Making a Name 5 (New Book, Please Add to Your Bookshelf)

Watching the thick fog gradually spread across the entire arena, Kitsuchi felt somewhat helpless.

He knew Wind Release, but he was not proficient enough with it. Dispersing such a vast expanse of dense fog would probably be difficult.

Most likely, it would only waste chakra.

He might as well fight in the fog.

Besides the Mist ninja, the other three were in the same situation as him anyway.

"Let's deal with the Hidden Cloud Village pair first."

Kitsuchi spoke after returning to Kakashi's side.

"Mm. One each?"

"Sure, you pick." Kitsuchi looked at the two Hidden Cloud Village ninja, who were clearly not far away yet appeared as blurry figures behind the fog.

"Then Ross. We already exchanged blows earlier, so I'll take him."

Hidden in the mist, the two Hidden Cloud Village ninja heard Kakashi and Kitsuchi casually picking them out like this and could not help growing furious.

But they were weaker, so they could only keep their mouths shut and steel themselves for the coming fight.

As he moved swiftly through the fog, Kakashi's perception was also restricted by the mist. His range of observation was much smaller than usual, but he was still in better condition than anyone else in the arena.

Even Kitsuchi did not know that.

If he knew that Kakashi's strength was only slightly restricted, then with one weakened and the other gaining an advantage, their strength had already become very close.

He probably would not have been as calm as he was now.

The spectators could only helplessly watch the fog in the arena. They could barely make out shadows moving and hear the sounds of fighting, but they could not see the action at all, so they started complaining.

But complaining was all they could do. The organizers could not possibly use Wind Release to disperse the fog just for the audience's viewing experience.

The daimyo on the high platform, naturally, received different treatment.

Soon, four Hidden Cloud Village ninja skilled in sensory techniques came over. After focusing on the situation in the arena, they placed one hand on each daimyo's shoulder.

They could not provide a high-definition playback directly in the daimyo's minds, but they could convey a rough visual impression.

At the very least, they could clearly "see" the battle in the arena.

The only one who did not need this special treatment was, naturally, the Third Raikage, A.

His small eyes were fixed intently on Kakashi, who was fighting Ross, one of Hidden Cloud Village's rising talents, in the dense fog.

Outsiders watched the excitement; experts saw the intricacies.

The audience and most of the observing ninja believed that Kakashi had used the Earth Release, which was countered by Lightning Release, to forcibly withstand Ross's attack because he was stronger and had finer chakra control.

But the Third Raikage, whose Lightning Release training had reached its peak, noticed something wrong the instant Ross's Gratitude Wave was perfectly blocked by Kakashi's Earth Wall.

"There's something wrong with that Earth Wall! Ross's Gratitude Wave shouldn't have been stopped like that."

The Third Raikage had noticed from the start that Kakashi's movements were unusually smooth. Combined with the result of that technique just now, he concluded that there had to be some extraordinary secret within Kakashi's chakra.

"Konoha... Hatake Sakumo... Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi, who was currently fighting Ross in the arena, naturally had no time to be distracted by anything else.

Sixteen-year-old Ross was highly capable. Of all the ninja Kakashi had fought in this exam so far, Ross was the strongest.

Even stronger than Sasori.

With the fog dulling his opponent's judgment, Kakashi returned to his usual offensive style.

The Hatake-style Swordsmanship, seven parts offense and three parts defense, flowed smoothly from the short blade in his hand. One wave of attacks followed another without end.

During the noon break, Kakashi had barely managed to restore the Senjutsu energy in his body to near full capacity. That was why he could fight so freely now.

Ross, completely suppressed by Kakashi, was suffering bitterly.

If not for this fog, he definitely would not have been in such a miserable state. But he could not exactly ask the terrified Kiyoshi Hozuki to disperse it.

Left with no choice, Ross forcibly gathered his chakra and activated a localized Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

What made him stronger than Tomu was that he had long since mastered Lightning Release Chakra Mode and could apply it only to certain parts of his body.

This reduced the burden on his body and allowed him to maintain it longer.

With his legs and arms enhanced, Ross's combat ability rose significantly. He was gradually no longer being suppressed one-sidedly.

Kakashi suddenly changed moves mid-attack, turning and slashing his blade at a spot behind him where no one had been a moment before.

Taking advantage of the instant Kakashi withdrew his blade, Ross seized the opportunity to pull back.

He knew that Kiyoshi Hozuki, who had been hidden in the fog, was helping relieve the pressure on him.

Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief, yet felt even more troubled.

Kakashi had sensed Kiyoshi Hozuki's attack without Ross noticing anything at all. It was clear that his perception in this fog far surpassed Ross's.

How the hell did this brat train? His chakra is absurdly strong, and fine, his swordsmanship and taijutsu are excellent too—but even his sensory ability is this ridiculous? I've never heard of the Hatake Clan possessing an ocular bloodline limit.

Kakashi had suppressed him so thoroughly just now that he had not even had time to form hand seals. Now that he had finally opened some distance, Ross had no time to think further and rapidly formed seals.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Binding Technique!"

Sensing something behind him, Kakashi turned and cut down one of Kiyoshi Hozuki's Water Clones.

As his blade sliced through the Water Clone, Kakashi swiftly used his short sword to knock away several shuriken fired from within the thick fog.

Only then did he realize Ross had retreated into the distance.

Ross's voice then reached his ears.

With no other choice, Kakashi turned around to face him again.

Three lightning spears shot toward the area around him, surrounding him in a triangular formation.

They then formed a pyramid-shaped lightning cage, trapping him inside.

Only after successfully trapping his opponent did Ross finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The Land of Lightning's daimyo saw this from the high platform and immediately broke into a delighted smile.

Meanwhile, the Land of Fire's daimyo on his left frowned deeply.

But what the Land of Lightning's daimyo failed to notice was that the expression on the Third Raikage's face, at the edge of the platform, did not change in the slightest when Kakashi was trapped.

From the very beginning, the powerful Raikage had noticed that Kakashi, who was definitely the real body within the cage of lightning, showed no change whatsoever in the flow of chakra throughout his body.

Because of the dense fog, the Raikage could not see Kakashi's expression at that moment.

He could only make his judgment based on the movement of chakra within Kakashi's body.

If a ninja suddenly fell into a disadvantageous position or into a trap, their body's instincts would cause their chakra flow to accelerate for a short time.

It was a normal physiological reaction, like a knee-jerk reflex. Kakashi's reaction was far too calm. Being suddenly trapped seemed not to have affected him at all.

That detail the Raikage noticed left him increasingly doubtful.

After Kakashi, inside the lightning cage, failed to attack the three lightning spears forming the electric net with a kunai, he tried Earth Release again in an attempt to alter the terrain. However, the electric net was firmly locked in its original position, keeping him trapped.

Ross watched from afar for a while and, after confirming that Kakashi could not break free for the moment,

left behind a Shadow Clone to maintain the Lightning Binding Technique and rushed off to support the hard-pressed Asui.