Hold

Sure enough, the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu was meant to lure me into attacking. Otherwise, how could Chiba's hand seals have been so obvious?

By doing this, he forced me to attack.

If I didn't attack and interrupt his hand seals, I would have to face a sky-covering barrage of shuriken clones. And if I knocked down or dodged those shuriken and shuriken clones, it would create smoke, giving Chiba an opening...

That opening would very likely be the moment of my defeat. With Chiba's tactical ability and the ninjutsu and taijutsu he possessed, if he had smoke to conceal himself—an opportunity where I couldn't see him—the battle afterward might become impossible to fight!

Maybe that had been his plan all along. Whether I attacked or not, both outcomes were what he wanted!

Amid a crackling hiss, Kakashi's hand moved slightly. Strands of lightning writhed from his tightly clenched, brightly glowing hand, gathering into a snake that shot fiercely toward Chiba in midair.

I really can't relax for even a moment against him! That thought crossed Kakashi's mind at the same time.

Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation. So I got outplayed again! Kakashi's Chidori was nearly complete already, so this simple Nature Transformation naturally came easily to him.

At that moment, with the swiftly approaching lightning snake reflected in his eyes and his movements beginning to slow, Chiba lightly pursed his lips, the smile at the corner of his mouth fading.

Crack!

The lightning snake slammed into the hand Chiba had just placed on the sword hilt. With an explosive bang, it violently burst apart.

At once, lightning flickered around Chiba's right hand. Charred black ash, like burnt skin, continuously scattered from between his fingers and drifted through the air around him.

"Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation? Kakashi isn't to