"Was that genjutsu?"
No. There was no chakra disturbance. Shisui stared blankly at the faded, colorless world. In his blood-red eyes, three scarlet tomoe turned slowly—and he couldn't sense even a trace of genjutsu.
But if it wasn't genjutsu… then how did Nii-san do it?
Shisui was watching. Itachi was watching too. The "transparent domain" spread as a delicate gray haze, swallowing the two small boys in an instant—capturing their flesh, bones, movements, breathing… like they were made of glass.
And of course…
It captured Hatake Sakumo as well.
Sakumo stared into the two blazing suns slowly turning within Roy's eyes, and for the first time in a long while, he felt restrained.
It had been so long that he couldn't even remember when he'd last felt something like this. But Sakumo knew one thing: at his current reputation and strength, there were very few people left in the world who could make him feel this way.
The Kage of the major villages counted. Jinchūriki counted. Prodigies like Minato Namikaze counted for half.
And the rest…
seemed to include this not-quite-six-year-old kid standing right in front of him.
Six years old.
Two years younger than Kakashi.
A sharp light flashed in Sakumo's eyes. Standing on that precise gray "field," he could feel every twitch of his body being peeled apart and turned into "lines of openings" that ran straight to Roy.
He said, unable to hide his disbelief, "Just a few days ago I was telling your father I wanted to take you as a student. Now I see… my perspective was too small."
"I never imagined you'd already found a sword path that's uniquely yours."
"A sword path…" Shisui sat off to the side, thoughtful.
Itachi was even younger—he didn't fully understand, but he did catch one phrase from Sakumo and his brother:
"Sword's eye."
Sword's eye…
By the name alone… was it the sword's "eye"?
Meaning that from now on—whether someone used a blade or a kunai—no one could escape being "seen" by Nii-san's sword-eye?
Itachi's imagination ran wild. Without thinking, he tightened his grip on his own practice blade.
"White Fang uncle flatters me." Roy's face was calm, without joy or sorrow. He held his blade level and gently stroked Eclipse, which was flowing with sunfire, and said evenly, "It's just a cheap trick—hardly worth mentioning. I'm still far from anything that deserves to be called a 'path.'"
A cheap trick?
Sakumo's mouth twitched faintly. He narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"My whole body—every movement—has already been read by you. And you call that a cheap trick?"
The unknown was the most terrifying thing. Once something was known, it became far less frightening—because you could find a way to deal with it.
And the White Fang's legend—killing without needing a second slash—was built on a single "unknown" cut that ended everything.
Now Sakumo looked at his hands, feet, joints—each one "caught" by those invisible lines. If he moved, Roy would sense it, predict it, and counter.
His expression hardened.
With a boom, his presence exploded.
He poured all his chakra into White Fang. Lightning flared so violently that Shisui and Itachi had to raise their small hands to shield their eyes.
It felt like a giant hand had grabbed them both and thrown them into an ocean of thunder—every nerve buzzing, their bodies going numb. They peered through their fingers…
And barely managed to see the White Fang uncle lift his blade vertically.
Crack—!
An electric arc detonated in a spherical burst.
With White Fang in hand, Sakumo looked like he was gripping lightning itself. For a heartbeat, it gave Roy the same sensation as seeing Kakashi forming Chidori in canon—
Except one was a ninjutsu…
and this was pure Lightning Release augmentation. Not even close.
"Roy, you're right. A 'sword path' is too distant—too intangible…" Sakumo's white hair stood on end. He slowly rotated his wrist, leveling White Fang. Lightning hissed at the tip, aimed at Roy's heart.
His feet shifted into a bow stance. Then he stepped—
and vanished, a streak of electricity.
Only when the blade was already at Roy's chest did the tail end of Sakumo's sentence finally arrive, delayed by speed:
"As long as…"
"I'm fast enough—"
"That's enough."
It really was fast.
Lightning Release boosting him until he became a bolt.
Roy had seen the thrust the instant it began; his "eye" caught it and burned it into his mind. But his body's instinct still lagged just slightly.
A chill brushed his chest—his clothes were sliced open.
Zzt—! Lightning flickered again as Sakumo reappeared. He hooked that torn strip of cloth on his blade tip and glanced back.
"You dodged fast."
Fast… because Eye That Shatters Illusion gave him that 0.1-second early warning.
But—
"You still tagged me."
Roy tightened his grip on Eclipse and gave it a small shake, shattering the stray electric arcs trying to crawl into him. Then he looked at Sakumo, brow furrowing as he sank into thought.
[Notice: Swordsmanship +10… First encounter with Lightning Release… Nen nature: "Lightning" activated…]
Lightning…
Thunder Breathing…
In Roy's cognition sea, waves surged and slammed into the "Demon Slayer Gate." The gate with the demon-mask ornament trembled and opened a crack, revealing the face of an old man with a full head of white hair.
Roy carefully tasted the "lightning" within Sakumo's cut. His awareness sank inward as the panel chimed—then, dazed, he slipped through the Demon Slayer gate.
Just like he'd once learned Water Breathing from Urokodaki…
Now—
His consciousness floated, an outsider watching an old man named Jigoro Kuwajima, holding a staff, tirelessly drilling two students in nothing but speed and lightning.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form—Thunderclap and Flash…"
"Second Form—Rice Spirit…"
"Third Form—…"
"Fourth Form—Distant Thunder…"
"Fifth… Sixth…"
Without realizing it, he got absorbed.
"Hm?" In the transparent world, the boy froze.
He held his blade like a stone. His breathing and awareness seemed to vanish.
And in that moment, the world's color returned.
Trees, stones, birds, clouds, wind—everything came back.
Shisui and Itachi blinked, and it felt like they'd slipped through a crack in reality—back in the Southern Forest training ground. Not far away was the thick tree Roy had cut earlier.
"This…"
"Nii-san…"
Shisui and Itachi stared at Roy, eyes wide. But Itachi—sharper, more sensitive—suddenly noticed something.
Hatake Sakumo's blade… hadn't lowered.
Sakumo frowned at Roy. Calmly, he removed the torn cloth from his tip, and his white hair swayed with a few sparks dancing through it. He waited, watching, and when Roy finally opened his eyes, Sakumo lightly flicked the cloth forward.
It drifted on the breeze, spiraling toward Roy. Roy caught it one-handed, closing it in his palm.
Roy bowed. "Thank you, White Fang uncle, for returning it. If my mother sees my clothes torn, she'll probably scold me."
Sakumo laughed. "Mikoto isn't that kind of person. But you…"
He stared at Roy with intense focus. "You've given me a massive surprise."
"Surprise… you mean this?" Roy stroked Eclipse. The flames withdrew—and a thread of lightning abruptly appeared in everyone's sight. Like a small thunder-snake, it crawled along the blade, wrapping the asauchi into a lightning-edged weapon.
Zzt—! Roy angled the blade downward. Lightning flared and sank into the ground, punching a deep hole.
The hole was tiny compared to the slash that felled a tree—but it was lightning. And that meant—
"Nii-san can use Lightning-nature chakra too?!" Shisui was stunned. He'd only ever seen Roy use "fire."
He turned to Itachi. "Did you know?"
Itachi stared at Eclipse crackling with lightning, silent for a long moment, then slowly shook his head.
"First time I've seen it too."
Shisui: "…"
Speechless.
A wind swept through, lifting dust.
Beside the split tree, with the two little boys sitting cross-legged as spectators, Roy and Hatake Sakumo took positions across from each other, both pouring lightning into their blades.
Then, in the next instant—
they charged again.
But this time, lightning met lightning.
Roy opened every pore, converting all his "nen" into lightning. He became a streaking electric serpent, flashing forward in a single pull—
A draw cut.
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash.
Clang!
Eclipse slammed into White Fang, lightning bursting outward from the collision.
Sakumo tasted Roy's footwork, stance, and that terrifyingly swift draw—something he'd never experienced before as a "sword technique."
He was shocked.
He pressed down with his forearm, knocked Roy back, and counter-slashed at Roy's chest.
Roy dipped under it and drew again—an upward cut that triggered five rapid lightning strikes.
Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Rice Spirit.
Then Third… Fourth… Fifth… Sixth…
Lightning danced. Steel rang without pause.
And as Roy took advantage of the opening Sakumo's Lightning Release created, he used Sun Breathing as a foundation to grasp Thunder Breathing faster and faster—crashing into Sakumo again and again. The panel kept chiming as "Lightning" rose rapidly.
"Too fast… I can't see…" Shisui's blood-red eyes spun so hard the tomoe nearly smoked. Even with the Sharingan, he still couldn't track them.
They were pure light—zzt, vanish, zzt, collide—no stance, no clear draw, no readable motion.
As for Itachi…
He put his hands behind his head and lay down flat. He wasn't even going to try watching. He only waited for Shisui to poke him and murmured, "Rest."
"Because later… we'll be training extra."
Shisui's face went pale. He remembered that ten-thousand-slash punishment from earlier.
He gave up too, sprawled beside Itachi and dispelled his Sharingan.
Clang-clang-clang…
Metal rang louder and louder.
Then—
Boom! A thunderclap erupted.
Clink—!
Eclipse met White Fang—tip to tip.
Roy and Sakumo stood facing each other, one black-haired, one white-haired, blades leveled. After a beat, they smiled and sheathed at the same time.
"Your lightning is better than I expected," Sakumo said.
"And your blade is faster than I expected," Roy answered.
A breeze drifted through.
The two of them—one man, one boy—spread their arms and lay on their backs, staring up at the blue sky, the brilliant sun, and the slow-moving clouds, enjoying a rare moment of peace after combat.
[Notice: Nen nature change +10… Current "Lightning": Lv2 (142/1000)]
The notification faded.
A drop of dew—still not fully evaporated—fell from a leaf and landed on Roy's brow.
He felt the chill and said, "Thanks."
At the exact same moment, Hatake Sakumo turned his head and said, "Thanks."
They both froze, then laughed.
"You're thanking me for what?" they asked in unison.
Roy said, "For the lesson."
Sakumo said, "For letting me fight like that."
Roy added, "Because you're strong."
Sakumo added, "Because you aren't weak."
Sakumo rolled onto his side to face Roy, his expression turning serious.
"Kid, don't casually teach that sword technique to other people."
"Why?" Roy rolled to face him too. "I can't give it to you, White Fang uncle?"
"To me?" Sakumo blinked.
"Yes."
[Notice: Detected 1 pending follower…]
[Pending follower Hatake Sakumo—impressed with host; loyalty +5…]
Roy got to his feet, dusted himself off, and bowed deeply.
"White Fang uncle isn't just anyone. And… what you taught me today was far more than what I'm about to give you."
"But I didn't teach you anything." Sakumo couldn't stay lying down anymore. He stood, patted Roy's shoulder, and said, "That was all your own."
Roy didn't argue. With a thought, he condensed Thunder Breathing into a stream of "nen-information" and tapped Sakumo's chest.
The data burst and split into strands that poured into Sakumo's mind.
Sakumo stiffened. When he came back to himself, he turned the technique over and over in his head, then looked at Roy with a complicated expression—at a loss for words.
In the end, he just patted Roy's shoulder, then left.
Step… step… his footsteps faded away.
A beat later, the panel finally chimed:
[Notice: Pending follower Hatake Sakumo—grateful for "Thunder Breathing"; loyalty +5…]
[Current loyalty: Absolute loyalty—can entrust his back to host…]
Roy listened quietly, watching Sakumo's back until he vanished into the distance.
Then Roy spoke abruptly:
"Done spying?"
That one sentence startled Shisui and Itachi so badly they jumped—
And Roy flicked a glare toward a corner of the sky, sending a sharp "eye-blade" through the air.
Far away, in the Hokage Tower…
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and dispelled the Telescope Technique, silently setting the crystal ball aside.
~~~
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