- Morning, Rock formation(Where Sasuke leanred the Chidori in the original) -
"You must recall me promising you an S-Rank jutsu if you damaged the walls of my underground base; well, I lied. I planned to teach you the technique regardless. And the technique is fundamentally the same as Chidori, but with the chakra control and shape manipulation dialed up to 11."
Kakashi demonstrated, holding the inner part of his right elbow with his left, lightning crackling to life in his hand and growing denser until his whole hand was enveloped, then compressing it slowly for Sasuke to see, lightning sparking around him before he rushed at a 10-foot-tall rock and thrust out.
"Lightning blade!"
The crackling lightning met the rock, and the compressed lightning was thrust forward in an explosion of blue-white light, obliterating the rock with ease and destroying a large portion of the ground behind where the rock once stood.
"As you can see, this technique is very destructive not just to the one you aim it at, but also to the surroundings, so you have to be careful where and when you use this. One-on-one confrontations against enemies are the preferred method for this attack. If faced with multiple enemies, it'd be better to use your Chidori Sharp Spear. I believe you'll have this down quickly."
Kakashi turned back to Sasuke.
"Can you see the difference?"
"You've compressed the lightning to the point it's near exploding and contain it there until you unleash it."
Sasuke replied, amazed by the simplicity of it, but the deadly change that makes Chidori weak in comparison.
"Yes, Lightning blade is very volatile and can explode in your hand."
Kakashi held Sasuke's gaze.
"Are you up to learning it? I won't blame you if you choose not to learn it."
"No. I'll learn it. I'll learn everything you teach me."
Kakashi smirked at Sasuke's resolute response.
"Sasuke, you'll not only be able to fight alongside Itachi when you're done, but you'll be the one standing in front of him."
- Next day -
The morning sun had hardly cleared the horizon, but the rocky training area was already scorched. Blackened grooves marked the rocks wild; stray lightning had lashed out over the last several hours.
Sasuke stood in the center of a crater, his breathing heavy, his right sleeve torn to shreds and his hand wrapped in bandages. Kakashi's words from the night before about standing in front of Itachi had kept him awake until dawn. Now, his body was paying the price, but his focus had never been sharper.
He raised his hand.
A familiar, deafening racket tore through the clearing. A thousand phantom birds screamed as raw, chaotic electricity flowed from his palm, jagged blue arcs wilding out and licking at the dirt around his sandals. It was powerful, but it was leaking chakra everywhere.
Compress it, Sasuke commanded himself, closing his eyes to cut out the visual distractions. He didn't activate his Sharingan yet; he wanted to feel the chakra purely through his pathways. Stop letting it spill.
In his mind, he saw his chakra network as a vice, clamping down on the volatile lightning. He forced the sprawling, jagged branches of electricity backward, dragging them kicking and screaming toward the center of his palm.
The sound changed. The deafening, scattered chirping began to compress, tuning itself into a single, high-pitched, vibrating hum.
Suddenly, the chakra violently destabilized. The lightning ballooned outward like a miniature explosion, snapping against Sasuke's forearm. He gasped, his concentration breaking as the backlash forced him to disperse the technique. He pulled back, his palm smoking, a fierce stinging sensation radiating up to his elbow.
Kakashi was right. It was incredibly volatile. One wrong slip of control, and it would blow his own hand off.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, refusing to stop. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, his dark eyes fixing on a massive boulder across the clearing. He couldn't just hold it; he had to control lightning, not simply letting it flow like Chidori.
He heaved a deep breath, and this time, his eyes flowed into the crimson of the Sharingan. The world slowed down. He could see the frantic movement of the lightning chakra now.
He ignited the Chidori again. The wild birds screamed.
Now. Squeeze.
Using the Sharingan to pinpoint every stray spark, Sasuke violently clamped down on the aura. He forced the massive influx of lightning into a layer that bound perfectly to his hand. He didn't let a single arc escape.
The chaotic noise vanished. In its place was a low, terrifyingly dense hiss, the sound of concentrated lightning chakra vibrating at an impossible frequency. His hand didn't look like it was covered in a storm anymore; it looked like a solid, glowing blade of blinding blue light, so dense that the air around it distorted from the sheer heat.
From atop a large rock to the left, a soft whistle broke the silence.
Sasuke glanced over. Kakashi was looking down with a smile.
"Well," Kakashi said, letting gravity take him down, landing upright.
"Look at that. You actually managed to shut those birds up."
*Ding
Teach Sasuke Lightning Blade
Reward: Knowledge of the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu (from Rurouni Kenshin)
'That's convenient, I was just thinking about how to help Sasuke find a style that suited him or make a new one.'
"Next we work on Kenjutsu. I've noticed that you're proficient in the Uchiha Kenjutsu style, but it doesn't suit you."
Kakashi's sheathed blade appeared in his hand. He slid it into place at his hip, using chakra to hold it there, his frame shifting into a low, deceptively relaxed stance as his thumb lightly nudged the guard forward, breaking the scabbard's seal.
For a fraction of a second, everything fell dead silent.
There was no flashy movement. No loud rush of wind. Just a singular, high-pitched hum of steel meeting air, so fast that the blade itself vanished from the human eye. A faint white crescent of vacuum pressure blinked into existence across the massive boulder three yards away, instantly followed by the sharp clack of Kakashi's sword locking back into its sheath.
A heavy heartbeat passed. Then, without a sound, the top half of the massive rock slid smoothly off its base along a flawless diagonal, crashing into the dirt and leaving a smooth surface.
"This style is the HIten Mitsurugi-ryu. It relies heavily on lightning-fast draws and strikes. With your Sharingan, you can see the minute muscle twitches that most can't, making this style better suited to you than the style the Uchiha employ. This one is far more reactive to your opponent. Fewer blocks and more about ending a fight before it can truly begin, using overwhelming speed and efficiency."
Sasuke stared at the sliced rock, then walked over and rubbed the smooth surface with something akin to childlike awe.
"I like it, I'm ready whenever."
- Chapter End -