End-of-Volume Notes (1): Sasuke's Path
Sakura rolled her eyes at Kakashi before explaining, "I don't care, Kakashi-sensei!"
"We've been doing missions every two days lately, but the last Land of Snow mission dragged on for too long. Since we're back, we've decided to take a break and not accept any missions for now. We'll look for suitable missions again next week, so--"
"So if Kakashi-sensei is going to lead the team, don't bother us with missions below Rank B! We'd be better off using that time to train!" Sasuke chimed in. "Hmph, my strength is still too weak. I only just caught up with Sakura a while ago, and she's left me behind again on this mission!"
Kakashi chuckled, "Do you want another special training session like with the Lightning Blade? But I don't have many Ninjutsu or training methods here that can make your strength improve by leaps and bounds in a short time!"
"Hmm? No, that's not it," Sasuke glanced at Kakashi with surprise, not quite understanding Kakashi's sudden suggestion of special training. However, he was no longer the impatient brat who was eager to improve his strength. "I don't need this kind of special training for now. What I need to do now is strengthen my basic training and solidify my foundation. Otherwise, learning any powerful Ninjutsu will be like building castles in the air."
Kakashi was taken aback. What had happened to these kids during this time? Even the usually awkward Sasuke had become so sensible!
It turns out that Sakura wasn't the only one who reaped huge rewards during the mission in the Land of Snow.
With the help of the footage recorded by Asama Takehiko's high-speed camera, Sasuke and Naruto gained a comprehensive understanding of the problems, flaws, and loopholes they had in the battle. Naruto, in particular, finally discovered his own tendency to be impulsive and careless during battle.
After returning to Konoha, during their training, Sakura clearly felt that Naruto and Sasuke were more difficult to deal with: their punches and kicks became more concise and powerful, no longer as overly wide and forceful as before, which instead revealed their weaknesses.
Because the movements and tactics are simpler and more effective, and the flaws and loopholes are greatly reduced, on the surface the two have not made obvious progress in strength. However, if Yinggan were to have a duel between the two of them before and now, there is an 80% or higher probability that the former would lose.
Moreover, after accepting the girl's advice to use Ninjutsu as much as possible in daily life to train his Chakra manipulation skills, although Naruto is still a little confused, Sasuke has gradually discovered the benefits of doing so, and his Chakra control has indeed improved significantly.
Influenced by Sakura, Sasuke is now also very interested in the practice of specializing in a high-level Ninjutsu and continuously upgrading it.
His goal is Chidori.
Chidori was the original version developed by Kakashi. It got its name because when Lightning Release Chakra was gathered in his hands, it would make a loud sound, like the chirping of thousands of birds.
As Sakura pointed out, the enormous sound of Chidori originates from the restless Lightning Release Chakra, a consequence of the user's lack of control over the Ninjutsu. Therefore, above Chidori is Lightning Blade, Lightning Blade requires the user to calmly cover their palm with Lightning Release Chakra, rippling like the surface of a lake, without making a loud noise.
Lightning Release Chakra is an extremely active form of Chakra. Concentrating a large amount of it in the palm of one hand is already quite difficult, and to completely calm the Chakra on top of that is even more challenging.
Before his mission in the Land of Snow, Sasuke had undergone arduous and rigorous training to master the Lightning Blade.
I thought that Sakura's "lightning is like a calm lake, without waves or ripples" was the limit, but after the mission in the Land of Snow, his Chakra control improved once again, and this Ninjutsu broke through the limit in his hands, reaching the ultimate state of "as calm as an ancient well, as lively as a babbling brook".
--Although Sakura's evaluation was forced into parallelism for the sake of neatness, Sasuke thought it was quite apt.
Having tamed the unruly Lightning Release Chakra to the point of complete control, Sasuke felt a surge of clarity and agility from the Sharingan as the azure Lightning Release quietly illuminated the black-haired boy's face. Sasuke suddenly grasped the feeling Chakra usually had when using Ninjutsu —a wonderful illusion of being able to manipulate everything, almost like God.
Of course, he's still far from Sakura's level, and there's no need for him to painstakingly train to reach that level. After being on Sakura's team for a year, Sasuke has gradually realized that some people's lives are just like having cheat codes; there's no need to compare himself to her, or he'll only make himself angry...
At the same time, this boy who liked to act expressionless gradually realized the importance of basic training. Without a solid foundation, learning more powerful Ninjutsu would be a waste. On the contrary, with his excellent Chakra manipulation skills, he didn't need to learn any more powerful Ninjutsu. He could delve into the Ninjutsu that Kakashi taught him, evolving it from Chidori to Lightning Blade, and he would further develop and evolve it into an even more powerful Ninjutsu in the future!
Yes, Lightning Blade only tamed the Lightning Release Chakra; it's far from mastering the nature transformation of Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation to its fullest extent, let alone pushing the Shape Transformation to its limit like the Rasengan.
The further development of the Lightning Blade Ninjutsu alone would take him three or four years. During this time, as he further mastered the Nature Transformation of Lightning Release, his physical activation level also increased, and his speed and strength continued to improve!
This is a broad and smooth road, and countless people have walked this path, proving its feasibility. For example, White Fang of Konoha, and the successive Raikage, were all outstanding Lightning Release ninjas, powerful figures of their time.
Sasuke felt a surge of excitement just thinking about these things.
The Yamato and astonishing potential of Lightning Release Ninjutsu showed him his future path and made it his goal. After the tedious basic training was proven to be an effective way to improve the power of Lightning Release, this boy, who strongly desired to grow, stopped coveting powerful Ninjutsu and began to work steadily towards his goal, truly embarking on the Road to Ninja that belonged to Sasuke Uchiha.
Kakashi, of course, had no idea that his prized student had recently gone through such a mental journey.
However, Sasuke's maturation was something he had always hoped to see.
"He's not the same naive kid he used to be!" Kakashi thought to himself, a hint of satisfaction hidden in his eyes.
What was Sasuke like back then?
The first impression that came to Kakashi's mind was that cool, expressionless boy who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy, and how he would break down in all sorts of ways when the two remaining members of Team 7 were there, making exaggerated expressions: for example, getting so angry at the silly blond guy that his forehead veins would bulge, or being amused by the pink-haired loli and forcibly holding back his laughter but eventually bursting into laughter.
That sensitive and restless boy, obsessed with hatred and yearning for power, was a troubled youth who made people worry that he would slide into darkness.
I don't know when I grew up.
Kakashi sincerely remarked that ninjas like Naruto and Sakura were indeed extremely charismatic and influential.
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(This is the third watch of the night. This volume will end tomorrow.)
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