Chapter 357: Golden Skyline
In the early morning, Kakashi woke up, washed up quickly, made himself a simple breakfast, ate, and then headed toward the South Border Forest to train.
"Kakashi."
Someone called out to him along the road. Kakashi turned and saw several ninja he did not recognize.
"Last time in the Land of Grass, it was thanks to you and your teammates. Otherwise, we might not have made it back," one Konoha ninja said with a smile, expressing his gratitude.
Hearing that, Kakashi understood. During that mission in the Land of Grass, they had indeed saved a group of ninja.
"Before, I heard people saying there was a ninja named Kakashi who was heartless and ignored his comrades. I guess that was just a rumor," the Konoha ninja continued.
Kakashi fell silent. That was not really a rumor, because back then, he had indeed neglected his teammates during missions and caused them to get hurt.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but that was actually true," Kakashi said after a moment.
No matter what he had been like at that time, he was still Kakashi Hatake. He did not intend to deny that, nor did he feel the need to.
"Ah?"
The Konoha ninja looked at Kakashi, a little stunned and confused.
They were trying to defend him. Why was Kakashi contradicting himself?
"At that time, I did not understand myself very well, and I did some wrong things," Kakashi went on.
After walking out of that mist in his heart, he could finally face what he had done in the past, so he no longer minded speaking of it.
The Konoha ninja all gave Kakashi a thumbs up. Although they were older, they felt Kakashi was more mature than they were.
"No matter what you were like before, the Kakashi Hatake I know is a genius ninja who values his comrades and is very strong," one of them said seriously.
Before Kakashi saved them, he had not known him at all. All those rumors were things he heard later when he inquired about Kakashi. In his eyes, Kakashi was a very reliable comrade.
The other Konoha ninja echoed his gratitude with a few words of their own.
A faint smile appeared on Kakashi's face.
"See you. My training time is about to start," he said, taking his leave.
He was in an excellent mood, not because of the praise, but because he felt he was now walking on a path that was both correct and one he genuinely liked.
"See you. Oh, right, I watched the Chunin Exams. Your swordsmanship is incredible. If there is a chance, could I ask you for some guidance?" the Konoha ninja called after him, waving.
Kakashi paused his steps.
"If I have time, sure," he replied.
If he had spare time, he did not mind giving others some pointers.
"My name is Shiraki Ryoichi," the ninja said excitedly after Kakashi agreed.
Kakashi gave a small nod, then continued on toward the South Border Forest.
Since he had gotten up early, the short delay on the way did not make him late.
"Yo, Kakashi, let us have a battle filled with youthful passion!"
The moment Kakashi arrived, Might Guy suddenly sprang in front of him, shouting with excitement.
His Leaf Dragon God had become much more proficient, and his body was even stronger than before.
"A battle, right now?" Kakashi asked, thoughtful.
"That is right, right now!" Guy answered, giving Kakashi a thumbs up, two rows of teeth flashing white.
"Alright."
Kakashi accepted his challenge. He had also been training hard for some time and felt it was a good opportunity to test his own progress.
Obito, who had been about to start his own training, immediately ran over when he saw Guy and Kakashi preparing to fight.
"Go, Guy! I believe in you!" Obito shouted, desperately hoping Guy would beat Kakashi up.
Even if he was not the one doing it personally, watching Kakashi get beaten by someone else would still be very satisfying.
Shisui also lowered his hands and walked over. He wanted to gauge the gap between himself, Kakashi, and Guy from this battle.
"Do not start training yet. Watch their fight first," Mugetsu said, stopping Shizune just as she was about to begin her Breathing Technique practice.
Both Kakashi and Guy had excellent taijutsu. Shizune might pick up something by observing their clash.
Shizune nodded obediently and followed Mugetsu over.
The two combatants were very familiar with the routine. They pulled away to a proper distance and formed the Confrontation Seal.
Seeing that they were ready, Mugetsu, acting as the referee, called out, "Begin!"
"Thunder Breathing, full concentration."
Kakashi exhaled softly. The instant Mugetsu's voice fell, he focused his breathing to the utmost, further enhancing his physical power.
"Rock Breathing, full concentration. Eight Gates, Gate of Opening… Gate of Life, open!"
Guy went even further. He pushed his breathing to its peak and opened the first three of the Eight Gates at once.
In that moment, Guy's aura became overwhelming. The pressure made the fallen leaves around them stir without wind, and the air grew heavy.
During the Chunin Exams, Shizune had not felt much due to the distance. At this close range, she could clearly sense just how powerful Guy was in this state.
"He is going straight to the Third Gate?"
Feeling Guy's aura, Kakashi's expression turned even more serious.
Whoosh.
Laughing loudly, Guy charged at Kakashi with astonishing speed.
Kakashi met him head on without the slightest hesitation.
Bang. Bang.
After colliding, the two quickly exchanged a flurry of punches and kicks, neither gaining a clear advantage in the opening exchanges.
Guy's physical strength was greater, but Kakashi was more agile and could evade many of his strikes.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
After testing the waters with a few rounds of blows, Guy decisively gathered chakra into his leg and unleashed a powerful kick.
He chose the timing perfectly. Kakashi had no room to dodge and could only raise his arm to block.
Bang.
A heavy impact rang out, and Kakashi was forced back three meters.
Guy did not hesitate. He immediately gathered his full strength to unleash the strongest taijutsu he had mastered so far.
"Leaf Dragon God!"
Chakra exploded from his body, and an oppressive aura surged skyward. A long green blue dragon rapidly formed around him.
"Trying to catch me off guard, Guy? You have gotten stronger, but so have I."
Kakashi immediately slipped into the Transparent World state, then retreated at high speed while reaching back for the White Fang short blade strapped across his back.
His breathing changed rapidly. Within his perception, every part of his body became clear, transparent, and completely under his control.
Zzzzt.
With Thunder Breathing empowering him, Kakashi converted a large amount of chakra into Lightning Release chakra. Yellow lightning flickered over his body, then flowed along his arm, gathering in his palm before ultimately pouring into the White Fang short blade. A blade of light extended from the edge of the weapon.
"Thunderclap Flash."
Boom.
Thunder roared as dazzling yellow light burst forth. Kakashi turned into a bolt of lightning and shot out.
Obito stared fixedly at the clash, hoping with all his heart that the green dragon would pierce through the lightning.
Rumble.
The green dragon and the bolt of lightning collided, triggering a violent explosion.
The power of the two techniques tore the ground apart, blasting chunks of rock and clouds of dust into the air.
"Both of them are incredible. I cannot beat either of them right now," Shisui thought solemnly.
"However, Kakashi's attack is still stronger."
Activating his Sharingan for a more detailed look, Shisui quickly judged the likely outcome.
As if to confirm his thoughts, the next moment the long dragon shattered. Blood streaks appeared across Guy's body, while Kakashi was only forced back a few meters. He looked tired, but he had no obvious injuries.
In a real life and death battle, Shisui could not say for sure who would win, but in a spar like this, Kakashi was clearly superior. Thunderclap Flash's destructive power was simply immense.
"As expected of my eternal rival. You are still a bit stronger than me," Guy said with a big laugh, showing no hint of discouragement.
Even though he lost, the battle had not been meaningless. He had found many of his shortcomings and now knew exactly which areas to work on.
Kakashi did not respond, but a sense of urgency pressed down on his heart.
During the Chunin Exams, Guy had needed to force open the Fourth Gate to fight him evenly. Now, Guy had reached this level using only the Third Gate. That meant if Guy pushed himself into the Fourth Gate again, Kakashi might not be able to beat him.
"I cannot relax for even a moment," Kakashi thought.
He felt that remaining Mugetsu's strongest disciple was truly difficult. Besides Rin, none of them were easy to deal with.
"Teacher Mugetsu, is this the kind of training I will be doing in the future?" Shizune asked, a little lost.
Because of Mugetsu's instruction, she had watched the battle very seriously, hoping to learn something. But apart from the initial testing exchanges, she could not understand anything that followed.
Mugetsu shook his head.
Thunder Breathing might be an option for her one day, but as for the Eight Gates, they were absolutely out of the question.
And in any case, this fight had not followed a normal pattern. After only a few exchanges, both sides had immediately unleashed their trump cards. There really had not been much to study from a technical perspective.
"What a shame. If Guy could open the Fourth Gate normally, he probably would have won," Obito sighed regretfully when he saw Kakashi emerge victorious, and his determination to train harder grew even stronger.
After watching this battle, he had a clear grasp of Kakashi's current strength. Kakashi was indeed strong, but he was still within the range that could be caught up to.
If Obito evolved his Sharingan to three tomoe and further perfected his Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, then as long as Kakashi did not improve by too much, he was confident Kakashi would not be his opponent.
"If I fully master Armament Haki and refine my Body Flicker Technique further, I might be able to do it too," Shisui thought, having found his own direction.
Kakashi was the one who had broken his undefeated streak. Once Shisui became stronger, the first person he wanted to challenge would still be Kakashi.
With the battle over, everyone, including the exchange student Shizune, went back to their training with renewed fighting spirit.
"No wonder Rin has become so strong. She has a teacher like Mugetsu, and friends like Kakashi and Guy around her," Shizune thought, finally understanding how Rin's strength had grown so quickly.
Back in the first special training, Shizune had actually been stronger than Rin. Rin had originally been placed in Group B, while Shizune had started in Group A.
Yet now, Rin was a Chunin who had mastered both Medical Ninjutsu and Water Release, while Shizune was still just a Genin whose only advantage was being somewhat outstanding in Medical Ninjutsu.
Shizune was not particularly fond of comparing herself to others, but this sort of contrast naturally lit a fire in her. The training atmosphere here was too intense. Simply standing around doing nothing felt like a sin.
"Guy, come here for a moment. I will teach you a new taijutsu," Mugetsu called out, stopping Guy just as he was about to continue practicing Leaf Dragon God.
Now that Guy had essentially mastered Leaf Dragon God, it was time to teach him Golden Skyline.
Golden Skyline was very different from ordinary taijutsu. It required long term accumulation and refinement to draw out its true power. Teaching it to Guy early would give him more time to polish it.
Hearing Mugetsu, Guy immediately ran over.
"Is it that Daytime Tiger technique you used last time to counter Teacher Chen's Leaf Dragon God?" he asked curiously.
The Morning Tiger Mugetsu had unleashed had left a deep impression on him. It was completely different from Leaf Dragon God, but just as terrifying.
Mugetsu shook his head with a smile.
"If you master the taijutsu I am about to teach you, it will be even stronger than Daytime Tiger."
By now, Mugetsu had learned many powerful ninjutsu and taijutsu. Even among them, Golden Skyline ranked near the top.
Guy's eyes went wide. He had seen Mugetsu use Daytime Tiger. Even from far away, the aftershock had almost blown them away. And this new technique was supposed to be even stronger. It was hard for him to imagine.
For now, the strongest taijutsu Guy had seen were Morning Tiger and Leaf Dragon God.
"The name of this technique is Milong Legend: Sword Severing Blade: Golden Skyline," Mugetsu said, pulling out a broken nunchaku in preparation for his demonstration.
Note – About "Milong Legend: Sword Severing Blade: Golden Skyline"
Some of you may notice that this technique name sounds different from the usual Naruto jutsu naming style. That is intentional. It is actually borrowed from a Chinese donghua called Xing You Ji (Rainbow Sea), where a character named Milong uses a move whose chant can be summed up as "Milong Legend, Blade Intercepting Sword, Golden Skyline."
The original fanfic author treated it as a powerful taijutsu transplanted into the Naruto world, so instead of changing it into a more standard Naruto name, I chose to keep the reference intact for readers who enjoy spotting these cross series easter eggs. In short: not canon to Naruto, but canon to this fanfic's style.
He held the chain in his right hand and placed his left hand behind his waist. Then he extended his middle and index fingers.
The technique was at its strongest when used with the middle and index fingers. The reason Milong II used his ring and pinky fingers instead was due to special circumstances.
Guy stared seriously at Mugetsu, feeling his aura grow stronger by the second. Without realizing it, he held his breath, his gaze fixed on Mugetsu's outstretched fingers.
"Golden Skyline."
Mugetsu pushed Rock Breathing to its limit and entered the Transparent World. He dashed forward, his left hand moving in a drawing sword motion that drove his right arm forward in a smooth, straight line. His fingers extended parallel to the ground and then slashed out at extreme speed.
A beautiful, razor thin golden line flashed across the air.
Rumble.
A terrifying explosion erupted. The ground around Mugetsu collapsed into a huge crater, while all the large trees in the vicinity were neatly severed where the golden line had passed. Even boulders that were slightly taller were sliced cleanly in half, as if some invisible blade of energy had carved through everything nearby.
"Such destructive power…" Guy muttered in shock, staring at the ruined earth and the shattered remains of the forest.
He felt that if there had been a small mountain in front of Mugetsu just now, it might have been chopped down as well.
Because the commotion was even greater than when Mugetsu had used Fire Release: Orochi Nagi, all the disciples immediately noticed.
"Looks like we have to change training spots again," Obito thought, scratching his head as he surveyed the now empty forest.
Kakashi's expression turned solemn. He knew very well who Guy's first target would be once he learned this technique.
"Is it my turn tomorrow?" Kakashi thought.
It seemed it was about time he learned something new as well.
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