Chapter 523: Killing Intent Against Kakashi
Whew.
Kakashi drew a deep breath and pushed his Thunder Breathing deeper and deeper, slipping into Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Electric light crawled over his body in thin streaks, flickering in time with his breathing like dancing lightning snakes. It strengthened his muscles, sharpened his nerves, and kept driving his speed and power higher.
With every breath, the lightning grew brighter.
A heavy aura rolled outward, blowing away the dust and smoke around him.
Hozuki Mangetsu halted mid advance the moment he sensed the change. He tightened his grip on his long sword and began to pull back.
Kakashi often used Lightning Release Chakra Mode as support for No Thought Strike, but the mode itself was already a terrifying technique.
It did not only invigorate the body and massively boost physical ability. It also enhanced Lightning Release Nature Transformation, letting Kakashi use Lightning Release without hand seals, and with even greater force.
The problem was always chakra.
Kakashi could not afford to treat his power like it was endless. He had to calculate, pick the most efficient option, and end fights cleanly.
Whoosh whoosh.
While Mangetsu was still trying to figure out what Kakashi was setting up, Kakashi snapped his wrist and fired two kunai at extreme speed.
Both were coated in Lightning Release chakra.
Clang.
Bang.
Mangetsu slashed one aside with his blade. With his other hand, he formed a pistol shape and fired water droplets to intercept the second.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
No hand seals.
No warning.
Kakashi spat a sharp lightning bolt straight at Mangetsu.
Rumble.
Mangetsu did not expect the follow up to come that fast. He forced Hydrification to slip away, but he was still grazed by the lightning.
Lightning did not play nicely with a fully liquefied body. Mangetsu could not maintain complete hydration, and the area struck suffered severe damage.
"He hid a no hand sign Lightning Release." Mangetsu's face twisted as pain surged through him.
He had been guarding against Kakashi's Lightning Release from the start, but the intelligence he had did not include this. He did not expect Kakashi to fire it instantly, without any tell.
Mangetsu had no time to dwell on it. He retreated again and raised a hand, forcing himself to counter.
"Water Release: Water Hail!"
A dense cluster of droplets formed in front of his palm like rain, then shot out in a rapid volley.
"Thunderclap Flash: Godspeed!"
Kakashi did not give him the breathing room.
He gathered everything into one burst, tensing like an arrow drawn to its limit.
Boom.
A thunderous roar shook the arena as Lightning Release chakra detonated under his feet. Kakashi launched forward like a streaking bolt, scorching a dark line into the ground.
Bang.
Mangetsu did not even clearly see Kakashi's body. One heartbeat later, Kakashi was already in front of him, the White Fang short blade pressed to Mangetsu's throat.
Boundless lightning danced along the blade, arcs snapping like fangs.
"I lost…" Mangetsu's eyes widened.
It felt unreal.
He still had clever applications of Hydrification he had not shown. He had more moves. He had more options.
How could he lose in the first round like this?
Frustration churned in his chest.
And yet, a part of him had to admit it.
Kakashi's strength and combat sense were both terrifying. Right now, Mangetsu simply could not beat him.
"Kakashi Hatake wins!" the referee declared.
"That speed is interesting." Hanzo watched from above and shook his head, a hint of regret in his eyes. "If he were faster and stronger, he might even have a chance to steal first place from Nagato."
Kakashi's performance screamed genius. But he was younger than Nagato. Less training time was a real disadvantage. If their ages were closer, the outcome of this Youth Martial Arts Tournament would be far harder to predict.
Hanzo found himself hoping for a dark horse.
If someone actually snatched first place away, Sosuke's expression would be priceless.
Sosuke had set his own most famous technique as the grand prize because he believed his disciple was strong enough to ensure no one else could take it.
Then a nobody appears and steals the crown.
Hanzo liked that thought far more than he should have.
"Hanzo." Kakuzu, seated to Sosuke's left, tilted his head. "Why are you suddenly smiling? Is it because one of your Rain contestants is about to appear? I seem to remember none of the Rain ninja even made it into the elimination rounds. Am I remembering wrong?"
Hanzo's faint smile froze.
Then his face returned to its usual blank mask.
Since Hanzo had been invited as a special guest, many Rain ninja had joined the tournament.
Whether it was lack of strength or terrible luck, every last one of them had fallen in the preliminaries. Not a single Rain contestant reached the elimination stage.
It was embarrassing.
Hanzo was supposed to be on the same level as Sosuke. Amegakure was supposed to match the Shinobi Sect.
Yet Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan all advanced, while the Rain ninja, even with more participants, could not produce a single one.
When it came to the next generation, Amegakure was clearly behind.
Hanzo stared at the arena, where the next match had not even begun, and wished the fights would start and end quickly so he could return to Amegakure.
Sitting in Six Paths City made his whole body feel uncomfortable.
As the referee called the winner, Kakashi sheathed the White Fang short blade and headed back toward the waiting room.
When he entered, many contestants were still replaying that lightning fast cut in their minds.
"What is going on?" Mei felt her mind turn heavy. "I trained so hard, but it feels like the gap got bigger anyway."
Back during the Chunin Exams, she thought Kakashi was just decent. Stronger than her, yes, but not someone impossible to beat.
Now, he felt terrifying.
She pictured herself in Mangetsu's place. She did not believe she could dodge Kakashi's Godspeed slash.
The only countermeasure she could imagine was using Hidden Mist Technique before the fight started.
Her Hidden Mist was refined. Most detection methods in the shinobi world could not break it.
But that thought only made her mood worse.
"How can this be…"
It felt like last time Kakashi scored seventy five and she scored seventy. After she worked herself half to death to reach eighty, Kakashi casually jumped to ninety five.
She improved.
But the distance still widened.
"As expected of Kakashi." Rin clasped her hands together and smiled. "He's stronger, but he's still cautious."
If Kakashi wanted pure speed, he could have gone all out from the start and ended Mangetsu instantly. He might have even finished faster than Guy.
But Kakashi did not do that.
He probed first, gathered what he needed, and then ended it in one decisive strike.
Rin could not help thinking Obito needed to learn that.
Obito pouted. "He just likes showing off. If he's so great, he should slash two more times."
If Kakashi slashed two more times with his chakra reserves, someone would have to carry him back into the room.
"Kakashi Hatake…" Sasori's eyes flickered. He could not help glancing at the approaching Kakashi. "What is your relationship with Sakumo Hatake, the Konoha White Fang?"
Before the elimination rounds, he did not care about any contestant. He certainly had no reason to pay attention to an unfamiliar Konoha ninja.
But now, as he studied Kakashi's face and build, realization struck.
This boy looked far too similar to Konoha White Fang.
The person Sasori hated most in the world was that man.
Because Konoha White Fang killed Sasori's parents and left him without their warmth forever.
One of Sasori's greatest motivations for learning puppetry was to kill Konoha White Fang and avenge them.
Then fate mocked him.
By the time Sasori's puppetry matured, news arrived that Konoha White Fang had committed suicide.
Sasori lost his target.
He had no one left to kill.
He fell into a long depression, feeling like life itself had lost meaning.
"So you're White Fang's child." The dormant desire for revenge flared, hot and sharp. "Good. Your father killed my parents. I'll kill you."
In that instant, Sasori no longer cared about chakra blades worth millions. What were materials compared to revenge?
Even though he had already shut down Transparent World, Kakashi's instincts were keen.
He felt it.
A thin, subtle killing intent, like a needle sliding toward his throat.
Kakashi's gaze swept the waiting room.
After what he had just done, plenty of eyes were on him. Kakashi memorized expressions, but for the moment he could not pinpoint which one carried the intent.
"I can't act here." Sasori forced his face calm and pressed the killing intent down.
Too many geniuses were gathered in one place. Shinobi Sect personnel were present. Sasori could not guarantee he could kill Kakashi under these conditions.
Kakashi's speed was too absurd. If Sasori failed to kill him in one blow, Kakashi could escape.
And if Ninja Master Sosuke and Hanzo both moved, Sasori would not even be able to leave unscathed, let alone finish the kill.
He needed the right timing.
Just like when he killed the Third Kazekage.
"Who was it?" Kakashi thought. "Hidden Mist. Iwagakure. Kumogakure."
Logically, it was most likely someone from a village currently at war with Konoha.
Hidden Mist felt the most suspicious. Kakashi had killed many Mist ninja on the East Bank battlefield. It was possible one of the contestants lost family or comrades there.
And compared to other villages, Kakashi and his squad had more name recognition in the Land of Water. It would not be strange if the Mist sent someone here with assassination in mind.
Even knowing someone wanted him dead, Kakashi did not panic.
His four teammates were right beside him.
And Mugetsu was not far away.
To kill him, even if Haku and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist rose from the grave and came together, they still would not be qualified.
Kakashi sat down beside his teammates and wrote a sentence on a sheet of paper.
Be careful from now on. Someone may try to attack us Konoha ninja.
Obito's eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kakashi pressed a finger to Obito's lips and shook his head slightly.
Right now, they were in the open. The enemy was in the dark.
They could not reveal that they had noticed.
Shisui subtly scanned the contestants, looking for anyone suspicious.
Rin tensed, ready to gather chakra and fight at any moment.
Kakashi wrote a second line.
We have enough strength on our side. Don't worry too much.
Rin read it and nodded. Guy and Shisui were both here. Their five person group was an elite jonin squad.
The tournament continued smoothly.
After Kakashi's match, an Iwagakure ninja fought a Cloud ninja. The Cloud ninja won by a narrow margin.
Then it was Shisui's turn.
His opponent was also from Iwagakure.
Shisui won easily, dropping the enemy with Sharingan genjutsu alone.
Kitsuchi, watching from the audience, looked heartbroken.
Iwagakure had sent many participants, and many of them reached the elimination stage, but most were still eliminated in the first round.
Later, Kakashi spotted someone familiar.
Asuma.
Kakashi could not help feeling Asuma's position was awkward.
Calling him weak would be unfair. Asuma won his first round without much trouble.
But compared to Kakashi and the others, Asuma still had a noticeable gap.
Even so, Kakashi felt Asuma was likely to reach the quarterfinals.
His draw was good. He would not face anyone truly terrifying before then.
Everything was relative.
Asuma looked average next to monsters like Kakashi, Shisui, Guy, and Nagato, but among the majority of participants, he was absolutely strong.
Mei, whom Kakashi had quietly suspected earlier, also advanced.
Then came the second to last match.
Obito entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode the moment the fight began and crushed his Iwagakure opponent with a large scale Fire Release.
The final match featured no great village headbands.
A Hidden Grass ninja fought a Hidden Frost ninja.
In the end, the Hidden Grass ninja proved superior and took the win.
Kakashi could not help sighing at how unfair the world was.
Some people drew Nagato and Guy in the first round.
Others drew a Grass ninja in the second.
Obito's path was far too smooth.
At last, the first round of the elimination stage ended.
Because earlier fighters rested while later fighters fought, the overall break was not long. Half an hour later, the second round began.
Once again, starting with Nagato at number one, the matches continued in order.
.....
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