Kabuto smirked as he stood atop the arena wall, his eyes scanning the chaos below. His plan had gone smoothly up until now.

But as he weaved his genjutsu through the field, intending to immobilize the proctors and disrupt the defenses, a presence slammed into his senses like a lightning strike.

He spun around.

Kakashi Hatake.

Standing calmly amidst the smoke and screams, his arms folded across his chest, his eyes cool and sharp.

Kabuto froze.

So this is Hatake Kakashi from the reports…

Gone was the relaxed, perpetually late, lazy sensei.

Before him stood a warrior his chakra strong, suffocating even. Kabuto narrowed his eyes.

'He doesn't have the Sharingan anymore… but his chakra feels even heavier.'

"Kabuto Yakushi," Kakashi said softly. His soft voice seemed to terrify Kabuto before him.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses, feigning calm. "Hatake Kakashi. You're too late."

In a blur, Kakashi vanished.

Kabuto barely ducked as a palm strike grazed his head, rattling his skull.

Fast!

He lashed out with a kunai, but Kakashi caught his wrist mid-swing with ease.

With a sickening twist, Kabuto found himself hurled across the clearing.

Spectators watched the fight between them in silence.

"Did you see that?" one chunin gasped.

"H-He threw him like a ragdoll!" another shouted.

Kabuto rolled to his feet, bruised, furious.

"You're stronger than I anticipated," he admitted.

"I've gotten some new training," Kakashi said simply. He flexed his fingers, chakra gathering visibly around them in a silver mist.

Kabuto tried to trap him with another genjutsu, subtle and complex, a technique that had caught even Jonin during the invasion.

But Kakashi didn't even blink.

With a casual wave of his hand, he shattered the illusion mid-cast, causing Kabuto's own chakra to recoil painfully.

The surrounding Konoha ninjas stared in awe.

"Th-That was a jonin-level genjutsu…" whispered a Konoha chunin. "He broke it like it was nothing…"

Gai, who was nearby fighting, gave a loud, booming laugh. "As expected of my eternal rival!"

Kurenai, too, was weaving through enemy lines, stunning Sound Ninja with pinpoint genjutsu strikes.

Her growth was evident, three enemies crumpled around her without even raising a kunai.

She saw Kakashi's battle out of the corner of her eye and smiled proudly.

'You've really become unstoppable, Dear.'

Back on the battlefield, Kabuto lunged with chakra scalpels slicing through the air.

Kakashi tilted his head slightly and caught Kabuto's arm again, this time letting a pulse of chakra blast into Kabuto's nerves.

Kabuto shrieked, muscles locking up.

'He disrupted my chakra control!'

Before he could react, Kakashi moved again.

A single, lightning-fast punch sank into Kabuto's gut, knocking the air from his lungs.

He crumpled to his knees, coughing violently.

Kakashi's foot rested lightly against Kabuto's chest, pinning him without effort.

"You're not getting away," Kakashi said.

The other Konoha ninja who had seen Kabuto easily outwit others earlier stared, jaws dropped.

"That guy was supposed to be a genius spy…" a sand jonin muttered. "How…?"

Even the Sound Ninja began hesitating.

Their 'secret weapon' was getting humiliated.

Meanwhile, Anko Mitarashi was carving a path through enemy forces nearby.

With her Serpent Seal flaring visibly on her neck, her speed and strength were monstrous.

"Come here, you little worms!" Anko laughed maniacally.

A Sound jonin lunged at her, but Anko twisted mid-air and smashed a brutal roundhouse kick into his head, dropping him instantly.

Snakes burst from her sleeves, binding and crushing another ninja.

The Sand ninja stared, horrified.

"She's a demon…!"

"No one told us Konoha had monsters like this!"

Encouraged by Anko, Kakashi, and Kurenai's overwhelming strength, the Konoha jonin rallied.

Morale skyrocketed.

"You heard them!" shouted a chunin captain. "Defend the village! FOR KONOHA!"

Cheers erupted as the tide of battle shifted.

Kabuto gritted his teeth, trying to rise.

But Kakashi knelt down, voice like cold iron.

"You underestimated us."

Kabuto tried one last trick, reaching for a hidden poisoned senbon-

-but Kakashi's hand blurred.

A thin silver flash of chakra sliced the senbon from Kabuto's fingers.

Kabuto froze, his eyes wide.

"You're done," Kakashi said, flicking a special paralysis tag that he had made onto Kabuto's chest.

Instantly, Kabuto's limbs locked up.

Kakashi stood, dusting his hands off casually.

"Someone bind him," Kakashi called out. "And double-seal his chakra."

Jonin and ANBU rushed forward without hesitation, locking Kabuto down.

As they dragged Kabuto away, beaten and humiliated, the Konoha forces roared in victory.

As the dust settled over the arena, it was clear to everyone, that Konoha's will of fire burned brighter than ever.

Led by the new generation and the unbreakable spirit of their elite Jonin.

….

In the underground chamber beneath an abandoned Konoha building…

The two elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane sat in a dim-lit safehouse, guarded only by desperate rootless shinobi, abandoned by Danzō's dismantled network.

They didn't expect anyone to find them.

Who would dare? They were the "guardians" of Konoha's will of fire, or so they still believed.

But when a quiet knock sounded on the thick stone door, panic flickered across their old faces.

Before either could react, a blinding pulse of chakra smashed the door inward, flattening the guards in a heartbeat.

Standing calmly in the smoke was Kakashi, or rather, one of his disguised shadow clones, his chakra tightly suppressed by a seal he had created with his Formula Reconstruction Seal woven into his skin.

Even sensing types wouldn't detect him until it was far too late.

"G-Gather the guards!" Koharu stammered, trying to stand.