Once July rolled in, Konoha grew noticeably hotter.
Kitazawa stood on the training field, watching the Advanced Class work. Under the blazing sun, sweat streamed down their faces, but they didn't let it disrupt their training.
"Karin," Kitazawa called.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Karin jogged over at once.
"Your Sealed Binding Formation is basically down. I'll teach you a new sealing technique," Kitazawa said directly. "It's called the Four Limbs Weighting Seal."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei." Karin wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Let's talk in the shade," Kitazawa said when he saw her state. "This seal is harder. I'll explain it first."
He glanced around and walked to a nearby tree. Warmth tugged at Karin's chest; she took a few quick steps into the cool shade.
"Kitazawa-sensei, you're the best!"
Kitazawa raised a hand and tapped her lightly on the head. "Compliments won't make me lower the bar."
[Current Mission: Help Uchiha Sasuke learn Chidori.]
[Mission Reward: Lightning Release: False Darkness.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
The three lines that suddenly appeared made Kitazawa pause mid-motion.
So Sasuke had finally learned Lightning Release: Chidori?
Kitazawa had almost forgotten this system task existed—Sasuke had been training under Kakashi lately, so he hadn't really intervened.
Still, the reward wasn't bad. Lightning Release: False Darkness was one of Kakuzu's lightning jutsu—very powerful.
Kakuzu was a rare five-style user, though his five elements came from the Forbidden Technique: Earth Grudge Fear, which lets him snatch other people's hearts and gain their chakra natures. Kakuzu had five hearts: earth, wind, fire, lightning, and water.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin. He'd already learned Kakuzu's Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work, Wind Release: Pressure Damage, and Lightning Release: False Darkness. In the original story, those three could be combined into a composite technique called Final Shot. He wondered if he could recreate it.
A three-style composite should be stronger than a two-style one.
He only let the thought linger, though—no plans to research it. He was too busy already: Ninja Art Creation Rebirth — Strength of a Hundred Technique, Five Release Great Combo Technique, and Wood Release were all on his plate.
After half an hour of explaining, Kitazawa let Karin train on her own and began his own practice. He hadn't been at it long when Sasuke and Kakashi showed up.
"What's up? You need me for something?" Kitazawa stopped and looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi didn't answer; he just glanced at Sasuke—message received.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke said, brimming with confidence, "I want to challenge Naruto."
Kitazawa instinctively glanced at the sky. Not a cloud in sight—an exceptionally clear day.
Sasuke suddenly showing up to challenge Naruto didn't surprise him at all.
"He's learned Chidori," Kakashi reminded.
"I see." Kitazawa pretended to have just realized. "You two haven't sparred in a while anyway. Let's see how far you've come."
They hadn't sparred lately because, for the last two months, the Advanced Class's monthly exams had switched to mission-based competition.
"Come with me."
Kitazawa led them out before the class.
"Sasuke!" Naruto spotted him and waved.
"What's Sasuke doing here?" Ino asked, puzzled.
"No idea," Shikamaru muttered, looking like death warmed over. "I just want to know when we can rest."
"Everyone, take fifteen," Kitazawa decided after a beat.
A Naruto vs. Sasuke bout would make too much noise for anyone else to focus, so they might as well rest and watch.
Shikamaru's eyes went wide. He plopped straight onto the ground, gulping air.
"An early break?" Shino adjusted his glasses. "Sounds like Kitazawa-sensei has an announcement."
"Maybe it's the end-of-term team assignments?" Tenten's eyes lit up. "I hope I'm teamed with Neji this time!"
"I doubt it," Neji said, shaking his head. "Kitazawa-sensei always announces teams two weeks in advance. It's not time yet."
"Naruto," Sasuke said as he strode over, "I challenge you."
"Sure! I accept!" Naruto blinked, then grinned. "It's been too long since I've seen your youth!"
"You all, make room for them," Kitazawa waved the others over.
Naruto's Multiple Shadow Clone combined with Wind Release could cause collateral damage. For safety, it was best to have everyone near Kitazawa so he could intervene quickly.
Hinata blurred forward to Kitazawa's left. Ino took his right. The others split into two lines.
"Too bad Sakura's not here," Ino said suddenly.
Sakura was at the artificial lake, learning Water Release under Maruboshi Kosuke.
"Maybe that's for the best," Shikamaru yawned.
"You think Sasuke's going to lose?" Ino teased.
"If he dares challenge Naruto, he's gotten stronger," Shikamaru shook his head. "But if Sakura were here, she'd definitely cheer for Sasuke."
Ino burst out laughing—insurance against Sakura's infamous jinx. Yakumo Kurama, Kiba Inuzuka, Chōji Akimichi, Tenten, and the others got it and chuckled too.
"I remember Sasuke's been studying Lightning Release," Neji said, face turning serious. Clearly Sasuke had made a breakthrough. Beating him would be tougher now. Just how much stronger—only this spar would tell.
"Swordsmanship, genjutsu, fire and lightning," Kiba whistled. "Sasuke's getting more ridiculous by the day."
"You're a human," Shikamaru patted his shoulder gravely. "Don't compare yourself to nonhuman creatures."
"He's not the only nonhuman," Shino added evenly. He felt like even his kikaichū mutation projects couldn't keep up with Naruto and Sasuke's pace.
"Begin!" Kitazawa called once Sasuke and Naruto formed the seal of confrontation.
The chatter died. All eyes turned to the two.
Sasuke drew the Sword of the Thunder God. With a hum, the blade manifested. He pounced like a leopard, the blade tracing a complex path that fanned out into afterimages—Leaf-style.
The flurry dazzled Naruto; he couldn't tell where the real kill line hid. His response was simple: he raised Samehada to guard.
Samehada's barbs all flared open. The Sword of the Thunder God struck it with a bright, ringing clash. Samehada cocked its "head" and snapped at the blade.
Sasuke hopped back. Chakra gathered in his throat—he spat a massive fireball.
Samehada gulped it down without ceremony. It was about to lunge again when Naruto flung it aside.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With a flurry of hand seals, Naruto spat out over a hundred clones. Samehada, unable to tell who was who, just stood there, waiting for Naruto to wield it again.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
Two clones flew at Sasuke with simultaneous kicks. With his two-tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke read their movements instantly. Instead of retreating, he drove straight into the swarm.
Sword of the Thunder God—charged. Lightning chakra flooded the blade. In a flash, it shone with blinding radiance that rippled outward like a newborn sun.
Naruto's clones couldn't dodge in time—the wave of lightning swallowed them wholesale.
"Samehada!" Naruto yelled at the last instant.
Samehada came scampering back, mouth gaping, and devoured the lightning racing for Naruto.
"Dynamic Entry!"
As the light died, Naruto planted a foot on Samehada's hilt and vaulted, his flying kick slamming into Sasuke—who burst into smoke.
"A shadow clone?" Naruto landed, realization dawning. The glare had made him lose visual on Sasuke for a heartbeat, and most of his clones had been wiped by the lightning, so he'd missed the substitution.
A harsh chirping shrieked behind him—the cry of a thousand birds. Naruto whipped around to see Sasuke streaking in like a bolt, right hand packed with seething lightning.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!" Naruto shouted—but it was his surviving clones who cast it. He himself had no time for seals and backpedaled on instinct.
Samehada leapt to protect its master, crashing down toward Sasuke. Sasuke reacted just as fast—his left hand snapped a shuriken at Samehada to slow it, while his right hand drove the Chidori straight for Naruto.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!" The clones finally arrived. The blast of wind knocked Sasuke slightly off line.
"Move!" The nearest clone body-checked Sasuke's right arm. Chidori punched through the clone's chest. With a pop and a strangled cry, it vanished—but its sacrifice bought Naruto time to disengage.
That jolt of fear from Chidori—he hadn't felt it in a while.
"As expected of my lifelong rival!" Naruto whooped, thrilled. "This battle is brimming with youth!"
"…," Sasuke seethed inwardly but kept his cool facade.
Around them, jaws hung open at the Chidori's display.
"What lightning jutsu is that?" Kiba gaped. "It looks even nastier than Rasengan!"
"What terrifying pressure! In terms of raw lethality, it might be stronger than Rasengan," Tenten breathed.
Rasengan mangled flesh; Chidori pierced through. Chidori looked scarier, but in practice they were comparable—Rasengan might even pack more punch. Unprepared, taking either one head-on meant serious injury at best.
"That's Kakashi-sensei's signature Lightning Release," Shikamaru recalled. "It's called Chidori—an A-rank jutsu."
"Another A-rank?" Ino groaned. "We're the same age—how do Sasuke and Naruto already have A-rank techniques?"
"Excellent question," Shino approved.
Neji opened his mouth, then closed it. No doubt—like Rasengan, Chidori wasn't something he could take head-on. His only answer was Gentle Fist and shutting down their tenketsu before they could use them. But Naruto had clones and wind; Sasuke had swordsmanship and genjutsu. Hard to counter all that.
Neji sighed inwardly. As things stood, his odds of beating them head-on were slim. He'd have to contest first place through mission-based practicals.
"Sasuke, let's keep going!" Naruto yelled, amped.
"Next time you won't be so lucky," Sasuke snorted.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto split into hundreds again.
Sasuke exhaled, sprang up, and flung a storm of shuriken. Naruto could afford to burn chakra; Sasuke couldn't—especially with Chidori's cost. Two uses was about his limit.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!" Naruto's clones clapped their hands. A surge of wind blew the shuriken right back.
Sasuke's pupils tightened. He stopped hesitating—the Sword of the Thunder God flared again, and he chopped downward, lightning and shuriken together.
"Dodge!" Naruto shouted, then formed seals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Shuriken!"
Sasuke sensed danger. He raised the Sword of the Thunder God to guard. The wind-charged shuriken slammed the blade; shock rippled through him and sent him flying. He glanced at his hand—blood had opened on the back from the wind nature's edge.
He flipped, forced a landing—and hadn't even steady footing when Naruto grabbed Samehada and hurled it like a hammer. Sasuke grit his teeth, rolled hard, and bailed. He knew Samehada ate chakra; he didn't dare use ninjutsu into it.
"Rasengan!" Naruto seized the opening and charged.
Sasuke hurled the Sword of the Thunder God and flashed through seals. The piercing screech rose again.
Naruto ducked the spinning sword—only the blinding lightning remained in his vision. Rasengan met Chidori head-on—
Kitazawa flashed between them, catching both of their right wrists. Both boys jolted. Naruto's right hand went numb; Sasuke's sleeve shredded, a spiral of bloody tracks scoring his forearm.
Kitazawa released them and stepped back. He had bled off part of the impact so neither was seriously hurt.
Sasuke, grimacing, snatched a kunai with his left hand and stabbed. Naruto, less injured and quicker, snapped a Leaf Whirlwind into Sasuke's ribs and sent him flying.
Sasuke crashed, pain blooming in his abdomen; his right arm wouldn't listen. Before he could rise, Naruto's clones ringed him.
"Naruto, that's enough," Kitazawa said. "We have a result. No need to continue."
He walked over to Sasuke first and healed his arm. Compared to Naruto's, Sasuke's injuries were worse—though the harshest blow was to his heart. He'd learned Chidori, come brimming with confidence…and still gotten trounced.
Even now I can't beat him?
Sasuke shut down, sullen and silent.
"Thinking Chidori hits less hard than Rasengan?" Kitazawa asked, giving him a look.
Sasuke nodded wordlessly.
"Chidori's role is assassination and penetration," Kitazawa explained. "Rasengan's role is sheer power—it's the pinnacle of a seal-less jutsu."
Rasengan was modeled after the Tailed Beast Bomb. Namikaze Minato created it to have a high-damage technique. For surprise, he relied on Flying Thunder God.
"Don't get discouraged. I'll teach you a Chidori variant that can help you resist Rasengan," Kitazawa said with a smile. "I call it Chidori Current."
"Really?" Sasuke's face lit up instantly.
"A variant?" Kakashi, who had just walked up, narrowed his eyes. He remembered Kitazawa mentioning a long time ago that he planned to modify Chidori—since the base technique wasn't suited to non-Sharingan users. So the modification was done? No wonder some shinobi called Kitazawa the next Tobirama—his creativity was off the charts.
"Kakashi, want to learn it too?" Kitazawa asked. "Teaching one or two is the same to me."
[Current Mission: Teach Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke Chidori Current.]
[Mission Reward: Lightning Release: Kirin.]
[Accept?]
As expected, Kitazawa thought. The reward surprised him a little, but it was fine. Kakashi had already given him the Kirin scroll, but he hadn't learned it yet—S-rank jutsu are hard, and he'd been busy with other training. With the system task, he could save time.
Thinking it through, the reward made sense. Since both Kakashi and Sasuke already had Chidori, learning Chidori Current would be easy.
~~~
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