Kakashi had imagined this fight merely approaching a real battle state, but approaching isn't the same as being real. After all, one could be near death, but not actually die. Yet now, it seemed like he might actually die.
Although his attacks on Habara had looked like killing blows, it was only because he knew that what ordinary ninja considered lethal wouldn't even break Habara's defense.
Who could have expected Habara to counter like this? It almost completely threw Kakashi off his game.
Kakashi knew this mercury assault was one of Habara's common moves. While its travel speed wasn't exceptional, its attack range more than compensated for that.
'Can I dodge it with Raikiri? No, there's no time…'
Kakashi instinctively prepared to dodge using his most familiar method. However, the godlike speed that could sever lightning still seemed insufficient now. After all, a lightning bolt might be twenty kilometers long, but it wouldn't be ten meters thick.
Therefore, Kakashi had to move faster than his own maximum speed to evade this fatal blow. As the silvery threads bloomed outwards, radiating a chilling aura, the world in his eyes seemed to freeze.
Concentrate chakra, select the destination marker, read the spatial coordinates, execute the jump… See? The execution logic for the Flying Thunder God was just that simple, almost down to the level of "How many steps does it take to put an elephant in the refrigerator?"
By the time the "Mercury Lamp" filled the space before Habara's eyes, Kakashi's figure had vanished. Habara halted, ignoring the completely missed attack, and looked back. Sure enough, he saw Kakashi standing on a thick, horizontal branch.
Between Kakashi's feet lay an embedded shuriken.
'So there's really no warning sign when this jutsu activates… Silent and traceless. Truly worthy of a technique developed by Konoha's most insidious person,' Habara thought silently, referring to the Second Hokage.
The Flying Thunder God Technique lived up to its formidable reputation, even when performed by Kakashi. However, Habara didn't consider this perfect ninjutsu impossible to counter. After all, this was merely the Flying Thunder God Technique as Kakashi performed it.
Firstly, Habara was almost certain that the current Kakashi couldn't use the Stage Two Flying Thunder God. Secondly, even with chakra replenishment, Kakashi couldn't possibly use Hiraishin as frequently as the Fourth Hokage. It was common knowledge that using an unfamiliar skill always consumed excessive amounts of chakra… The Fourth Hokage teleporting fifty times a second was just too far beyond common sense.
Habara figured he could probably beat Kakashi just through a war of attrition.
Just as Kakashi steadied himself, a piercing sound whistled towards his face. Losing his footing for a moment, he fell backward, and simultaneously, a thumb-thick black arrow grazed past his face, shooting diagonally into the sky. Pivoting around the branch, Kakashi's body completed a full rotation, returning him to his original position. By this time, his right hand was already crackling with lightning, and his left Sharingan blazed with three tomoe.
Though it looked like he'd fallen, Kakashi's feet had remained stuck to the branch the entire time—a practical application of chakra control in daily life.
After firing the arrow, Habara didn't bother checking the result and immediately began forming seals. Just as Kakashi charged over, enveloped in lightning, Habara completed his technique:
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
Since he wasn't skimping on chakra, Habara's Fire Release jutsu had the feel of the Third Hokage in his prime—possessing both wide range and destructive power. However, due to the distance, Kakashi in his Raikiri state couldn't possibly fail to dodge such an attack. Compared to the explosive area-of-effect damage of the "Mercury Lamp," the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet was more of a linear attack, giving Kakashi ample reaction time.
Compared to Hiraishin, Kakashi was infinitely more proficient with Raikiri. Utilizing the high speed granted by the Lightning Release stimulation, he easily circled around the range of Habara's fire jutsu and dove straight towards him.
Facing Kakashi's Raikiri, Habara simply extended his left hand. Just as Kakashi drew back his 'blade' to thrust, Habara's arm "burst open" first.
Numerous venomous snakes surged forth from Habara's arm, their bodies rearing. They met the charging Kakashi head-on, binding him tightly in the blink of an eye.
Without Habara needing to say anything, Kakashi naturally recognized the technique.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands…"
Using Orochimaru's signature technique in present-day Konoha was tantamount to declaring a special relationship with the traitor—a severely politically incorrect move that would create all sorts of negative impressions. However, Habara didn't particularly care about such things.
Clearly, Kakashi wasn't the only one attempting new breakthroughs; Habara was also experimenting with integrating more ninjutsu into his combat flow.
The snakes binding Kakashi suddenly constricted, and four or five snake heads struck unhesitatingly towards Kakashi's neck. At the last possible second, his figure vanished once more.
"Second time…"
Habara silently counted. Suddenly, an excellent idea struck him. He no longer stayed put but immediately retreated.
He moved outside the range of the kunai Kakashi had scattered, then drew his iron bow. He had respectfully refrained from destroying Kakashi's tools earlier, but now he decided to use a more advanced tactic against Hiraishin… Since he knew all of Kakashi's potential landing spots, Habara's countermeasure didn't need to be complicated. Playing "Whack-a-Mole" would suffice.
Habara first used wide-range ninjutsu to force Kakashi to reposition, compelling him to use Hiraishin. The moment Kakashi reappeared, Habara unhesitatingly fired an arrow.
"Three times, four times… seven times, eight times. He must be nearing his limit." Counting the uses, Habara felt Kakashi's Hiraishin performance was approaching its threshold.
Kakashi's figure vanished again, but he didn't appear before Habara. Realizing something instantly, Habara immediately spun around to counter… For a fleeting moment, he clearly sensed Kakashi appearing behind him.
However, when he turned, he found nothing but empty air behind him. His counter-attack struck only emptiness.
The next moment, he felt a hand crackling with lightning press down on his shoulder.
Habara: "…"
He was slightly stunned. After a brief pause, he understood. The outcome of the match was decided.
Habara raised both hands, offering Kakashi a French salute… Although his attitude seemed nonchalant, Kakashi's performance had undoubtedly exceeded Habara's imagination.
Habara had always been quite confident in his own strength; he didn't think he would lose to Kakashi. Yet, the unexpected had happened.
Using Hiraishin repeatedly made it difficult for Kakashi to control his breathing, but the sweet taste of victory still made the corners of his mouth, hidden beneath his mask, curve upwards uncontrollably… Defeating a strong opponent like Habara was certainly worth celebrating. It meant he had achieved a breakthrough.
Crucially, Habara still hadn't figured out how the tables had turned. How could he lose with a 10,000-chakra lead? Did he even know how to play?
Habara understood why Kakashi had appeared behind him the first time—he must have been marked with a Hiraishin seal during their close-quarters combat. But the second time? Considering Kakashi's hand was already on his shoulder during the process of him turning around, it meant Kakashi's next spatial jump occurred even earlier. So, Kakashi hadn't jumped consecutively to the same coordinate.
But here was the problem: there was no Hiraishin coordinate where Habara was standing. How could Kakashi use the Flying Thunder God?
"A jump without a coordinate?"
Kakashi had already withdrawn his hand. As Habara turned around with this improbable guess, he saw that Kakashi's Sharingan had transformed into its Mangekyo state.
"Of course not without a coordinate. To be precise, without a physical coordinate. An invisible mark doesn't mean no mark was made," Kakashi explained.
He took two steps back, bent over, supporting himself with his hands on his knees, barely managing to lift his head. It was clear that the demanding maneuvers had consumed a vast amount of his energy.
Habara stared at Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan, combined it with the explanation, and an absurd thought surfaced in his mind. "Kakashi-senpai, did you…?"
Kakashi tapped the corner of his eyebrow with a finger. "Without relying on Hiraishin markers, I discovered that this special Sharingan can directly read spatial coordinates."
Meaning, disregarding Hiraishin seals engraved on physical objects, Kakashi could directly perform Hiraishin jumps using the spatial positioning ability of "Kamui"? Was that it?
Habara: "…"
Kakashi? Why don't you just change your name to Ka-BUG-shi?!