Chapter 65: Symphony of Time and Space 3
The Transformation Jutsu can change one's appearance into that of another person. It's the most basic of the Three Basic Jutsu, occasionally appearing in academy graduation exams, simple enough for even children to perform. A seasoned ninja's Transformation Jutsu can mimic everything about the transformed subject. More advanced still is the Mimicry Transformation, a jutsu that even the Sharingan sometimes cannot discern.
Appearance is easy to change, demeanor can be imitated, details can be learned, but there is one thing that cannot be learned.
That is fighting style.
Every ninja has their own fighting style—quick kills, battles of attrition, siege warfare. The unconscious reactions and ninjutsu usage during combat are a ninja's best identification.
It's simple: to prove he was Kakashi Hatake, they just needed to fight.
The familiar roar of thunder seemed to freeze Mei Terumi's Water Clone as if by a paralysis jutsu. The silver-haired youth didn't immediately rush forward to pierce the clone with Raikiri.
Only when Mei Terumi mechanically retrieved the scroll from her lower back did the youth's gaze turn serious.
Also serious was Mei Terumi's Water Clone. Unbeknownst to them, the real Mei Terumi, who had been mourning the deceased, had moved to a high point in the ruins, observing the battle between her clone and Kakashi with an indescribable expression.
The scroll opened. Mei Terumi's Water Clone slapped its center. After a puff of white smoke, the scroll, extending over ten meters, gushed forth with surging water.
「To actually use a scroll to seal seawater and create a battlefield terrain...」
Forming a hand seal with one hand, his mouth puffed out.
「Water Release: Water Dragon Barrage!」
Water dragons, carrying still-damp sand, soared from the ground. Five dragons coiled around each other, water pressure sweeping down from the sky. The unsealed seawater scroll was torn to shreds, scattering tiny pieces of white paper.
Intending to test the power of his ninjutsu, Kakashi slightly altered his hand seals.
「Lightning Release: Arrow Dragon Sound Kill!」
Unlike before, the lightning dragon, meant as a feint, now possessed truly lethal destructive power, surpassing ordinary heavenly lightning. The tangible lightning dragon bit down on the water dragon's neck, resisting the water pressure. The water dragon struggled violently, while the other four water dragons coiled around the lightning dragon's body.
Neither of their positions changed; they tacitly fought using only ninjutsu. However, the water droplets gradually dripping onto Kakashi indicated that the lightning dragon was suppressed and at a disadvantage.
Under the sun's illumination, amidst the screeching lightning, a rainbow, impossible on a clear day, actually appeared in the desert.
Water rippled, the ground sand thoroughly soaked by the water flow. Debris and rubble exploded like scattered beans. The ground was divided into two distinct parts: one crackling with electrical sparks, the other moist and smooth. Creatures with swirling lower bodies and vaguely humanoid upper halves emerged from the sandy water.
"What ninjutsu is this?"
Kakashi didn't ask the Water Clone, but looked towards the real Mei Terumi observing from the side, asking with a relaxed and smiling expression.
"Water Release: Water Element. You taught it to me a few years ago."
The cool, beautiful woman's eyes were bloodshot, more exaggerated than an Uchiha with an activated Sharingan. An impossible person had appeared before her. It was like a fish finding water, a bird soaring into the blue sky. The beautiful woman, who thought she had lost her emotions, found the chambers of her heart instantly shattered and tamed.
This was impossible. The dead could not be resurrected, especially in this state, at this time. Mei Terumi even thought she was under a genjutsu, hallucinating, her mind addled from longing for too long.
Yet, the joy was irrepressible. Every cell cried out its yearning for him, spreading through her blood, through her vessels, suffusing her entire body, opening the chambers of her heart, like a rebirth.
The battle no longer needed to continue.
After he used the iconic Raikiri and Arrow Dragon Sound Kill, victory or defeat was meaningless. The Water Elements rose, formed a line, and then re-merged into the water-soaked sand.
The Water Clone dissipated without a trace. The real body, walking towards Kakashi in place of the clone, showed her turbulent emotions conspicuously.
"You recognize me?"
"Mm."
Replying with a heavy nasal tone, Mei Terumi used her Mizukage hat to cover her eyes, not wanting to lose face before him.
Kakashi crossed his arms, looking with great interest at the future Mei Terumi. He could sense her desire to rush over, yet also her fear of scaring him away. Understandable, but unnecessary.
The orange-haired beauty was now too overwhelmed to think of anything else, only able to strive to control her emotions. Her mind was blank; she had many questions but didn't know how to begin.
Kakashi, with an expression that said, "I know what you're thinking, but I'm just pretending I don't know," still stood motionless, his smile even slowly fading.
"Our relationship hasn't reached that stage yet, has it?"
"Eh?"
Mei Terumi, her mind blank, didn't understand the meaning of his words. She suddenly looked up, then remembered her eyes were still red and quickly covered them again.
"As you can see, I am Kakashi, but not the Kakashi you like, understand?"
"I don't understand....."
The Mizukage, with a hint of grievance in her tone, was truly irresistible. The current Mei Terumi's charm had increased by an unknown percentage compared to before. The little girl from before hadn't fully developed; Kakashi had always treated her like a child. Now, however, he couldn't possibly use that approach with the current orange-haired beauty.
"What I mean is... I should be from a few years ago. Six years ago? Or seven, maybe even longer."
"This...crying... what does it matter...."
Hurriedly wiping her tears, Mei Terumi couldn't understand why his attitude was so cold. Over the years, she had dreamed countless times of reuniting, but now that it had truly happened, it was completely different from any of those dreams.
"It really is still you. Even when you were only this big... you were still so mean."
A smile appeared amidst her tear-streaked face. If others saw Mei Terumi's current submissive posture, their jaws would drop. The dignified Mizukage of the Land of Water, actually showing such an attitude in front of a man – this was even more unbelievable than the reappearance of the Bloody Mist Village.
"Be more mature. You're already the Mizukage now."
"I....."
Mei Terumi desperately wanted to say, "Doesn't a Mizukage also need to get married? Shouldn't a Mizukage fall in love?" but she swallowed the words back.
Her chest heaved with a few breaths, making Kakashi sigh internally while also feeling genuinely moved.
He really was a man, after all.
"How many years ago did I die?"
It was better to ask the most important question. The silver-haired youth glanced at the lonely tombstone in the distance, took out a kunai, and shattered it with a flick of his wrist.
Dismantling his own grave, how fitting.
"Three years ago..."
"Three years ago, huh? Understood."
Opening his arms, Kakashi no longer refused.
"Consider this an apology for these three years. It's been hard on you."
A warm, gentle jade embraced him. Kakashi, while marveling at how much the girl had truly grown, gently patted her back.
"Your personality really hasn't changed a bit."
"...Neither have you."
The impossible rainbow in the desert connected an impossible encounter.
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