Chapter 112: Hatred
The instant Kakashi and Minato landed, a terrifying wave of chakra surged in from the distance.
No one knew whether Uchiha Kagami had modified his own power or simply reached a deeper understanding of it, but his black chakra now burned away the colors of the world like a wildfire.
However, that overwhelming aura was stopped by an invisible light membrane in the central area, instantly compressing into a dark, inky scroll. As the towering, semi transparent barrier rose into view, Kakashi let out a sigh and lowered his hand seals.
"I thought I would have to put one up myself. Dan, that guy, his Kido is always pretty good."
"Captain Dan's Kido..."
"Huh? Minato, you do not know?" Kakashi glanced over. "He uses the Spirit Transformation Technique, so he is naturally suited for it."
Black flames spread endlessly outside the semi transparent barrier, surging and boiling, but unable to advance even a single step. Watching that sight, Kakashi could not help remembering the scene from almost half a year ago, when Aizen had shown him the Cloud ninja's One Handed Fist.
Compared to that web of lightning that stretched all the way into the sky, the rolling black flames in front of them lacked some of that visual shock.
Whether the power behind them had reached the same level, though, was another matter. The covering light and shadow here were only resisting the outer edge of Uchiha Kagami's power.
"Research in the ninja world is advancing fast. They are already starting to use emotional power?"
"You know what kind of power Kagami is using?"
"Hm? So you have not systematized it yet?"
That was me being nosy.
Resting both hands on the glowing long sword, Kakashi leaned on the hilt and examined the raging black flames outside.
Even though they had agreed to fight, neither of them seemed particularly eager to start. Minato in particular had almost no wish to clash, even when faced with a power that felt sharp enough to cut the world.
He had seen young ninjas like Kagami on the battlefield many times and had killed plenty of them. But this situation was simply too strange. Compared to a straightforward, brutal clash, Minato would much rather extract information directly from Aizen's side.
So when he saw Kakashi propped against his sword, head tilted as he calmly analyzed the torn space, Minato could not help asking,
"What exactly is this emotional power you are talking about? Can you use it for ninjutsu?"
"It is basically soul power," Kakashi replied. "In ancient times, people often said a person's thoughts could become a kind of strength, and that is actually true. Normally, spiritual power just scatters through the world, drifting and dissolving until it becomes nourishment for something else."
Still leaning on his glowing blade, Kakashi watched the flashes and shockwaves bursting against the horizontal space in front of them, even yawning in boredom.
"Emotions themselves are a kind of power," he continued. "If you train and fuse your own will back into your body, you get scenes like this. Aizen said it resembles Hollowfication, then immediately said it is not, just that it is similar in a few ways. In general, we still call this state Hollowfication."
"The main point is that compared to normal fighting, your combat strength skyrockets. Like now, with soul power added in, the original chakra gets tainted with soul attributes and color. Normal defense and chakra clashes do not work anymore. This soul emotional chakra and sage chakra are different from ordinary elemental chakra. If I had to put it simply, this is a third special mode."
"But you can also see the downside," Kakashi added. "In that state, they lose their reason and get dragged around by their emotions. That is basically how they get taken advantage of. Like right now."
"Oh..."
Looking at the pale white silhouette of Sakumo, reflected inside the barrier, Minato gave a slow nod.
With his mastery of space, he could easily see and sense what was happening within. Compared to Kagami's hoarse roars and the terrifying attacks that turned into light and shadows, Sakumo, who stood in the middle of that storm, looked as if he were taking a casual stroll.
That relaxed stance only drove Kagami's rage higher. Pushed by his own emotions, Kagami's black flames swelled wildly out of control, slamming against the translucent barrier and breaking into shards. From the cracks where those fragments leaked through, Minato could hear Kagami's faint, hoarse bellow.
"Bankai Rotten leaves and a hundred sceneries fall into ashes!"
In the next heartbeat, the towering black flames transformed into countless waves of seething red and black lava.
The shift was so sudden that the expanding and collapsing air let out a bizarre whistle, and the shift in pressure blew the translucent barrier apart in glittering fragments.
The apocalyptic tide of fire rushed toward Minato and Kakashi in a matter of seconds. Neither of them moved to retreat. They shared a glance, and when Kakashi saw Minato's calm expression, he sighed and rolled his eyes at the oncoming wall of fire.
"Eighty one Binding Paths, Severing Emptiness."
Boom.
Structures consumed by flames and explosions slammed into the new barrier Kakashi had formed. The roar and the chain of detonations tore at the world where sky and water met, nearly ripping this space apart.
And this was only the aftermath. In the true center of the chaos, Kagami was roaring as he hurled the entire burning Hokage Rock down from the sky toward Sakumo.
Watching the bursts of white light and the shattered pieces of Hokage Rock scattering across the battlefield, Kakashi glanced toward one dim corner of the disaster.
"Dan really does not trust Orochimaru at all," he muttered. "He does not even try to suppress something at this scale. He is pretending there is nothing he can do."
"As for Captain Dan, I have never actually seen him use his power."
"He is probably about the same level as my father, maybe a little weaker."
Kakashi shook his head, speechless, as he watched Dan, Tsunade, and Orochimaru struggling to maintain a cramped cage of space in the corner of their Bankai.
From his point of view, he could not imagine where you were supposed to hide something in there. Who would believe a Second Division captain had nothing up his sleeve?
Covert units are supposed to be more capable than noble squads. What are you pretending to be helpless for?
"It is about time. Let us get started here too."
"Huh? According to your rules, we talk while we fight, like over there?"
Minato pointed at Kagami, who was still raging outside the barrier, crashing down on the Hokage Building from the dark clouds with another furious howl, then looked back at Kakashi.
"No. My ability is special."
Kakashi shook his head and leaned on his glowing sword again, his expression turning serious.
"It works through conversation and analysis. That is why I like talking about my abilities. But this only works the first time I see something new. After that, it is just about speed. Those Hueco Mundo people have absolutely no sportsmanship. They ganged up on me, a little kid."
"...Huh?"
"My ability is pre borrowing," Kakashi explained. "The longer I stand still and stay in this state, the more power naturally accumulates, like a child growing up. When the time is right and the child grows into an adult, the power becomes something else entirely. This is the Zanpakuto drawn out of my soul. And now, the time is almost up."
"...Can you give me a moment?"
Is that really something you can activate just by talking?
So you were chatting with me this whole time just to charge up your power?
As Kakashi rambled on with that faintly regretful tone, Minato's smile stiffened.
Seeing Minato's eye twitch, Kakashi smiled, slowly pulled his long sword, now glowing almost like a solid rod of light, out of the ground, and rested it on his shoulder.
"Finally, someone took the bait. I always thought there would be someone eventually, but I never expected it to take this long. Come to think of it, this is the first time I have pushed my substitution ability to the limit. I am really curious to see what it is like."
"Kakashi, you little..."
"Do not blame me for being underhanded, Minato," Kakashi replied lightly. "In the end, I am just a kid."
He smiled, tugged his pure white mask up into place, then dropped the tip of his sword into the shadow at his feet. The blade sank into the darkness and vanished.
In the instant the shadow swallowed him, Minato felt a terrible sense of crisis. It was the same chilling sixth sense that had brushed past him countless times on the battlefield.
This was not the omen of imminent death. It was the feeling of facing an equal. The moment their eyes met and their auras collided, he could instantly sense the level of the opponent before him.
Kakashi was definitely not someone he could dismiss. Whatever power Kakashi's Zanpakuto had stored up, it had earned him the right to stand in front of Minato. And for some reason, Minato could not shake a growing unease.
Reflexively, he manipulated space and flashed behind the boy in an instant, a swirling, unstable sphere quietly forming in his palm.
Almost at the same moment, Kakashi's body was swallowed by his own shadow, and the flashing long sword burst out and drove straight through Minato's chest.
"...Give it to me, and I will collect it on your behalf."
Kakashi, skewered through the heart, showed no sign of discomfort as he murmured softly.
In that instant, an unimaginable light erupted from the shimmering, fluorescent blade.
<><><><><>
[P@treon Christmas Discount: 20% OFF]
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]