This confrontation should never have existed.
When steel met steel only moments earlier, something inside Hatake Kakashi had fractured.
He had once stood at Namikaze Minato's side as a subordinate and disciple. He had carried Minato's teachings into battlefields across nations. To him, Minato was not merely a superior officer—he was a mentor, a guiding standard.
And now he stood opposite Minato's son.
Guilt pressed against his ribs heavier than any wound.
"Menma… stop," Kakashi said, voice low but urgent. "The Third Hokage is gone. The past cannot be changed. The Fifth Hokage now leads the village. Tsunade-sama has taken responsibility. If you return, this can still be resolved."
His visible eye hardened.
"Minato-sensei would never have wished to see his son stand against Konoha."
Even as he spoke, he knew how fragile those words were.
Menma's gaze remained cold.
"Return?" he repeated flatly. "Do you truly believe this is something that can be undone with an apology?"
His chakra flared violently.
"You sound like Naruto."
A faint, humorless smile touched his lips.
"If you want me back, Kakashi… then bring me back by force."
The killing intent in his voice became unmistakable.
Up until this moment, Menma had regarded Kakashi as an obstacle, nothing more. But now another calculation formed in his mind.
Kakashi's Sharingan.
That eye was no ordinary dōjutsu. It had evolved beyond the standard three tomoe. Though rarely displayed openly, Menma understood its value.
If conflict was inevitable
Then nothing would be left unused.
The chakra around him detonated outward.
A third tail erupted from the crimson cloak.
The Version 1 shroud thickened, bubbling like corrosive magma. The skeletal outline beneath the chakra veil grew clearer.
The pressure that radiated from him was no longer merely jōnin-class.
It bordered on catastrophe.
Kakashi's instincts screamed.
Not good.
Menma vanished.
He did not charge recklessly he stepped into Kakashi's blind angle first, cutting off lateral retreat.
"Bang!"
Their arms collided again, but this time the disparity in force was absolute.
Kakashi's guard was blown aside.
Menma's kunai thrust forward
At the last instant, Kakashi twisted his torso.
The blade missed his heart by inches
But tore through fabric and flesh.
Blood splattered across the water's surface.
Pain flared across Kakashi's abdomen.
He countered immediately, thrusting forward with his own kunai.
Menma tilted his head slightly.
The strike passed empty air.
A brutal kick followed.
"Boom!"
The impact struck Kakashi square in the chest.
He was launched backward violently.
"Crash!"
His body slammed into the base of the massive stone statue overlooking the river.
The second collision forced blood up his throat.
He spat it out, breath ragged.
Menma did not hesitate.
While you are wounded, press the advantage.
Hand seals formed in rapid succession.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
He inhaled sharply
A massive sphere of flame erupted forward, far larger than standard academy execution, surging toward Kakashi like a blazing meteor.
Kakashi's expression sharpened.
He clapped his hands together.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
The river responded.
A colossal surge of water rose upward, cresting like a tidal wall.
Fire and water collided.
Steam exploded across the valley in deafening hisses.
But the water did not dissipate entirely
it continued forward with crushing force toward Menma.
Most shinobi would retreat.
Menma did not.
The third tail lashed violently.
Chakra intensified.
He leapt directly into the descending torrent.
"Boom!"
The wave engulfed him
And split apart.
Crimson chakra tore through the water, dispersing it in violent shockwaves.
Kakashi's eye widened.
Through the dissipating mist
A spinning sphere of chakra formed in Menma's palm.
Blue at its outer rotation
Darker, tinged red at its core as the Nine-Tails' chakra bled into it.
"Rasengan…"
Kakashi's voice dropped.
The technique Minato had created. An A-rank jutsu of pure shape transformation
no elemental nature required.
He did not allow himself to freeze.
Lightning erupted in his hand.
"Chidori."
The piercing shriek of concentrated lightning filled the valley.
Kakashi refined it further, compressing, stabilizing, sharpening
"Raikiri."
The Lightning Blade.
Form and nature transformation perfectly harmonized.
Menma's eyes burned with feral intensity.
"Then let's see," he said quietly, "if your lightning can pierce this."
He drove the Nine-Tails' chakra deeper into the Rasengan.
The sphere darkened.
Its rotation accelerated violently, wind pressure shredding the water at his feet.
The outer shell remained blue
But the center churned crimson-black.
Two techniques.
One born of Minato.
One perfected by his disciple.
They surged forward simultaneously
The Valley of the End bracing itself for impact.
WE ARE CURRENTLY ON CHAPTER 217 ON PATREON.
JOIN MY PATREON TO READ ADVANCED CHAPTERS BEFORE PUBLIC RELEASE OR PURCHASE THE BOOK FOR LIFETIME ACCESS!
Patreon.com/HACKDWORLD