As Mokgetsu wielded the lightning blade, a flash of dazzling purple lightning blossomed before Kakashi's eyes.
Swish!
Boom!
Kakashi, who was moving at high speed, suddenly stopped. But it wasn't because he wanted to stop; it was because Mokgetsu's slash was approaching, and Kakashi could only preemptively swing his blade to counter.
The purple lightning collided with the yellow lightning dragon, and almost instantly, the dragon was split in two and dissipated in the air.
Kakashi desperately tried to channel his chakra to defend, but the power of the purple lightning was beyond what he could withstand; even using all his strength, he could only hold out for a second.
Bam!
In the next moment, Kakashi's body was flung backwards at high speed, slamming into the ground fiercely.
The result was somewhat unexpected for Kakashi.
It wasn't that he doubted Mokgetsu's ability to easily defeat him; it was that Kakashi didn't expect Mokgetsu to test his strength in this way.
Previously, Mokgetsu would always provide ample space for them to perform before making a move during tests.
After all, with Mokgetsu's strength, if he attacked directly, his students would be instantly defeated, which wouldn't effectively test their abilities.
Just as Kakashi was internally puzzled, he suddenly noticed the changes around him as he got up.
The densely wooded area was now reduced to mere stumps, the slightly elevated slopes flattened, and the ground littered with cut trees and broken stones.
"That slash just now covered such a terrifying attack range," Kakashi was utterly shocked in his heart.
Mokgetsu's slash was like giving the entire forest a flat buzz cut, exceeding Kakashi's understanding of the Lighting Release Blade Technique.
Kakashi couldn't fathom that the Lighting Release Blade Technique could have such power to cause this effect.
In his understanding, the Lighting Release Blade Technique was strong in direct power and bursts, yet Mokgetsu's slash showed Kakashi how limited his knowledge of it was.
"What I countered must only have been the aftershock," Kakashi marveled at Mokgetsu's control ability.
With his current strength, he couldn't directly resist such a formidable slash; if the main force of the slash had been directed at him, he wouldn't have withstood it for even a second, and would have been instantly cut down.
"The intensity of the nature transformation barely meets the minimum requirement," Mokgetsu nodded slightly.
If Kakashi's nature transformation intensity had been insufficient just now, he wouldn't have been able to withstand even the aftershock for a second.
"Continue attacking me. This time you can only use swordsmanship, and you cannot use breathing techniques or chakra," Mokgetsu stated the test requirements.
Kakashi dusted off his clothing, adjusted his breathing, and prepared to step forward with the White Fang Short Blade in hand.
Since reaching a constant state with his breathing technique allows him to maintain relatively concentrated breathing at all times, Kakashi had to manually switch it off when not using it.
Kakashi's gaze focused, and he lunged forward to strike at Mokgetsu's chest, the short blade flashing through the air like lightning, without any reservation.
Clang!
The ringing of blades resounded as Mokgetsu drew a katana given by Shisui from the scroll with lightning speed to block the incoming blade.
Without succeeding in his initial strike, Kakashi remained unfazed and immediately switched tactics, gripping the short blade tightly and swiftly thrusting towards Mokgetsu's heart, perfectly illustrating the saying 'the shorter the blade, the more dangerous.'
However, Mokgetsu seemed to read through Kakashi's moves completely, holding the blade horizontally in front of him to accurately block Kakashi's attack again.
Kakashi understood this was a test, so he abandoned defense entirely and focused all his strength on the offense, targeting Mokgetsu's vital points with each slash, like an unrelenting storm.
Yet Mokgetsu seemed to have a predictive ability, effortlessly blocking any attack Kakashi launched, giving Kakashi the feeling of battling against one who had unlocked the Transparent World.
But Kakashi knew well, while fighting Mokgetsu, that Mokgetsu was not using breathing techniques or chakra, engaging him solely with pure swordsmanship.
In fact, this wasn't Kakashi's first encounter with such a situation. Back when White Fang hadn't committed suicide, he would personally train Kakashi's swordsmanship.
A novice in swordsmanship battling a renowned sword master from the battlefield; if Kakashi didn't idolize his father so much, he might have been crushed into despair.
Now, however, Kakashi could no longer be considered a novice; after years of training and combat experience, his swordsmanship was fully proficient.
Even so, facing Mokgetsu, Kakashi seemed to return to his days as a beginner.
Thud!
Mokgetsu's sword struck the back of Kakashi's hand that grasped the sword, knocking the White Fang Short Blade from his grip.
"The swordsmanship aspect is barely adequate," Mokgetsu said as he sheathed his katana.
Although Mokgetsu hadn't practiced swordsmanship extensively before obtaining the Thoughtless Slash, relying on the little reward Kakashi's efforts brought him, the master-level Thoughtless Slash granted Mokgetsu a swordsmanship realm unattainable for most in their lifetime.
This is what Mokgetsu liked about the teacher system: the rewards come with a corresponding level of knowledge to prevent them from being unusable.
Mokgetsu was able to quickly master the seven Chakra Nature Changes thanks to this feature.
Typically, cultivation would require a very high swordsmanship realm to master the Thoughtless Slash to the mastering level, but with Mokgetsu's system, the process was reversed — gaining swordsmanship experience after obtaining master-level Thoughtless Slash.
While it can't be compared to those who train diligently step by step, it is indeed very convenient.
Kakashi picked up the fallen White Fang Short Blade with a tinge of anticipation in his heart, for Mokgetsu had previously mentioned that the upcoming Lighting Release Blade Technique he would teach wasn't inferior to the Golden Horizon.