'Rock Smash!'
Lucario's expression remained unchanged as it continued to charge at Lycanroc, swiftly smashing any stones falling above with its fists.
'Rockslide!'
After Lucario shattered several stones, Lycanroc expended a significant amount of chakra to create an enormous boulder larger than all the previous stones combined and pressed it towards Lucario.
It hadn't used the stronger Rockslide earlier, intending to lower Lucario's guard step by step with ordinary Rock Throw.
The massive boulder was about to descend, yet Lucario still looked unperturbed.
It infused all its power into its right arm and then suddenly swung its fist upwards.
Boom!!
As Lucario's fist made contact with the enormous boulder, cracks appeared and rapidly spread over the entire rock.
In the next instant, the boulder shattered, and Lucario stood calmly amidst the scattered rubble.
"So impressive." Nohara Rin exclaimed in surprise.
Undoubtedly, Lucario's response strategy was truly cool, perfectly showcasing its formidable strength and composure in the face of collapse.
"Such youthful spirit!" Might Guy gave Lucario a thumbs-up.
To the disciples watching, Lucario appeared dashing, but the same cannot be said for its opponent, Lycanroc.
Pressure, Lycanroc felt immense pressure.
"Can't lose, the opponent has just evolved," Lycanroc thought to itself.
Despite being at a disadvantage, Lycanroc didn't think it was impossible to win because it had noticed something during the fight: Lucario wasn't as fast as it was.
Speed, Lucario's speed was considerably slower.
This means Lycanroc had plenty of opportunities; even if it made a mistake, it could still rely on its quicker speed to evade Lucario's attacks.
'Rock Throw!'
Lycanroc once again gathered strength to create stones.
Even though Rock Throw wasn't among its top five offensive moves in terms of power, it was low on consumption and didn't require being too close.
Lucario casually shattered the stone and then gathered Aura Power, forming a shimmering blue sphere between its paws.
Lycanroc sensed something amiss and continued using Rock Throw to disrupt Lucario, only for Lucario to dodge it.
'Aura Sphere!'
Once the Aura power was fully concentrated, Lucario locked onto Lycanroc with Aura and hurled the Aura Sphere fiercely.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Lycanroc slapped the ground with its paw, creating a wall of earth.
Bang!
The earth wall was smashed into a pit by the Aura Sphere, continuing to bombard towards Lycanroc.
Lycanroc calmly used chakra to strengthen its body.
'Quick Attack!'
Lycanroc's speed sharply increased, swiftly flashing up to the Earth Flow Wall.
This was its combat strategy: long-range consumption, combined with Earth Release for defense and its speed advantage for evasion.
Just when Lycanroc prepared to launch its next attack, it suddenly felt a crisis approaching.
Lycanroc turned its head and saw the Aura Sphere, which should have hit the ground, curving towards it.
Lycanroc wanted to dodge, but when it noticed it, the Aura Sphere was already close, and Lucario was also sprinting over.
Boom!
The Aura Sphere accurately hit Lycanroc.
The immense force directly sent Lycanroc into a faint, its eyes turning swirly.
"Lucario wins!" Seeing Lycanroc completely lose its combat capabilities, Kakashi announced the winner.
For this result, Kakashi was unexpectedly rational.
The unexpected part was that before the battle began, he hadn't anticipated Lycanroc would lose with such a big disadvantage; Lycanroc hardly managed to inflict any injury on Lucario.
The rational part was because Kakashi watched the entire battle; the two key points that led to Lycanroc's defeat were the Vacuum Wave and Aura Sphere, both due to misjudgments caused by lack of information, ultimately resulting in defeat.
"Able to achieve such a significant directional change, it seems it's possible to defend against or counter it with offensive ninjutsu." Kakashi fell into thought.
Lucario's Aura Sphere used to finish Lycanroc was quite extraordinary, both flexible and impactful.
"See, I told you it wouldn't work." Obito suppressed his surprise, pretending he had realized it long ago.
In truth, Obito really hadn't expected this outcome.
Because Lycanroc was the first-born Pokemon and had previously defeated Charmeleon without evolving, Obito believed Lycanroc was strong.
Nonetheless, he had already spoken earlier and happened to guess right; not pretending would be unthinkable.
"So strong, does that mean Guy is even harder to defeat." Obito felt troubled.
When will the seat of the strongest disciple be his turn to claim?
Before graduation, Shisui was always recognized as the strongest disciple.
Later, Obito and others rapidly advanced in power due to encountering various opponents and crises, ending Shisui's era.
During this period, Might Guy wasn't as strong as he is now, and Kakashi had once had a brief period of being the strongest.
Once Might Guy mastered the Breath of Rock Chakra Mode, he successfully surpassed other disciples by a significant margin, monopolizing the seat of the strongest disciple with absolute strength.
Might Guy with the Eight Gates plus Breath of Rock Chakra Mode was truly formidable, and even with Green Flame, Obito felt intimidated.
Because he had Green Flame, Might Guy also possessed the Golden Horizon.
Thinking it over, Obito merely felt that being the strongest disciple was still far away and required substantial effort.
"Lu-o!" Lucario pointed towards Charizard, indicating that it wanted to continue battling.
It sensed Obito's desire to defeat Might Guy.
Since Might Guy was injured and couldn't fight, it would take the initiative to defeat his Summoning Beast.
After all, the previous battle didn't expend too much of its energy.
"Roar?" Charizard scratched its neck and looked at Obito.
Now suddenly being challenged, Obito, do you have any ideas?
Charizard wasn't too keen to battle Lucario, as Lucario's previous performance was truly fierce.
Charizard didn't want to lose to a newly evolved Pokemon in front of Milotic; that wouldn't show its strength.
"Old Char, just accept it, consider the opponent as Obito and you'll definitely win." Zorua incited.
"You are the only one who has evolved twice; why be afraid of it?"
Upon hearing this, Charizard puffed its chest with pride; its evolution count indeed led the way.
"Roar!" Charizard responded to Lucario's challenge.
It agreed that Zorua made sense: it had evolved twice, afraid of Lucario who had only evolved once and just now?
Responding, Charizard glanced at Milotic.
Seeing Milotic's curious gaze, Charizard's fighting spirit instantly ignited; if it performed well, perhaps Milotic would look at it differently.
Obito: ...
His feelings were really complex, wanting Lucario to give the rebellious Charizard a good beating but also wishing Charizard wouldn't actually lose.
After all, Charizard, no matter what, was his Summoning Beast, hatched and nurtured by him until now; losing would also be embarrassing.
Since Lucario had just fought a match, Kakashi, in fairness, allowed Lucario to rest for a while.
"I wonder if Charizard can handle it; the reason Lycanroc lost so badly might also be due to the chakra suppression, but Charizard doesn't have that issue," Kakashi thought.
Mokgetsu had previously explained their Pokemon's restraining relationships to them.
After the rest period, Lucario opened its eyes and calmly walked towards the battleground.
And Charizard also advanced under the encouragement of fellow Pokemon.
"You can do it." This was encouragement from the now-awake Lycanroc.
"Stay spirited, don't lose face." This was encouragement from Charizard's best friend Zorua.
PS: There's another chapter coming up, but it will be slightly later; it's recommended to read it tomorrow.