Lightning and Raikiri

"Obito?"

Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara limped out of the forest. Though Obito was covered in dust, there was a faint heaviness on his face. Rin said nothing, merely followed behind him with her head hanging low. Only when she saw Kato Xu did a trace of delight appear on her face.

"Is she... dead?"

Obito's gaze fell upon the Cloud Shinobi girl, who was almost completely uninjured yet lay motionless on the ground. There seemed to be something complicated in his eyes.

"Mm..."

Kato Xu answered softly. Obito remained silent, then suddenly began forming hand seals. A massive fireball poured from his mouth, engulfing the Cloud Shinobi girl's entire body.

"By regulation, the corpses of enemy ninja should be handed over to the Analysis Team for dissection, in order to uncover the enemy's secrets..."

Kato Xu watched the girl burn fiercely in the flames. He stood aside without stopping Obito, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Kato Xu, do you think we'll die?"

Obito's quiet voice made Kato Xu raise his head to look at him. He had not expected someone like Obito to have such a sensitive side.

"Unless something unexpected happens, I'll probably live longer than you..."

"Hey, are you looking down on me?"

Obito turned back and shot Kato Xu a glare, seeming to feel a little better.

"I just don't understand. I don't understand why people who can do so much for each other as comrades can become so cruel toward others..."

Kato Xu quietly buried the oddity of this matter in his heart. He glanced at Obito and understood why he was acting this way. He had simply been moved by pity.

The boy in goggles, his eyes hidden from view, possessed a soft and sensitive heart. After seeing the Cloud Shinobi's miserable end, his anger had already vanished. Someone like him might be suitable as a friend, but he was absolutely unfit to be a teammate.

A teammate who could not be ruthless toward enemies might drag the entire team down to their deaths.

"If one day you lose the thing most precious to you, perhaps you'll become even crueler than they are..."

Obito secretly glanced at the silent Rin, opened his mouth, then vigorously shook his head as if trying to cast some terrible images from his mind.

"Never!"

Obito's voice was full of conviction. Flickering firelight shone across his face, reflecting a blazing flame in his eyes.

"I'll end the war! I'll become Hokage! I'll make this world peaceful forever, without war!"

Dark gray clouds hung low over the earth. An autumn wind rose at sunset, carrying fallen leaves through the air.

Twelve-year-old Obito watched the burning Cloud Shinobi girl slowly turn to char in the firelight. An inexplicable sorrow welled up in his heart. He clenched his fists as though taking an oath, letting his grand declaration shatter the gloomy sky.

"Although I feel it's not very nice to interrupt a chuunibyou boy's grand declaration at a time like this, if we don't go rescue Kakashi now, the next person burning in the flames will probably be him..."

Kato Xu's voice was calm, but the images transmitted by the Soulfire Insect were anything but peaceful. Kakashi's battle with the Cloud Shinobi Jonin was already nearing its end.

"Kakashi!"

Obito suddenly came to his senses. His eyes widened as he stared at Kato Xu, looking as if to say, Why didn't you tell me sooner? Then he vanished into the forest in an instant.

"Kato must have been watching Kakashi all along..."

Rin raised her head and slowly smiled at Kato Xu before following in Obito's direction.

Kato Xu expelled a large ball of water from his mouth, dousing the flames on the ground. He lightly patted the earth, and rising mud completely covered every trace on the ground.

"State your name... Konoha brat!"

Blood dripped steadily down. The arm that had once been agile and explosive now hung limply in the air. The goateed Jonin endured the pain in his arm as his gaze collided with Kakashi's.

"Kakashi Hatake!"

A long slash wound also ran across Kakashi's chest, the flesh rolled outward.

Suppressing the pain, Kakashi raised his hand. His short blade shone like the cold silver light of winter snow as it shot toward the Cloud Shinobi.

The Cloud Shinobi Jonin paused. His movements had already slowed. He lightly leaped up, twisted his waist and abdomen, and flipped upside down. He narrowly brushed past the short blade, then as he landed, a shuriken streaked straight toward Kakashi like a shooting star.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp..."

Seizing the opening, Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals. His left hand gripped his right, which hung low by the ground and held crackling lightning. With a low shout, he dodged the shuriken and charged forward.

"Using Lightning Release in front of a Cloud Shinobi ninja? I've never been looked down on like this before!"

The Cloud Shinobi Jonin glared furiously at the lightning in Kakashi's hand, narrowing his eyes.

Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon!

Squeezing out the last trace of Chakra in his body, the Cloud Shinobi Jonin's hands glowed with lightning. Two Lightning Dragons flashing with purple radiance charged toward Kakashi in an instant.

Blue and purple lightning intertwined and danced through the air. The air ionized, giving off a burnt stench. The Cloud Shinobi Jonin barely moved his feet as he roared, and the Lightning Dragons erupted with electricity again, as though they were about to swallow the blue glow.

Wherever the lightning reached, the ground shattered and overturned, while trees snapped and fell in tangled heaps.

The terrifying purple Lightning Dragons almost completely enveloped Kakashi. The scorching heat and the impact of the lightning made his whole body go numb and weak.

"Die!"

The Cloud Shinobi Jonin roared as though pouring out all his rage in that single moment.

Kakashi frantically squeezed out his Chakra. Even his consciousness had begun to blur, and only the target before him remained in his eyes.

Raikiri!

The blue lightning immediately burst into dazzling brilliance, sharp and swift like the short blade he had thrown.

A silver-white figure gripped blue lightning and sliced the purple Lightning Dragons from head to tail, seeming to arrive before the Cloud Shinobi Jonin in an instant.

Its name was Raikiri, the cutter of lightning!

Carrying the last remaining sparks of lightning, it tore through the Cloud Shinobi's chest as easily as cutting tofu. Electric currents hissed within his chest, and the flesh had begun to give off the smell of charred meat.

In that instant, the Cloud Shinobi seemed to lose all sensation. He could only meet Kakashi's cold gaze with a trace of disbelief.

"Puh..."

Kakashi's hand passed straight through his chest, piercing the Cloud Shinobi's heart and crushing his final shred of hope.

"Remember... this old man's name!"

"Cloud Shinobi! Yamahara..."

Kakashi could no longer hear the Cloud Shinobi's voice.

Using his last strength to pull out his arm, the two bodies slowly fell backward while facing each other. The Cloud Shinobi convulsed all over, his blank eyes staring at the darkening sky as they gradually lost all light.

Fine wounds covered Kakashi's entire body. Blood slowly flowed out, soaking him from head to toe. His consciousness had also become blurred.

He vaguely seemed to hear something. Kakashi turned his head one final time, but what he saw made him freeze instantly...