeing this action from his opponent, Kakashi immediately realized the problem. While performing the Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, his opponent had secretly hidden dozens of Shuriken within the scorching fireballs, and then used unknown threads to manipulate these Shuriken, attacking him when he was careless after dodging the Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
But Kakashi felt he had the upper hand at this moment, because even before his opponent pulled the threads, he instinctively sensed danger and had his Shadow Clones protect his main body. So, in this wave of Shuriken attacks, he only suffered a slight scratch, and even managed to reach his opponent's front under the cover of his Shadow Clones.
Uchiha Mukaku, who was busy manipulating the threads in his hands, had no time to react before Kakashi Hatake, who had charged forward, pressed a kunai to his throat.
Just as Kakashi thought he had won the battle, a dark figure appeared behind him, and a cold kunai rested on his neck.
He looked back in disbelief, only to see another Uchiha Mukaku standing behind him, which momentarily astonished him. Then, he suddenly looked towards the tree canopy where Uchiha Mukaku had fled, as if he had a sudden realization. Sure enough, an Uchiha Mukaku was standing there, looking at him smugly.
Kakashi immediately understood the whole situation. The one who fled from the tree canopy was merely his opponent's Shadow Clone, while his opponent, taking advantage of his eagerness to win, used some means to hide near the tree trunk and ambushed him from behind after he fell into the trap.
The Ninja Academy Teacher looked at Kakashi being subdued by Uchiha Mukaku, his face showing an expression of disbelief. He never expected that the son of Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, would be defeated.
Immediately after, he felt the immense gap in the world. When he was five years old, he was still playing with mud, while the strength of these two five-year-old children was already enough to defeat a Chunin.
Subsequently, he felt a great sense of frustration. Originally, he wanted to correct his students' misconceptions and prevent them from going astray by showing off techniques, but he didn't expect his actions to be counterproductive. Hearing the students' chattering discussions, he realized that this was undoubtedly Uchiha Mukaku's victory.
Asuma Sarutobi, who was watching the show from the side, was even more astonished, unable to close his mouth. He had originally thought that his loss to Kakashi Hatake was just a temporary oversight, but he never expected that the strength of the two was not on the same level at all.
In this battle, Kakashi Hatake successively used D-rank Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu, C-rank Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, and A-rank Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Ninjutsu ranks he used ranged from D-rank to A-rank, involving two types of elemental releases, demonstrating both nature transformation and form transformation of Chakra. This couldn't help but make people wonder if he started learning Ninjutsu in the womb.
Even more terrifying was Uchiha Mukaku; he was actually able to defeat such a genius as Kakashi Hatake, he was simply a monster.
Uchiha Obito watched from the side, dazzled. He never expected Kakashi Hatake to be so strong, and even more so, he never expected Uchiha Mukaku, also of the Uchiha Clan, to be able to suppress such a formidable Kakashi Hatake. This made him feel very ashamed, feeling that compared to them, he was worlds apart.
Back in the queue, Uchiha Mukaku immediately received congratulations from his subordinate, Morino Ibiki, who exaggeratedly said, "Boss, that was so cool just now! Can you teach me?"
"Of course, but before that, you need to practice your Chakra control. Don't slack off on your Chakra tree climbing and water walking training!" Uchiha Mukaku replied indifferently.
This was not because he was genuinely exceptionally selfless, but because the Ninjutsu he used were not rare in Konoha Ninja Village. The reason he was able to win was due to his intelligent mind and solid fundamental abilities.
The exciting duel offered by Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Mukaku made the subsequent practical lessons dull and uninteresting. At this stage, most of the children's battles were like chickens pecking at each other, with no entertainment value whatsoever.
The impact of this battle was not limited to this. The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly learned about the process and outcome of this match, which made him pay even more attention to this child, Uchiha Mukaku.
At the same time, after learning about the situation of this match, the Uchiha Clan immediately decided to allocate more resources to Uchiha Mukaku and increase their efforts in nurturing him.
Upon returning home, Uchiha Mukaku immediately received praise from his father and affirmation from his clan. Looking at the dazzling array of secret medicines and scrolls before him, his eyes narrowed into slits with a smile. Although all of this happened earlier than expected, this was precisely the result he wanted.
Before he could even check his gains, his father, Uchiha Yukio, took out a huge scroll and said kindly, "This is a summoning contract scroll. Press your handprint on it first, so I can return this item."