Kakashi smirks, his gaze steady as he faces Obito. "You talk a big game, Obito, but let's see if you can back it up."

Obito's grin widens. There is a glint of determination in his eyes. "Oh, I'll back it up alright. You're about to see just how serious I am."

The tension between them crackles in the air as they circle each other, both keenly aware of the stakes at hand. The crowd watches with bated breath, waiting to see which of these formidable shinobi will emerge victorious.

The truth is… Obito has barely survived the explosion by using Kamui within a short split microsecond. Sadly, the Kusarigama are destroyed from the explosion, since Obito cannot extend his Kamui enough to cover his whole weapon… which is annoying.

With a sudden burst of speed, Obito charges forward, kunai held firmly in hand. Kakashi meets him head-on, their clash of blades echoing throughout the arena.

Their movements are swift and precise, each anticipating the other's next move with uncanny accuracy. Obito's attacks are relentless, but Kakashi defends with skillful precision, his trained observation abilities tracking every motion.

"You've gotten better, Obito," Kakashi remarks, a hint of admiration in his voice. "But not good enough to beat me."

Obito grits his teeth, frustration simmering beneath his confident facade. "We'll see about that, Kakashi. I've trained hard for this moment, and I won't let you stand in my way." All a lie, since Obito’s training isn’t really training for the sake of defeating Kakashi… but for the sake of defeating Madara, and perhaps one day, to use his strength to protect his loved ones.

The thing is… Obito needs Kakashi to hear that he considers Kakashi a rival…

Obito needs Kakashi to get stronger and not simply rise in rank. Jonin? Titles are useless to dead people, so fuck no… Kakashi can’t become a Jonin! Or else, the same things will just happen again.

Knowing the future, Obito rather prefers for Kakashi to not advance to Jonin! He cannot let it happen! It is not like Kakashi not reaching Jonin will magically stop Obito’s supposed-to-be-death, or Kakashi losing an eye, but the point is… Obito must be proactive in making changes—

“Kakashi,” With a grunt, Obito kicks Kakashi’s side while simultaneously throwing a kunai. “Fight back! You should do better than that!! And you want to be Jonin!? Fuck you!”

“What the hell?” Kakashi is disgruntled by how aggressive Obito is coming at him as he barely deflects the kunai. Left with no choice but to absorb the kick, Kakashi winces from the pain, realizing that Obito’s taijutsu has really improved by leaps and bounds.

Obito retreats backward with haste as Kakashi’s Tanto chases him.

“Use your Sharingan, Obito!” Kakashi demands with provocative attacks, each swing of his Tanto threatening to slice Obito’s vital points. “I know you can use it!”

Obito clicks his tongue in annoyance as he plans to hide his Sharingan for a long time until the Border War with the other hidden villages… But to think Kakashi already knows the secret weapon he wishes to use against the Uchiha.

“What are you talking about?” Playing dumb is not helping as Kakashi seems to be unconvinced.

Obito has it all— a plan, a big picture, and the means. Before the Border War happens, Obito plans to use his Sharingan to assassinate the unstable factors within the Uchiha clan and use his Tsukuyomi to forcibly alter the memories of the weaker Uchiha members. Though highly immoral, the plans he has been cooking to avoid the Uchiha rebellion are one of sound logic.

“If you won’t use Sharingan, then I am going to force you…” Kakashi raises his Tanto, and with hardened resolve, he increases his speed— “White Light Blade!”

Obito's eyes widen in surprise as Kakashi's attack comes at him with blinding speed. With a swift movement, he barely manages to dodge, feeling the sharp edge of the blade graze his shoulder.

"Damn it, Kakashi! What's gotten into you?" Obito snaps, clutching his injured shoulder as he glares at his former teammate.

Kakashi doesn't relent, his eyes narrowing with determination. "You're holding back, Obito. I know you're capable of more. Show me what you've got!"

Obito's mind races as he tries to come up with a strategy. He can't reveal his Sharingan yet, not when his plans hinge on its secrecy. But Kakashi's relentless assault leaves him with little choice.

With a resigned sigh, Obito finally activates his Sharingan, the red glow piercing through the tension-filled air. At this moment, it is of higher priority for Obito to defeat Kakashi. It is not simply a matter of pride.

Losing the element of surprise for Obito’s foreseeable ambush to the Uchiha clan does hurt him, but it is more important for Obito to stop Kakashi’s advancement in rank… In the future, Team Minato should not be actively assigned to the high-risk missions anymore.

There are so many ways the Kannabi Bridge could have gone right if only the right resources had been allocated in advance… Instead of simply Kakashi, Obito, and Rin at that time, it would have been perfect if there were two other Genin teams to support them.

Heck, Obito will be happy enough if he has one Genin team to watch their back at that time!

"There, satisfied?" Obito growls, his Sharingan spinning as he focuses on Kakashi's movements.

Kakashi smirks, his gaze locking onto Obito's Sharingan. "Now we're talking."

The two engage in a fierce exchange, their movements becoming a blur as they push each other to their limits. Obito's Sharingan allows him to predict Kakashi's attacks with greater accuracy, but Kakashi's experience and skill prove to be formidable obstacles.

As they continue to clash, the crowd watches in awe, the intensity of their battle drawing everyone's attention. Each strike reverberates through the arena, echoing the rivalry between these two legendary shinobi.

Though Obito has lost his Kusarigama, he is quite handy with the kunai and as someone who has been trained in various kinds of weapons from his future alternate life, he is more than capable of standing toe to toe against Kakashi.

With an overhead swipe from Kakashi, Obito ducks low only to be met with a kick. Obito slaps the kick away by smacking it with his palm at Kakashi’s heel. Kakashi loses balance for a second. Obito uses the Body Flicker Technique to dash backward and uses a single-hand seal Fireball Technique.

Though not as strong as the Great Fireball Technique, it makes up for speed.

Kakashi slashes the Fireball, and dashes in Obito’s direction, “White Light Blade!”

“Is that the only technique you know? Stupid Kakashi!” Obito barely dodges the silver flash that cuts across him. It is fast but not enough to threaten Obito while using his Sharingan. Inwardly, Obito is snickering considering that he can destroy Kakashi easily with his Mangekyou, unfortunately, Obito has no luxury of using such a technique given the audiences cheering them.

While the cheering of the crowd dissipates into merely background noises, Obito summons a Shadow Clone with a single hand seal, “Shadow Clone: Alter Ego!” And this shadow clone is far from ordinary.

The Shadow Clone looks exactly like Obito except their insides— the Shadow Clone for all its worth possesses the personality of Tobi and someone who is extremely unhinged.

“Kakashi! Get some!” Tobi intercepts Kakashi by threateningly waving an explosive tag in his hand.

Kakashi realizes that a person wouldn’t be this suicidal if it is not a Shadow Clone, so he hurls a kunai at the awkwardly running Shadow Clone, but the Kunai doesn’t make its mark as the Shadow Clone abruptly bursts off at incredible speeds.

Tobi wraps the explosive tag on a kunai and throws it at Kakashi.

At this point, Obito has already finished a series of hand seals: Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger!

“Great Fireball Technique!”

As he is being forced into a corner, Kakashi realizes he has to do something, fast! Ox → Rabbit → Monkey! This jutsu is far from complete, but this is the best chance Kakashi has.

“Chidori!”

A high concentration of lightning chakra is released from Kakashi’s right palm, and with blinding speed, he pierces through the shadow clone and proceeds to launch himself at Obito.

Before even Obito can spit the flame chakra from his mouth, Kakashi is already upon him. With Obito’s Sharingan active, he of course can see Kakashi’s movement despite being so fast. Obito grins.

With very minute movement, Obito leans backward with his Body Flicker Technique, buying himself time. But Kakashi continues to close the distance and there is only a meter’s space between them. Obito’s retreat is futile, and Kakashi knows this.

Yet Obito’s smile continues to unnerve Kakashi.

Ox → Rabbit → Monkey!

Familiar hand seals appear on Obito’s hands, this is the same hand seals for Kakashi’s Chidori, and seeing it being performed by Obito via his Sharingan has disgusted Kakashi a lot. This is the power of the Sharingan.

Highly concentrated lightning crackles at Obito’s palm.

One disadvantage of Chidori is its lack of accuracy thanks to the overwhelming speed it bestows to its caster. Kakashi regretfully watches his Chidori miss by the smallest margin. However, Obito is different.

Obito has the Sharingan compensating for the lack of accuracy.

Like a swallow, Obito swerves in the air as he taps lightly on the ground to his left, and in an arcing motion, he places himself just above Kakashi. Obito’s Sharingan flares with determination as his hand fizzes with a low hum of lightning chakra. “CHIDORI~!”

A streak of blue lightning carried by a black blur, comes crashing down at Kakashi.

In the aftermath of the fight, Obito looms over the unconscious Kakashi. Obito is panting heavily from the intense battle. His Sharingan spins slowly until it returns to its familiar black as he looks down at his teammate, a mix of emotions swirling within him.

“I won,” he comments in disbelief.

It is only natural he wins, but it still feels like a dream to Obito.

The crowd from the stadium is going bonkers as the highlight of the match finally concludes itself.

Tobi in his familiar get-up appears beside Obito, and… Tobi is ranting— “Of course you won, you cheater! You have a fucking cheat! Poor Kakashi, but hey, you kicked his ass! Good job, man! You stopped Kakashi from achieving the record of being the youngest Jonin in history! Yeah, that’s it! Itachi should have the sole honor of being the youngest Jonin so you really did a good job! Uchiha reigns supreme, bitches!”

Seeing Tobi doing a T-pose, spreading his arms, and hyping himself from the cheering crowd has made Obito feel his victory less savory. Tobi can really ruin Obito’s mood…

“…” Obito wants to say something to Tobi, but he decides otherwise as Tobi begins throwing mock kisses at the crowd. What is the use of Tobi acting like this when others don’t even see him?

Sigh…

And then the Jonin announcer checks on Kakashi, and with a few words, he officially concludes the Showdown Test. “VICTORY GOES TO OBITO UCHIHA!”