As the New Year approached, the war intent of Iwagakure slightly decreased, and Kumogakure also temporarily slowed its offensive, leading to a slight easing of the overall war situation.
Tsunade was finally able to return to Konoha for a few days of rest, and to routinely admonish her little apprentice. A few flicks to his forehead would at least keep him well-behaved for a while.
Considering that Orochimaru was still quite diligent and responsible, Tsunade reluctantly decided to spare his laboratory. She would let that base remain until next year.
Jiraiya, however, was quite unlucky. He was left alone on the front lines to command, and he had no idea when he would be rotated back.
On New Year's Eve, Konoha, as usual, set off fireworks, and brilliant flames burned passionately in the night sky.
Even if people's eyes weren't as joyful and happy as in previous years, they still bloomed tirelessly, adding a touch of color to this cold and bleak winter.
Whether Ninja or civilian, everyone silently wished for world peace as their New Year's resolution, praying for the war to end soon... The second day after the New Year was a rare clear winter day.
The sky was clear for Manri, like a carefully polished sapphire, clear and transparent.
Sunlight poured down from the high and vast sky, spreading across the land, making one feel warm inside.
It was clearly excellent weather for training, but Kakashi did not go out. Instead, he sat cross-legged by the heated table, acting as Naraku's "guinea pig." His naked upper body was already covered with many talismans written by the latter with a brush.
Whenever the soft bristles of the brush moved across his skin, a subtle and continuous itch would burrow from his muscles into his bones, causing him to stiffen occasionally and grit his teeth to control himself from instinctively dodging.
"It'll be done soon, just bear with it a little longer."
Naraku spoke to soothe the restless Kakashi, speeding up his writing.
Once the last symbol was completed, he put down his brush and ink, formed a few hand seals, and slapped Kakashi in the center of his forehead.
All the characters suddenly "came alive," wiggling like tadpoles, lining up to gather on Kakashi's face, and finally disappearing into thin air around his eyes, as if they had never existed.
"What exactly is this...?"
Kakashi touched the corner of his eye, still not understanding what Naraku was doing.
Naraku took out the clothes he had warmed up earlier from under the heated table and suggested, "Minato-sensei is taking you guys to train today, isn't he? You can try it out then."
"Mm."
Kakashi took the clothes and put them on, looking down slightly at Naraku, who was helping him organize his Ninja tools, with a hint of anticipation in his voice: "Are you coming along?"
Naraku nodded as a matter of course: "Of course. How else would I know if it works well or not without seeing it myself?"
Konoha Public Training Ground.
When the two arrived, they passed the training ground usually used by Might Guy and his father and saw them doing their unceasing daily training, each carrying a pile of weights and running laps.
Even though the sun was high today, it was still very cold outdoors. The father and son were wearing single layers and were shirtless, with white steam still "puffing" from their bodies. It was hard to tell how long they had been training.
Naraku greeted them proactively: "Good morning, Uncle Dai, Might Guy."
And received two almost synchronous "Oh! Good morning!" and two blindingly bright smiles.
Walking a bit further inside, Minato and Rin were indeed already waiting at the agreed location, while Obito, as always, was nowhere to be seen.
Since waiting was just waiting, and hearing that the Ninjutsu Naraku developed for Kakashi was complete, Minato suggested trying it out now.
"Then let's use this as a target."
Naraku unsealed a wooden dummy from a sealing scroll and placed it about a hundred meters away.
Once the dummy was set, Kakashi quickly used his self-created Ninjutsu, Chidori.
The moment the hand seals were completed, Chakra condensed in his right hand, and countless electric arcs broke free from his palm, dancing like agile silver snakes, or like countless steel needles twisting and tearing through the air, emitting sharp, piercing crackling sounds.
It was as if thousands of birds had gathered in one place, screaming shrilly, making one's scalp tingle.
Kakashi crouched slightly, pushed off the ground, and charged rapidly towards the distant dummy.
As before, during the sprint, he would lose his vision due to excessive speed, making it difficult to discern the surrounding environment and the "enemy's" movements, and it was hard to adjust himself in case of sudden situations.
But in one instant, Kakashi suddenly felt a warmth in both his eyes, and then everything before him became slow and clear.
He could clearly see the withered veins of the wild grass he stepped on, yet it stood stubbornly upright; a few withered leaves remained on the branches of the trees that rapidly passed by, swaying precariously in the wind.
He could also see every mark left by sharp objects on the distant dummy, every scorch mark left by fire and lightning, and the direction in which its raised "arm" from the mechanism would stab... The world presented itself to him without reservation, as if eager to cram in every detail, leaving no more fog on his path forward.
When he was less than half a meter in front of the target, he suddenly turned his face to dodge a wooden Kunai, twisted his body, and plunged his lightning-flashing right hand into the wooden man's chest, causing its entire upper body to explode, scattering broken branches and debris everywhere.
"Amazing, amazing!"
Kakashi gasped in surprise and excitement, instinctively turning to ask Naraku how he did it, but saw Minato-sensei and Rin staring at him with wide eyes, as if they had witnessed something beyond common sense.
-- Strange, even if Chidori was improved, it shouldn't be like this, right?
Kakashi frowned, perplexed, and then looked at Naraku, realizing that the latter had somehow activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, with Healing Seal covering his cheeks and neck.
"Naraku! How could you—"
Before he could ask why, Kakashi immediately wanted to urge him to turn off his Sharingan, but he was interrupted by a terrified scream.
"Ah—!!!"
Obito, who had just arrived, had his eyes practically popping out. His right index finger pointed at Kakashi, his entire arm trembling with shock.
"Kakashi, where did you get a Sharingan??"
"So you... are a Uchiha?!"
"Of course not."
Minato quickly gave Obito a "splat" on the head, suppressing the nonsense he was about to say, and quietly explained that it was a special Ninjutsu Naraku had cast—Sharingan Reincarnation Seal.
Only then did Obito notice the many transparent talismans faintly appearing around Kakashi's eyes, rhythmically surging like living things, and it was the same for Naraku on the other side.
Rin handed over a small compact mirror. Kakashi saw his own eyes in the mirror were blood red, with three pitch-black Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly rotating around his pupils, exactly like Naraku's Sharingan.
Kakashi's first reaction was to worry that this would harm Naraku's body.
He wanted to say that rather than this, he would simply never use Chidori again.
But before Kakashi could speak, Naraku patted his arm and turned around to show that he was perfectly fine.
"Don't worry, Kakashi, after the Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power) is divided with you, the remaining part won't affect me."
This was also the reason it took him so long to complete the Sharingan Reincarnation Seal—if this Ninjutsu was harmful to him, Kakashi would surely rather die on the battlefield than use it even once.
"Really?"
Kakashi leaned closer, carefully listening to Naraku's breathing and heartbeat in this state, once again regretting why he just couldn't learn Medical Ninjutsu, otherwise he wouldn't be so completely clueless.
"Are you lying to me again?"
"No, I'm not." Naraku pushed him away slightly, offering a helpless suggestion: "Then let's go find Tsunade-sensei to check. She wouldn't lie to you, would she?"
It wasn't until he heard the answer from Tsunade that Kakashi was finally relieved, and he promised Naraku that he would definitely open the seal when necessary.