Hatake Kakashi had been personally taught by Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, so his foundation was naturally solid.
The Hatake swordsmanship inherited from his family was also far from weak.
But more than that, the real issue was Kakashi himself.
He was a little too greedy.
He wanted to master both ninjutsu and swordsmanship at the same time, and in a way, that split focus wasted part of his talent.
The Lightning Blade—his Chidori—had indeed been created by Kakashi himself, but without the Sharingan Obito Uchiha had given him, Kakashi's vision simply could not keep up with the speed of that technique.
"Pure swordsmanship?"
Kakashi looked at Shiki in slight surprise.
"Mm."
Shiki nodded, not bothering to hide his meaning, and continued in a calm tone,
"Your talent is good, and your foundation has been polished well. But your heart isn't devoted to the sword alone."
"I..."
Kakashi fell silent for a moment.
He understood that himself.
He wanted to learn the Hatake Clan's swordsmanship, but he also wanted to master powerful ninjutsu.
He wanted both.
He was too greedy.
"For a true swordsman," Shiki said evenly, "the sword in his hand is worth more than any powerful ninjutsu. You'll understand that sooner or later."
Shiki had no intention of forcing the current Kakashi to understand everything right now.
As long as the seed had been planted, that was enough.
Kakashi gave a slow, absent-minded nod, indicating that he understood.
Then he silently continued slashing the iron stake alongside Shiki.
Seeing Kakashi like this, Shiki knew he was struggling internally.
Whether he should give up pursuing ninjutsu so heavily and devote himself more purely to the sword... that was something Kakashi had to think through on his own.
Shiki said nothing more.
This kind of decision could only be made by Kakashi himself.
For a while, the courtyard fell into silence once again.
"9997!"
"9998!"
"9999!"
"10000!"
When the final slash fell, a faint light flashed through Shiki's eyes.
His ninja blade swung out in a swift arc, and the iron stake was instantly cut clean in half.
At the same time, Shiki's daily task was finally completed.
"Receive."
A slight smile appeared on his face as he silently communicated with the system in his heart.
"Lord Shiki! I—"
Just outside the house, Kushina Uzumaki had only just arrived and was about to call out.
But inside her body, the Nine-Tails—who usually couldn't be bothered with anyone—suddenly sensed something and snapped open its massive beast-like eyes in shock.
"Wait!"
"Ah—?"
Hearing the Nine-Tails' voice so suddenly, Kushina was obviously caught off guard.
But before she could say anything else, an aura so overwhelming it was difficult to describe in words spread out from the Shiki residence.
In an instant, the entire village of Konoha was enveloped by that pressure.
"What is this?!"
"What an oppressive feeling!"
"Could it be... the Nine-Tails appeared?!"
The civilians, unable to understand what was happening, felt an instinctive fear rise from deep within them.
It was as if their very bodies were warning them not to resist.
But for some of the shinobi who had already experienced this kind of pressure before, they immediately understood.
"That direction... it's Lord Shiki's house!"
"He's gotten even stronger!"
"As expected of Lord Shiki!"
"He was already terrifying before... but now, I don't even feel qualified to look up at him!"
"..."
The sheer gap between them made it feel completely hopeless.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had only just awakened, was also stunned the moment he felt that monstrous pressure.
At first, he had thought the Nine-Tails had broken free.
But after realizing the source of the aura was the Shiki residence, he seemed to understand.
After staring in that direction for a long while, he let out a weary sigh.
"...Haa. He's become even stronger again."
There had already been no easy way to deal with Shiki before.
But now that Shiki had advanced even further, Hiruzen no longer even knew what kind of method could be used against him.
"I only hope Koharu has enough sense to keep hiding."
Hiruzen sighed as he muttered to himself.
He was already aware of what had happened at the daimyō's residence.
Homura Mitokado was dead.
Koharu Utatane had escaped.
Revenge?
Perhaps Hiruzen might once have entertained such thoughts.
But now?
He truly no longer had the courage for it.
All he could do now was hope Koharu wouldn't lose her mind and recklessly go looking for Shiki.
...
"N-Nine-Tails... what is that?"
Kushina was still frozen in the act of knocking on the door, her beautiful face full of shock.
What kind of power was this?
Even though Shiki hadn't deliberately used Conqueror's Haki, the oppressive aura leaking from him naturally was even more terrifying.
"Don't ask me. How should I know?"
Inside the seal, the Nine-Tails rolled its eyes after hearing Kushina's question, clearly not bothering to be polite.
It clearly couldn't be bothered with her.
"Hey, I'm your jinchūriki, you know! The least you could do is show me some respect!"
Kushina immediately grew dissatisfied.
She was the one sealing this arrogant fox, and it still dared to act so high and mighty?
"..."
Normally, after hearing Kushina talk like that, the Nine-Tails would probably have roared in anger and threatened to eat her.
But this time, all of its attention was fixed on that indescribable pressure.
It merely rolled its eyes again, making it clear that it had no interest in answering her.
Seeing that she wasn't going to get anything out of it, Kushina clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Then, without saying anything else, she opened the door and stepped inside.
"Lord Shiki?"
When she saw the figure standing in the center of the courtyard, it was as if she were looking at someone utterly unmatched beneath the heavens.
Even Kushina froze for a moment.
Kakashi and Tsunade, who had just run out of the house, were even more stunned.
"You've gotten stronger again?"
Tsunade blinked as she looked toward Shiki.
Before this, whenever she stood near him, she could still clearly sense the fierce, overwhelming presence that leaked from him involuntarily.
But now, even though Shiki was standing right in front of her, she could barely feel anything at all.
There was only one explanation for that.
His strength had risen to yet another level.
"Mm."
Shiki chuckled and nodded.
Then he casually tossed aside the broken ninja blade in his hand.
There was no longer any need for this kind of simple sword-swinging training.
And after his compatibility had reached one hundred percent, the aura around Shiki had become even more complete and restrained.
"This..."
Kakashi stood there in a daze.
Wasn't everyone just doing ordinary sword-swinging practice?
So how did Shiki suddenly grow stronger just like that?
And why couldn't he sense anything at all now?
Was this even real?
For the first time, Kakashi began to fall into deep self-doubt.
Was he really a genius?
He had graduated from the Ninja Academy at the age of five.
He had become a chūnin at six.
And a jōnin at twelve.
Even in the entire shinobi world, geniuses like that were incredibly rare.
Yet standing in front of Shiki now, Kakashi suddenly felt like his own so-called talent was nothing at all.
Author Note:
Here we go again… starting a new project: Jujutsu Kaisen: Gilgamesh The King of Heroes.
If you like global curses not limited to Japan, strong MCs, and heavy 'Quality' moments, give it a try.
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