Konoha's Hextech Ninja

"Okay." Uchiha Tetsuka's expression was somewhat displeased, but he still readily agreed.

……

"Who do you think will win?" Kurenai Yuhi whispered in Yoruichi Yagami's ear.

Without a second thought, Yagami Yoru replied, "Of course it's Kakashi."

Having trained together for the entire winter break, Yagami Yoruichi knew all too well how much Kakashi Hatake had improved during that time.

In terms of strength, Kakashi Hatake, who is only six years old, already has the strength of an elite Chunin, and even close to that of a Special Jonin.

If it weren't for Yagami Yoruichi's overpowered abilities and the use of several ninjutsu by Kakashi Hatake, he really wouldn't have been able to suppress him.

Uchiha Tekka's talent is quite good, and with the Uchiha bloodline, he will be a Jonin with considerable strength in the future.

But compared to Kakashi Hatake, he's far inferior.

While the two were talking, the battle between Kakashi Hatake and Tetsuka Uchiha had already begun. After a brief period of probing, Tetsuka Uchiha quickly found an opportunity and released the 'Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique', attempting to use it to achieve victory in one fell swoop.

However, the massive fireball swept past and only hit one of the stand-ins.

Through a winter break of intensive training and sparring, Kakashi Hatake not only improved his proficiency in taijutsu and ninjutsu, but also made tremendous progress in his grasp of the timing of battle.

Instead of engaging in a ninjutsu duel with Uchiha Tekka, he used a simple substitution jutsu to dodge Uchiha Tekka's all-out fire jutsu, then suddenly appeared from the opponent's blind spot and pressed his short sword against Uchiha Tekka's throat.

"You lost." Kakashi Hatake's cold voice rang out, and Tekka Uchiha's body instantly stiffened.

Chapter 55 The Development Progress of Chidori

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Kakashi Hatake for so easily defeating Tetsuka Uchiha.

Kakashi Hatake defeated Tetsuka Uchiha without using any ninjutsu, relying solely on simple taijutsu and swordsmanship, along with a cleverly timed substitution jutsu.

However, the fighting power he displayed was significantly stronger than when he fought against Yoruichi Yagami before the winter break.

Even Nobuyuki Imai, the teacher, was momentarily stunned.

In the instant that Kakashi Hatake dodged the fireball and suddenly appeared, the speed he unleashed made Nobuyuki Imai feel that he himself had difficulty reacting in time.

This skill level... is this really a first-year student at a ninja academy?

Some quick-thinking individuals unconsciously came up with this idea.

If Kakashi Hatake is so strong, yet he admits he's no match for Yoruichi Yagami, then how strong must Yoruichi Yagami, the top student, be?

Seeing Kakashi Hatake's performance, Asuma Sarutobi, who had originally wanted to step forward, retreated back into the crowd.

After a winter break of intensive training, Sarutobi Asuma thought that under his older brother's guidance, his strength had improved by leaps and bounds, surpassing his classmates.

He originally wanted to challenge Yagami Yoruichi, but in his heart, he wanted to teach Yagami Yoruichi a lesson and win Yuhi Kurenai's favor.

But seeing Kakashi Hatake's performance, and combined with Kakashi Hatake's evaluation of Yoruichi Yagami, Sarutobi Asuma was instantly grateful that Uchiha Tekka, that stubborn guy, had paved the way ahead.

If you foolishly jump out and challenge Yoruichi Yagami, there's a very high chance you'll end up getting beaten up instead of showing off.

He wanted to show off in front of Kurenai Yuhi, but he never wanted to get beaten up by Yoruichi Yagami in front of Kurenai Yuhi; that would be too embarrassing.

Sarutobi Asuma silently made up his mind that he absolutely could not challenge Yagami Yoruichi lightly before he was confident enough.

Not only should you not stand out, you should also hide your strength as much as possible so that Yagami Yoruichi won't notice you.

……

While chatting with Kurenai Yuhi, Yoruichi Yagami suddenly felt a gaze fall upon her.

When I looked up, I caught a glimpse of Sarutobi Asuma hurriedly turning his head.

"Is this guy trembling again?"

Yoruichi Yagami was puzzled, but didn't pay much attention to it.

Sarutobi Asuma's identity is troublesome, but that's all it is.

If they don't know their place, then they'll be taught a lesson.

Unless someone dies or Asuma is crippled, Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't personally confront himself over such a childish squabble.

The position of Hokage is both a source of power and a constraint.

As long as I don't push Hiruzen Sarutobi too far, he won't do anything that would affect the Hokage's dignity.

"Kakashi, you've stolen the spotlight again," Yagami Yoruichi joked with Hatake Kakashi.

"If you like it this way, I'll give it to you next time you have this opportunity." Kakashi Hatake still had that incredibly cold expression.

"Forget it." Yagami Yoruichi shook her head and said, "I'm not interested in these things. I'd rather spend that time studying ninjutsu."

"By the way," Yagami Yoruichi said, turning to Hatake Kakashi, "how's your ninjutsu research going?"

What Yagami Yoruichi was referring to was, of course, 'Chidori'.

Throughout the entire winter break, Kakashi Hatake devoted a significant portion of his energy to developing this ninjutsu.

However, the results were not particularly ideal.

The completion rate has improved considerably compared to before the winter break, but completing the ninjutsu is still a long way off.

"There are still some flaws in the body activation part, and the hand seals should be further optimized." Kakashi Hatake didn't hide anything from Yoruichi Yagami and said, "As for the change of form you mentioned, I plan to try it after I have fully developed Chidori."

Even the 'Chidori' technique hasn't been developed yet, so it's unrealistic to expect to create ninjutsu like the 'Chidori Stream' or the 'Chidori Sharp Spear'.

'Chidori' is the foundation for a series of advanced ninjutsu. If you can't even lay a good foundation, you can't build a skyscraper.

"Hand seals?" Yagami Yoruichi thought for a moment and said, "I also have some knowledge of hand seals. Just say so if you need any help."

"If you can be of any help, that would be great." Kakashi Hatake was delighted and quickly said, "See you at the training ground after school this afternoon, and we'll have a good chat then."

Yoruichi Yagami also knew that it was not appropriate to discuss ninjutsu in depth at a school.

Kakashi Hatake doesn't mind sharing the development progress of 'Chidori' with Yoruichi Yagami, but that doesn't mean he's willing to let other classmates learn about his unique ninjutsu.

"See you after school." Yagami Yoruichi waved and walked to the side with Yuhi Kurenai to continue their shuriken training.

Kakashi Hatake, however, did not continue training. Instead, he pondered how to ask Yoruichi Yagami a question.

After pondering his doubts, Kakashi Hatake found a notebook and wrote down all the problems he had encountered in developing 'Chidori', especially the parts about chakra manipulation and hand seals, which he wrote down in great detail.

It took Kakashi Hatake two or three hours to fill an entire small notebook before he finally stopped.

By then, it was already time for school to end.

Yagami Yoruichi, along with Yuhi Kurenai and Hatake Kakashi, headed towards the Konoha Village's public training ground.

"This is the problem I'm facing." Kakashi Hatake handed the notebook to Yoruichi Yagami and said, "This ninjutsu is very close to completion, but it's just a little bit short. You know, with ninjutsu, even a small difference can have a huge impact."

Yagami Yoruichi opened the notebook in her hand and couldn't help but feel speechless.

"You wrote so much?" Yagami Yoichi glanced at the thickness of the notebook and said speechlessly, "I estimate it will take more than an hour just to read through all of this."

"Please, Yoruichi."

Kakashi Hatake knew exactly how to ask for a favor, and said directly, "If you can help me complete this technique, then it will be considered that we developed it together, and we will both be qualified to use and teach it."

"That's not what I meant," Yagami Yoru said unconsciously, but he did not reject Kakashi Hatake's suggestion.

This is Chidori, a ninjutsu comparable to the Rasengan!

Yoruichi Yagami has already learned the Rasengan, but because she is unsure whether the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, has mastered the technique, she does not dare to use it openly.

Chidori, on the other hand, does not have this problem.

If she could learn Chidori, it would mean that Yoruichi Yagami would have another powerful technique.

Of course, Yoruichi Yagami doesn't have the lightning attribute, which is a bit of a problem.

However, developing the basic five elemental attributes from scratch is something that even a typical Jonin can do, and Yagami Yoruichi is confident that she can do it too; it's just a matter of how much time it will take.

We chatted all the way until we arrived at the training ground.

Yagami Yoruichi looked at Hatake Kakashi and said, "In that case, I will train with my main body and Kurenai. As for you, I will mainly provide some theoretical support. Just use Shadow Clones."

With that, Yagami Yoruichi created a shadow clone and walked with Hatake Kakashi to an open space to the side.

Chapter 56 Copying the Correct Answer

It took Yagami Yoruichi a little time to review all the problems that Hatake Kakashi had recorded during the development of 'Chidori'.

"Your current design uses the 'Chou-Shen' seals?" Yagami Yoichi looked at Hatake Kakashi and said, "Have you considered that such active Lightning Release chakra would require an abnormally demanding level of chakra nature and form transformation if it were to be completely transformed with just two seals? It would be better to add more seals to reduce the difficulty."

"Add more prints?"

Kakashi Hatake understood what Yoruichi Yagami meant.

If one has sufficient control over chakra and a deep enough understanding of ninjutsu, theoretically, any ninjutsu can be performed without hand seals.

However, in reality, no ninja can actually do this (according to Kakashi Hatake's current understanding).

Even the most skilled ninja cannot perform ninjutsu at will, which is why hand seals are used to assist in reducing the difficulty of completing ninjutsu.

The more hand seals are performed during the release of a ninjutsu, the lower the difficulty in other aspects will naturally be.

Of course, this is on the premise that the hand seals must conform to the principles of ninjutsu.

Kakashi Hatake also considered reducing the difficulty of the 'Chidori' ninjutsu by increasing the number of hand seals.

However, he had not studied the essence of hand seals and couldn't think of a starting point for the time being.

The reason for seeking help from Yoruichi Yagami was that Yoruichi Yagami's research on hand seals far surpassed his own.

"Do you have any ideas?" Kakashi Hatake asked Yoruichi Yagami directly about her thoughts.

"With your chakra control, you don't need complicated hand seals. Adding one seal between 'Chou' and 'Shen' is enough. The most suitable one should be 'Mao', which is the hand seal sequence of 'Chou-Mao-Shen'."

Without much thought, Yagami Yoruichi directly stated the complete hand seal sequence of Chidori from the original work: "Try this sequence. The key point is that when you form the 'Ugly' seal, you complete the change in form; when you form the 'Monkey' seal, you complete the change in nature; and the role of the 'Rabbit' seal is the transition from the change in form to the change in nature."

When Yagami Yoruichi was studying the 'Qian' seal and the 'Ren' seal, he had already conducted a relatively in-depth study of the basic twelve earthly branch seals.

By combining the hand seals of the completed 'Chidori' from the original work and working backwards from the answer, it becomes easy to understand why the hand seals that make up 'Chidori' are 'Chou-Mao-Shen', rather than other hand seal sequences.

Of course, working backwards from the answer when you already know it is a form of cheating.

If she had truly started from scratch and researched it herself, even Yoruichi Yagami wouldn't have been able to arrive at the correct answer so quickly.

However, it's just that we can't do it 'that fast,' not that we 'can't do it.'

Thanks to Kosuke Maruboshi's unreserved guidance, and even his help in collecting relevant information from various sources for Yoruichi Yagami.

Yoruichi Yagami's understanding of 'hand seals' has surpassed that of most Jonin.

This is also Yagami Yoruichi's strongest advantage at present, besides her physique and chakra.

However...

If everyone knows the correct answer, why would anyone bother to research it themselves?

Yagami Yoruichi read Kakashi Hatake's notes and found that Kakashi's development of the 'Chidori' technique was almost complete, with only one minor flaw remaining.

By compensating for the shortcomings in the hand seal method, it can perfectly make up for the last flaw of this ninjutsu.

“I’ll try adding the ‘卯’ seal to facilitate the transition.” Kakashi Hatake pondered for a moment and immediately began forming the seals to test it out.

But this attempt also failed.

"'Mao' seal only serves a transitional role. Here, you need to maintain the change in form and then transition towards a change in nature. As for the details..."

Yagami Yoruichi carefully explained the details that needed to be paid attention to when forming hand seals.

Kakashi Hatake developed 'Chidori' from scratch and has an extremely high understanding of this ninjutsu. After listening to Yoruichi Yagami's explanation, he immediately understood where his problem lay.

He began forming hand seals again.

醜-卯-申.

After completing the three seals, a ball of constantly flashing lightning emerged from Kakashi Hatake's palm.

Compared to the previous 'half-finished product', this time 'Chidori' has improved stability by several levels.

"The power has also increased. After reducing the difficulty of the technique by using the 'Mao' seal, I can focus more on the transformation of chakra nature and further enhance the power of the lightning attribute."

Kakashi Hatake didn't need to try; he could roughly judge the power of the ninjutsu just by sensing the chakra in his hand. He couldn't help but feel eager to try it out, saying, "Yoruichi, I have now fully mastered 'Chidori.' I wonder how much my strength has improved."

Even a half-finished 'Chidori' had greatly increased Kakashi Hatake's speed.

The now fully completed 'Thousand Birds' is even more perfect, with its speed further increased and its direct attack power also significantly enhanced.