My Techniques are a bit off

Round One—Begin!

Link stomped the ground, and his body vanished in an instant. A split second later, the roaring chainsaw appeared directly behind Kakashi Hatake.

"Shrrkk!" The blade bit into flesh, spraying blood everywhere.

His two teammates stared in shock— [Could it be?!]

"Poof!"

The bloodied body turned into a halved log.

A basic Substitution Jutsu, perfect for countering inexperienced attacks.

Link wasn't surprised. He hadn't expected to see Kakashi's movements, let alone keep up with them.

"Whoosh—Thunk!"

A long leg swept in from his left side. Without an arm to block, the kick landed squarely on his ribs, sending his body flying sideways.

[Impressive chakra control.]

Kakashi mused as he retracted his leg. The boy had moved behind him fluidly using a burst of chakra for speed, and the technique of turning body parts into weapons was intriguing.

But ultimately, losing an arm severely hindered combat ability.

However, the body sent flying was missing something—its head.

"Pop!"

With a soft sound, Link's body instantly reassembled starting from his head. He delivered a perfectly executed sidekick.

"Thud!"

His short leg struck Kakashi squarely on the shoulder, sending the jonin sliding back several meters before he came to a stop. Kakashi closed his book and allowed a hint of seriousness to show.

[This kid's taijutsu is bizarre.]

Link immediately performed Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu again. As basic techniques, they didn't consume much chakra if not maintained for long.

"Whoosh!"

He launched another attack. As the weaker opponent, he had to maintain his offensive rhythm; otherwise, a single counterattack could leave him completely defenseless.

"Clang!"

Two kunai collided. The difference in strength was evident as Kakashi's kunai pressed closer to Link.

Unperturbed, Link raised his free hand and flicked his fingers toward Kakashi's face.

"Whoosh!"

The four fingers transformed into glinting silver senbon mid-air, slicing through the air with sharp precision.

"Clink, clink, clink, clink!"

Kakashi reacted instantly. While one hand continued to wield the kunai without pause, his other hand raised defensively. The reinforced iron plating on his glove easily deflected the senbon.

With the kunai about to strike Link, his short stature left him unable to counterattack effectively against an adult opponent at such close range. One hand had already been forced aside, and the other was missing fingers.

In such a situation, Link didn't hesitate—he leaned back.

Head detachment initiated!

His head fell backward as his body vanished in a puff of smoke, reappearing a few centimeters away, just far enough to evade the kunai's edge.

The battle continued without pause as Link used Body Flicker to leave the spot immediately.

But Kakashi was faster, shadowing Link's movements and reappearing in front of him. Bending low, Kakashi launched a lightning-fast kick.

"Bang!"

Link was sent flying into the air. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he formed hand seals mid-flight and performed Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu once more.

Basic jutsu like these demonstrated their true value in moments like this: few hand seals, fast execution, and low chakra consumption.

Kakashi leaped after him, twisting in mid-air to deliver a spinning kick.

"Wham!"

At the last moment, Link repeated his earlier trick, letting his head detach while his body fell heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

All eyes—Kakashi's and his teammates'—were drawn to the airborne head, which seemed to hover near Kakashi.

"Whoosh!"

Before the dust settled, a long sword emerged from the cloud, slicing upward toward Kakashi in mid-air.

Even though his body and head were separated, Link maintained complete control over both.

"Poof!"

Kakashi's body dispersed into a puff of smoke.

[A Shadow Clone?! When did he...?]

Link's heart sank as the long sword reverted to a hand. He calmly reached out and caught his flying arm.

[This kid!!!] X2

The two teammates hiding in the forest stared in disbelief.

Defeating a jonin's Shadow Clone in direct taijutsu—what kind of monster was this?

Even a mid-level chunin would struggle to pull that off.

"Tap~"

Link landed softly, sighing inwardly. He had exhausted all the techniques he'd devised and still failed to gain the upper hand. The situation was about to get much more difficult.

Kakashi had canceled his Shadow Clone and vanished from sight, leaving the training ground eerily silent.

In the ninja world, stealth was the essence of taijutsu combat.

Flanking and ambushing were fundamental strategies.

This was because chakra refinement, movement, and neural responses all relied on one critical element: sight.

If a ninja couldn't see their opponent, they couldn't react or counter effectively, no matter how strong their abilities were.

Even Jiraiya, a legendary sannin, had struggled with this during his fight against Pain. When his attacks failed, he questioned why he couldn't successfully ambush them.

His exact words:

"Even if they're sensory types, how could they predict my attacks unless they see them first?"

In essence, seeing was a prerequisite for reacting.

Link's initial sneak attack had failed, meaning Kakashi could see through all his moves. The jonin easily anticipated his intentions and used Substitution Jutsu to evade while countering with precision.

Link had expected this—underestimating a jonin was never an option. That's why he had layered his unconventional techniques to try and gain an advantage.

While he had managed to briefly take the upper hand, the vast skill gap remained. Kakashi easily waited for the right moment to counter, regaining control of the fight with minimal effort.

The most frustrating part? Kakashi had willingly given him the first move.

Despite giving his all, Link couldn't force Kakashi to take the fight seriously. In this game of taijutsu, he wasn't even a worthy opponent.