Chapter 33: Chapter 32 – Substitute Teacher

At the end of the afternoon, the young Kakashi was walking, hands in his pockets, in a clearing between the Forest of Death and the surrounding forests, outside of Konoha. Every month, he met his former team leader there for a training session dedicated to him. Never before had Minato missed a single session. But today, Kakashi knew, there would be no training with him.

Sighing, the young man started to walk away. Suddenly, a barely noticeable sound caught his attention, and he ducked to dodge a kunai coming at him at full speed. The blade almost cut a few strands of hair.

Kakashi immediately spotted the origin of the throw. He saw, leaning against a tree, the silhouette of a woman.

“Kakashi... You weren't planning on leaving without training?”

“Mikoto…” He whispered.

She stepped forward.

“As you know, Minato won't be able to come, so... I decided to replace him.”

She smiled. Kakashi frowned.

“You nearly killed me with your kunai…”

“I'm not Minato. I don't babysit.”

She tilted her head.

“Now, on guard, son of Sakumo!”

Kakashi took his fighting stance. He knew that with Mikoto, there would be no room for error. Even if it was a practice, she wouldn't have the same kindness as Minato.

“Alright, let's go.”

She sent another kunai. But Kakashi had had time to raise his headband, revealing his Sharingan. He followed the kunai’s trajectory and easily dodged it.

But, as he regained his balance, he felt a cold metal against his throat.

Impossible! he thought suddenly.

“This is... the Hiraishin?!” He exclaimed.

Mikoto burst out laughing.

“No, of course not. It's just a surprise effect, which I have implemented since the beginning of the fight. I urged you to take me seriously and fear my next attack. By increasing a person's stress in this way, their field of vision decreases, with or without Sharingan. And their focus is then fixed on what they consider to be the threat. In this case, it was the kunai because the last one nearly killed you. So you fully reported your attention to the second one. Thanks to that, you didn't see me coming.”

“Impressive,” Kakashi admitted. “You knew perfectly how to manage the psychological aspect of a fight; you honor your reputation. For a second, I thought you matched Minato-sensei.”

Mikoto leaned the kunai blade lightly against Kakashi's neck.

“On the contrary, I have the impression that you were taken in the same way as with him,” she muttered.

“Your style is indeed close to his, maybe a little too much…”

Mikoto suddenly felt something grab her right leg. Then the other leg was also seized, and soon her whole body was neutralized by dogs that held her with their fangs.

"You were so busy giving me your little surprise that you didn't see my summons," Kakashi said. “By training with Minato-sensei, I developed this reflex. It's the only one that can allow me to make training last longer than a second. I have to summon my dogs before he reaches me. It's difficult against Minato, and I must admit that I often lost in this game of speed, but against you, the difficulty is not the same.”

Mikoto frowned.

"I'm a Konoha jonin, after all," Kakashi simply added.

Mikoto grimaced.

“Well, I see you're not as bad as expected. My little joke seems not to have been enough.”

Not without difficulty, she still managed to wave a hand seal. The dogs' fangs tightened slightly to prevent her from even making any further signs. But it was too late, her Jutsu was simple...

She metamorphosed into a black cat. Her sudden change in build caused the dogs to let go slightly and she was able to easily escape their fangs. The dogs ran after her, but she was faster than them and managed to lose them in the forest. The dogs, however, used their keen sense of smell to find her but were quickly fooled by the presence of urine, the smell was too strong for them to focus on others.

They were now lost in the middle of the forest, and their senses had been deceived by Mikoto.
One of the dogs, however, managed to find Mikoto. It was a small bulldog. But Kakashi didn’t attack. The element of surprise had vanished, so he waited, on guard.

Suddenly, he heard another kunai hiss in the air. He managed to dodge it. The kunai continued its momentum into the forest. Kakashi then heard a muffled scream. The kunai must have hit something... or rather someone.

Mikoto swore. Kakashi rushed through the trees and found a cowering body, a kunai stuck in the shoulder. He seemed in bad shape, but alive. Kakashi approached, and the individual raised his head. He was quite young, had dark hair, and his left eye was bandaged.

“Kakashi…”

“Are you...?!”

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Kakashi swallowed his saliva.

“Obito…”

Suddenly, Obito smiled and transformed into Mikoto, who planted a kunai on Kakashi's shoulder. Her smile suddenly disappeared seeing that Kakashi was badly hit.

“Oh no... I thought you would dodge it!”

Kakashi glared at her.

“How dare you…”

Mikoto wanted to take care of his wound, but Kakashi dismissed her attempt with a violent gesture.

“How dare you use Obito's image…”

“Kakashi, I... I'm sorry, in the heat of the moment I wanted to…”

“His passing didn’t affect you? Did you care so little about him?”

“No... I... Kakashi, I was very touched by his death!”

“So what is it? Do you want to make me pay for my Sharingan?”

“No... I…”

“To use such an unhealthy ploy in simple training, you can't even come close to Minato-sensei.”

Mikoto stood up as if subjected to a violent electric shock.

“Go away…”

Mikoto did not need to be told again, and withdrew, leaving Kakashi alone, in his state, leaning against a tree, outside the village...

Kakashi, already disturbed by the sudden sight of Obito, was just as much by Mikoto's reaction. He hadn't expected to see her apologize. He didn't expect to see her leaving him alone in his state the next second, despite her words.

"Are you training with this woman now?" A voice came from the trees.

Kakashi tried to get up with difficulty.

“I would have preferred to see Minato,” the same voice hissed, and Kakashi had the horror of recognizing it.

Orochimaru appeared, alongside a long snake. His reptilian face with an evil smile and his sly eyes could not fool anyone.

Kakashi tried to take a fighting stance. He felt dizzy. He had lost a lot of blood...

“Kakashi…” Orochimaru whispered. “Are you really going to face me, in your condition? You know that even at your best, you still pose no challenge to me.”

It was true. Kakashi knew it. Orochimaru was a Sannin, whose level was comparable to that of a Kage. He wouldn't stand a chance against him in combat.

“I didn't come to fight you. You don't interest me. I came to give you a message for your sensei.

Kakashi had to focus hard to stay on his feet.

“If he wants to save Kushina Uzumaki, he will have to meet me at the border of the country of Rice Fields, when the Moon is full…”

Kakashi frowned.

“It looks like a trap…”

“Don't worry Kakashi. If your Yondaime Hokage is that strong, he wouldn’t fear anything from me,” Orochimaru said dismissively.

But something was amiss. How could Minato reach Orochimaru, while he was locked up and under Police supervision?

Everything then happened quickly. A shuriken was aimed at Kakashi. Orochimaru hadn't moved yet. Kakashi, in his state, was unable to dodge it. He took the projectile in the stomach and was sent flying. Gasping, but not sliced by the shuriken, he realized that the weapon was a dummy, made of some kind of rubber.

Suddenly, at the very place where he had been a second earlier, everything ignited, and explosive tags activated all around Orochimaru. Even before the latter could realize what was happening, he was already trapped in the middle of an intense furnace. The trees around him were burning.

The fire formed a circle around the Sannin. Kakashi, just outside the circle, felt the searing heat smother him. Barely conscious, he nevertheless distinguished, in the middle of the flames, a silhouette standing in front of Orochimaru.

It was Mikoto.

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