Amegakure Battlefield, Konoha Camp.
With a loud shout from Takeshi, the tree trunk before him split cleanly in two, crackling faintly with lightning at the break point and scorched around the edges as if burned by fire.
Channeling both lightning and fire chakra attributes into the blade for a slash was far more destructive than using a single element alone.
If only wind chakra could be added too.
Unfortunately, just keeping two chakra types in balance was already a challenge. Once a third was added, the violent clash of energies nearly caused the blade to shatter from the resulting explosion.
Two was the limit. Three was incredibly difficult...
Incredibly difficult—but not impossible.
The ratio of the three chakra types had to be perfectly precise, a real test of a shinobi's chakra control.
Takeshi suspected that if he succeeded, it could give birth to an entirely new elemental release—
A Kekkei Tōta.
But for now, that kind of power was still far out of reach.
Withdrawing the dual-element chakra from the blade, Takeshi instead layered it with ice chakra.
A chilling frost spread around them. Feeling the cold, Uchiha Itachi drew his gaze from the broken tree and returned it to Takeshi.
A rare chance. Time to indulge his chuuni side a little.
Feeling increasingly proficient with his manipulation of ice chakra, Takeshi couldn't help but want to show off a bit in front of Itachi behind him.
Besides, he currently had Isobu feeding him chakra. Pulling off that move would be easy.
A suit of armor formed from condensed ice enveloped his arms. On the blade, the image of a great dragon began to take shape.
Trying hard to recall the form of that technique, Takeshi felt he'd gotten close enough and suddenly swung his blade.
"Sitting beneath the Frosted Heavens—Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"
A massive frost dragon took form and surged forward along the arc of Takeshi's swing, roaring ahead with unstoppable momentum. It tore a deep trench into the ground and smashed through the camp's barrier—crashing straight into a small hut in the distance.
Huh?
A hut?
Why was there a hut in the middle of a battlefield?!
Only now realizing there was a structure out there, Takeshi was stunned.
Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi were stunned too.
"What are you standing around for? Go check it out!"
Sheathing the blade, Takeshi slapped his thigh and was the first to rush toward the impact site.
Shisui didn't dare delay. He grabbed Itachi and dashed off after him.
As the three departed, several Konoha shinobi poked their heads out of their tents, having been startled by the massive commotion. At first, many assumed it was a sudden attack from Kirigakure.
In reality, thanks to Danzō's meticulous scheming and the crushing pressure of losing their Tailed Beast, the only Kirigakure force remaining on the battlefield was the squad led by Bīwa Jūzō.
"What the hell is all that noise?"
Yawning and rubbing his eyes, Jiraiya arrived at the scene where Takeshi had just swung his blade.
He had led a night raid on a Kirigakure camp the night before and had only just gotten back to catch some sleep when the chaos woke him.
"Who knows."
A similarly groggy Obito shook his head. He had been on the mission too and was just as exhausted.
"Wait... that hut..."
Following the trench left in the ground, the sharp-eyed Jiraiya spotted the distant hut and immediately looked shocked.
"Holy crap, isn't that where Orochimaru that bastard—"
Recognizing the owner of the hut, Jiraiya's drowsiness vanished instantly. He rushed over at once.
"What about Orochimaru? Eh, Takeshi?"
Still unsure why Jiraiya was suddenly so agitated, Obito was about to turn back and sleep again—when he saw Takeshi's silhouette in the distance.
Without hesitation, he charged after him.
...
Takeshi knelt on the ground, and Orochimaru's expression was extremely grim.
He really must owe the Shimura clan something. A few years ago, he'd been kicked aside by Danzō, that old bastard, which left him with no funds to pursue his experiments and dreams.
He'd finally managed to scrape together some materials from the battlefield to set up a makeshift lab—and before he could even produce any results, Takeshi came along and obliterated it with an Ice Release attack. Orochimaru himself had barely escaped being obliterated by the Daiguren Hyōrinmaru.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I really didn't know there was a hut here, Orochimaru-senpai! For the sake of our teacher, please let me off the hook."
As Takeshi clung to their shared connection, Orochimaru's face grew even darker.
That bastard Sarutobi Hiruzen never understood his ambitions—only ever tried to suppress them. And this brat dared bring up that man in front of him?
You wicked little Shimura child—I'll personally—
At this moment, Orochimaru looked as if he were channeling Tobirama himself, ready to tear Takeshi apart on the spot.
But when he saw Jiraiya nearby, Orochimaru was forced to swallow his rage.
At the very least, he couldn't act in front of Jiraiya.
"Now, now, Orochimaru. Takeshi's just a kid. Maybe it's best not to let him off so easily."
Seeing Orochimaru glance his way, Jiraiya quickly stepped in to defuse the situation.
"Yeah yeah, Jiraiya-sama is right—wait, no, he's not!"
Only now did Takeshi realize the absolutely treacherous thing Jiraiya had just said, and he quickly shouted in protest.
Orochimaru gave Jiraiya a strange look. This guy clearly had some grudge against the kid too...
"I'm doing this for your own good, Takeshi. A real man owns up to his mistakes."
Jiraiya gave Takeshi a good-natured pat on the shoulder, his face full of schadenfreude.
"If that's how it is, then all the times you peeked—mmmph!"
Takeshi's words were cut short as Jiraiya swiftly clamped a hand over his mouth.
To distract everyone, Jiraiya raised his voice even louder to drown out Takeshi's muffled complaints:
"Hahaha! Say, Orochimaru, what are you up to in here? That's a test tube, right? And that thing's a beaker?"
"None of your business, Jiraiya. And you too, Takeshi. Get out."
Not wanting anyone to know he was still running experiments, Orochimaru darkened his expression and gave them a direct order to leave.
If the old man found out, there was no telling what he might say.
"Alright, alright."
Jiraiya reluctantly released Takeshi and pulled along a still-confused Obito.
Orochimaru's expression said it all—he was on the verge of exploding. Best to scram while they could.
"What, you want to stay?"
Seeing that Takeshi hadn't moved, Orochimaru laughed coldly in fury and stepped right in front of him.
"Uh, I'm leaving! I'm leaving!"
Swallowing hard, Takeshi felt Orochimaru's aura pressing against his skin like a physical force. He quickly jumped up and motioned for Shisui and Itachi to go ahead.
But just as he took a few steps, something seemed to occur to him. He gestured for the others to keep going, then turned back and nervously walked up to Orochimaru once again.