Shisui POV
The moment the word "FIGHT!" left my lips, Noa's core detonated. A violent surge of lightning chakra erupted from his center, over-energizing every cell in his body. His nerves started to light up, signals flaring with increasing speed. Lightning did not just crawl around him, it lashed out in jagged, screaming arcs that tore at the ground. The earth beneath him fractured and groaned with the rhythm of his heartbeat, unable to withstand the sudden, predatory pressure of the chakra volume being utilized and the concentration in his legs.
Fugaku's eyes widened, his mind racing to process a technique that should not exist. Itachi stood frozen, his jaw tight and his Sharingan spinning at a frantic pace, straining to catch every detail of the miraculous scene in front of him.
"How...?" Fugaku managed to whisper, but the word was drowned out by a deafening crack.
The ground disintegrated. A white-hot streak of electricity tore across the training field as Noa materialized in Kaen's personal space. Kaen's eyes tracked the movement, but his nervous system was too slow to react. He barely managed to throw up a desperate guard before Noa's fist connected with the force of a falling mountain.
The impact was sickening. Kaen's arms were driven back into his own chest so violently that the sound of his ribs straining echoed through the grounds. He was launched like a cannonball, his body trailing sparks as lightning cooked the air around him. Even as he tumbled through the dirt, spasming from the electrical shock, his fingers were already blurring through hand signs.
He did not have a second to breathe. Noa was already preparing his next attack, his arm encased in a churning mass of lightning as electricity focused into a spear in his hand. It looked less like a jutsu and more like a captured bolt of disaster-tier energy fighting to rip itself free from his flesh. As the electrical coating was consumed by the spear, the weapon began to scream with the sheer amount of energy it contained.
Noa unleashed it.
The collision was almost instant and cataclysmic. I was ready to lunge forward if needed, my legs packed with chakra to intervene before Kaen was badly injured, however I did not need to. The spear did not pierce flesh. Instead, it shattered a thick, reinforced shell of stone that had encased Kaen's body at the last possible millisecond. The stone armor did not just break, it pulverized into a stinging mist of grit and shrapnel.
Kaen was hurled backward again, skipping across the hard-packed earth like a stone on water. He finally rolled to a stop, his face a mask of blood, dust, and flickering blue discharge. He looked broken, but as he pushed himself up to a kneeling position, he raised his head to look directly at Noa. His Sharingan ignited with a raw, terrifying challenge.
I smiled, though my heart was still hammering against my ribs. Kaen was playing a dangerous game, burning massive amounts of chakra on high-level Earth Style just to survive the impact. He had been hit twice and injured badly within the first few seconds, but he was still in it. He was trying to adjust, trying to find his way to victory.
Itachi was the first to speak, his tone a mix of confusion, awe, and absolute curiosity as he asked, "What is that exactly?" He was so consumed by the sight that he looked toward his father, asking in a tone that did not suit his usual stoic self. His father was not doing any better. Thoughts were crossing Fugaku's mind as he tried to understand what was happening and see the implications and consequences behind it, just as every Hokage does.
Eventually Fugaku shifted a bit, a huge smile appearing on his face as he said, "I have clashed with the Hidden Cloud before during the last war. It..." He remained silent for a moment before continuing. "It reminds me of the Raikage's lightning cloak. But, this is not exactly it. It is internal." He went back to silence before his own curiosity ate at him and he asked, "How did he do that?"
He questioned me with his eyes. I was very smug and proud of my student as I said with a huge grin, "He developed it on his own." Itachi lost control as he shouted, "What?" while his father's expression was not too far away from his son's.
I was about to expand on it, however at that moment Kaen was finally standing up, looking at Noa with a determined look. Noa on the other hand was smiling with absolute confidence. Lightning flickered from his skin and the air around him felt charged as he tilted his head slightly while looking down at the shorter Kaen.
"Last chance," is all what he said.
Kaen spat blood before snarling at Noa. "Come at me."
Noa's hands blurred as he ignited his seals. Kaen's eyes widened and he immediately weaved through his own hand seals. Noa summoned his spear from his storage device, causing Fugaku to murmur in surprise. "An etched, fast-acting storage seal. Did he reach that level as a seal expert already?"
I did not have the chance to respond before a powerful earth wall rose at the same moment Noa's spear was igniting with raw lightning. The seals on it shone ominously as Noa shot it forward with full strength. The spear did not just fly, it erased the distance, exploding forward with a howl that made all three of us break into a cold sweat. The earth split open in its wake, carved apart by a straight line of white-hot destruction aimed directly at Kaen.
The spear collided with the barely risen earth wall, exploding it into countless pieces that shot in every direction as Kaen saw death coming his way. The wall had barely slowed the attack, and given the horrific power of the strike, Kaen was forced to use his full focus. His three-tomoe Sharingan strained to predict the straight trajectory, allowing him to duck under the powerful weapon just in time. The air pressure alone almost made him lose his balance as he weaved through hand seals and slapped both his hands to the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth Spike Forest!" Kaen roared. He sacrificed yet another large chunk of his chakra to cast a jutsu from a chakra nature he was not yet proficient with. The earth moved, shaped by his chakra and eyes to ensure a perfect execution, as multiple sharp and hard earth spikes rose and tilted outward with Kaen in the middle.
Itachi spoke at my side, grabbing my attention. "Good thinking. Deny him the chance of getting closer again. He is too strong to risk it." I could tell that Itachi was already trying to figure out multiple approaches to face the man Noa is while on Stormdrive. He then froze and asked with a tone full of wonder, "Did he just use ninjutsu without hand seals?"
I chuckled and answered with pure smugness, "Indeed. In that state he can do that. It is one of its many benefits."
Fugaku was extremely pleased. However, a look of questioning appeared on his face as he noted, "The chakra cost is very high. For how long can Noa maintain this... state?"
I replied, "He calls it Stormdrive." Both looked impressed with the name as I continued. "I am not sure. He is always fine-tuning it and increasing the time. From what I see and his chakra reserves, I say Kaen is in it for a painful few minutes."
Itachi gulped nervously as most of his plans collapsed at my statement. Fugaku on the other hand was smiling more and more as the time passed. He was realizing what this barely eleven-year-old kid with such abilities meant for the village.
Noa was taking his time, walking around slowly as he kept his eyes directly focused on Kaen's. Noa was not worried about genjutsu. With the state his chakra was in, there was no chance for that. Noa knew it, and Fugaku and Itachi became more and more impressed by the realization.
Noa suddenly slapped both his hands to the ground. A violent electric net made of lightning chakra shot forward, covering the earth and the spikes as it advanced towards Kaen who jumped. His eyes observed Noa with complete focus as Noa raised his fingers. Multiple powerful lightning bolts exploded forward, causing small shockwaves at their tails.
Before the bolts could connect, Kaen completed a hand seal. A tremendous amount of wind chakra shot to his side. Using his control, he was flung away from the lightning, using his eyes to both control the wind and project the direction of Noa's jutsu. He kept the earth spikes between them while observing Noa's chakra reserves.
Noa realized what was going on and exhaled. Cracking his neck with his powerful arms, he grinned and simply said, "Okay, I see what you are trying to do. I guess it is time to show you what real strength is then."
Kaen's eyes widened as lightning exploded from Noa, consuming his chakra at a frightening level. Since his body was already saturated, the new chakra outpoured from every pore as his reserves dwindled visibly and fast. The lightning did not just sit on his skin, it roiled and screamed, forming a dense, jagged cloak that pulsed with a blinding white-hot intensity. As the lightning interacted with the debris in the air, the dust and small pebbles were vaporized instantly, vanishing into tiny puffs of gray before they could even touch him.
The air pressure became so oppressive that it felt like a physical weight pressing down on the training ground. Kaen, even with his resolve, felt his survival instincts screaming as he visibly recoiled. The sheer volume of energy was unlike anything he had ever felt from a peer.
Noa did not move immediately. He just stood there, the center of a storm, looking through the electrical discharge at Kaen with a gaze that had gone cold and clinical. Noa's voice came through terrifyingly clearly over the crackling roar.
"This will really hurt."