Water Style.
Aside from Lightning Style, this was the elemental affinity Kakashi Hatake excelled at most.
However, for various reasons, Kakashi had never displayed chakra-based sword techniques like Sword Leap Flame or Void Severance in front of others. Consequently, many believed that the Fifth Hokage was not particularly proficient in Water Style.
The reality was quite the opposite.
Kakashi was exceptionally skilled in Water Style—even more so than with aggressive elements like Wind or Fire.
Water benefits all things and does not compete with them; therefore, nothing in the world can compete with it.
Bolstered by Sage Art and White Lightning, a single strike from his blade shattered the combined assault of Sakumo Hatake and Tobirama Senju!
In that instant, both men were left completely wide open!
"Kakashi, now's your chance!" Sakumo shouted. He flipped the short blade in his hand, desperate to block the flash of steel aimed at his chest.
Kakashi didn't need the reminder. A cold light flickered in his eyes.
Orochimaru wanted to use these people to shake his resolve and expose a weakness. If that was his plan, he had made a grave mistake.
Setting aside the fact that these people were merely Reanimated vessels, what if they weren't?
He was the Hokage.
Behind him stood the entire Hidden Leaf Village—the people of the entire Land of Fire. How could the life of one person be compared to the life of a nation?
His blade fell with absolute resolve!
Accompanied by the sound of Sakumo's short sword shattering, his father's body was cleaved diagonally in two!
"Seal me while you can!" Sakumo looked at his son with relief.
"I don't need constant reminders. I know how to handle this," Kakashi replied calmly, watching his father's smile.
Kakashi knew Sealing Jutsu. However, now was clearly not the time. Aside from Tobirama Senju rushing toward him, there was a Master of Sealing Jutsu, Kushina Uzumaki, standing right behind them. If Kakashi tried to seal Sakumo now, Kushina could undo the seal immediately.
It was a nuisance.
With Sakumo temporarily neutralized, Tobirama Senju charged in alone, attempting to tie Kakashi down to buy time for Sakumo's body to regenerate. Tobirama threw a kunai toward Kakashi and closed the distance with extreme speed.
Watching Tobirama's movements, Kakashi's gaze remained sharp. He immediately sensed something off about the flying kunai.
The Flying Raijin...?
While Kakashi wasn't a specialist in the Flying Raijin Technique, he understood the mechanics of Space-Time Ninjutsu perfectly, especially after having used it previously to teleport a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Ignoring the kunai as it whistled past his ear, Kakashi charged straight at Tobirama with his ethereal blade. However, the moment they were about to clash, Tobirama vanished and reappeared behind Kakashi!
"Flying Raijin Slice!"
Tobirama raised a blade of water to strike, but his body suddenly seized. He fell helplessly to the ground as a large head went flying into the air!
"Don't bother with these antiquated tricks next time," Kakashi said coldly, turning back to look at Tobirama's head rolling at his feet.
In a few short moments, both Tobirama Senju and Sakumo Hatake had fallen at Kakashi's hands.
Glancing at his father's body, which had already regenerated halfway, Kakashi delivered another strike, bisecting him again to prolong the recovery time. Then, his cold gaze shifted toward the latecomers: Kushina Uzumaki and Rin Nohara.
Neither of them was a Taijutsu specialist.
During her life, Kushina had been confined within the village for years and had never truly stepped onto the battlefield. Most of her time was spent researching Sealing Jutsu. Although she was nicknamed the "Red Hot-Blooded Habanero," Taijutsu had always been her weak point.
Rin Nohara was even less of a threat in this regard; she was only thirteen when she died, and she was a Medical Ninja.
Earlier, they only had the chance to use the Tailed Beast's power against Kakashi because Hashirama Senju and the others had created an opening. Now that Hashirama, Tobirama, and Sakumo—the three primary combatants—had been defeated, these two posed no real threat to Kakashi.
Noticing Orochimaru and Hayama Shirakumo approaching in the distance, Kakashi ignored them for the moment and lunged toward Kushina.
The Adamantine Barrier was about to form. Once it did, even Kakashi would find it troublesome to break. And Kakashi hated trouble.
"You brat!"
"Did you take care of Naruto for me?" Kushina shouted at Kakashi while manipulating the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
As if sensing the battle was already decided, Kushina actually had the leisure to ask about her son's well-being.
"Rest assured, Naruto has been living at my house," Kakashi replied. He slashed through the chains surging toward him and closed the gap in a heartbeat. "I adopted him."
"Beautifully done! I knew I didn't spoil you for nothing!" Kushina let out a sigh of relief, a smile breaking across her face at the news.
In that same moment, Kakashi's blade fell. Without hesitation, he impaled Kushina's chest! Simultaneously, he grabbed her by the throat, and mysterious black markings flowed from his hand onto her body.
If he sealed Kushina first, he could deal with the others one by one, eventually using Hikari's Yachihoko to rewrite their wills. If this group was a team, Kushina was the core. Without sealing her first, sealing the others would be impossible.
Pinned by Kakashi, Kushina was powerless to resist. She could only watch as the black sealing formulas spread across her entire body. As the seal completed, she collapsed weakly to the ground.
"Try being a little gentler to girls!" she complained, even while immobilized.
You call yourself a girl? Kakashi thought dryly before turning to the final opponent.
With Kushina's defeat, the nearly completed Adamantine Barrier instantly dissipated.
"Kakashi..." Rin was enveloped in a translucent, crimson chakra that clung to her like a thick liquid. "You've become so strong... and so much more reliable."
The slender girl's body moved against her will, charging toward Kakashi.
Kakashi stood his ground, watching Rin approach. Lightning flickered in his palm as he waited for his former comrade to reach him.
Meanwhile, Hikari had successfully used Yachihoko to rewrite Hashirama Senju's will. She was now using Hashirama to seal away the nearly regenerated Sakumo and Tobirama. Although Hikari wasn't an expert in sealing, Hashirama possessed an incredibly powerful Sealing Jutsu: The Kakuan-Athe-Entering-Society-with-Bliss-Bringing-Hands. This was a technique capable of suppressing even the Nine-Tails with ease.
Now, the incapacitated Tobirama and Sakumo, along with Hashirama and Hikari, all watched the scene unfolding. They knew Rin had been Kakashi's comrade and that she had died by his hand. They had spent the night talking; aside from searching for a way to break free from the Reanimation Jutsu, they had discussed the circumstances of their deaths.
The scene looked like a haunting reenactment of that day thirteen years ago. Though they felt pity, they were helpless to intervene.
If there was anyone to blame, it was this cruel world... and Tobirama Senju.
But then...
A splash of blood erupted from Kakashi's chest, the bright red droplets falling into the soil at his feet.
Everyone, including Rin, widened their eyes in disbelief.
The Kakashi who had just seemed invincible—who could strike down his own father without flinching—had actually been hit head-on by Rin's attack?
With trembling eyes, Rin looked at Kakashi, who was now crouching on the ground. A strange red cursed seal appeared on Kakashi's forehead. He stood there, motionless as a statue.
What... is that?
"It seems my timing was perfect..."
A sinister voice rang out. A battered Orochimaru extracted himself from his fight with Hayama Shirakumo.
"Orochimaru! I'll kill—wait, what?" Hikari's eyes trembled as she looked at Kakashi's back. For a moment, she felt as if she had lost something vital.
The twisted crimson tomoe of the Sharingan spun in Hikari's eyes as she prepared to risk her life against Orochimaru. However...
"I see. So this was your trump card?"
A cold, detached voice cut through the air.
Kakashi looked up at the man who had been smug moments ago but now looked paralyzed with shock. The red markings on Kakashi's forehead began to fade away under Orochimaru's incredulous gaze.
"How is this possible?" Orochimaru stammered. "Even if Hiruko's abilities were mediocre, still..."
Still, Orochimaru's current body had been transplanted with a massive amount of Hashirama's cells! How could he fail to control Kakashi?
The wound on Kakashi's chest, which was little more than a scratch from Rin's Tailed Beast cloak, began to emit white steam as it healed instantly.
"Do not use your ignorance to hide the fact that you are weak," Kakashi said. He ignored Rin and looked directly at the stunned Orochimaru, his lips curling into a mocking sneer. "If I were an opponent on your level, your plan might have actually worked."
"But..." Kakashi took a step forward. As he spoke, Rin was suddenly paralyzed by a Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal.
Fierce chakra erupted from Kakashi's body, creating an invisible pressure that swept across the battlefield like a tidal wave!
"You and I are simply not on the same level."
"Your so-called plan is nothing more than a clown's performance in my eyes."
Kakashi's words pierced Orochimaru's pride like daggers. His face contorted as he spat back, "Impossible! A ninja's battle is a battle of information! I couldn't have calculated incorrectly!"
Hearing this, Kakashi let out a low chuckle.
"A ninja's battle is a battle of information?"
Kakashi pointed to his own chest. "For me, a ninja's battle is a battle of Chakra."
"Want to try?" Kakashi challenged. "See if your Kusanagi Sword can even pierce my chakra."
The Yang Release had granted Kakashi more than just White Lightning; it gave him an absolute defense based on chakra. A strong spirit meant a strong Yin Release. By the same logic, a strong body meant a strong Yang Release.
Hashirama Senju was the pinnacle of Yang Release; for eight hundred years, no one had surpassed him. His Yang Release manifested as vitality—a self-healing factor that rivaled the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
Kakashi was different. His Yang Release was Defense.
It was a defensive power that could block anything. Theoretically, as long as the opponent didn't possess more chakra than Kakashi, they could never breach his guard. That small splash of blood earlier was only because Kakashi wanted to see exactly what Orochimaru was planning.
After all, given the scale of this setup, Kakashi was certain he was the primary target.
"If you're not going to move..."
Seeing Orochimaru standing there in stunned silence, a flash of boredom crossed Kakashi's eyes.
Due to the flaws in the Living Corpse Reincarnation and the Curse Mark, Orochimaru's soul was fragmented. His mental strength was weak, and his resistance to Genjutsu was greatly diminished. Even with Hashirama's cells, he couldn't fix that fundamental defect.
"Then you won't get another chance."
The words whispered in Orochimaru's ear. In a single blur of motion, Kakashi was in front of him, ethereal blade in hand!
So fast!
Shaking off the shock of his calculated failure, Orochimaru tried to raise his sword to block.
But it was futile.
The undefendable blade fell. The ethereal sword passed straight through the Kusanagi Sword and bit deep into Orochimaru's flesh!
Blood sprayed instantly.
With a single strike, Orochimaru of the Sannin was cut down on the spot.
Kakashi looked down at the slumped, broken body with a calm expression. He knew that as long as the Curse Marks existed, Orochimaru wouldn't truly die.
But...
Run, Orochimaru. Run like a stray dog.
From this day forward, wherever I set foot, you will stay three steps back.
Can a man as arrogant as you endure such humiliation?
Will you choose a desperate counterattack, or will you swallow your pride and hide in the shadows?
I truly look forward to finding out...
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