The Way of the Ninja

If one had to name the most important ninjutsu in the world of Naruto, then aside from the Rasengan, it would be Chidori.

Chidori was known as the ultimate lightning-nature chakra transformation. Not only was it immensely powerful, but its shape transformation also gave it astonishing versatility. Sasuke and Kakashi had developed it into two entirely different systems, and that very trait perfectly suited the ability of "Blazing Fire."

As it happened, Chidori's creator stood right before Uchiha Mo. Judging by the timeline, Chidori should already have been at least halfway complete.

Kakashi slowly wiped the expression from his face. Only when no emotion could be seen in the half of his face above the mask did he speak.

"I didn't expect you to have become this strong..."

Kakashi recalled how he had once secretly compared himself to others, competing with them...

"But you're just some unknown nobody. It's only natural that you lost to me. What did you come back for? Did you suddenly grow a conscience?"

Hearing this, Mo shifted his gaze back to Kakashi's face, his tone cold. But Kakashi seemed long accustomed to Mo's indifference. After steadying himself slightly, he replied, "You said... only the weak get trapped in the dilemma of choosing. But I don't think my father was weak. He..."

As Kakashi spoke, his tone gradually grew urgent, and his voice even began to tremble. Yet before he could finish, Mo withdrew his gaze, passed by him, and slowly headed toward the forest behind them.

"What a boring question. Do you want me to lecture you about some grand principle? Kakashi, are you craving someone else's guidance? As a man about to become a jonin, don't you think you're being laughable and childish?"

As his words fell, Kakashi's breath caught, and the words he had yet to say lodged behind his teeth.

In truth, this was the first time Kakashi had actively opened his heart to someone since White Fang's death. Before this, he had not taken to heart a single word from Obito, Rin, or the Third Hokage.

In his eyes, his father's death had proven only one thing: shinobi were machines that existed to complete missions. Companions? Mere tools. Bonds? Nothing but a joke.

He had lived this way for the past three years, until today, when Uchiha Mo shattered the beliefs he had always clung to through his actions.

Faced with a powerful enemy of unknown intelligence who had killed the leading jonin in a single move, Mo's words might have been harsh, but he had indeed handed Kakashi the hope of survival. From Kakashi's perspective, Uchiha Mo had crushed his beliefs with his own life. That was why he had opened his heart and desperately sought an answer.

Any answer would do—whether it made him continue following his old beliefs or return to his original heart. As long as it could free him from his confusion, that was enough.

But clearly, Uchiha Mo had no interest whatsoever in changing Kakashi.

Mo paused slightly and looked back. "You risked your life to come back for such a trivial matter? Kakashi, you truly are White Fang's son. Father and son, both of you are exactly the same—complete and utter trash."

Kakashi's pupils contracted. His body trembled as he clenched his fists, as though he could not believe what he had just heard.

"What did you say?!"

Though Kakashi's own creed was that "those who break the rules of the shinobi world are trash," that did not mean he could endure someone insulting his father to his face.

"Heh~"

Mo bared his teeth in a deeply mocking smile. "I said, you and White Fang are both trash!"

As the words fell, Kakashi could no longer endure it.

He sprang into action in an instant. His right hand drew the short blade from his back, slashing sideways before thrusting forward, while explosive lightning flared from his left hand!

"Screech—!"

In an instant, scarlet bloomed in Mo's black eyes. Kakashi's movements immediately slowed. Mo raised a hand and seized Kakashi's right wrist directly, bringing the white blade-light to an abrupt halt! But the lightning in Kakashi's left hand had already closed in on Uchiha Mo's face.

Mo remained calm, showing no sign of panic. Chidori itself required the Sharingan's dynamic vision to fully display its power. Kakashi alone simply could not control this technique, much less when Chidori was still only an unfinished product.

His left hand shot out like lightning, hooking beneath Kakashi's right arm at the armpit. Then, with both hands exerting force, he threw him flying with an over-the-shoulder throw!

"So fast!"

Kakashi only felt his slash being blocked, followed by a sharp pain beneath his arm. Then the world spun around him, and he was sent flying in an instant!

"Splat!"

Chidori instantly pierced through a large tree, pinning Kakashi himself to it by his left arm.

"Has rage clouded your mind? You actually used such an incomplete technique that's practically suicidal. You really are trash."

In fact, if Kakashi had fought as he usually did, using ninjutsu to support his swordsmanship, he might not have been able to defeat Uchiha Mo, but he could at least have caused him some trouble. Yet clearly, Kakashi had now been completely blinded by rage.

Kakashi silently pulled his arm out of the tree, then slumped onto the ground like a dog that had had every bone pulled from its body, his face ashen and utterly lifeless.

"..."

Uchiha Mo watched him for a while before suddenly stepping closer.

"Your technique gave me some inspiration. In return, I'll tell you a truth that even an Uchiha brat understands."

He crouched before Kakashi, his gaze passing through the disheveled white hair to stare straight into Kakashi's eyes.

"Listen, Kakashi."

As his voice fell, Kakashi's lifeless eyes gradually shifted, meeting Uchiha Mo's clear black gaze.

"This world is objective. It will not treat you kindly because you are kind, nor will it treat you cruelly because you are evil. So White Fang saved his companions, yet those same companions condemned their benefactor because of the village's public opinion. What consequences will your choices bring? No one knows."

"Whether you choose your companions or choose the mission, that is merely your own code of conduct. People are people because they possess their own thoughts, their own consciousness."

"When ideals collide with the barriers of reality, it becomes a test of one's convictions. White Fang's belief that companions came before missions was not accepted by the world. He wavered. Rather than act for what he believed in, he could not accept reality and chose suicide, leaving you alone at the age of five. So whether as a shinobi or as a father, he was a coward."

"The creed you uphold does not come from yourself either. It comes from White Fang's fate. Everyone is influenced by worldly views, but Kakashi, you have completely lost your way and become an extension of the past."

"You risk your life, even complete missions in a suicidal fashion, trying to prove through your own death that White Fang was right—or to wash away White Fang's stain."

"One person's death has turned your life into a complete mess. How narrow is the scale by which you measure your life?"