The Storm Release Ninja

As Minato Namikaze and the others disappeared into the distance, Kakashi stood alone, blocking Rael's path.

Rael was powerfully built. Standing before the twelve-year-old Kakashi, he looked like a small mountain.

Crisscrossing scars covered his thick arms, medals left by countless life-or-death battles.

"Heh, has Konoha really run this short of soldiers?"

Rael looked down at the silver-haired boy, mockery in his voice. Yet deep within his large eyes, his gaze remained cold as ice, without a trace of complacency. Anyone who fought alongside the Yellow Flash had to be formidable.

"A brat who isn't even fully weaned thinks he can stop Kumogakure?"

Faced with the taunt, Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly. His right hand slowly raised the White Fang, wind release chakra coiling around its blade.

His reply was brief and cold.

"You can try."

"Arrogant brat!"

Rael snorted and abruptly formed hand seals.

In an instant, piercing thunder crackled across his body. The bright blue current did not cover him completely, but wound like snakes tightly around his arms and legs.

This was an early form of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

Although he could not yet cover his entire body as A did, the explosive power granted by this partial coverage was already terrifying.

"Die, brat!"

Rael laughed wildly. His lightning-wreathed feet slammed into the ground, and he became a streak of blue light.

Because his Lightning Release Chakra Mode was not yet fully developed, he could not control every strand of current as precisely as A. This made his movement more like an out-of-control cannonball: astonishingly fast in a straight line, but burdened by momentum that made turning difficult.

Kakashi's gaze remained cold. The instant Rael moved, he had already read his trajectory.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals and pressed his hands to the ground.

With a thunderous rumble, a thick stone wall carved with dog heads rose from the earth.

"You think this can stop me? Shatter!" Rael neither dodged nor slowed. With his chakra-enhanced iron fist, he smashed straight through the Earth-Style Wall.

Amid flying rubble, his rampaging figure burst through the dust and lunged at Kakashi behind it. But there was no one there.

Kakashi appeared beneath Rael like a ghost.

The instant the wall shattered, Kakashi had used Earth Release to slip underground. Now he burst out, the White Fang in his hand tracing a chilling white arc toward Rael's poorly defended waist and abdomen.

So fast! Rael was startled, but his lightning-enhanced body gave him reflexes beyond those of ordinary people.

He forcibly twisted his waist and used the momentum of his charge to swing his right leg at Kakashi's head like a lightning-wrapped iron whip.

Kakashi curled up at an unnatural angle in midair and brought his short blade across to block.

Clang!

Metal and lightning collided in a shower of blinding sparks.

Using his opponent's tremendous force, Kakashi drifted backward like a weightless leaf. Still airborne, he threw three kunai in succession, each aimed precisely at a blind spot in Rael's vision.

Rael landed, stamping a deep crater into the ground.

He swept his arm roughly, knocking the kunai aside, then accelerated again. "Don't think you can run!"

The two figures darted through the dense forest.

Rael attacked with sweeping, relentless force. Every punch carried an explosive crack that tore through the air, and trees snapped under his brutal charges.

Kakashi, meanwhile, displayed remarkable tactical skill. Rather than meeting Rael head-on, he constantly used the Body Flicker Technique, the Substitution Technique, and various small-scale earth release techniques to alter the terrain.

Now.

As Rael launched another high-speed charge, Kakashi keenly caught a stumble in his movement.

Moving too fast, Rael's ankle briefly locked as he changed direction. To Kakashi, that delay of a few tenths of a second was a fatal opening.

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

The earth beneath Rael's feet instantly softened like quicksand.

Alarmed, he tried to unleash another burst of lightning release and leap away, but Kakashi was faster.

Kakashi appeared at Rael's side like a phantom. The White Fang swept horizontally, cutting cleanly through the Lightning Release Armor and skin on Rael's leg.

"Damn it!" Rael lost his balance, and his momentum sent him crashing hard into a huge boulder.

As the dust cleared, Rael emerged from the rubble with blood covering his face. His initial caution had vanished, replaced by an enraged madness.

The lightning around his limbs grew even more violent, scorching his skin red.

The current directly cauterized the wound on his leg, stopping the bleeding.

Kakashi landed steadily on a tree trunk. His breathing was slightly uneven, but his sword hand remained rock-steady.

He knew how powerful his opponent was. This partial lightning release mode had its flaws, but a single direct hit would end the fight.

"We're not done yet, brat." Grinning savagely, Rael lowered his center of gravity again.

"I know." Kakashi took a reverse grip on his short blade, a deep murderous intent showing in his eyes.

The two figures crossed once more, the roar of lightning mingling with the clear ring of the short blade.

In another corner of the forest, Asami Ri, Hyuga Shin, and Uchiha Tekka formed a triangle, keeping Ran En firmly surrounded.

Compared with the powerfully built A, Killer B, and Rael, Ran En was strikingly different.

Tall and lean, his fair skin and conspicuous short blond hair stood out among the dark-skinned, heavily muscled Kumogakure ninja, lending him an air of elegance.

Yet the danger he radiated was no less intense than theirs.

Ran En tilted his head back slightly, his narrow eyes brimming with undisguised contempt.

He first looked at Hyuga Shin, a mocking smile curling his lips.

"The Byakugan... a pity you're from the Branch Family, wearing the Caged Bird Seal."

Then his gaze shifted to Uchiha Tekka, his expression growing a fraction more serious. "The Sharingan, now that's a worthy trophy. Lord Raikage will be delighted if I bring you back as an offering."

Finally, his gaze passed over Asami Ri as though he were thin air, without lingering for even a second.

To someone like him, who revered bloodlines and innate gifts, Asami Ri, with no kekkei genkai, was merely background scenery he could crush at will.

"He has a lot of chakra, about as much as the three of us combined," Hyuga Shin warned quietly, veins throbbing at his temples.

"The feel of this chakra... something's wrong." The tomoe in Uchiha Tekka's eyes spun furiously as he sensed the power within his opponent. "It's not just Lightning Release."

Facing the dazzling white light pulsing at Ran En's fingertips, Asami Ri did not feel the same intense pressure as his two teammates. Instead, his mind worked like a precision computer, rapidly retrieving his memories and information about Storm Release.

Ran En... a name I never heard in the original story. Asami Ri's gaze lingered briefly on Ran En's fair face.

As an armchair Naruto expert, he knew very well how terrifying this kekkei genkai was: it was the product of combining Lightning Release and Water Release.

Water Release's fluidity gives it the ability to extend, while Lightning Release's piercing nature gives it intense concentration and penetrating power, Asami Ri assessed silently. A troublesome kekkei genkai that combines range, flexibility, and power.

But then his observations revealed a crucial detail.

Ran En was only a Special Jōnin at this point. That meant his control over Storm Release might not yet be as refined as Darui's.

Most importantly—

Asami Ri noticed the superiority in Ran En's eyes. To his opponent, Hyuga Shin and Uchiha Tekka were the real threats. He was merely "small fry" to be disposed of along the way.

Arrogance is your fatal weakness.

Asami Ri silently rested his hand on the ninja tool pouch behind him and turned slightly, hiding more of his body behind his teammates with kekkei genkai.

Because in your plans, the most dangerous strike will never come from a "commoner ninja" like me. And that's our opening.

"Shin, Tekka, listen." Asami Ri kept his voice very low. "Don't try to block Storm Release head-on. That stuff can bend, and its penetrating power is extremely strong. Stick to our usual plan."