Might Guy looked over at Lucario.
With Might Guy's personality, of course he would agree—getting familiar with new power and becoming stronger through battle.
But between them was a contract, and Might Guy respected Lucario's choice.
"Luo-ou!" Lucario locked eyes with Lycanroc, battle intent blazing.
Back when it was still a Riolu, that narrow loss had left it extremely unwilling to accept defeat. Now that it had evolved and grown stronger, it wanted to wipe away that disgrace and bring Might Guy a win.
Even though Kakashi and the others couldn't understand Pokemon speech, they could still tell that Lucario had accepted Kakashi's challenge.
"Go for it. A body tempered day and night will answer your call." Might Guy encouraged Lucario.
Might Guy was beyond satisfied with Lucario. That hardworking, never-say-die attitude made him see a reflection of his own past self.
"Lycan, you haven't forgotten how to fight an enemy you don't have intel on, right?" Kakashi rubbed Lycanroc's head, giving a final reminder.
Although in most situations Summoning Beasts fought together with their contractors, considering unexpected scenarios that might occur, Kakashi had taught Lycanroc a lot of battle knowledge.
"Awoo!" Lycanroc let out a confident howl.
It once beat Riolu, and this time it could beat Lucario too.
With Kakashi's meticulous guidance, there was no way it would lose!
After each exchanged a few words with their own contractor, Lycanroc and Lucario walked over to an open patch of ground to wait for the battle to begin.
"Shisui, who do you think is gonna win?" Obito casually asked Shisui beside him.
"Hard to say. We know how strong Lycanroc is, but Guy's Summoning Beast only just evolved." Shisui shook his head as he answered.
Evolution was a huge unknown factor.
Before Milotic appeared, they never would've imagined that a completely powerless Feebas could evolve into a Milotic with Elite Jonin-level strength—and the kind of Elite Jonin that's a pain to deal with.
So even though Rockruff had once defeated Riolu and Lycanroc evolved even earlier, Shisui still didn't dare assert that Lucario would definitely lose to Lycanroc.
Who knew what kind of power-ups Lucario got from evolving, and what new abilities it gained.
"I think it's probably going to be Lycanroc that loses." Obito muttered.
"Because it once used Headbutt on you?" Shisui asked.
Obito's speculation was clearly loaded with personal feelings.
Obito stared wide-eyed at Shisui. They were from the same clan, weren't they supposed to stand united against the evil white-haired faction? How could he be airing Obito's embarrassing moments?
"Shisui, you've changed." Obito glared at Zorua.
It was definitely this damn fox's fault, leading his taciturn nine-year-old clansman astray.
Zorua glared back without the slightest politeness. Mere Obito.
One human and one fox locked in an intense stare-down, the outcome impossible to call for the moment.
"Judging by past performance, Lycanroc does have a decent chance of losing." Shisui thought for a moment and said.
Back when it was still a Rockruff, Lycanroc had beaten Riolu, but it was a very forced win. It was obvious in direct clashes Rockruff wasn't Riolu's match—it won by relying on tactics and grit.
Now Lucario's experience was much richer. If Lycanroc still couldn't beat Lucario head-on, the battle would be very tough.
"Exactly, that's also based on past performances." Seeing Shisui analyze seriously, Obito gave up on trying to win the staring contest against Zorua and agreed.
"Battle start!" Seeing that both sides were about ready, Kakashi, acting as referee, called out.
The other students, seeing the battle begin, also turned their attention to the fight that was underway.
As soon as Kakashi's voice fell, Lycanroc immediately thrust its claws into the ground, activating Earth Attribute Chakra Nature Changes.
'Sand Attack!'
A large amount of earth turned into grit, and with Lycanroc's sweeping claw, great sheets of sand flew toward Lucario.
This move might not have any killing power, but it was really useful—no matter how tough your body is, your eyes are still fragile.
Lucario, however, had already prepared. Right after Kakashi's call, it swiftly gathered a large amount of Chakra around its fists.
'Vacuum Wave!'
With Lucario's strike, a sudden shock wave surged forward, scattering the sand almost at the very instant Lycanroc flung it up, then without losing momentum, it hurtled toward Lycanroc at high speed.
Last time, Lucario had suffered plenty from Sand Attack, so this time its guard was up.
Lycanroc hadn't expected Lucario's response to be that fast and that effective. Caught off guard, it was struck by the incoming Vacuum Wave and sent flying, crashing into a tree.
Lycanroc had indeed probed out some intel—just not in the way it had envisioned.
'Quick Attack!'
Enduring the pain, Lycanroc used Chakra to reinforce its body and dashed at high speed, dodging the incoming punch.
Boom!
The tree struck by Lucario's fist shattered and exploded on the spot.
"What powerful Taijutsu." Seeing Lucario's strength, Kakashi marveled inwardly.
Kakashi wasn't actually that surprised that Lycanroc had fallen into a disadvantage.
Because this was a clash lost due to missing intel. If Lycanroc had known Lucario possessed a move like Vacuum Wave, it wouldn't have opened with Sand Attack.
'Rock Throw!'
Lycanroc rapidly gathered Chakra, condensing three large boulders at its side.
If the opponent weren't Lucario, Lycanroc would've used Shadow Clone to confuse the enemy and look for an opening.
But Lucario had a Perception Ability that Lycanroc was unaware of, so right now it had no choice but to go head-to-head with Lucario in pure strength.