"So this is the 'Flash Phoenix Sage Fire'…"
Mikami Yuu looked at the pale-white fireball floating in midair and thought for a moment.
How should he put it…
This fireball wasn't as bright as he had imagined. It flickered on and off, looking like an incandescent bulb with faulty wiring, giving off a very unstable feeling. When he looked closer, he could even see tiny thread-like things inside the fireball, fine as mayflies, slowly drifting…
Wait!
Something about this thing really seemed wrong…
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: Ah! I think I can't control it anymore! Little Mikami, close your eyes! It's going to explode!]
"?"
Yuu froze for a second, but his body reacted faster than his mind. He quickly shut his eyes. Almost at the same instant he did, the fireball in midair trembled violently, and then—
BOOM—!!
At that moment, an indescribable burst of intense light erupted, as if a blazing sun had exploded inside the room!
"Ah! What is that? So bright!"
"Is it morning already?"
There was movement from the beds nearby. Kakashi and Obito had been awakened from their sleep by the piercing light, but even after opening their eyes, they still couldn't see anything. They could only put on clothes and feel around for their blades while temporarily blinded.
Yuu heard these voices, but he didn't speak. Instead, he sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, recalling the flash of light just now. Faintly, he seemed to grasp something in his mind.
That's right.
It seemed that because of the stimulation from that strong light,
the flash of inspiration Yuu had failed to catch in the laboratory during the day had appeared again in his mind. Recalling the process of releasing that fireball, and combining it with the Scorch Release flow he had personally sensed from Pakura's body, Yuu faintly gained a trace of understanding.
Such opportunities were fleeting.
So Yuu had no time to explain. He immediately focused all his attention and tried to capture, understand, and master that flash of insight. From an outside perspective, it looked as if he had entered a meditative state.
On the other side,
Obito and Kakashi had already recovered.
In truth, the strong light had not lasted long, only about a second. By the time the two of them woke up, it had already begun fading. But out of caution, they still got out of bed and checked the surroundings. Only after confirming there was no enemy attack did they relax.
Then,
Obito noticed Yuu and let out a surprised sound, his face full of confusion.
"Huh, Yuu? What are you doing there?"
"Shh—"
Kakashi raised an arm to stop Obito, who was about to go wake Yuu, while placing a finger to his lips with the other hand.
"Kakashi?"
"He should be training. Don't disturb him at a time like this."
"?"
Obito froze. "Training?"
Wait, what time was it already? And you're still secretly grinding while everyone else is sleeping? No wonder you improve so fast!
Mm… actually, this was the first time something like this had happened to Yuu. Normally, his daily routine was quite regular. If he could sleep early, he slept early, never leaving fatigue for the next day. But because Obito happened to see this, it created a subtle misunderstanding.
"No way. I'm not sleeping either. I'm going to the training ground to practice a bit more… Kakashi, are you coming?"
Obito made up his mind.
The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched. Without a word, he took off his outer clothes and lay back down.
"If you're not afraid of being unable to wake up tomorrow morning, or getting sleepy during a mission, do whatever you want."
"…"
In the end, silence returned to the barracks. Kakashi and Obito lay down again, and steady breathing soon rose one after another.
Yuu remained seated quietly in the darkness without saying a word. But inside his body, a stream of chakra slowly circulated, as if a volcano was quietly brewing and surging. Sweat silently seeped from his forehead, then rolled down his slightly reddened skin and onto the ground.
A long while passed.
About an hour later,
when Yuu slowly opened his eyes again, a sharp gleam flashed briefly through those eyes in the dark, like lightning born in an empty room.
"It seems… this is how it works…"
Yuu formed hand seals and opened his mouth again. As the air before him suddenly distorted and heated up, a tiny wisp of pure white-hot flame, as if alive, leapt into existence in front of him.
The temperature of that wisp was astonishingly high, instantly making the surrounding air give off a faint burning sound. Then, under Yuu's mental control, the flame slowly expanded, finally becoming a ping-pong-ball-sized white-hot fireball radiating scorching heat.
It looked somewhat similar to the "flashbang" from earlier, but its nature was much more stable and brighter.
This was no longer Phoenix Sage Fire's original Burst Shot.
If he had to give it a proper name, it should be—
Pseudo-Scorch Release: Light Flame Bullet!
He called it "pseudo" because, without Wind nature, the fireball Yuu created was ultimately missing something compared to true Scorch Release. But its pure high-temperature nature and the evaporating, destructive intent contained within—so different from ordinary Fire Release—were already very close!
"It worked!"
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: Wow! As expected of little Mikami, amazing! I was thinking the same thing, but I just failed when I tried earlier… ehehe!]
[Ding! Special event "Bright and Shiny Thing" completed!]
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique affection +8! Current affection: 100/100 (Heart-to-Heart)]
(Stage rewards obtained 4 times: Constitution +4. Trait · Blazing Burst Stream: You and Phoenix Sage Fire Technique have achieved deep resonance. When releasing this technique, every fireball will behave as if it has life, coordinating according to your thoughts. There is a fairly high chance of producing an additional burst effect on hit, also causing splash damage to enemies within a certain surrounding range. You may additionally consume chakra to create "Light Flame Bullets," which produce an intense blinding effect upon detonation.)
(Note: The flash duration of "Light Flame Bullet" is directly proportional to the amount of chakra injected. A single bullet usually lasts between 0.5 and 5 seconds.)
"Good grief…"
Yuu could only marvel.
What was this, the ninja-world version of Solar Flare?
Counting this, Phoenix Sage Fire was now the fifth technique in Yuu's romance list to reach full affection.
Judging from the description, Blazing Burst Stream retained the original tracking and burst effects of Burst Shot, while adding the function of a "flashbang" on top.
Although the flash itself had limited lethality, and ninja could easily recover and heal their vision with chakra, if it was used suddenly in battle, even a powerful enemy might lose focus for an instant—enough to change the outcome of a fight. It could be called a divine support skill.
~~~
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