The immense flames from Kakashi's Great Fireball Jutsu pulled the warm, moist air higher into the atmosphere. The air rapidly condensed as it encountered the cool air. With this intense condensation, the clouds in the sky began to turn into storm clouds filled with static electricity, growing at an unnaturally fast rate. Within seconds, the clear blue sky above Kakashi's location became a mass of dark storm clouds, covering several dozen yards of sky. Kakashi then held out his right hand, channeling his lightning chakra into his palm.
ZZZZZT!
BOOM!
The lightning chakra in his hand acted as a conductor, immediately attracting the natural lightning from the cloud. Guided by Kakashi's chakra, the natural lightning descended from the sky at near light speed, taking the shape of a massive thunder dragon. Kakashi directed it toward a cluster of huge trees in front of him. The sound of the immense lightning and the subsequent explosion shocked the area with its raw, destructive power.
A huge explosion occurred, and the resulting dust and smoke covered the field, disrupting his vision.
Kakashi immediately used a Wind Release Jutsu to push the smoke away, clearing the field. He looked at the wide, massive scorched crater, where all the trees had been destroyed. Kakashi nodded with a smile under his face mask, then scanned his surroundings. He looked up and saw that the storm clouds he had created were completely gone.
His gaze then landed on his Shadow Clones, who had not dispersed despite performing such a huge, immense fire Jutsu. Otherwise, Shadow Clones wouldn't stay active this long after performing such high-level jutsu's.
"This is the benefit of a huge chakra tank," Kakashi smirked before dispersing his clones. He then analyzed his Jutsu. "Kirin is a really powerful technique, and it didn't even take me much practice. I was able to use it in one go, but its preparation time might need some training to reduce it, even though it only took me a few minutes anyway."
While Kakashi was casually commenting on his Kirin training, on the other side of Konoha, the huge explosion had jolted even those who had not noticed the immense but temporary change in temperature.
In the next few minutes, many figures appeared around the explosive area. They were all in black with animal masks—the Anbu Black Ops. Kakashi casually glanced at them before tucking his forehead protector back down to cover his left eye, which he had uncovered as the Sharingan was much better for direct and high-impact Jutsu like the Chidori and Kirin.
"K-KAKASHI-SENPAI?" an Anbu member asked. Kakashi immediately recognized her. She wore a porcelain mask resembling a cat with three red stripes— one vertical stripe on the forehead and two horizontal stripes, one on each cheek. She had long purple hair and wore the standard Anbu uniform, consisting of black and gray armor, metal arm guards, and a katana strapped to her back. She had the signature Anbu tattoo on her right shoulder and was leading the squad. This was Yūgao Uzuki.
"Looks like I startled you all," Kakashi said in a calm, soothing tone.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? AND WHAT HAPPENED HERE?" Yūgao asked as she took a few steps toward Kakashi while the others remained in their positions.
"Well... I was just training in my new Jutsu, which seems to have caused a huge explosion that even I didn't expect... no, I expected this much. Anyways, sorry to bother you all, you can all go now..." Kakashi replied without any change in his calm tone. But this was not the same for the others.
"TRAINING?!" All the Anbu shouted together in disbelief, exchanging glances from behind their masks before turning to Kakashi.
"IS THIS HUGE CRATER FROM YOUR TRAINING IN A NEW JUTSU?" Yūgao asked. Though her expressions were hidden under her mask, the shock was obvious in her voice.
"Why are you talking in all capital letters? And don't be so shocked," Kakashi said, his gaze on every Anbu for a moment. "I know the explosion was too much, but don't you all think your reactions are a little over the top?"
Hearing Kakashi, they were all speechless for a moment before Yūgao said, "Kakashi-senpai, Lord Third ordered us to find the reason behind those immense flames in the sky, which temporarily changed the temperature around Konoha. We thought it was an enemy attack!"
"...???" Now it was Kakashi's turn to be speechless. He had already predicted that his training for Kirin wouldn't go unnoticed, but his flames— which he had been comparing to Madara's Great Fire Annihilation Jutsu— had impacted the temperature for a moment, even dozens of meters away. That was even hard for him to believe.
'Maybe I am underestimating myself and my chakra reserves, which I no longer care about, before using any Jutsu,' Kakashi thought, before shrugging. "Well... it is what it is. This was really my training, and no enemy attack. And think about it, why would any enemy attack far away from the main area of Konoha anyway? They would be noticed before they could even do any damage."
"You are... right, however, the flames you made were too much to take lightly," Yūgao said, her voice still holding a hint of disbelief.
Kakashi simply replied, "Really!"
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Similar to Kakashi, another person had the same thought. At a training ground, a few minutes after the explosion and Kakashi's conversation with the Anbu. Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino were still with Kurenai and her team, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. Asuma had not yet returned.
"It's hard to say that's an enemy attack," Shikamaru said aloud, lying on the ground with his face pointed up at the clear blue sky. "Why would anyone target the rarely-used Forest of Death?"
"Hmm... That's a point. What do you say, Akamaru?" Kiba asked, nodding in agreement with Shikamaru.
"Woof!" Akamaru, his ninja dog, barked in agreement with Kiba.
Kurenai stood with her arms crossed, her striking red eyes on the Genin. "We'll know what it is soon enough. Let's wait. If it's an emergency—"
She didn't get to finish before Asuma appeared, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Kurenai, kids, there's no emergency here. The Anbu have already reported to the Old Man. It was... just Kakashi, training in some new technique."
Asuma stretched his arms behind his head. He himself couldn't quite believe it and muttered aloud, "When did Kakashi get this strong? I know he was strong, but this was easily a Kage-level strength he demonstrated."
As he finished speaking, the Genin gasped. Even Kurenai's eyes widened in disbelief. "Kakashi, and training?"
"TRAINING?!" Ino shouted, her expression a mix of anger and disbelief, as her makeup had been ruined by the heat.
Kurenai asked, "But can Kakashi made such huge flames?"
"Actually, that was just a Great Fireball Jutsu he used to practice some lightning release Jutsu," Asuma replied, sighing before taking another drag from his cigarette. "I don't know the full details, but the Old Man is definitely going to give Kakashi even harder work from now on."
"Hmm, What do you mean?" Kurenai asked, confused, but immediately get it.
Asuma shook his head. "Don't ask me the obvious. If Kakashi has that much strength, there's only one job my Old Man would put him on."
"Wait, Kakashi! Isn't that Naruto's Jōnin sensei's name?" Kiba abruptly stood up and asked.
Kurenai nodded. "Yes, he is."
Kiba gasped. "Is Naruto's Jōnin sensei really that strong?"
"Oh, so it's Naruto's Jōnin sensei, huh," Choji said aloud while munching on his snacks, his voice casual as if it didn't affect him much.
"Looks like Naruto is training under a tough ninja. This also means he's training hard... haaa, what a drag," Shikamaru muttered, sighing lazily at the thought of training.
Just like Choji, Shino also didn't seem to care much. He had a silent conversation with his insects after getting the information about the reason of sudden appearance of flames.
Meanwhile, Hinata was muttering something under her breath. ''Naruto-kun will definitely be training hard under a sensei who is so strong. I shouldn't slack off either. I must train hard with Kurenai-sensei.'' her voice too low to hear.
Ino, standing beside her, asked, "Hinata! What are you mumbling about?"
Hinata flustered. "N-nothing, Ino-chan."
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At Training Ground Three.
Naruto and Sasuke also noticed the huge flames. Kakashi's Shadow Clone had immediately informed them about it and told them to get back to their training. However, upon hearing the explosion from the same direction, they both again stopped their training. Naruto immediately got up and started running toward the area, only to be grabbed by the back of his neck by Kakashi's Shadow Clone.
"Where are you going, Naruto?" Kakashi's shadow clone asked in a calm but threatening tone.
"Kakashi-sensei, there might be a problem there! Didn't you hear that explosion?" Naruto asked, chuckling awkwardly.
"Haa, didn't I tell you it was just training? And even if there was a problem, do you think I can't solve it myself?" Kakashi's voice was deep and firm.
Naruto chuckled awkwardly again, scratching his head.
"Just be a good boy and learn all the Kanji symbols and patterns in that scroll. You're not going anywhere," the clone stated. Naruto pouted and sighed, his head bowed, and walked back to where he was sitting.
"But what kind of training are you doing there exactly?" Sasuke asked, his Tantō held firmly in his right hand as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his left.
"It's a new Lightning Release Jutsu called Kirin," the clone replied.
"Kirin?" Sasuke said. "But why did you need to use those flames in the sky before?"
"That's a requirement for this Jutsu, when there are no thunder clouds. Unlike other Jutsu, it can get lightning directly from the sky, and for that, storm clouds are needed," the clone explained.
"Huh! Natural lightning?" Naruto asked. "Sensei, is it possible to use Jutsu with natural elements from the surroundings?"
Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, it's possible."
"Then is there any Jutsu where I can take the real wind around us to perform a Jutsu?" Naruto asked, his curiosity peaked.
Kakashi thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Well, no, there's no such Jutsu on record, but you can try to create one yourself. If you can, that is. But you don't need such a thing. With that fox and your lineage, you have enough chakra to not worry about those kinds of techniques."
Naruto nodded, before giving Sasuke a smug look. "Well, that's true. I have a lot of chakra."
Sasuke snorted, and said with a grin, "But you still lose to me anyway."
Naruto got up, a fighting smirk on his face. "Oh really! You wanna—"
However, Kakashi's voice immediately cut in, firm and commanding. "Both of you, get back to your training." The opportunity Naruto had thought of was gone, and both of them immediately went back to training.