"Kurenai, see you tomorrow!"
After school, Shiro Akira waved goodbye to Kurenai Yuhi and headed toward the river on the western outskirts of the village to practice ninjutsu.
The courtyard at home was too small—one careless move could easily destroy it.
Besides, he also planned to catch a few fish from the river as ingredients.
This had recently become one of his ways to offset his food consumption.
In a couple of days, he even planned to go hunting in the nearby forest.
He had heard that the Forest of Death was filled with fierce beasts—huge in size and rich in meat—perfect for meeting his dietary needs.
Of course, it was dangerous there, so it was better to improve his strength first.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Sphere!"
"Zzzzt—!"
Shiro Akira formed hand seals and began practicing.
Lightning rapidly gathered in his hand, condensing into a crackling sphere.
This was currently the only ninjutsu he had mastered aside from the Three Basic Techniques, and its proficiency had already reached a skilled level. He estimated that in a few days, it would reach mastery.
At that point, he could even reduce the three-hand-seal technique to a single seal.
But that still wasn't enough for Shiro Akira.
His goal was to refine the Thunder Sphere into a no-seal technique, similar to the Rasengan.
Of course, he could already achieve that easily using the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—but he wanted to first reach that level purely through chakra control.
That would help him fully master the process of converting chakra into lightning, laying the groundwork for future research—such as replacing stamina consumption with chakra when using the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, or even reversing lightning into chakra.
"Hm?"
After practicing the technique twice, Shiro Akira suddenly sensed a gaze on him.
Frowning slightly, he turned toward a patch of grass behind him to the right.
Catching a glimpse of a masked figure disappearing into the bushes, Shiro Akira said helplessly, "Kakashi Hatake, I saw you. Stop hiding—come out."
That mask was way too recognizable.
At least try to hide properly.
"Rustle!"
The next moment, Kakashi stepped out from the bushes and walked a short distance toward Shiro Akira, his eyes filled with fighting intent.
"Fight me."
"Huh?"
Shiro Akira tilted his head. "Shouldn't you apologize first? Stalking and spying on people isn't exactly polite."
He had initially thought it was ANBU sent by the Third Hokage.
Turns out it was just Kakashi.
"…Sorry."
Kakashi's eye twitched slightly as he gave a completely insincere apology. Then he continued, "Fight me. I know you've been hiding your strength. I saw you fighting those three delinquents the other day."
As he spoke, Kakashi drew the short blade from his back and fixed his gaze on Shiro Akira.
"Oh?"
Shiro Akira was slightly surprised—so Kakashi had witnessed that.
"Alright. Let's do it."
He also wanted to test his progress over the past few days.
Taking a kunai from his pouch, Shiro Akira gripped it tightly as lightning began to crackle across his body.
"Lightning Mode—activate!"
"Crackle—!"
In the next instant, Shiro Akira shot forward in a burst of sparks and lightning, closing the distance in a flash as he slashed at Kakashi with his kunai.
"Clang!"
Kakashi reacted instantly, blocking the strike with precise timing using his short blade.
Feeling the force behind Shiro Akira's attack, Kakashi's expression grew serious.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The kunai and blade collided rapidly as the two exchanged blows at incredible speed.
As if by unspoken agreement, neither of them used ninjutsu at first—engaging purely in taijutsu and swordplay.
"This guy actually trained in swordsmanship too?"
Kakashi was surprised to see Shiro Akira using a kunai like a blade.
Shiro Akira felt like a hidden treasure—each encounter revealing something new.
"His talent is impressive… That swordsmanship is probably self-taught, yet he's already reached the entry level. With proper guidance, he could go far down this path."
Dozens of meters away, hidden atop a large tree, Sakumo Hatake observed the battle with surprise.
Neither Kakashi nor Shiro Akira had noticed him.
Shiro Akira's swordsmanship training was still shallow—barely at the beginner level—so he was no match for Kakashi in that regard.
Even with the boost from Lightning Mode, the gap remained.
As he began to fall behind, Shiro Akira stopped limiting himself to taijutsu and swordplay, incorporating the Three Basic Techniques.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Sphere!"
After using the Substitution Technique to evade Kakashi's strike, Shiro Akira reappeared three meters behind him.
His hands flashed through seals, and a crackling sphere of lightning formed, which he hurled toward Kakashi's back.
Kakashi immediately sensed the danger and used Substitution.
"Boom!"
The substitute log was blown apart, charred black.
Kakashi reappeared several meters away, a bead of cold sweat forming on his forehead as he looked at Shiro Akira, who had stopped attacking.
"You're ridiculously fast at forming hand seals. How about we call this a draw? Hah… hah…"
He began to pant.
The battle had lasted nearly ten minutes, and the high-intensity combat had drained his stamina.
But that wasn't the main issue.
Shiro Akira's strength in Lightning Mode was superior, and after dozens—if not hundreds—of clashes, Kakashi's palms were numb, even slightly torn.
"Works for me. I'm exhausted too."
Shiro Akira dispelled Lightning Mode with a smile and stored his chipped kunai back into his pouch.