After the two serious matters were finished,
Mikami Yuu casually asked about the negotiations between Konoha and Sunagakure.
Judging purely from the situation on the southwestern battlefield, Konoha had undoubtedly gained a huge advantage. Sunagakure could only turtle up inside Wildfire City and defend.
However, Sunagakure was still one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Completely wiping them out was definitely unrealistic. Besides, on the northeastern battlefield, the pressure brought by Kumogakure was also growing stronger. So Konoha could not fight Sunagakure to the bitter end either.
Both sides wanted to gain a bit of local advantage to increase their bargaining chips. Therefore, the next one to two weeks would be extremely important. Once this period passed, regardless of how the battle developed, both sides would probably have to sit down for peace talks.
"Speaking of which, Kakashi and Uchiha Obito seem to have returned from Mount Kikyo, right?"
Jiraiya remembered this matter.
"You and Rin have been staying in camp these past few days, helping treat the wounded. That's been pretty tiring too. Since your four-man squad has regrouped, you can go out for a walk when you have time. Treat it as relaxing.
"Anyway, Sunagakure is currently hiding inside Wildfire City and refusing to come out. Large-scale battles probably won't happen for the time being. At most, there'll be small-scale encounters. For your current squad, that should be no different from an outing."
"Alright."
Yuu nodded.
After leaving the command post,
Yuu went straight to a quiet training ground behind the camp and once again took the Sword of the Thunder God out of its sword case.
According to Jiraiya, the core of the Sword of the Thunder God was the crystal on its hilt. It was called the Lightning Stone, and it had the ability to convert chakra into lightning.
So even people who did not know Lightning Release could trigger its effects.
Moreover, because lightning and water had good compatibility, in the hands of a Water Release grandmaster like Senju Tobirama, it could be used in many other ways.
Yuu's Water Release skill was also decent. In theory, he should be able to reproduce some of Senju Tobirama's methods.
However, this thing was ultimately a ninja tool and could not enter the攻略 list like ordinary ninjutsu.
So for the time being, Yuu did not aim too high. He first tried injecting chakra into it and activated the sword's most basic function.
Bzz—!
The blue crystal at the end of the hilt suddenly lit up, releasing a low hum. Then a pale golden blade of light, condensed like a stream of liquid light, suddenly shot out from the end of the sword, forming a blade more than half a meter long. Tiny arcs of electricity danced along its edge.
When Yuu increased the amount of chakra he injected, the blade length extended further with his movement and quickly reached nearly two meters.
This was basically the limit of the Sword of the Thunder God.
Even if Yuu continued injecting chakra, he could at most increase the blade's width and brightness, but not extend it farther outward.
To be fair,
this two-meter light sword looked extremely stylish, with a kind of technological beauty.
Kurenai's eyes sparkled as she watched.
Mm. This girl happened to be off duty today and had nothing to do. So after leaving the command post, she followed Yuu to the training ground, saying she wanted to personally see this ninja tool once used by the Second Hokage. Now, she had truly had her eyes opened.
However…
[Hatake Swordsmanship: Tsk, little white-hair, why would you like such a flashy blade? It looks light and floaty, with no real feel at all.]
"…"
Yuu's expression froze.
Immediately afterward, another line of text appeared in the galgame system.
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: Hm… I think it's pretty nice. It looks gorgeous and shiny, almost as good as my Light-Flame Bullet!]
[Hatake Swordsmanship: Hmph, why is a Fire Release barging into this discussion? Do you understand blades? You only look at appearances. How shallow.]
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: (heated up) What did you say?]
[Clone Technique: Hehe, you're usually the one who talks the most, and now you finally got snapped at, huh? But this time, I think little Phoenix has a point. Do you need to know how to cook before judging food? Do you need to know refrigeration before judging the quality of a fridge? I think little Yuu has pretty good taste… What a pity. It would be even better if there were a gift for me.]
No, wait… you guys can even argue about this kind of thing?
Phoenix Sage Fire was one thing; at least it shared the trait of "glowing and heating." But how did Clone Technique also come out to comment? And it even secretly brought up gifts again… among all the ninjutsu, you and Transformation Technique have the most skins, okay?
Yuu was a little speechless.
At once, he could only casually say a few words to calm down the techniques inside the galgame system. Then he took a deep breath, lightly shook his wrist, made a sword flourish, and slashed a few times.
As the light blade cut through the air, sizzling electric sounds rang out, leaving a pale golden afterimage in midair.
How should he put it?
Compared with the White Fang short blade, the Sword of the Thunder God did indeed feel much lighter. It swung very quickly, but it lacked the heavy feedback that came from a solid blade cutting into something.
However, as Yuu controlled the chakra intensity and adjusted the light blade of the Sword of the Thunder God to a length similar to the White Fang short blade, then began practicing the moves of Hatake Swordsmanship, that sense of unfamiliarity gradually faded.
His movements became increasingly smooth and skilled.
Chop, thrust, upward slash, parry…
Intercept, draw-cut, shave, twist…
The pale golden light blade darted through the thin mist at high speed. Every swing was accompanied by fine crackling arcs of electricity. When the sharp light blade passed through wooden posts, it easily sliced them in half. The cut surfaces showed faint scorched marks.
"Hoo… it feels pretty good."
Yuu exhaled softly and pondered.
In terms of sharpness, this Sword of the Thunder God seemed to be even slightly superior to the White Fang short blade.
Furthermore, the lightning burn attached to each slash counted as an additional damage buff to his original swordsmanship. Unfortunately, it could not stack with Binding Formula Seal or toxins. After all, there was no way to carve sealing formulas or apply poison to a virtual blade.
If one had to name this sword's only flaw…
it was probably its excessive dependence on the Lightning Stone.
This thing was extremely precious. Even with Senju Tobirama's status and strength, he had only obtained two pieces. One had already been destroyed during his lifetime. The one installed in the sword was the second piece. If it broke as well, the Sword of the Thunder God would probably become useless.
Next,
Yuu began integrating the Heart-Blade Domain. A 6.6-meter spherical domain unfolded around him. Every extension of the light blade and every leap of electric arcs seemed to become an extension of his limbs. Every movement became rounded, natural, and extremely smooth.
Even Hatake Swordsmanship, which had disliked this sword at first, seemed to loosen its attitude somewhat, saying that the thing was at least passable.
Until a certain moment.
Yuu tried condensing a trace of chakra at the tip of the light blade, then swung forward sharply.
Whoosh—!
A concentrated pale golden bolt of lightning shot out from the blade tip like an arrow leaving the string, moving as fast as lightning.
Boom!
Four or five meters away, a hard rock half the height of a person exploded on impact. Shattered stones flew everywhere. A deep pit with blackened edges remained at the center of the blast, surrounded by spiderweb-like cracks and tiny arcs of electricity flickering across the surface.
"Oh~"
So this was Hatake Swordsmanship's "blade energy"?
Using it was not as strenuous as expected.
Yuu nodded slightly.
"So… so amazing!"
Two voices filled with shock and envy rang out from the edge of the training ground.
One voice belonged to Kurenai. She had been watching from the side the whole time.
As for the other…
On the field, Yuu withdrew his chakra and returned the Sword of the Thunder God to its original plain, thin-sword form. Then he turned and saw that Obito and Kakashi had somehow arrived there without him noticing.
Obito's mouth was wide open, his eyes round. His Sharingan had unconsciously activated, and the two tomoe slowly rotated. Clearly, that long-range rock-shattering strike just now had shocked him quite a bit.
As for Kakashi…
his expression was even more complicated. His dead-fish eye, usually half-lidded, was now wide open. His gaze was filled with shock, confusion, and even an indescribable self-doubt.
He had personally watched Yuu go from not being good at swordsmanship at first, to "learning" Hatake Swordsmanship after watching him practice a few times, then gradually raising this sword style step by step.
Starting from the Chūnin Exam—or even a bit earlier—Yuu's level in this area had already surpassed Kakashi, the orthodox heir of the Hatake clan.
And now…
Yuu seemed to have developed something new on top of the original Hatake Swordsmanship, showing a possible extension that even his father, Hatake Sakumo, had never used.
This did not mean Hatake Sakumo could not release blade energy externally.
It was just that his path had been close-range assassination. All his abilities had been developed and expanded around that point, and he had not walked down the path of external release. In theory, the Uchiha clan's Sword Leaping Flame was also a form of chakra release, only not as pure as what Yuu had just used.
For a moment,
Kakashi felt an intense sense of frustration for some reason.
He had always felt his talent was not bad. When his father was still alive, he had also said Kakashi might be able to bring Hatake Swordsmanship to greater glory. But now… an "outsider" who did not even bear the Hatake name had actually left him far behind in this sword style?
Was that reasonable?
Could it be that Father had taken the wrong child back then, and Yuu was actually his real son, while he himself should be called "Mikami Kakashi"?
Naturally, Yuu did not know about the storm raging inside Kakashi's heart at this moment.
He casually placed the Sword of the Thunder God back into its case and hung it behind him. Then he walked toward the edge of the training ground, took out the White Fang short blade that had accompanied him for a long time, and handed it to Kakashi with both hands.
"Perfect timing that you're here, Kakashi. I borrowed this blade from you for a long time. Now I'm returning it to its owner."
"…"
Kakashi's gaze fell on the White Fang short blade, and his eyes became complicated.
This blade was basically molded from the same pattern as the one on his own body. It carried his father's glory, as well as heavy expectations and pressure. At this moment, he took a deep breath, as if making some kind of decision.
"No need."
"This blade… I'll give it to you."
"Hm?"
"I heard the village has nominated you for jōnin. When you were promoted to special jōnin last time, I wasn't in the village. So consider this blade my gift congratulating you on your jōnin promotion. I believe you won't disgrace it."
Kakashi raised his head. His dead-fish eye refocused and looked straight at Yuu.
"However, I have one additional request. Please make sure to spare some time in the future to spar with me a few times. Regarding Hatake Swordsmanship… I have some questions I'd like to personally ask you about."
When he said the latter half, Kakashi paused before finishing.
No matter what, a descendant of the Hatake family asking someone else for advice on Hatake Swordsmanship was somewhat hard to say aloud.
"Alright."
Yuu smiled and did not refuse Kakashi's gift. With a turn of his wrist, he inserted the White Fang short blade back behind him.
"As long as you want to practice, I'll accompany you anytime."
Beside them,
Obito shouted loudly, "Wow! Kakashi, you're actually really generous! This ninja blade is probably worth over a million ryō, right?"
As he spoke, Obito turned and dashed to Yuu's side in one step, eyes shining as he stared at the Sword of the Thunder God at Yuu's waist.
"Yuu! Hurry! Let me see that glowing sword! That move just now was way too cool! This thing is much cooler than kunai!"
"…Here."
Yuu hesitated for a moment, then handed over the Sword of the Thunder God.
"Be careful. Don't break it."
"Hehe, how could I?"
Obito smiled as he spoke, then drew out the Sword of the Thunder God and carefully examined it for quite some time before reluctantly handing it back.
"So nice. Yuu, you and Kakashi both have great ninja tools now. I'm the only one still using ordinary kunai and shuriken…
"If only the village could reward me with a ninja tool too."
"Hmph."
Kakashi glanced at Obito and said blandly, "If you can defeat a Kazekage, you can also get a reward like this. But Rasa has already been dealt with by Yuu. If you want to do it, you'll probably have to go find Chiyo."
"…Then forget it."
Obito shook his head immediately.
Although he was very confident in his Sharingan, he was not blindly arrogant. The two times Chiyo had appeared before, she had either fought against Namikaze Minato or Orochimaru. Although she had not won, she had retreated safely both times. That kind of strength was not something the current him could challenge.
"Sigh, if only there were an old grandpa who suddenly felt kind and gave me a few ninja tools…"
"Preferably something connected to the Uchiha bloodline… Hmm, like a war fan?"
…
"Achoo—"
Inside the Mountain Prison, a certain Uchiha clan "old grandpa" seemed to sense Obito muttering about him and sneezed.
Then he raised his head and looked at the White Zetsu in front of him with displeasure.
"You're saying… that white-haired brat named Mikami Yuu received Senju Tobirama's Sword of the Thunder God because he defeated the Kazekage?"
~~~
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