Kakashi and Akiyama Shun Arrive at the Perfect Moment! A Classic Recreation!

Early the next morning.

Kakashi brought Akiyama Shun to a stretch of wasteland; this was the place where Kakashi had been training for some time now.

At this moment, Kakashi felt a bit awkward all over; he had never imagined that one day he would be receiving instruction from Akiyama Shun.

Akiyama Shun, however, didn't feel anything of the sort. Upon reaching the spot, he sat down casually on a large rock and began to explain things to Kakashi:

"Let me first introduce you to the ninjutsu called Chidori so you have a basic understanding of it. First off, Chidori involves gathering Lightning Release chakra in your palm to form a high-intensity electrical current, making your hand like a sharp blade with immense piercing power."

"When using Chidori, the Lightning Release chakra also stimulates your cells, activating them to increase your speed, allowing you to close in on your opponent much faster."

As Akiyama Shun began his explanation, Kakashi gradually entered the zone, listening with great focus.

"However, this jutsu has one drawback: when the human body charges in a straight line at maximum speed, the scenery on both sides blurs into lines, and you can only see a tiny sector directly in front of you. At the same time, it is difficult for the body to change direction mid-charge. There is no need to elaborate on how dangerous this is in battle; you must keep this in mind."

After Akiyama Shun finished his explanation, Kakashi raised his own question: "Is there any way to eliminate this flaw?"

"Yes."

Hearing the affirmative answer, Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. It was fine; as long as there was a solution, he believed he could certainly achieve it. At worst, he would just have to intensify his training.

"It's very simple: just have a Sharingan."

"..."

Where exactly was the simplicity in that?

Where was he supposed to find a Sharingan for him?

Seeing Kakashi speechless, Akiyama Shun gave a dry laugh: "Alright, if you're ready, let's start the training."

Kakashi stared at Akiyama Shun and nodded. The flaw existed, but the advantages of Chidori were simply too tempting.

Soon, the training officially began.

Initially, because Kakashi wasn't accustomed to the Lightning Release chakra stimulating his body, he had some difficulty getting started.

However, Kakashi was determined and hardworking enough that he could spend the entire day, aside from eating, just adapting to that sensation.

Under such effort, Kakashi quickly adapted to the feeling of Lightning Release chakra stimulating his cells.

Next was converting the chakra into an electrical current and then condensing that current into Chidori.

Normally, this step was the core and also the most difficult part, but for a genius like Kakashi, this step was actually the simplest!

"Zzz~ zzz~ zzz!"

After his initial attempts, Kakashi quickly succeeded in condensing the electrical current in his palm. But before he could even feel happy, he felt a sharp pain in his arm and was forced to stop.

"Hoo~ hoo~"

When the current vanished, Kakashi was already drenched in cold sweat from the pain, gasping for air.

"It's true that Chidori requires a massive output of chakra in a very short time, but you outputted too much just now. It exceeded the threshold you imagined; it's like trying to draw water from a faucet—you intended to turn it to a medium flow, but you opened it to the maximum instead."

After Akiyama Shun finished speaking, Kakashi glanced at him, nodded, and immediately began to condense chakra again.

And so, the days passed.

Soon, the day of the official tournament arrived, and Akiyama Shun and Kakashi were still training.

"Zzzzzzz!"

It sounded as if thousands of birds were chirping in unison, emitting a sharp, explosive screech from Kakashi's palm.

At this moment, blue-white lightning was wrapped around Kakashi's palm.

Chidori, completed!

Kakashi lowered his body, aiming at a giant boulder in the distance. With a push from his feet, he vanished from his spot in an instant, bolting toward the boulder like a bolt of lightning.

"Zzz!!!"

The moment Chidori struck, Kakashi's hand easily pierced through the boulder, his entire arm embedded deep inside.

And hand-to-hand combat.

No, that's not it.

Akiyama Shun shook his head, trying to shake the thought out of his brain. He had been hanging out with Jiraiya too much lately and was getting a bit contaminated by him.

"Your mastery of Chidori is now sufficient for actual combat. Get some rest, recover your chakra; there's still time, no need to rush."

The official tournament began.

The moment the Third Kazekage took his seat, he scanned the spectator stands, only breathing a sigh of relief once he spotted Karura.

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a bit puzzled at this moment. Why hadn't Akiyama Shun and Kakashi arrived yet? Were they still training?

"How come I don't see Konoha's Akiyama Shun and Kakashi? I heard those two have been training very hard lately. I hope they don't miss the official tournament because of it; that would be a loss that outweighs the gain."

The Third Kazekage's tone was full of regret, but in reality, he was overjoyed inside.

It would be best if they didn't show up at all; then Karura would win without even having to fight!

"It is fine. Those two children are very clever; I believe they can distinguish the importance of matters."

Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his hand, his expression appearing very calm, without a hint of anxiety.

Kakashi was in the third match; if he was a little late, then so be it. It was of no consequence.

The first two matches had been unremarkable, just standard Chunin Exams, and the spectators felt they were quite dull.

In this Chunin Exams, there were only two matches the audience was truly looking forward to.

One was the battle between Karura and Kakashi, and the other was the performance of Akiyama Shun. They wanted to see exactly what the strength of these three strongest contenders was like.

Previously, the battles involving these three had all been complete blowouts, making it impossible to gauge their true level.

However, after the first two matches concluded, Kakashi and Akiyama Shun still had not arrived.

Yet at this moment, the referee had already begun to announce: "Next match, Karura versus Kakashi!"

Hearing her name, Karura had already walked into the arena.

However, Kakashi had not yet arrived.

Seeing this situation, the referee did not waste any words and immediately began the countdown.

If Kakashi did not arrive within the allotted time, he would be considered to have forfeited.

Time ticked away, and soon it reached the final 30-second countdown.

"30."

"29."

"28."

"..."

As the referee watched the stopwatch, the countdown continued.

In the spectator stands, various murmurs had already begun to arise.

"Where is Kakashi? Why hasn't he come yet? Don't tell me he got scared and ran away?"

"Are you joking? Kakashi is one of the strongest of this generation, how could he be scared off?"

"As long as one performs well, they can become a Chunin; he has no reason not to show up."

"Could it be that he trained too hard recently and had a physical issue? I noticed Akiyama Shun hasn't shown up either."

"That is actually possible; such situations happened frequently in previous Chunin Exams."

"With Kakashi's strength, it would be a real pity if something like that happened. I really wanted to see how strong he is when he goes all out."

It wasn't just the spectator stands; even the two Kage in the main seats on the high platform were discussing the matter.

"It seems Kakashi is truly a hardworking child, but rules are rules after all, and we cannot wait too long."

The Third Kazekage's expression was very relaxed, and a trace of a smile played on his lips.

Sarutobi Hiruzen merely nodded with a smile, saying nothing more, and cast a subtle glance at Namikaze Minato.

Namikaze Minato immediately understood Sarutobi Hiruzen's intent and had just stood up, preparing to leave via Flying Thunder God.

The next second, he sat back down.

It was not just Namikaze Minato; every ninja present at the Jonin level or above had sensed something.

At this moment, a gust of sand suddenly swirled up within the arena.

It caused the nobles from the Land of Wind sitting in the front row to squint their eyes, using their hands to block the sand as they tried to observe the situation in the arena through the gaps in their fingers.

In the spectator stands, the other ninjas were also drawn to this sudden change.

The sandstorm came quickly and left just as fast.

In just five seconds, the sand had completely settled. The moment it vanished, the crowd saw that at the very center of the dust were the two people they had been waiting for all along.

Akiyama Shun and Kakashi!