A Konoha ninja clad in a dark green tactical flak jacket, with a ninja forehead protector tied around his left arm, sped swiftly through the forest.
This was the standard uniform issued to chunin and above in the Konohagakure. Yet the speed of this young ninja far exceeded that of an ordinary chunin.
No—even most jonin could not match him.
His name was Shimizu Uzuki.
In his previous life, he had been nothing more than an ordinary young man on Earth. Unexpectedly, he had transmigrated to this world.
Soon, Shimizu arrived at a corner of Training Ground No. 43 in Konoha. Based on past experience, Kakashi Hatake should be here around this time…
Sure enough, a 10-year-old silver-haired boy was darting through the forest.
Even in the scorching noon heat, Kakashi persisted in practicing his swordsmanship.
Looking at the blade in Kakashi's hand, Shimizu fell into thought. Three years ago, in Year 40 of Konoha, Kakashi's father—Sakumo Hatake, renowned throughout the ninja world as the "White Fang of Konoha," a man even the Legendary Sannin would yield to—had committed suicide after failing a mission and being unable to endure the rumors and criticism.
What jonin was not strong-willed? Especially someone as powerful as the White Fang? Beneath the seemingly calm surface of Konoha, dark undercurrents flowed—shadows Shimizu had yet to fully grasp.
For example, Konoha's Root… and Danzo Shimura.
That same year, the young Kakashi inherited his father's blade. He grew increasingly silent, but his sword became exceptionally sharp.
Because his blade was his voice.
With a sharp shhkt, white lightning-attribute chakra cleanly split a tree trunk as thick as a waist in two.
Such speed. Such terrifying destructive power. Even a jonin would die from that strike if caught off guard.
And he was only ten years old. A genius who graduated from the Ninja Academy at five and became a chunin at six.
Truly frightening talent.
Shimizu himself had graduated at seven and become a chunin at ten. Though fast compared to most, he paled before a true genius like Kakashi.
Kakashi had received careful guidance from his elite jonin father, the White Fang. As for Shimizu, the reason he had surpassed others was that, as a transmigrator, he had been able to devote himself wholeheartedly to training since childhood.
In the blink of an eye, he had struggled for twenty years in the world of Naruto before finally becoming a jonin of Konoha.
But jonin—that was a vast chasm.
Any ninja could reach chunin with perseverance. But jonin? That was an honor many could never touch in their lifetime. Becoming one was simply too difficult.
And there were no shortcuts.
Shimizu had no extraordinary talent, no famous teacher, no bloodline limit. Even so, this ordinary man had become a jonin of Konoha—a pillar of the village.
But it was not enough.
Because he knew the Third Great Ninja War was coming.
In the original story, Kakashi was promoted to jonin at twelve while participating in the Third Great Ninja War against the Land of Earth. That meant the war would inevitably break out either later this year or next.
Even jonin could fall at any moment in such a war…
He needed greater strength.
Mastering powerful ninjutsu was one way to increase it.
For example, the A-rank Lightning Release technique Kakashi would later develop in the original story—Chidori.
"Hey, Kakashi. Still training in this heat?" Shimizu called out.
Kakashi, breathing heavily, saw who it was and replied, "Hello, Senior Uzuki!" In his memory, Shimizu Uzuki had always been a regular at Training Ground No. 43. "Didn't you train the same way, Senior?"
Despite his youth, pride, and cold demeanor, Kakashi was respectful toward elders—especially this man.
After all, near the end of the Second Great Ninja War, this man had saved dozens of Konoha's lower-ranked ninja, including him.
Moreover, this Konoha jonin had unique insights into Lightning Release techniques. After exchanging ideas with him a year ago, Kakashi had already completed most of the conceptual framework for the technique he intended to develop.
Shimizu scratched his head. "I came to talk about that technique we discussed… I think we should shift more Lightning chakra toward the fingers, let it spiral in the hand. What do you think?"
"Senior, I've already completed that technique!"
"You think so too, right—" Shimizu suddenly realized he had heard something unbelievable. "What? You're saying you've already completed it?"
"Yes! Just a few days ago… I still have half my chakra left now—it should be enough!"
With that, Kakashi began forming hand seals. Sure enough, a massive amount of Lightning-attribute chakra gathered in his right hand. Agitated blue currents crackled through the air, producing a sound like thousands of birds chirping.
It really is Chidori… Shimizu silently called the name of the technique in his heart.
Just watching it, he felt incomparable pressure. There was no doubt—this technique possessed enough killing power to easily slay a jonin.
Then Kakashi charged toward a massive boulder dozens of meters away.
With a thunderous boom, a horrifying crater appeared. Kakashi's lightning-cloaked right hand pierced straight through the giant rock.
How many ninja could cast a defensive technique stronger than that boulder's durability?
In Shimizu's impression, most ninja defenses were rigid and inefficient. Truly powerful defensive specialists were extremely rare.
Evasion—that was what ninja excelled at.
"This technique is powerful. Its attack strength and chakra consumption are comparable to an S-rank offensive jutsu. But its flaws are obvious." After observing it only once, Shimizu, with his experience as a jonin, immediately saw its strengths and weaknesses.
"Please tell me, Senior," Kakashi said sincerely.
"First, this technique requires a certain distance to accelerate. Because the speed is too fast, the naked eye often can't keep up. So you must rely on predicting the enemy's next movement to strike—and you can only move in a straight line. Against experienced ninja, that's fatal. It would be effective for an ambush, but the sound it makes is simply…"
If not for its many restrictions, this Lightning Release technique would undoubtedly qualify as S-rank.
After a pause, Shimizu continued, "If possible, reduce the required charge distance—ideally eliminate it altogether while maintaining maximum power. Also, if it could be cast with a single hand seal or even without seals, it would be much better for surprise attacks…"
Reducing the charge distance alone was something Kakashi could definitely accomplish—because once "Chidori" was improved, it would become "Raikiri," an S-rank offensive technique that could be activated anytime, anywhere.
But one-handed seals or a no-seal technique… that wasn't something the original Kakashi could achieve.
"What are you going to call this technique?" Shimizu asked.
Having expended a large amount of chakra and stamina, Kakashi was breathing heavily. After resting briefly, he replied, "It's called Chidori. The sound is just too loud—it really does sound like a thousand birds chirping."
Lightning Release: Chidori. Compared to what Shimizu remembered from his previous life, this technique had appeared in this world more than a year earlier. And now that Shimizu had pinpointed its shortcomings so precisely, given Kakashi's talent, was it possible he might refine it even sooner?
"Being able to complete this technique is thanks to your guidance, Senior. Without you, I don't think I could have developed something so remarkable," Kakashi said with genuine gratitude.
"Haha, not at all… The fact that we thought of the same ideas just means we're fated," Shimizu replied, activating the transmigrator's innate skill of shamelessly bluffing.
In the original story, even without him, Kakashi would eventually develop this technique independently during the upcoming Third Great Ninja War.
In this world, creating a ninjutsu uniquely one's own was even harder than becoming a jonin. It required not only extraordinary opportunity and talent, but also a deep understanding of the structure of techniques.
Shimizu had spent nearly all his time training in basic ninjutsu, taijutsu, swordsmanship, and increasing his chakra—not developing new techniques.
On his own, he truly could not create such a high-difficulty jutsu. And techniques like the Rasengan—a no-seal jutsu—required an immeasurable investment of time, with no guarantee of success.
But he knew who had originally developed Chidori. One advantage of being a transmigrator was the ability to leverage the right person at the right time. He could directly assist the technique's original creator, offer ideas, and at least provide some positive input.
Perhaps through joint discussion and research during the development process… he might even learn to create these techniques himself.
And even if he couldn't create them—
Couldn't he at least learn them?
"Senior, I'll tell you the full principles behind this technique and the sequence of hand seals…"
Kakashi felt that since this ninjutsu had been developed together with Senior Uzuki, it should naturally be shared. Even though he had delivered the final breakthrough himself, many of the initial and intermediate ideas had truly relied on Senior Uzuki's guidance to achieve today's success.
Haha, that's exactly what I was waiting for you to say, kid!
In just a short moment, Shimizu fully grasped and integrated everything. After all, he was one of the contributors to Chidori's development and was already very familiar with the technique.
His hands formed seals instantly.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
It really was Chidori. The chaotic blue-white currents roared violently. Shimizu charged once more at the giant rock Kakashi had pierced earlier—but unlike Kakashi, he leapt high into the air and struck downward from above!
Boom!
When the dust settled, the entire massive rock had shattered completely.
A jonin's chakra was simply incomparable to that of a chunin like Kakashi.
Different users meant different power levels for the same technique.
Shimizu estimated his chakra consumption—about one-sixth of his reserves had vanished. As for Kakashi, he had nearly drained himself with that single strike. Before casting the technique, he had only about half his chakra remaining.
From this, it seems Kakashi already has chakra reserves at the level of a Special Jonin… Shimizu calculated silently. Judging by the timeline, in a little over a year, with his genius-level talent, it's entirely possible for his chakra to reach full jonin level.
With such talent, if he kept pushing forward, the Kakashi of his twenties might well continue the glory of the "White Fang of Konoha."
One could only imagine how much he must have slacked off in the original timeline during the decade between the end of the Third Great Ninja War and Year 60 of Konoha…
Heh. Why am I worrying? He has a clan backing him and a teacher protecting him. I'm just here to learn Chidori, Shimizu mocked himself inwardly.
"Oh right, Kakashi. What I mentioned earlier was improving this technique. The other thing I wanted to talk about is extending it," Shimizu refocused on practical ways to increase strength.
"Extending it?"
"Yes. If Chidori is an offensive ninjutsu, then we could create derivative techniques from it. For example, using Chidori defensively—like covering the entire body with its lightning current. Or increasing its attack range to several meters, even turning it into a ranged technique—perhaps by throwing or launching it in some form. Or maybe attaching Chidori to chakra weapons. What do you think?"
Kakashi pondered for a moment. "That… would probably be very difficult."
Creating a ninjutsu wasn't something that could be achieved just by thinking about it. It required deep understanding of the underlying principles—without talent, it was impossible.
At least, Shimizu couldn't do it on his own. While he had some understanding of technique theory, it wasn't nearly as profound as those true geniuses. And he simply didn't have the spare time to tinker with such things, which was why he had never developed an independent ninjutsu.
Damn it, why is creating a technique so hard?
Each generation of Hokage could develop their own unique jutsu—they were all monsters.
Forget it. You can't have everything.
Fortunately, he had Kakashi.
With a genuine genius like Kakashi, was there really any need to worry about developing variations like Chidori Current, Chidori Blade, Chidori Senbon, or Chidori Sharp Spear?
"It's not impossible. We can research it together," Shimizu said confidently, without the slightest pressure.
"Alright!" Kakashi nodded firmly.
"Keep working hard, Kakashi… I'll be going now."
With a Body Flicker Technique, Shimizu vanished from the spot.
Kakashi's black pupils shrank slightly.
"As expected of Senior Uzuki… I couldn't even see his hand seals, nor the direction he left. It was as if he vanished into thin air."
"When will I ever reach Senior Uzuki's level of strength… Father…"