The next day, Ishikawa woke up early, feeling refreshed. To be on the safe side, he bought a few more bottles of military rations and several cages from different ninja tool shops before heading back into the Forest of Death.
He had to make the most of these few days to complete the practical application of the Spiritualization Jutsu and the animal reserve plan.
---
While Ishikawa was secretly pushing himself in the Forest of Death, Nohara Rin, on the other side, had just seen the list of all those who passed the written exam.
Although Obito had only passed as a supplementary candidate, it didn't affect his eligibility for the second exam.
"What? The second exam is a team battle as class groups? Kakashi, don't hold us back…" Upon hearing the examiner's announcement, Obito turned to Kakashi with dissatisfaction, smugly issuing a warning.
"That's my line, Obito." Kakashi rolled his eyes, though he silently swallowed those last three words: "you idiot."
Nohara Rin smiled in satisfaction. It looked like the dinner party the previous night had actually helped! Good—got to keep this up.
"Alright then, let's meet at the exam site in three days. Obito, Kakashi, do your best!" Once the examiners left, Nohara Rin gave them a quick cheer and turned to leave.
She planned to make full use of the three short days to train hard! For example: mastering the one-handed Rasengan.
After studying the Chakra Enhanced Strength, she had already figured out a training method. With the help of the door handle, three days of focused practice would be worth half a month of intense training.
That night, as the Super Time-Space Room descended once again, two exhausted figures exchanged tired smiles.
When Ishikawa found out that Nohara Rin was going to focus on training the one-handed Rasengan for the second exam, he twitched at the corners of his mouth but didn't say much. Instead, he kindly declined her offer to guide him in the Mystical Palm Technique and let her concentrate on her special training.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Every day, Ishikawa and Nohara Rin trained from dawn until late at night, giving it everything they had.
---
Early morning—
"Alright, time to go find Kakashi." After leaving the house, Ishikawa didn't head for the Forest of Death but instead walked toward Kakashi's home.
He had basically completed training in the Spiritual Transformation Technique. Aside from large beasts, he could now possess ordinary small- and medium-sized animals on land, in water, and in the air.
And through repeated practice, he confirmed that although medium-sized animals wouldn't have their souls destroyed by possession, it would still weaken their minds and turn them into mentally stunted creatures. Large animals, however, could resist Ishikawa's spirit invasion altogether!
Just thinking about the time his spirit was crushed and entangled by a giant python's soul made Ishikawa's hair stand on end.
There was no need to experiment further. He was now just one step away—
That is: he needed a way to communicate with or seal animals. After all, it was impossible for him to carry animals around on missions. That was just unrealistic.
However, even though Ishikawa's plan sounded great in theory, reality often failed to meet expectations.
"Not home? Why isn't Kakashi asleep in bed at this hour?" Rejected at the door, Ishikawa muttered darkly, frustrated that he'd gotten up so early only to find Kakashi missing.
This was not scientific!!
'Do I have to wait another two days? No… I have to complete this technique while Nohara Rin is taking part in the Chunin Exams.' After some thought, Ishikawa spun around and ran off.
If this had been three days ago, tracking someone in a huge village like Konoha would've been nearly impossible—but now?
A few minutes later—
"Woof woof woof...!"
A stray dog burst out of the bushes and ran straight to Kakashi's front door, sniffing furiously.
'Found it! Although the scent is faint, this is definitely Kakashi's smell.' Amid the countless overlapping odors in the village, Ishikawa locked onto a familiar one. He quickly memorized the scent and guided the stray dogs to continue tracking Kakashi through Konoha.
Of course, a stray dog wasn't the same as a trained ninja hound. While its sense of smell was excellent, expecting it to search all of Konoha—which spanned more than ten square kilometers—was undoubtedly wishful thinking.
So Ishikawa had no choice but to rely on this clumsy method to look for traces of Kakashi.
Unless, of course, he could enhance the stray dog's nose using chakra. But Ishikawa's current Spiritual Transformation Technique was still too weak—he couldn't attach his chakra to the animal's nose.
That said, this limitation also had an upside. At least during intelligence-gathering, he wouldn't draw the attention of the ninja surveillance network. The faint trace of chakra inside the animal's brain was almost undetectable unless one possessed a dōjutsu like the Byakugan or Sharingan.
'This is it. Found it—the rear hills of Konoha...' While passing a street that led to the back mountain of the village, Ishikawa once again caught Kakashi's scent.
Rather than continue tracking through the dog, Ishikawa immediately released the possession technique, turning into a streak of pale blue-white light and vanishing on the spot! Under the morning sun, his spirit form—thin as a strand of hair, swift as a lightning bolt—was nearly invisible...
---
The rear hills of Konoha.
"Haaah..." Kakashi's eyes narrowed with focus as he activated his Lightning Chakra. His body surged with electricity, blue arcs crackling around him as every cell in his body was forcibly stimulated and brought to life.
His spiky silver-white hair stood upright, sharpened by the coursing energy, every strand glinting with lightning.
Yet despite all this, Kakashi's face showed no signs of triumph. Instead, he wore a bitter smile.
Even with the Sharingan and the training method for the Lightning Release: Lightning Chakra Mode in hand, he still couldn't stimulate his nervous system to the level of the Fourth Raikage.
The issue wasn't technique or experience—it was chakra.
If it were only a matter of skill, he was confident he could match the Fourth Raikage in three to five years!
"Still, it's not all for nothing." Taking a deep breath, Kakashi vanished in a blur of blue lightning.
Almost simultaneously, a thick tree nearly a hundred meters away exploded with a thunderous crack. The trunk blackened and shattered into charcoal, as if struck by divine lightning.
"My speed, defense, and even the power of my basic attacks have all improved drastically—easily over five times the boost I got from merely activating lightning attribute chakra in my cells before. As expected of the legendary taijutsu passed down in Kumogakure…" With a sigh, Kakashi finally dispersed the lightning coating around him, exhaling heavily.
The only downside? It consumed a massive amount of chakra.
"Who's there?" Suddenly, Kakashi's gaze snapped toward a tree nearby, his expression turning sharp and alert.
"It's me, Kakashi-sensei." Ishikawa wasn't surprised to be noticed. Calmly, he stepped out with a greeting, a trace of excitement gleaming in his eyes.
So this was where Kakashi was training his Lightning Chakra Mode. Unexpected, but it made perfect sense.
As a Lightning Release expert, how could Kakashi not pursue such a powerful technique once he had access to it? Even better, this meant Ishikawa might have help in mastering the chakra mode technique himself...
"Ishikawa? What are you doing here?" Kakashi was clearly surprised. He didn't believe this was a mere coincidence. Even if his decision to train here had been spontaneous, this place was deep in the forest—no one would randomly stumble into it.
"I came here for exactly this," Ishikawa said without hesitation. He saw no reason to let Kakashi doubt him and went straight to the point.
"Kakashi-sensei, I want to learn the summoning jutsu you used to summon that ninja dog last time."