"What's wrong? Still not moving?"
"Summoning Technique!"
Seeing that the new recruits were still frozen, Kazuyama Gekkō pressed one hand to the ground. A moment later, five massive anacondas launched into action on his behalf.
Only then did the remaining twenty-eight ANBU realize he hadn't been bluffing—the trial had truly begun.
"Run!"
No one knew who shouted first, but in the next second, everyone bolted into the forest.
To be chosen for ANBU, one had to at least be an elite Chūnin, so even faced with the sudden ambush, the recruits reacted quickly and scattered, despite their fear.
The five anacondas chased after them relentlessly.
"What are you planning to do?"
"Go home to see my son."
"What???"
Kazuyama stood calmly to the side, watching the ANBU recruits rush into the Forest of Death. Beside him stood a familiar figure—the current ANBU Commander, Midori.
Midori was stunned. As the instructor, he actually planned to go home to see his kid?
"What? It's just a bunch of rookies. Let them run around a bit."
"My snakes will give them plenty of trouble."
With that, Kazuyama turned and left. But just as he did, the air suddenly cracked with sharp snapping sounds. One after another, crystal clones emerged and charged into the forest.
Seeing this, Midori knew arguing was pointless. The man once hailed as one of the Twin Stars of Konoha had clearly become a full-time super dad.
Midori shook his head with a sigh and turned his full attention to monitoring the ANBU trial.
...
When Kazuyama returned home, the moment he stepped inside, he saw Pakura basking in the sun while holding their son. He immediately trotted over to join them.
...
Back in the Forest of Death, the ANBU rookies had each found spots they deemed safe. Kakashi and Shisui arrived at a riverbank at the same time.
"Kakashi-senpai, how do you think Captain Kazuyama will deal with us?"
Shisui shuddered at the thought of Kazuyama's methods.
Kakashi, more composed, crouched by the river and dipped a hand into the water. The chill helped him focus.
Still, even after thinking it over, he couldn't come up with anything.
"No idea. Sensei never follows any pattern."
"The Forest of Death is a battlefield now. We'll have to stay sharp."
As Kakashi stood and looked into the distance, a giant shadow emerged from the trees—a massive anaconda flicking its tongue appeared before them.
"Sensei's summoned beast..."
"And... is that a Crystal Release clone?"
Kazuyama had created only three crystal clones. One of them was now standing before the two.
Then, a mocking laugh echoed through the trees.
"You two, huh? If I don't give you some special treatment, it'd be a disservice to my teachings. Don't you think?"
Kazuyama stepped into view, the anaconda and the crystal clone flanking him.
Seeing the real Kazuyama, Kakashi frowned slightly, then relaxed.
"Sensei, I can tell that's just a shadow clone."
"You should be at home right now."
Kazuyama let out a hearty laugh—of course his own disciple would see through him.
The shadow clone had been a backup plan. While the crystal clones were powerful, without the original's direction, they were just flashy targets. Only with the shadow clone present could they exert real pressure.
"Go. Take them down."
With a wave of his hand, the crystal clone and anaconda moved in.
"Split up!"
Kakashi immediately dashed upstream, while Shisui headed downstream.
Kazuyama smirked. The anaconda and crystal clone split up to pursue them.
The other ANBU rookies faced similar situations—not all of them were able to escape.
"Ahh! What is this?!"
Somewhere deep in the forest, a rookie unfortunate enough to get caught by a crystal clone watched in horror as his body was slowly encased in crystal.
"Damn it, am I turning into crystal?!"
"No!"
With a final cry, the rookie collapsed, fully crystallized.
Soon, several ANBU appeared and carried away the crystal-encased body.
When Midori arrived and saw it, his eyes twitched.
Crystal Release crystallization...
He's pulling this off without even being here? What a monster...
At this rate, there might not be many left standing by the third day.
This was a technique Kazuyama had developed—creating crystallization through clones. Once crystallized, the victim would be completely immobilized. The chakra within the crystal kept them alive but fully encased.
By the end of day one, ten rookies had already been carried out—at the cost of two of Kazuyama's snakes.
Even nighttime offered no reprieve—snakes, after all, were nocturnal.
...
Then came the second night.
Just as dusk settled in, Kazuyama, still resting at home, suddenly sensed that the remaining three anacondas had all been taken out.
And that wasn't all—one of his crystal clones had been destroyed too.
Now that was surprising.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he returned to the forest's edge.
He didn't even glance at the row of crystalized forms—his eyes were fixed on the forest beyond.
Midori, seeing him return, walked over curiously.
"What brings you back?"
"All my snakes are dead, and one of my crystal clones was destroyed."
"Oh, that's probably Kakashi. I just heard a massive explosion."
"Lightning?"
"Yeah."
Kazuyama nodded.
...
At that moment, Kakashi was surrounded by lightning. His left hand crackled with electricity, and in his right, he held the Lightning Blade—Kiba. He was panting heavily.
He was the one who had taken out Kazuyama's crystal clone.
"Ha... ha..."
"Using lightning to reinforce my body while opening a gate... the strain's still too much."
"But... that strike was powerful enough."
"Even Sensei's crystal couldn't stop me."
"Chidori... complete."
Yes, that attack was Chidori.
But now, Kakashi's Chidori had taken a completely different form.
In the original version, it relied on vision to guide the body. Now, his body did all the work.
With lightning-forged muscles and chakra as the trigger, his incredible physical strength allowed him to turn Chidori into a high-speed assassination technique that never lost its target.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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