Chapter 20: Ninjutsu Genius Byakuya? Kakashi’s Deep Thoughts
After leaving the Memorial Stone, Kakashi immediately summoned Pakkun and had him track the scent.
Not long after,
he located Team 7 training by the riverbank.
“Hm?”
Kakashi didn’t rush to show himself.
Instead, he observed from the shadows.
But he had barely watched for a few moments
when he froze.
“Sasuke… is practicing Chidori?!
Who taught him that!?
Could it be… Byakuya!?”
Kakashi was stunned.
He had always been quite proud of this self-created technique of his.
He was confident that if he never taught it to anyone, no one else could possibly learn it.
Yet now,
Byakuya had figured it out entirely on his own.
And then casually tossed it to Sasuke like it was nothing.
This stung a little.
“I never expected…
he’d be a genius no less than myself!”
Watching Byakuya reading under the tree, Kakashi couldn’t help but murmur in admiration.
As for the possibility that Sasuke had developed it himself…
Kakashi dismissed that immediately.
Impossible.
“What a shame…
he chose to stop being a shinobi.
Otherwise,
he would definitely become an outstanding ninja.
He might even have become Hokage one day!”
After silently watching for a while longer,
Kakashi decided it was better to go greet them.
After all,
no matter what, he was still Team 7’s captain and sensei.
Handing his students over to someone else like this didn’t look very good.
With that thought,
he flickered and appeared on a tree branch directly opposite Byakuya.
“Yo.”
Kakashi raised a hand in casual greeting toward Byakuya.
“Kakashi-sensei’s here?”
Byakuya didn’t even look up, just replied softly.
“I never thought you’d have such a talent for teaching students.”
In another flicker, Kakashi appeared right beside Byakuya.
And then he couldn’t hold back anymore.
He asked the question that had been burning in his mind.
“Did you figure out Chidori yourself?”
“Yeah~
Gathering Lightning-natured chakra in the hand.
It’s not actually that hard.”
Kakashi: “……”
Sure, he also felt it wasn’t that hard…
But this was his proudest original technique!
To be evaluated so casually… it really hurt.
“With you around, I really can slack off now.”
Saying so,
he leaned against another tree, pulled out his beloved Icha Icha Paradise, and started reading.
Time passed slowly between the two of them quietly reading.
The first to complete the training task was Sakura.
Her ability to condense and control chakra was outstanding.
Cherry Blossom Impact was a taijutsu perfectly suited to her.
So she mastered it quickly, then came over to report happily to Byakuya—and greet Kakashi on the way.
Byakuya gave her a few words of encouragement,
then sent her back to continue training.
The second to master their technique was Sasuke.
Chidori suited him perfectly, so he grasped it very quickly.
Seeing this, Kakashi couldn’t help but offer a bit of guidance.
He also instructed Sasuke that until he could cut lightning itself, the technique could only be called Chidori—not Lightning Cutter.
Hearing this, Sasuke inwardly went on a wild rant.
Then he silently continued training.
The last one to finish was Naruto.
Because of Byakuya’s intervention,
Naruto had never been targeted by Orochimaru and had his Nine-Tails chakra sealed with the Evil Sealing Method.
So mastering water-walking came fairly quickly for him.
“Look! Look!”
Naruto shouted excitedly from the riverbank toward Byakuya.
“Byakuya!
I did it!
I can walk on water now!
Whoa—”
Splash…
Right in the middle of his triumphant yell, Naruto’s joy turned to disaster.
He fell straight into the river.
Byakuya could only shake his head repeatedly.
“T-that was just an accident!”
Naruto hurriedly explained while scrambling out.
“I’ve already mastered water-walking!
Byakuya, teach me some super cool technique too!
Like the ones Sakura and Sasuke got!
I wanna get really strong too!”
“Naruto, the next one I’ll teach you is the technique most suited for you.”
Byakuya let out a helpless sigh,
then stood up.
“Watch carefully.”
As he spoke, chakra gathered and swirled in his hand, forming a Rasengan.
“This is called Chakra Sphere.
It’s the technique most suited to you.
Simple, practical, and extremely powerful!”
Seeing the Rasengan in Byakuya’s hand, Kakashi nearly popped his eyes out.
“Rasengan!?”
“Hm?”
Byakuya glanced at Kakashi.
Of course he knew the real name.
He had deliberately said it this way to prompt Kakashi into renaming it.
“Chakra Sphere?
That name’s not bad.
Let’s go with that then~
Naruto, watch closely.”
With that,
Byakuya smashed the Rasengan into a large boulder, reducing it to powder in an instant.
“So… so strong!!”
Naruto’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Teach me! Teach me!”
“Alright~
First, go buy a backpack full of water balloons and air balloons.
Get them roughly the same size as the Chakra Sphere I just used.”
“Got it!!”
Naruto shouted excitedly and dashed off in a blur.
“I never imagined you’d even figure out this kind of technique.”
Kakashi sighed from the side. “You really are a genius~
It’s truly a shame you’re not continuing as a shinobi.”
“Actually, compared to being a shinobi…
I prefer researching ninjutsu~”
Byakuya gave Kakashi a smile that carried a hint of deeper meaning.
“I also enjoy reading all kinds of documents and materials, trying to puzzle things out from them.
For example—kekkei genkai.
When two chakra nature transformations are mixed together at the same time, they produce a new release, forming a kekkei genkai.
And it can be passed down to the next generation.
I’ve heard only an extremely small number of ninja can develop their own kekkei genkai.
I really want to give it a try~”
“That’s a fine ambition~”
Kakashi nodded in approval.
He genuinely felt that Byakuya had the potential to create his own kekkei genkai.
“But it’s really hard~”
Byakuya shook his head. “Sometimes I really envy Sasuke.
Born with a kekkei genkai.
And such a special one—the Sharingan.
No matter how much I fuse chakra natures, I could never develop something like the Sharingan.
Kakashi-sensei…
What does it feel like to have the Sharingan?”
“Everyone has their own fate.
Having the Sharingan doesn’t necessarily make you strong.
Didn’t the First Hokage completely overpower Uchiha Madara?
I happened to receive one Sharingan by chance.
It did make me stronger to a degree.
But I never felt overwhelmingly powerful.
Instead, I often felt quite helpless.
Everyone calls me Copy Ninja Kakashi…
and completely overlooks my other abilities.
And after getting the Sharingan, my chakra is always running short.”
“That makes sense~
A kekkei genkai that doesn’t belong to you… it can’t be evolved or deactivated at will, right?
After all, only the original owner can evolve the Sharingan and freely activate or deactivate it.
Otherwise, Kakashi-sensei wouldn’t dress like that.”
“Indeed, it can’t be deactivated.”
After saying that, Kakashi suddenly froze.
“Evolve…?
Only the original owner can evolve the Sharingan?”
For a moment,
Kakashi sank deep into thought.
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