Minato understood this eagerness to prove himself and the desire for power. After all, he himself had gone through a phase of desperately needing power when he learned that Kushina was to take on the important task of becoming the new nine-tails Jinchuriki.
But he knew even better that this anxiety and self-denial, this obsessive disregard for balance, was like a bowstring stretched too tight.
It might unleash amazing tension in a short time, but it could easily break suddenly at some unexpected moment, injuring itself or even leading people astray.
Looking at Kakashi's current posture, Minato Namikaze knew that this student had locked himself into a narrow cage called becoming stronger.
Minato sighed softly to himself, then suddenly spoke, his tone still calm: "Kakashi, I've noticed you've been trying to develop a new Lightning Style Ninjutsu lately, haven't you?"
Kakashi hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded without denying it.
These days, whenever he has a moment to catch his breath between missions, he will walk alone to a slightly distant place, open his palm, and try to condense, compress, and imbue lightning nature chakra with a specific form and agitation frequency.
That piercing, cacophony of noise, like the chorus of a thousand birds, was something that everyone in Team 7 had seen or heard to some extent; there was no point in hiding it.
The concept for this Ninjutsu did not originate this month.
As early as the beginning of last year, when he heard that at the opening ceremony of the Ninja Academy, Shinichi Higashino had demonstrated his independently developed A-rank Ninjutsu, Rasengan, in front of all the teachers, students, and the third Hokage, a powerful sense of unwillingness and competitiveness began growing wildly in his heart like weeds.
The guy who defeated him in the Ninja Academy not only surpassed him in Taijutsu and swordsmanship, but also reached such a high level in Ninjutsu development.
His unwillingness to admit defeat, along with his desire for great power, led him to develop an idea: He would develop his own powerful Ninjutsu that was no less powerful than the Rasengan!
Throughout the past year, in the gaps between missions and in the dead of night when he was training alone, this idea never went out.
Countless times he conceived, tried, failed, and readjusted... But progress was always unsatisfactory, and it always seemed that there was an insurmountable barrier between him and the completion.
Seeing Kakashi admit it, Minato took two steps closer, his voice still gentle but with a touch more seriousness: "Although I'm not particularly proficient in Lightning Style, as an observer, I can roughly see the direction of your Ninjutsu. It uses a highly condensed, active lightning-nature chakra to stimulate and envelop the chakra network and cells of the arms and even the legs. Theoretically, if this Ninjutsu is successful, it can give the user extremely strong speed and piercing power, right?"
Kakashi's eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded calmly, but his heart was filled with astonishment.
Minato-sensei was able to deduce the core principles of the Ninjutsu with remarkable accuracy simply by observing his scattered practice fragments.
"A brilliant idea, maximizing the activation and stimulation properties of Lightning Style to pursue ultimate speed and penetrating power."
Minato initially praised it, but then his tone shifted, becoming extremely serious: "However, Kakashi, have you considered this? This kind of Ninjutsu that pushes speed to the limit is an extremely dangerous double-edged sword. The first and biggest problem it brings is not the fusion of change in chakra form or nature changes. I believe that with your talent, you can solve that in time. Its real difficulty lies in..."
He paused, then said, word by word, "Can your reflexes keep up with that speed? Can your dynamic vision and battlefield awareness still accurately lock onto targets, distinguish friend from foe, and avoid obstacles at that high speed?"
"If you can't do that, even if you successfully cast the Jutsu and have a speed that surpasses the enemy's reaction limit, what might the result be? The enemy might not be able to react, but you yourself might not be able to react either."
"You will be like a kunai that has been thrown but lost control, unable to make precise tactical choices in the blink of an eye. The result is likely to be that you perish together with the enemy, run into a deadly trap, or accidentally injure your comrades."
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Kakashi's head, sending a shiver down his spine as he was immersed in the ultimate pursuit of speed and penetration power.
Kakashi was aware of this problem before, but he never analyzed it as clearly as Minato.
He was preoccupied with how to make his Lightning Style more concentrated, more violent, faster, and more penetrating, but he overlooked whether he could control that speed.
Seeing the realization and seriousness flash across Kakashi's eyes, Minato's reassuring, gentle smile returned. He pointed to his own eyes: "Coincidentally, Kakashi, I have accumulated some insights and experience in terms of neural reaction speed, dynamic visual capture, and situational awareness in high-speed combat."
"So, how about this, Kakashi?"
Minato continued in a natural tone, as if he were simply offering a suggestion that couldn't be simpler: "When we have dinner later, we can eat something and talk about your Ninjutsu, as well as topics about reaction and control. Perhaps this will help you find your direction faster than if you practice alone."
After speaking, Minato said nothing more, simply gazing quietly at Kakashi and patiently awaiting his decision.
Rin Nohara stood to the side, her hands clasped in front of her, her face filled with anticipation as she carefully observed Kakashi's reaction, afraid of making the slightest sound to disturb the delicate atmosphere.
Obito Uchiha, though still somewhat sullen, unusually kept his mouth shut.
Time seemed to stretch out by a few seconds.
Kakashi could feel the gazes of the three people fixed on him. Those gazes contained concern, expectation, and perhaps even the lingering displeasure from Obito, but more than anything, they reflected Minato's calm waiting.
He slowly raised his head, his gaze finally meeting Minato Namikaze's blue eyes, which seemed to encompass everything yet remained clear and unwavering.
In that gaze, he saw no coercion, no preaching, only a thorough understanding and support.
Seemingly moved by that gaze, he nodded almost imperceptibly.
"I understand, Minato-sensei."
As expected, under Minato Namikaze's subtle and unobtrusive guidance, the entire Team 7 finally entered the bustling Aji No Takumi restaurant together.
As for Shinichi Higashino, the protagonist mentioned by Team 7, he was unaware that his existence and actions gave Kakashi the idea of developing Chidori ahead of time, and he was also unaware that Minato Namikaze was involved.
At this moment, Shinichi was learning a technique taught to him by Tsunade: Chakra Enhanced Strength.
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