No, there is no surge of chakra... Shisui stared blankly at the faded world before him. In his blood-red eyes, three crimson tomoe spun slowly, yet he sensed no
trace of a genjutsu's presence.
'But if it wasn't a genjutsu, how did Nii-san do it?'
Shisui watched, and Itachi watched too. The [Transparent World] manifested as a refined shade of gray, instantly enveloping the two boys. In a heartbeat, it
captured their flesh, bones, movements, and breathing completely... they looked like transparent figures. And of course, this included the one standing nearby...
Sakumo Hatake!
The man stared at the two suns slowly rotating in Roy's eyes, feeling a rare sense of restraint.
It had been a long time since he had felt this way—he couldn't even remember when it started. But Sakumo knew that given his current reputation and strength, there weren't many people alive who could make him feel like this.
The Kage of the great hidden villages were among them. The Jinchuriki of the Tailed Beasts were others. Talented young ninjas like Minato Namikaze counted for half... and the rest? It seemed there was only this child before him, not even six years old!
Six years old. He was two years younger than Kakashi!
A sharp light flashed in Sakumo's eyes. Stepping into the refined gray world, he felt his every move being peeled back like the layers of a cocoon, turning into 'Threads of Vulnerability' that connected him to Roy.
He said in disbelief, "I was just talking to your father the other day about taking you as my disciple. Now it seems... my vision was too narrow."
"To think you've already found your own path of the sword!"
'The path of the sword...' Shisui sat nearby, deep in thought.
Itachi was even younger than him and didn't fully understand the weight of it, but that didn't stop him from catching a specific term from Sakumo's words and his brother's earlier speech: 'Sword Eye'!
'Sword Eye...'
'Literally, the eye of the sword?'
'Does that mean that in the future, whether they use a blade or a kunai, no one will be able to escape Nii-san's Sword Eye?'
The boy's imagination ran wild, and he unconsciously gripped the sword in his hand.
"You flatter me, Uncle White Fang," Roy said calmly, his expression neutral. He held his sword level and lightly stroked Solar Eclipse as it flowed with the flames of the great sun. "These are just insignificant tricks. I am still far from the true path of the sword."
"Insignificant tricks?" Sakumo's lips twitched almost imperceptibly, and his eyes narrowed in a smile. "You've seen through my entire body and every single movement. You call that an insignificant trick?"
The unknown was always the most terrifying. Conversely, the 'known' was much less frightening; one only needed to find a counter-strategy to resolve it easily.
Yet, Konoha's White Fang almost never needed a second strike.
It was usually a single strike from the 'unknown' that easily claimed an opponent's life.
Now... Sakumo looked at his hands, feet, and joints, all tethered by 'Threads of Vulnerability.' If he even moved, Roy would sense it, anticipate the move, and strike back...
His expression turned solemn. With a boom, he unleashed an unprecedented aura!
He poured all his chakra into the White Fang blade. Instantly, blinding arcs of electricity flickered, forcing Shisui and Itachi to raise their small hands to shield their eyes...
To the two children, it felt as if a giant hand had snatched them up and tossed them into a vast ocean of lightning. Their bodies went numb and lost all sensation. Struggling to look through the gaps in their fingers...
They could only barely see their Uncle White Fang holding his blade vertically!
With a crackle, the arcs of electricity exploded outward in a sphere!
With White Fang in hand, Sakumo looked as if he were holding a bolt of lightning. For a moment, Roy had the illusion that he was seeing Kakashi performing Chidori!
However, one was a ninjutsu, while the other was a pure Lightning Style enhancement... they were not to be compared!
"Roy, you're right. The path of the sword is too distant, too ethereal..." The man's white hair stood on end. He slowly flicked his wrist, leveling White Fang. The tip of the blade crackled with lightning, pointing straight at Roy's heart. He shifted into a lunge, then stepped... he vanished like a bolt of lightning...
The blade was already at Roy's chest when his unfinished sentence finally drifted over from afar!
He said, "I don't really understand it either. I only need to know one thing. As long as..."
"I'm fast enough!"
"That's all that matters!"
Indeed!
He was fast!
Bolstered by Lightning Style, he had become a blur of electricity...
Roy had anticipated this thrust the moment Sakumo moved, engraving the image into his mind. However, his body's instinctive reaction was just a fraction too slow. A chill touched his chest as a piece of his clothing was sliced open.
With a crackle, the light flashed, and Sakumo's figure reappeared.
Holding White Fang with the piece of cloth dangling from the tip, the man looked back. "You dodged quickly."
It was fast. He had relied on the 0.1-second advance perception of the [Eye of Delusion Breaking]... but,
'I still didn't completely dodge it...'
After the initial exchange failed, Roy gave Solar Eclipse a gentle shake, shattering the tiny arcs of electricity that were trying to invade his body. He looked up at Sakumo, frowning in deep thought.
[SYSTEM: "Swordsmanship" +10. Encountered [Lightning Style]. Nen nature "Lightning" has been activated...]
Lightning. "Thunder Breathing." The Sea of Cognition surged with massive waves, washing over the Demon Slayer Gate.
The gate, adorned with Demon ornaments, trembled. It opened a sliver, revealing the face of an old man with white hair and a white beard.
Roy carefully felt the essence of Sakumo's lightning-infused strike. His consciousness submerged as he listened to the voice of the system panel. In a trance, he entered the Demon Slayer Gate, just as he had once learned Water Breathing from Urokodaki Sakonji...
His consciousness became a detached observer, quietly watching an old man named Jigoro Kuwajima. Clutching a cane, the old man tirelessly taught his two disciples. Before Roy's eyes were nothing but speed and lightning!
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash..."
"Second Form: Rice Spirit..."
"Third Form: Thunder Swarm..."
"Fourth Form: Distant Thunder..."
"Fifth Form... Sixth Form..."
"..."
Without realizing it, he became entranced...
"Hmm?" In the [Transparent World], the boy froze.
He held his sword like a piece of stubborn rock, his breathing and consciousness seemingly vanished...
At that moment, the faded world regained its former colors.
The surrounding green trees, bluestones, flying birds, white clouds, and the breeze all returned...
Shisui and Itachi felt their vision blur. When they looked at each other again, it was as if they had broken through a barrier and returned to the Southern Forest. Not far away was the thick tree that Nii-san had split with his previous strike.
"This..."
"Nii-san..."
"Is he admitting... that he was defeated?"
Shisui and Itachi looked at each other and then at the silent, eyes-closed Roy. But Itachi, whose mind was more sensitive and observant, suddenly noticed something...
Sakumo Hatake had not lowered his sword!
The man frowned as he watched Roy frown. He quietly removed the piece of cloth from the tip of his blade.
His flowing white hair drifted in the wind, flickering with a few sparks of electricity... He waited until Roy opened his eyes again, then gently let the cloth go.
The scrap of fabric drifted in the breeze, spinning and fluttering before the boy until he reached out and caught it in his palm.
The boy bowed appropriately. "Thank you for returning the scrap, Uncle White Fang. If my mother saw my clothes were torn, she might give me a scolding."
"Haha. Mikoto isn't that kind of person. But you!" Konoha's White Fang looked at the boy with piercing eyes. "You really gave me a huge surprise!"
"A surprise... do you mean this?" Roy gently stroked Solar Eclipse. The flames vanished, but a bolt of lightning abruptly appeared in everyone's sight. Like a thunder serpent, it wound its way along the blade. In a blink, the asauchi was enveloped, becoming a... blade of lightning!
With a crackle, Roy pointed the sword diagonally. A flash of lightning erupted from the tip and bored into the ground, creating a deep pit.
Though the pit was small—far less terrifying than the strike that split the tree—it was lightning. Which meant...
"Nii-san has mastered the lightning nature chakra as well!"
Shisui was stunned... Having followed Roy since childhood, he had only ever seen fire. This was the first time he had seen lightning!
The boy turned to ask Itachi, "Did you know?"
Itachi stared blankly at the lightning flowing over Roy's Solar Eclipse. After a moment of silence, he slowly shook his head. "It's the first time I've seen it too."
Shisui: "..."
He was speechless.
A gust of wind blew, swirling up some dust...
Beside the broken tree, the two children sat cross-legged, watching. Roy and Sakumo Hatake stood on opposite sides, lightning pouring from both their hands.
At a certain moment, they charged at each other again!
Only this time, it was lightning against lightning!
Roy opened all the nodes in his body, converting all his Nen into lightning. He moved like an electric serpent, striking out with a flicker of his tongue... this was an Iaidō strike!
It was "Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
With a clang, metal clashed. Solar Eclipse slammed into White Fang, and arcs of electricity erupted from the center of the impact!
Sakumo analyzed the entire sequence—from Roy's footwork to his stance, to the lightning-fast draw aimed at his throat... it was a marvelous sword technique he had never experienced before!
Greatly shocked, the man pressed his forearm down, forcing Roy back, and countered with a backhand slash toward his chest.
Roy ducked to avoid it and drew his blade again. With an upward slash, he unleashed five consecutive bolts of lightning. It was "Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Rice Spirit!"
Then the Third Form... Fourth Form... Fifth Form... Sixth Form...
Electricity crackled and the sounds of clashing blades were incessant... The system prompts continued to ring out...
Taking advantage of the activation of [Lightning Style], Roy used Sun Breathing as a foundation to quickly learn Thunder Breathing, constantly clashing with Sakumo Hatake. Soon...
In the column for Nen Nature Transformation, the entry for [Nen Nature: Lightning] was climbing rapidly—
'Fast... too fast. I can't see anything at all...' In his blood-red eyes, the three tomoe were spinning so fast they almost seemed to smoke. Shisui stared intently at the duel, yet he still struggled to capture the shadows of Roy and Sakumo!
The two were like bolts of lightning—a flash here, a clash there. He couldn't make out the movements or the stances of their blades at all. As for Itachi...
The boy put his hands behind his head and lay down on the ground, simply giving up on watching. He waited for a curious Shisui to nudge him, then said, "Rest. After all... we have extra training later."
Shisui's face turned bitter, remembering that Roy had just punished him with ten thousand swings. He simply gave up as well, lying down beside Itachi and deactivating his Sharingan.
Clang, clang, clang...
The sound of clashing metal grew more intense...
At a certain moment, accompanied by a thunderous boom!
Clang—!
Solar Eclipse met White Fang, tip to tip!
Roy and Sakumo Hatake stood facing each other, one with black hair and one with white, standing in silence. A moment later, they looked at each other, smiled, and sheathed their swords.
"Your lightning is even more remarkable than I imagined," the man said.
"Your blade is even faster than I imagined," the boy replied.
Then,
As a gentle breeze blew,
The two figures, one large and one small, both spread their arms and followed the example of Itachi and Shisui, lying spread-eagle on the ground. Facing the blue sky, they watched the bright sun and the drifting clouds, taking a rare break to enjoy a moment of peace after the battle.
[SYSTEM: Nen Nature Transformation +10.]
[...]
[SYSTEM: Current [Lightning]: Lv2 (142/1000)]
The system prompts faded...
A dewdrop that hadn't yet been evaporated by the sun slid off a green leaf above and landed on Roy's forehead.
Feeling the slight chill, the boy turned his head. "Thank you."
Unexpectedly, Sakumo Hatake turned his head at the same time and also said, "Thank you."
Both were stunned for a moment, then both laughed. They asked each other, "What are you thanking me for?"
"I'm thanking you for the guidance," the boy said.
"I'm thanking you for letting me have such an enjoyable fight after so long," the man said.
"That's because Uncle White Fang is too strong," the boy added.
"And because you are not weak either," the man added.
Sakumo rolled onto his side to face Roy, looking at the boy seriously. "Child, do not easily teach your sword techniques to others."
"Why?" Roy also rolled onto his side to face Sakumo. "Is it not okay to give them to you, Uncle?"
"To me?" Sakumo was stunned.
"Yes."
[SYSTEM: Detecting 1 Prospective Believer...]
[SYSTEM: Prospective Believer Sakumo Hatake's loyalty +5 due to high appreciation of the host...]
Roy rolled over and scrambled up from the ground, patting the dust off his clothes. He performed a solemn bow toward Sakumo. "Uncle White Fang is not an outsider. Besides... what you taught me today is far more than what I'm giving you."
"But I didn't teach you anything." Sakumo couldn't stay lying down.
He stood up and lightly patted Roy's shoulder. "It was all your own doing."
Roy didn't explain. With a thought, he linked his Thunder Breathing to form a Nen Stream and tapped Sakumo on the chest. Information exploded, branching into several streams of data that flowed into the man's mind.
Then—
The man's body stiffened. When he returned to his senses,
He repeatedly processed the sword technique called Thunder Breathing that had appeared in his mind.
He looked at Roy with a complicated expression.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say...
In the end, he could only pat Roy's shoulder and take his leave.
Step, step... The sound of his footsteps grew distant...
The system prompt arrived, albeit a bit late.
[SYSTEM: Prospective Believer Sakumo Hatake is grateful for the host's gift of Thunder Breathing, loyalty +5...]
[SYSTEM: Current loyalty: Absolute Loyalty. You can trust him with your back...]
Roy listened silently, watching as Sakumo disappeared into the distance. Then he abruptly spoke, "Have you seen enough?"
While Shisui and Itachi were startled, he shot a cold, sharp look toward a corner of the sky...
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair. With one hand, he deactivated the Telescope Jutsu and quietly pushed the crystal ball aside.