Minato understood this urge to prove oneself and this longing for power, because he himself had once gone through a stage of desperately needing strength—back when he learned that Kushina would have to take on the heavy responsibility of becoming the new Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
But he understood even more clearly that this kind of obsession—driven by anxiety and a certain kind of self-denial, disregarding balance—was like a bowstring pulled too tight. It might unleash astonishing force in a short ti, but it could also suddenly snap at so unforeseen mont, injuring oneself and possibly even leading a person onto the wrong path.
As Minato looked at Kakashi's current state, he knew that this student had already locked himself inside a narrow cage called becoming stronger.
Minato let out a faint sigh inwardly, then suddenly spoke, his tone still calm. "Kakashi, lately I've seen that you've been trying to develop a new Lightning Release ninjutsu, right?"
Kakashi hesitated for a mont, but in the end, he still nodded and did not deny it.
During these days, whenever there was even a brief mont to breathe between missions, he would go off alone to a sowhat distant spot, spread open his palm, and try to gather, compress, and give Lightning Release chakra a specific form and oscillation frequency.
That harsh, grating noise—like a thousand birds crying out at once—was sothing the mbers of Team 7 had, more or less, all seen or heard before. There was nothing to hide.
And the conception of this ninjutsu had not begun this month, either.
As early as the beginning of last year, when he heard that at the Ninja Academy entrance ceremony, Higashino Shinichi had, in front of all the teachers and students and the Third Hokage, demonstrated the Rasengan—an A-rank ninjutsu requiring no hand seals that he had developed independently—a powerful sense of unwillingness and competitiveness had begun to grow wildly in his heart like weeds.
That guy who had once defeated him in a practical combat exercise at the Ninja Academy had not only surpassed him in taijutsu and swordsmanship, but had actually pushed ninjutsu developnt to such a leading edge as well?
His unwillingness to admit defeat, together with his desire for great power, prompted him to give rise to an idea—he too would develop a powerful ninjutsu of his own, one that would be absolutely no weaker than the Rasengan!
Over this past year, in the gaps between missions and in the dead of night when he trained alone, that thought had never gone out. Countless rounds of planning, attempts, failures, and adjustnts followed... yet the progress had never been satisfactory, and completion always seed to remain separated from him by a thin layer of paper that he could not quite pierce.
Seeing Kakashi admit it, Minato took two steps closer. His voice remained gentle, but there was now a bit more seriousness in it. "Although I'm not particularly proficient in Lightning Release, as an observer, I can roughly tell the direction of your technique. Through highly condensed, activated Lightning Release chakra, it stimulates and envelops the chakra pathways and cells of the arm and even the legs. In theory, once this technique is completed, it should allow the user to gain extrely powerful burst speed and piercing force. Is that right?"
Kakashi's eyes shifted slightly, and he nodded, but inwardly he was astonished.
Just by observing those scattered fragnts of his practice, Minato-sensei had actually been able to infer the core principle of the technique with near accuracy.
"A very impressive idea—taking the activating and stimulating properties of Lightning Release to the limit, pursuing the utmost speed and penetrating power." Minato first gave his approval, but then his tone changed, becoming especially serious. "But, Kakashi, have you thought about this? A technique that pushes speed to the extre is an extrely dangerous double-edged sword. The first and greatest problem it brings is not the fusion of chakra shape transformation and nature transformation. I believe that with your talent, given enough ti, you will be able to solve that. Its true difficulty lies in this..."
He paused, then said word by word, "Will your reaction nerves be able to keep up with that kind of speed? Will your dynamic vision and battlefield awareness still be able, at that kind of high speed, to accurately lock onto a target, distinguish friend from foe, and avoid obstacles?"
"If you cannot do that, then even if you successfully perform this technique and gain a speed beyond the enemy's reaction limit, what might the result be? The enemy truly may not be able to react in ti, but you yourself may also be unable to react in ti."
"You would be like a kunai that has been thrown but has lost control—unable to make precise tactical choices in that lightning-fast instant. The result would most likely be perishing together with the enemy, or crashing headfirst into a deadly trap, or accidentally injuring a comrade."
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, making Kakashi, who had been imrsed in the pursuit of the ultimate "speed" and "penetrating power," shudder all over.
It was not that Kakashi had never been aware of this problem before, but he had never seen it dissected by Minato with such clarity, striking directly at the heart of the issue.
He had always been tangled up in how to make Lightning Release more condensed, more violent, make the speed faster, and make the penetrating power stronger, yet he had overlooked whether he himself was actually capable of controlling that speed.
Seeing the flash of realization and gravity pass through Kakashi's eyes, that reassuring, gentle smile reappeared on Minato's face. He pointed at his own eyes.
"As it happens, Kakashi, when it cos to neural reaction speed, dynamic visual tracking, and situational awareness during high-speed combat, your teacher here has accumulated a bit of experience and understanding."
"So, how about this, Kakashi?"
Minato continued naturally, as if he were simply making the most ordinary suggestion.
"Later, when we go to eat together, we can chat a little about your technique—and about reaction and control—while having sothing to eat. Perhaps that will help you find the right direction faster than struggling on your own."
After saying this, Minato said nothing more. He simply looked quietly at Kakashi, patiently waiting for his decision.
Beside them, Rin clasped her hands in front of her chest. Expectation showed on her face as she carefully observed Kakashi's reaction, afraid that even the slightest sound might disturb the subtle atmosphere. Obito, although he still looked a bit sulky, also rarely kept his mouth shut.
It felt as if ti stretched for a few seconds.
Kakashi could feel the gazes of the three of them resting on him. Within those gazes were concern and expectation—perhaps also that guy Obito's lingering displeasure—but even more than that was Minato-sensei's quiet patience.
He slowly raised his head, and his eyes finally t those blue eyes of Minato—eyes that seed capable of embracing everything, yet remained clear and firm.
In that gaze, he saw no pressure, no lecturing—only a thorough understanding and support.
As if lightly stirred by that gaze, he gave a barely perceptible nod.
"I understand, Minato-sensei."
Naturally, under Minato's subtle and seamless guidance, all the mbers of Team 7 finally walked together into the currently bustling Ajino Takumi Restaurant.
And as for the person who had been ntioned by Team 7—the main character of their discussion, Higashino Shinichi—he had no idea that because of his existence and actions, Kakashi had already developed the intention to create Chidori earlier than expected. Nor did he know that Minato had beco involved as well.
At this mont, he was learning from Tsunade the technique she was teaching him—
Monster Strength!
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