"Father."
Kakashi gazed at his father's face, unmarked by the passage of time, the only thing indicating that he was a corpse being his reanimated eyes.
Unlike Rasa, Sakumo was fully under control, not reacting to Kakashi's words at all, blade flashing in a deadly white arch for Kakashi's neck, forcing him to leap back and immediately raise his blade to block a series of deadly, fast strikes to his vitals.
'Sure enough, Father's swordsmanship is more deadly than I had imagined. It's safe to say that he's more of a swordsman than a shinobi.'
Kakashi eyed the blade in Sakumo's hand warily, a thin razor-sharp layer of wind chakra enveloping it, knowing that if it weren't for his observation haki, he'd be in serious trouble.
Kakashi, during his training, neglected his swordsmanship in favor of Haki and Fuinjutsu, deeply regretting it now as he poured more Haki into his blade to block crescent wind blades flying at him from the front and either side.
'No time like the present, let's spar with father one last time.'
Kakashi allowed his observation haki to drop, no longer relying on it to dodge and block.
In the deadly exchange of blades, Kakashi could only avoid fatal blows, small cuts opening on his arms, chest, and legs. Still, instead of being wary, he was exhilarated, an excitement boiling in his chest, Conqueror's Haki thrumming in response to the battle.
Ducking a slash, Kakashi lowered his hand to the ground to sweep Sakumo's legs.
Jumping, Sakumo spun and kicked Kakashi in the face with his momentum.
*Crash
Being launched through two buildings, Kakashi stood as if he didn't feel it and laughed, lightning flickering at the bottoms of his feet as he blurred, the exchange less one-sided now that he was fighting at full force, but the obvious gap in swordsmanship was apparent. Kakashi's blade resembled an assassin's, while Sakumo's was fluid and resembled a samurai's.
Blocking a series of Kakashi's strikes, Sakumo twirls his blade and flips it into reverse grip to block a series of slashes and a kunai, quickly countering, blade flipping back up to slash.
Ducking under a diagonal slash and thrusting a stab follow-up, Kakashi struck at his wrist to cut off his hand.
Sakumo's wrist twisted unnaturally, bending the sword back to block, arm curling into his side. Dropping the blade, Sakumo swiftly kicked the inside of Kakashi's left knee.
Kakashi anticipated the attack, clading his leg in Haki and watching the impassive face of his father wince and lose his footing. Using this opportunity, Kakashi swung his blade down at Sakumo.
Acting quickly, Sakumo drew two kunai and crossed them to catch the blade.
*Clang zzz
The sparks flew, and Kakashi gained the advantage of the deadlock with his strength and haki, snapping Sakumo's Kunai and slashing his chest open, catching a glimpse of the sealing tag that restrained his father before his chest wound healed. Sakumo dropped the broken kunai in his right hand and slammed his palm on the ground after four blurring hand seals; the ground under Kakashi's feet erupted into a hardened earth spike.
Kakashi's lightning-crowned blade shattered the Earth Spike, the resulting explosion of debris momentarily obscured his vision, and he did not notice Sakumo retrieving his blade until it was nearly too late, the metal already humming, vibrating violently under the strain of raw wind manipulation.
Too fast. That was the last coherent thought Kakashi managed before a large white crescent-sword slash connected. The White Fang's strike did not just cut; it dismantled. A humming razor of wind tore into him, sending him skidding down the street on his feet. The blast shredded his clothing—flak jacket and undershirt reduced to rags—before the slash hit his haki-clad abdomen. The armor kept his organs intact, but couldn't stop the breath from being violently slammed from his lungs as he was sent crashing into some wreckage down the street, the wind blade finally dissipating.
Groaning, Kakashi rubbed his bare abdomen, his flak jacket only covering his back at this point, his undershirt mere rags, but his mask was mostly fine, his face still covered.
'Truly a monster.'
*Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh
Glancing to his left, Kakashi noticed a squad of Anbu appear.
"What are you doing here?"
Kakashi kept his gaze on Sakumo, watching as his reanimated father walked towards him in a leisurely manner.
"Lord Hokage ordered us to support the village and you, should you need it," the captain relayed quickly, his eyes narrowing as he took in the appearance of the approaching figure. "Lord Jiraiya and he are trapped in a barrier by Orochimaru."
"Is that...."
The Anbu to the captain's left tensed.
"Yes.... That's the Leafs White Fang and former Anbu commander, Sakumo Hatake."
The captain confirmed, feeling the palms of his hands shake as he unsheathed his tanto.
Kakashi raised his hand.
"Stop. Support the village gates. Two large snake summons have managed to break through the gate. Stop them before they can destroy everything."
The Anbu hesitated before the captain nodded, briefly glancing at Sakumo once more before they flickered away.
Without sparing the ANBU a glance, Sakumo sheathed his blade on his left hip, his right hand gripping the handle under the tsuba while his left held the upper part of the sheath under the tsuba.
Kakashi dug his feet in, not needing his observation haki to know the danger of this strike.
Sakumo bridged the gap in an instant, his blade a humming, white-hot arc. Kakashi barely managed to raise his own, but the raw power behind the strike sent a sickening rattle through his arms, leaving his fingers instantly numb. Without the coating of Haki, that blow would have shattered his sword and cost him his head.
Feeling his father pressing the advantage, Kakashi stopped relying solely on armament. He dug deep, forcing his Conqueror's Haki and lightning chakra to fuse, channeling the volatile energy into his blade. The breakthrough came not with a roar, but a surge of relief—silver lightning erupted along the edge, roaring to life. The intensified strike overrode the elemental disadvantage, snapping Sakumo's standard blade in two with a sharp, echoing crack.
Kakashi slashed Sakumo's unguarded chest, cutting it open. He watched that emotionless face finally wince in pain before reaching in to snatch the control seal from his father's chest. As Sakumo's body slumped to the ground, Kakashi whispered, "I'm sorry, Father."
Kakashi idly burned the seal with a flare of fire chakra as he watched a much more expressive Sakumo groan and stand up.
Sakumo gazed at his son, the words catching in a throat suddenly tight with regret. "Kakashi." It was all he could manage, a pathetic greeting for the ruin that stood before him. His son looked like he had been caught in a storm of blades, his upper body clothed in nothing but jagged rags, his skin a map of fresh, stinging cuts. Sakumo felt a bitter, hollow ache in his chest.
Kakashi waved it off.
"This flak jacket needed to be replaced anyway."
Kakashi replied, equally as awkward, having many things he wished to say, but couldn't seem to voice them at the moment, more focused on the ongoing invasion.
"The Sand and Sound village has invaded Konoha. Orochimaru used you to stall or possibly kill me. Lord Third is under a barrier alongside Jiraiya."
Sakumo had to process everything.
'Orochimaru is a missing-nin? Is Lord Third still the Hokage?'
Sakumo shook his head, knowing that he could ask questions later.
"Ready whenever you are, son."
Sakumo smiled. Despite the circumstances, he was happy to see his boy grown up, feeling deep regret for having left him due to his own moment of weakness.
Kakashi cracked his neck and clenched and unclenched his hands until the feeling came back in them.
"Yeah, I'm ready."
Kakashi reached into his ninja pouch and gave Sakumo a few paper bombs.
The two leaped off towards the sound of combat, two blurrs of silver arriving at the battles, carving up any enemy unfortunate enough to come across them and saving allies.
Leaping down and on top of a Sand Jonin, Kakashi swiped his blade and ended him quickly, and before the enemy could register the pain, Sakumo was carving up his own enemies with two kunai.
"Father!"
Kakashi shouted, tossing his blade to Sakumo.
Sakumo glanced up and quickly caught a flying blade spinning towards him. Not missing a beat, Sakumo began to take out three ninja in a flash of silver skillfully, the afterimage of white making the hearts of the Sand ninja shudder.
"T-The White Fang!"
A Jonin recognized him instantly, creating space so he wouldn't be just another corpse.
"What? But he's supposed to be dead!"
A Chunin shook his head, denying the legend in front of him and quickly forming seals for a jutsu.
"Wind Style: Air Waves!"
Sakumo raised the blade of his head with both hands on the handle, slashing down with a chilling hum of wind chakra and cutting through the wind blades with his own. His slash continued undeterred and not slowed in the slightest, cutting the stunned ninja in half vertically.
The other Sand ninja couldn't help but feel like a blade hung over their throats in that moment. The calm man in front of them was their butcher, raised from the dead to reap more Sand ninja lives.
"Another conflict, what a shame."
Sakumo commented genuinely, despite how effectively he cut people down, stepping to the side to dodge a desperate slash, decapitating the ninja from behind as he stumbled forward.
Before the body could fall, Sakumo caught it by the back of the collar and sneakily put something on the back of the corpse, tossing it to the two closest wary Sand ninja.
The two caught the corpse of their comrade, noticing too late that it had a couple of explosive tags on it.
*Boooom!
- Chapter End -