Kakashi was in a very good mood today.
His father had vanished early in the morning, but he had made breakfast for him and even left a little note.
"Dad's off to work! Things might get busy lately, so sort out your own lunch and dinner!"
His old man's concern was as greasy as ever, but what truly made Kakashi happy was that his father had finally pulled himself together.
More than anyone else, Kakashi knew that although his father looked fine on the surface, the mission's failure and the village's criticism were still affecting him.
White Fang had not left its sheath in a very long time...
But things were better now.
His father had found his spirit again. Before long, that omnipotent old man of his would surely return.
After breakfast, Kakashi slung his high-quality White Fang replica over his back and headed out. Today, he was going to receive a new mission with Teacher Minato.
He walked down mountain paths, crossed through the park, and passed through the bustling streets.
Kakashi could still hear people discussing his father, but he no longer cared.
That was right—not because he had gotten used to it, but because he did not care. Misunderstandings would eventually be cleared up, and life had to go on.
Kakashi finally arrived at the meeting place—Konoha's Number One Park. It was Konoha's largest park, located close to both the Hokage Building and the Ninja Academy.
Before long, Kakashi spotted Hideki sitting on a rock in a corner of the park.
As always, Hideki had arrived early. Even Kakashi had to admit defeat before that absolute punctuality.
"Morning, Hide..." Kakashi only got halfway through his greeting because he noticed how serious Hideki looked.
He still had a bun clamped in his mouth, completely unaware that grease and saliva were dripping down. He stared intently downward, while a mass of chakra was taking shape in his hand.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. It felt like a Rasengan, but somehow it did not look like one.
"What's he... doing?" Kakashi muttered. Wasn't Hideki already quite skilled with the Rasengan?
Just then, a gentle and familiar voice sounded beside Kakashi's ear.
"He's performing chakra shape transformation. More specifically, he's trying to use Water Release through the Rasengan's method."
Kakashi was startled and quickly turned around. "Good morning, Teacher!"
"Shh." Minato motioned for silence and lowered his voice. "Let's not disturb him. Let him..."
"Yo! Morning, Teacher Minato! Kakashi? You got here pretty early too! You actually weren't late today! Hahahahahahaha!"
Spiky-haired Obito came over waving, electrifying the entire scene.
Kakashi's face darkened, and Minato's smile froze. He immediately looked toward Hideki and sighed. "It's over."
The little chakra ball in Hideki's hand burst apart with a pop. Minato had been right—it truly was a chakra water ball. Water splashed straight across Hideki's face, making his whole body jolt.
With a swoosh, Minato flashed to Hideki's side, moving so fast that Kakashi was secretly stunned.
"Uh..." Obito scratched his head. His instincts told him that he seemed to have caused trouble.
"What happened?"
Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Nothing, genius. You were just too outstanding."
"Huh?" Obito immediately looked at Kakashi suspiciously. "You know?"
"...Know what?"
"Uchiha Ruohuo's challenge letter, obviously... Wait, you don't know?"
"How would I know about your Uchiha clan's internal affairs?"
"Tch."
"Tch!"
Kakashi and Obito were still bickering.
Minato had already reached Hideki's side and quickly checked him over with his eyes for injuries. "Are you all right, Hideki?"
"I'm fine. It's just a shame about my bun. Sigh!" Hideki said mournfully.
"It's good that you're fine." Minato sighed in relief and comforted him as well. "You're very talented. Since you mastered the Rasengan in such a short time, researching the shape transformation of other chakra natures should be quick too."
"Don't lose heart. I'll teach you what I learned while developing the Rasengan, but before that, I have a suggestion..."
As Minato spoke, he spread open his palm, and a Rasengan immediately formed.
Yet he failed to notice the flicker in Hideki's eyes...
"The principle of the Rasengan is to use chakra shape transformation to make chakra flow in a particular pattern and compress it, thereby unleashing tremendous power."
"Your direction is correct—you want Water Release chakra to manifest through the Rasengan's method. But I suggest you start by refining your Rasengan first, because..."
Minato's instruction came to an abrupt stop.
Hideki, standing before him, had likewise spread open his palm. The dispersed water ball condensed once more, spinning continuously as it rapidly took shape.
It was unmistakably a spiral little water ball!
"Ah..." Minato was no longer calm. It was still somewhat crude, but there was no question that Hideki had succeeded!
"You found the method!?" Minato cried out.
Hideki raised an eyebrow instead. The water ball in his hand immediately dispersed, and he sighed, looking rather dissatisfied.
"It's not what you think, Teacher... I can only mix in Water-nature chakra, and this doesn't seem very powerful either?"
After using Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet last night, Hideki felt as though his mind had suddenly been enlightened.
This morning, inspiration had been pouring out of him, so he tried to see whether he could copy Naruto's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken using Water Release instead.
The process had gone fairly smoothly. Since he could use Water Dragon Bullet, his control over Water-nature chakra should have been passable—at least, that was what Hideki believed.
But the result was disappointing...
Naruto's Rasengan had become a forbidden technique the moment Wind-nature chakra was added to it.
As for a Rasengan infused with Water-nature chakra... Hideki did not know whether he had gone about it the wrong way or whether something had gone wrong somewhere.
Overall, it felt no different from a rotating Water Release: Small Water Ball Technique.
Hideki had also tried to see if he could directly push Hydrogen Release into its second stage in one go.
The all-purpose Yang Release chakra worked fine and did not cause much trouble, but no matter what he did, he could not squeeze out any Lightning-nature chakra.
That left Hideki quite depressed.
After all, with his record of learning the Rasengan in less than a month and using Water Dragon Bullet after fewer than ten attempts through sheer force, Hideki had thought that he belonged to the type of peerless genius.
But reality taught him a lesson.
His success with Water Dragon Bullet had probably depended entirely on his enormous chakra reserves, forcing it into existence through brute force.
As for the Rasengan, there was even less to say. He had watched Shippuden and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, so he counted as an experienced student too.
"Sure enough, it's better to keep your feet on the ground," Hideki sighed.
Some wicked thoughts really were better left unentertained.
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