Lightning Style Chakra Mode!

"Lightning Style Chakra Mode probably isn't that simple. Otherwise, so few people would have mastered it."

Asuma pondered it for a moment, then set the matter aside for now.

Dispelling the lightning from his hand, he said to Kakashi, "Kakashi, if your Chakra Control improves and you become more proficient with Lightning Style, you can cast it without hand seals as well."

"Also, what I did just now can save Chakra while increasing the piercing power of your palm, but it won't boost your own speed."

Kakashi nodded. "That takes time to hone, and Chakra Control..."

Asuma smiled and pointed at the roaring waterfall. "Hey, go tread water over there!"

Kakashi turned to look at the white waterfall hundreds of meters high, momentarily stunned. "Tread water there?"

"Yeah. It'll help improve your Chakra Control."

With that, Asuma flashed onto the waterfall. His body stood perpendicular to it as he stepped upward against the cascading water, one step at a time.

Treading water like this was far more difficult than doing it in even the fastest river.

However, it was very easy for the current Asuma.

Even Kurenai and Shizune, who trained with him, could now do it.

Kakashi and the others, on the other hand, had rarely done this kind of basic training together since graduation, so they had never learned this trick.

Of course.

This training was not especially difficult.

If one had mastered Medical Ninjutsu, training with Medical Ninjutsu was actually even more effective.

Leaping down from the top of the waterfall, Asuma said to Kakashi, "Kakashi, that Chidori technique should have plenty of room for further development. Right now, it only involves Chakra Nature Transformation. If you add shape transformation, the results should be quite good too."

Kakashi nodded, but he had no intention of researching it in the direction of shape transformation.

For him, he had yet to become proficient in even the application of nature transformation. Focusing on one direction first was the best choice.

Asuma did not know what Kakashi was thinking. After some thought, he reminded him, "If you can make Chidori cover your entire body without affecting the lethality in your hands, you should be able to solve that drawback from earlier."

"Covering your entire body would activate all your cells and increase your neural transmission speed. That can improve your reaction ability."

"However, to achieve that, aside from long-term training, the key is still your foundation."

Kakashi naturally knew what foundation Asuma meant.

Physical fitness!

"Understood. I'll work hard!"

Kakashi nodded heavily, accepting Asuma's final suggestion.

This was indeed a feasible direction for perfecting the technique.

At that moment, Kurenai, Shizune, Rin, and Uchiha Obito arrived as well.

"Kakashi, I'll definitely pass this time!"

From far away, Uchiha Obito shouted smugly.

Kakashi did not even raise his eyelids. "Rin helped you, didn't she?"

Uchiha Obito immediately blushed, then gave a light snort and shouted, "Written exams aren't my strong suit, but as long as you don't get caught, cheating is within the rules!"

"Tch."

That single word from Kakashi, with that tone, made Uchiha Obito so furious that he jumped about in rage.

Asuma and the others could not help but laugh.

That afternoon, they went to check the results.

Asuma and the other two were unsurprisingly on the list, while the confident Uchiha Obito only found his name among the alternates.

He thought his cheating had gone unnoticed, but he had no idea the examiner had seen every one of his movements.

Still, it was probably a special approval from his father.

"Those who passed, please proceed to the classroom. The content of the second exam will now be announced!"

The examiner appeared.

Everyone entered the classroom and took their seats. Then the examiner announced, "The second exam will be a team battle!"

"What?"

"It's actually not an individual battle!"

The classroom erupted in commotion. This was different from the content of past Chunin Exams.

Beside Asuma, Kurenai said thoughtfully, "They've added an assessment of teamwork. Looks like there'll be a third exam this time."

"That should be the case."

Asuma nodded.

He no longer remembered the original plot very clearly, but for a ninja, individual strength was a necessary assessment and would not be omitted.

After leaving the classroom.

Asuma and Kurenai took a leisurely walk together. They enjoyed a rare hour of leisure before heading off together to train.

Before the waterfall, the two first discussed their research into Genjutsu, then separated to train.

"Let's try Lightning Style first."

Standing before the waterfall, Asuma lowered his eyes.

The next moment, the cry of Chidori rang out as lightning burst from his entire body.

Clap!

Bringing his palms together, Asuma compressed his power with all his might.

The sound of Chidori gradually faded, and the radiating electric light around his body was drawn in, becoming a layer of electric light that enveloped his entire body.

"Thankfully, it's not too difficult."

Lowering his hands, Asuma carefully sensed the changes.

His Neural Reaction was indeed much faster. The lightning stimulated his entire body from the outside in, greatly enhancing his cellular activity.

With a flash, Asuma vanished from where he stood.

After testing it, Asuma confirmed that using the Body Flicker Technique in this state was far faster than his Wind Body Flicker.

"This falls within the realm of Nintaijutsu, but regardless of the category, fighting in this state—with this kind of speed—there probably aren't many Chūnin who can match it."

"Moreover, the layer of lightning around my body might not be armor yet, but it can still improve my defense considerably."

Asuma suddenly drew his sword, and electric light immediately spread across the blade.

Sizzle!

With a swing of his blade, a charred mark appeared on the ground.

"It's much worse than my Wind Style Sword Technique."

Asuma shook his head, then thought to himself, If I can use Lightning Style to boost my reaction speed and speed while casting Wind Style Sword Technique...

Could it be done?

"It should be possible."

After thinking it over, Asuma dispersed the electric light in his right palm, then performed Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation with the Chakra in his palm.

Drawing his sword, pale blue Wind Release Chakra covered the blade.

It worked!

He could perform two Chakra Nature Transformations at the same time.

Lightning Style for defense and enhanced reactions and speed, Wind Style for swordsmanship and greatly increased cutting power.

"It just uses a lot of Chakra!"

After testing it, Asuma was quite satisfied. Dispelling the Lightning Style around himself, he fell into thought again. How exactly does Kumogakure's Lightning Style Chakra Mode work?

"The Third Raikage could take Naruto's Wind Style: Rasenshuriken head-on."

"And the Fourth Raikage's speed was almost comparable to the Flying Thunder God. He was much faster than I am now."

A thought suddenly occurred to Asuma. When I covered my whole body with Lightning Style earlier, I was actually focusing on four points: both hands and both feet. Then I abandoned my right palm and used it to cast Wind Style.

"Normally, a ninja casts techniques through their hands and feet, or their mouth and throat. The Hyuga Clan, with their Byakugan, are the exception. They can release Chakra from the acupoints all over their bodies, which is why they have an absolute defense like Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven."

"Kumogakure's Lightning Style Chakra Mode should be similar."

"And since I've cultivated the Hundred Healings Technique, I can not only release Chakra from acupoints throughout my body, but even control it down to every single cell!"

At this thought, Asuma suddenly grew excited.

If he performed Lightning Style Chakra Nature Transformation precisely within every cell, it would form Lightning Chakra that truly enveloped his entire body, tightly fused with every cell of his flesh.

This activation of his cells was absolutely incomparable to merely covering the surface of his body with Lightning Style as he had just done.

And perhaps Kumogakure's Lightning Style Chakra Mode worked this way.

That was why it was so difficult to cultivate, and why so few people could achieve it.

"Let's try it!"

Clap!

Asuma brought his palms together and lowered his eyes as he began to try.