Kakashi forcefully stuffed the manga into his tool bag, turned around, and strode towards the open field outside the town. His back was straighter and more resolute than when he came.
By evening, the agreed meeting time had passed.
Obito Uchiha paced back and forth in his room, finally unable to hold back any longer, and exclaimed, "Why hasn't Kakashi come back yet? Wasn't he supposed to be back before dark?"
Rin Nohara also looked worried: "Kakashi often trains alone, but he always returns to the team on time... I hope nothing bad has happened?"
Minato Namikaze, who had been quietly sitting by the window flipping through the mission scroll, looked up, closed the scroll, and stood up: "Don't worry, I'll go check. You all stay at the inn and don't leave without permission."
Before he finished speaking, his figure had vanished from the spot, leaving only a faint spatial ripple.
Dusk was falling in the open fields outside the town.
Minato's figure flashed through the sparse trees and rocks, moving so fast that it left only a blurry golden afterimage on the people's retina.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
A strange and jarring noise came on the evening breeze.
The sound was like hundreds or thousands of birds screeching sharply at the same time, or like metal rubbing together at a high frequency, containing a violent and unrestrained fluctuation of lightning nature chakra.
It's Kakashi!
Minato's eyes narrowed; he instantly determined the direction, and his figure disappeared again.
The next moment, he quietly landed on a branch of a large tree and peered through the gaps at a cleared area below.
On the open ground, Kakashi slightly bent over, his right hand forming a claw at his side.
A blindingly bright azure lightning bolt surged, condensed, and compressed wildly from his palm, emitting a sickening chorus of chirping!
The highly condensed lightning formed a sharp shape, as if he held in his hand was a short spear made entirely of pure lightning that constantly shrieked and roared!
The lightning illuminated half his face and those black eyes.
At that moment, there was none of his usual coldness or confusion in those eyes, only an almost fanatical concentration, and beneath it, a violent emotion about to erupt.
"Ha!"
Kakashi let out a low roar, and his figure suddenly transformed into a straight blue bolt of lightning, rushing forward at a speed far exceeding his usual limits!
The target was that huge, gray-black rock at the end of the open space, weathered by countless years of wind and rain!
Screech!
Boom!
The cry of the thousand birds rose to its highest point in an instant, only to be swallowed up by an even deeper and more terrifying roar!
The blue lightning bolt pierced the giant rock without any hindrance!
Like a red-hot knife cutting into solidified grease, it pierced directly through the center of that indestructible rock, creating a terrifying hole with torn edges and a transparent interior!
Kakashi appeared on the other side of the giant rock, still in a thrusting stance, his right arm deeply embedded in the rock.
He slowly pulled his arm out, and the lightning gradually faded.
The next moment, the giant rock, having lost its internal structural support, had countless large cracks spread across its surface, emitting a series of heart-stopping cracking sounds, before collapsing with a deafening roar and turning into a pile of smoldering rubble.
It was a success!
It really worked!
Kakashi looked down at his right hand, which still felt tingly and crackled with tiny sparks of electricity, then suddenly looked up at the pile of rubble.
More than a month of insane training, countless failures, backlash, muscle tears, and chakra disorder, the questioning of his father's path, hatred of his own weakness, unwillingness toward that figure he chased…
All the suppression, all the obsession, all the pain and confusion seemed to find a violent outlet through this single strike!
"Ha! I did it! Hahaha… I succeeded! Hahaha… Chidori!!! Hahahaha! Shinichi Higashino! Did you see that?! Hahahaha! I succeeded!!!"
A low, hoarse laugh escaped from his throat, initially suppressed and intermittent, then growing louder and more out of control, eventually turning into a loud, unrestrained laugh that was a mixture of relief, pain, and ecstasy!
"Hahahahahahahaha!!!"
The laughter echoed in the empty wilderness. He was no longer the calm and prematurely mature boy he once was; he was more like a young wolf that had broken free from part of its shackles, howling at the moon with unwilling wildness and the almost ferocious release of long-suppressed pressure.
On the horizontal branch of the large tree, Minato quietly watched this scene without revealing himself immediately.
His usually warm, sun-like blue eyes appeared exceptionally deep and serene at this moment. He saw the dangerous and powerful new Ninjutsu in his student's hands, and even more so, the heavy psychological burden that was almost overflowing behind that maniacal laughter.
'Let him vent for a while…'
The evening breeze carried fine dust and the unique grassy smell of the wilderness.
Minato's figure quietly melted into the deepening twilight without a sound.
...…
Konoha, fifth training ground.
Splash!
On the water surface, waterfalls like jade dragons crashed down one after another with tremendous force, producing thunderous rumbling sounds as they struck, splashing up countless large and small whirlpools that spun endlessly.
In the center of the pool, in water nearly thirty meters deep, Shinichi stood silently with his eyes closed and his hands hanging down.
Suddenly, Shinichi raised an eyebrow, and his calm aura abruptly changed.
He slowly leaned forward, his arms hanging naturally, his posture relaxed to the point of laziness, as if he were just casually adjusting his stance.
Yet, the muscles in his shoulders and back had already subtly tightened, like a cheetah poised to pounce, every line concealing the deadly danger before its prey.
"Bang!"
A muffled thud exploded at the bottom of the pool.
The moment his foot slammed down on the bottom, the force penetrated the mud and sand, causing the surrounding water to boil instantly.
Countless chaotic whirlpools were shaken into rapid contraction and then suddenly expanded outward.
His body was like a spring that had been compressed to its limit, suddenly released, with his waist as the central axis; a powerful force rose up from the soles of his feet.
The energy is transmitted from the calf muscles to the thigh, then amplified by the twisting force of the waist and abdomen, climbing up the spine to the shoulder blade, and finally being poured into the right fist!
He transformed into a black lightning bolt, shooting upwards with the sharp force to tear through the water.
As he ascended, he used his right fist as a starting point to rotate his entire body in a circular motion. The viscous resistance of the deep water was cleverly neutralized by this rotation, and the water flow followed the trajectory of his fist, drawing a silvery, ribbon-like arc.
Clean and efficient, without the slightest hesitation, as if the thirty-meter-deep water was not an obstacle, but rather a vessel for the flow of his power.
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