When did this cat master a Kekkei Genkai-level Ninjutsu?
And the amount of Chakra and power... it's utterly absurd!
"Meow! What are you all just standing there for?!"
'I'm freezing everything around here, and you're just watching like it's a show? Don't you have any conscience?!'
Hidden in the shadows, Kakashi, still dazed, finally snapped out of his stupor.
In the next instant, a shadow darted forward.
He gripped a blade, lightning crackling along its edge, a layer of electricity coalescing around the steel.
The Lightning Blade: Kiba, the one that had been lost.
"The Lightning Blade!"
Yusuke Hozuki's expression instantly darkened.
They had searched for this Lightning Blade on Kakashi for a long time, but Kakashi had never appeared.
Yet now, their opponent had suddenly revealed himself...
Though it was only a single blade, preventing them from unleashing its full power, channeling Chakra to generate lightning was still a simple task.
They immediately formed hand seals, activating Water Release techniques.
Ordinary Water Release techniques weren't vulnerable to Lightning Release; only their Water Transformation Technique was.
Yusuke Hozuki rapidly formed hand seals in mid-air, completing the sequence in mere seconds to create a Water Formation Wall.
Meanwhile, the others activated the Kirigakure Technique, shrouding the area in a dense fog.
Another frustrating aspect of the Water Transformation Technique was that, after transforming into water, they left virtually no trace of their presence.
Even with the Kirigakure Technique active, Raj couldn't track them.
But he possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique.
During his approach, Raj had placed a Flying Thunder God Seal on Kakashi.
Now, Kakashi leaped into the air, closing in on the Water Formation Wall.
Raj teleported to Kakashi, planted a foot on his back, and used the momentum to launch himself forward.
Boom!
With a single strike, the Water Formation Wall shattered.
Not only that, but the point of contact instantly froze into ice spikes.
that scattered outward. Though not every spike bore a Flying Thunder God Seal, a single one was all he needed.
Kakashi, however, was far from pleased.
He was kicked off the wall and landed on the ground, nearly faceplanting.
Fortunately, the thick fog concealed his fall from view.
Now isolated, he became an easy target for the enemy.
Yusuke Hozuki and his subordinates had a clear objective: even if they couldn't kill Ao, retrieving the missing half of the Lightning Blade would be a significant accomplishment, potentially offsetting the punishment for their failure.
With that in mind, why not seize the opportunity to deal with Kakashi?
Yusuke Hozuki himself couldn't act - he was Raj's primary target.
But the others drew their kunai and swords, using Body Flicker Technique to attack Kakashi.
Raj heard the commotion.
But it didn't immediately rush to assist, because...
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted as a figure was blasted out of the fog, crashing into a group of a dozen Konoha ninja wielding Lightning Release techniques.
His body had turned to ice, yet his insides seemed to flow like water, creating a bizarre spectacle.
In the next instant, Raj vanished from the fog, reappearing beside Kakashi.
"Impossible!"
The Hozuki Clan members were mentally shaken.
They had never heard of the cat possessing teleportation abilities!
'Wait... it had also suddenly appeared in mid-air earlier.'
'We thought Raj was just incredibly fast, but this isn't speed - it's space-time ninjutsu, instantaneous teleportation.'
'This is the Flying Thunder God Technique.'
'Flying Thunder God Technique, Ice Release, Superhuman Strength. Damn it, Kishimaru! Konoha has enemies like this, and you sent us to assassinate them? Why didn't you come yourself?! This isn't an assassination attempt; it's suicide!'
The four Hozuki Clan members were mentally shattered, especially Yusuke Hozuki.
His body was encased in an unbreakable layer of ice, rendering his Water Transformation Technique useless.
After reverting to his physical form, he managed to break free using taijutsu and chakra, but at the cost of a significant portion of his liquid reserves and chakra.
By now, his chakra was nearly depleted.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
In the next moment, four or five Konoha warriors surrounded him, each forming hand seals before unleashing intense electric currents from their palms.
After a brutal electrocution, Yusuke Hozuki, who had just escaped his icy prison, collapsed to the ground, paralyzed.
"Let me handle this!"
Kakashi drew his blade, lightning crackling along its edge like silver serpents, illuminating the dense mist around them.
With a swift movement...
Water splashed, but simultaneously, the Hozuki clan member's body transformed into a jelly-like sculpture.
This was the Lightning Release's natural counter to the Water Transformation Technique.
The remaining two immediately tried to flee, but Raj couldn't wait for Kakashi any longer.
His cat fur rapidly elongated, and with the Wild Lion's Mane Technique, the strands quickly ensnared the pair.
They attempted to liquefy themselves to escape the fur, but soon discovered their flesh had fused with the strands.
Wherever their bodies turned to water, ice formed instantly, freezing half their bodies in the blink of an eye.
Abandoning the frozen portions, they channeled Chakra to create new liquid, which they then transformed into flesh.
But Raj's most vicious tactic was sealing their outer layers first.
This required exceptional Chakra control, but having mastered Superhuman Strength, Raj possessed precisely that.
Like Yusuke Hozuki before them, the two were swiftly transformed into ice sculptures with frozen internal fluids.
"I..."
Kakashi stared at the "jelly" in his hand, then at the ice sculptures Raj's fur had ensnared, and sank into deep self-doubt.
'How the hell did this mutt learn Ice Release in just one day?!'
'Didn't it just say yesterday it was going back to study?'
The key thing was that Kakashi remembered Raj sleeping soundly when he returned from training last night.
This morning, he had woken up first, and Shizune had to go fetch the silly cat.
'This makes no sense. Is it just too much of a genius, or am I just not talented enough?'
Kakashi was increasingly skeptical.
He had initially thought the problem was with himself, but now he was starting to believe it wasn't his fault at all - it was just that this cat's talent was absurdly abnormal.
"Meow~ Done! I wonder how things are going over there. Kakashi, do you want to come with me?"
Raj tossed the two ice sculptures to the dozen or so Konoha Chunin who specialized in Lightning Release.
By now, the river had thawed.
It hadn't used much Chakra to begin with, merely sealing the underground waterway passages with ice to prevent the group from escaping through them.
However, considering the Chakra it had expended in the earlier battle, it now had only about seventy percent of its reserves left.
This was a somewhat risky amount, but manageable.
With careful control, it would be enough to participate in another battle and earn even greater merit.
"Ah? Uh, I'll... I'll go with you."