'Is learning Raikiri useful to me?'
Sasuke had wondered about this long ago.
In terms of lethality, it was far inferior to his released Takemikazuchi.
Moreover, during its use, it was accompanied by a sound like a thousand birds chirping, making it unsuitable for sneak attacks.
While it seemed the Shinobi Combat System couldn't compare to that of a Shinigami, Sasuke knew it was probably because he hadn't been exposed to top-tier Ninjutsu yet.
Otherwise, there was no explaining how the Yondaime Hokage managed to seal the terrifying Kyubi inside Naruto.
Once he finished learning this so-called Nature Transformation, he could probably start developing Ninjutsu that suited him.
With that in mind, Sasuke, after grabbing the copper wire and practicing for about half an hour, finally mastered the method.
Szzzttt…
A faint electric sizzle later, the last intact bulb finally emitted a steady white light.
"Hah..."
Sasuke let out a soft exhale and withdrew his Chakra.
Though it was just lighting a bulb, it was still somewhat mentally taxing.
"Yosh, great success!"
Kakashi clapped his hands from the side, congratulating him in a light tone, "Congratulations, Sasuke. You've perfectly mastered Lightning Release Chakra Nature transformation."
Sasuke shot him a glance, casually tossed away the now-useless copper wire and bulb, and snorted coldly in response.
Kakashi closed his 'Icha Icha Paradise' and became uncharacteristically serious, "Since Nature Transformation is no problem, the next step is Shape Transformation training."
He walked to a spot not far from Sasuke and slowly raised his right hand.
"Watch closely, Sasuke."
In an instant, pure Lightning Release chakra gathered in his palm. Blue-white electric light was visible to the naked eye, sizzling and crackling, as if countless birds were chirping in his hand.
"By elevating Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation and Chakra Shape Transformation to their extremes, the final result is this technique…"
Kakashi's eyes turned sharp.
"Raikiri!"
…
In the afternoon, when Naruto woke up in the hospital room, he immediately, as usual, rushed excitedly to the Training Ground 3, instinctively about to yell at the top of his lungs.
"Sasuke! I..."
His voice, on the verge of bursting out, suddenly caught in his throat.
Not far away, Sasuke was mantaining a strange posture.
He was on one knee, his right arm extended forward, palm up. A mass of blue-white electric light danced in his hand, emitting a piercing screech.
It illuminated his already stern face, making it appear even paler.
"Uh..."
Seeing this, Naruto instinctively softened his footsteps and lowered his voice.
"Training again..." He muttered under his breath.
Naruto scratched his head. He glanced at Kakashi, who was leaning against a tree reading a book, completely oblivious to his presence, then looked back at the training Sasuke.
His previously high spirits instantly cooled.
He opened his mouth but ultimately didn't dare to disturb them.
'Forget it, I can't bother Sasuke while he's training.'
Thinking this, Naruto's gaze unconsciously fell on the tree next to him… the one he had challenged countless times without ever succeeding.
'Might as well train myself since I'm idle anyway!'
He clenched his fists, pumped himself up, and his eyes regained their determination.
'I will succeed today!'
He ran to the tree, took a deep breath, and recalled the key points Sasuke had taught him before…
'Attach Chakra to the soles of the feet like a thin film.'
He closed his eyes and tried hard to feel the Chakra within his body.
'Strange...'
Naruto frowned in confusion.
'Today's Chakra feels... especially obedient?'
The previous messy feeling was gone, replaced by an unprecedented smoothness.
He didn't understand why, but it was a good thing!
Delighted, Naruto stopped overthinking and carefully guided that smooth Chakra to the soles of his feet.
Then, he lifted his foot, and with a mix of nervousness and anticipation, he gently stepped onto the vertical tree trunk.
He held on!
"I-I did it?!" Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief.
He tentatively took a few steps upward. His body stuck firmly to the tree trunk, showing no signs of slipping.
Naruto excitedly opened his eyes wider and continued climbing, his speed increasing.
Soon, he rushed to the top in one breath, standing steadily on the highest branch.
"Hehe, I really am a genius!"
Looking down at the training ground that had become small beneath his feet, an unprecedented sense of accomplishment instantly filled him.
The first person Naruto wanted to share this with was that guy who always had a scowling face.
Excited, he turned his head, towards the black figure below, and instinctively took a step, ready to rush over and show off.
"Hey, Sasuke, look! I…"
Before he could finish, his foot missed its footing.
"…Huh?"
Naruto's mind went blank. Only then did he belatedly remember he was standing on a ten-meter-high treetop.
"Waaaah…!!!"
With a miserable scream, Naruto's body plummeted straight down from the treetop.
Sasuke, who was concentrating Chakra in his palm, was startled by the scream, his movements pausing.
He stopped, frowned, and looked towards the source of the sound, just in time to see Naruto land face-first on the ground in an extremely wretched posture.
A dull thud sounded, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
"…"
Kakashi also saw this scene and sighed helplessly.
Sasuke watched expressionlessly as Naruto lay motionless on the ground, silent.
'Although incredibly stupid, he didn't seem to have any new injuries from the fall. Even the injuries from yesterday were completely healed now.'
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, looking at Naruto with interest.
'An enviable recovery speed. Is it that fox's ability?'
'No.'
He quickly dismissed that thought, 'The fox's energy was also completely sealed. That could only mean this was this idiot's own ability.
'In that case, he might be more suited to learning that damned Kaido than I am.'
Just as Sasuke was internally evaluating, Naruto did a kip-up and bounced up from the ground.
Completely ignoring his earlier embarrassing display, he rushed up to Sasuke in a few quick steps, looked up at him, his bright blue eyes shining intensely.
"Sasuke, Sasuke, did you see? I climbed up there!"
He gestured excitedly, pointing at the big tree, wishing he could let the whole world know about his feat.
'So noisy...'
Sasuke's face darkened. He shot Naruto a cold glance, "I saw. An idiot fell from a tree."
"The point isn't falling down!" Naruto completely missed Sasuke's annoyance, leaning even closer, his face full of admiration, "It's that the method you taught was really useful! The Chakra was super obedient today!"
"Since that's the case, teach me something else!"
As he spoke, he mimicked Sasuke's earlier action of gathering electricity in his palm, gesturing.
"Teach me that 'crackling' technique in your hand! It looks super cool!"
"Get lost."
Sasuke couldn't be bothered to look at this idiot any longer and turned to continue his own training.
"Huh? But I've already learned tree climbing! That means I have talent!" Naruto instinctively tried to follow and pester Sasuke further.
Kakashi timely appeared in front of Naruto using the Body Flicker Technique, one hand pressing down on his head.
"Naruto."
He looked at Naruto, who looked unconvinced, and said with a smile, "Sasuke's training is very crucial right now. He really can't be distracted. Don't bother him."
A/N: Some readers in the comments are worried Sasuke will become Naruto's babysitter?
That won't happen. I find the idea of him being someone's babysitter pretty boring myself.
It's just character interaction and changing the predetermined growth paths of certain characters.
Sasuke is still the Sasuke seeking revenge, he just has a bit more humanity in specific situations.
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