Konoha Mountain Training Ground
It had been over half a month since Sakura had sought guidance from Kakashi-sensei on Lightning Release chakra.
Sakura could now skillfully use Lightning Release: Earth Flash. As Kakashi-sensei had said, learning an affinity that wasn't inherent was incredibly difficult.
No wonder, even though everyone could theoretically develop all five elemental affinities, very few actually mastered them all.
From this perspective, the Third Hokage, without any bloodline limit, was truly exceptional for mastering all five. Setting aside those with Kekkei Genkai, the Third Hokage could be considered among the very elite of ninjas.
Sizzle... Sizzle...
Nearby, Sasuke had completed the first stage that Kakashi-sensei had described: using Lightning Release chakra to activate his body and increase his speed.
Sasuke's speed was now gradually approaching Sakura's. Activating the body with Lightning Release chakra was indeed a bit more effective than simply using chakra alone.
However, if one's physical constitution couldn't keep up, the enhancement would be limited. Exceeding a certain amount would cause the body to suffer and produce side effects.
Sakura couldn't use this method to enhance her speed. After all, this method had certain requirements for physical fitness, and Sakura's female body was naturally a bit weaker. She could only use the gentler, pure chakra enhancement.
"Yo, not bad, Sasuke, Sakura," Kakashi said, appearing beside them out of nowhere.
"It seems you've completed the first stage, Sasuke. Then, with the remaining time, I'll teach you my original ninjutsu," Kakashi said. "This ninjutsu's learning rank is S-rank. It's called Raikiri. I'll demonstrate it for you first."
"An S-rank ninjutsu..." Sasuke's eyes lit up with excitement. He was finally going to learn a high-level ninjutsu.
Kakashi finished speaking, formed hand seals, and his hand instantly shimmered with brilliant lightning. The lightning condensed in Kakashi's hand without dispersing, enveloping it.
Kakashi crouched low, gathering power, aimed at a rock in front of him, and then burst forward. He pierced through the side of the rock, which was three or four stories high, from front to back in a single, clean thrust.
Boom, boom, boom Sakura watched the power of the Raikiri, her heart pounding. This was the power of a Lightning Release ninjutsu! Her Water Cutter could also cut through that rock, but not so cleanly.
The Lightning Release ninjutsu had instantly pierced through such a thick rock. It truly deserved to be called the element with the strongest penetrating power.
However, Sakura didn't want to learn Raikiri. That ninjutsu didn't suit her style, and it consumed too much chakra. Raikiri required close combat, and taijutsu was Sakura's weakest area.
Sakura preferred a mid-to-long-range fighting style. Sneak attacks from a distance were more her thing.
"Sasuke, did you understand?" Kakashi asked, returning to them.
The real difficulty of Raikiri lay in controlling the unruly lightning to gather in the hand. There were only three hand seals: Ox - Rabbit - Monkey. So, Kakashi demonstrated it once, then taught the hand seals. The rest was up to constant practice.
"Ox - Rabbit - Monkey," Sasuke said, not speaking but starting to form the hand seals. When he finished, lightning crackled intensely in his hand. Just as Sasuke was about to move, the lightning in his hand went out of control and dispersed.
Sasuke was electrocuted, leaving him looking quite charred.
"Hahahahaha..." Sakura burst out laughing at the sight of Sasuke's hair standing on end. He looked just like a Super Saiyan!
Sasuke, seeing Sakura laughing so hard she could barely breathe, shot her a sharp glare.
Feeling Sasuke's resentful gaze, Sakura immediately stopped laughing.
"Ox - Rabbit - Monkey," Sakura formed the hand seals, and lightning crackled in her hand. Copying Kakashi's stance, she half-squatted, activated her body with chakra, and charged forward, thrusting her hand at the rock in front of her.
The result? The rock didn't break, and Sakura's hand hurt so much that tears welled up in her eyes.
Pulling her hand out of the rock, Sakura looked at her bleeding hand and silently activated the Mystical Palm Technique to heal it.
"I'm really not suited for this ninjutsu. My chakra reserves are too low to output a lot of power, and my body's not strong enough. The result is not only reduced power but also injuring myself. This is like damaging the enemy for 800 but damaging myself for 1000."
Sasuke had been shocked to see Sakura use Raikiri so quickly, but seeing her dejected expression, he suddenly found Sakura a bit... cute. She had her moments of failure too...
"Sasuke, don't be discouraged. Sakura's chakra control is even better than mine, which is why she learned it so quickly... But this ninjutsu doesn't suit her... It suits you very well, and there's a lot of room for improvement..." Kakashi consoled Sasuke, noticing his initial shock.
"I can see that," Sasuke grunted, glancing at Sakura's bloodied hand.
"Hey, you two, it's like you think I can't hear you. You're really hitting me where it hurts," Sakura said, naturally overhearing Kakashi and Sasuke's conversation, a bit miffed.
"Sorry, sorry, Sakura," Kakashi said apologetically. "I told you before I taught you Lightning Release that developing an affinity outside your own would hinder your existing ninjutsu training, and this ninjutsu doesn't suit you."
"I know that. I just wanted to try," Sakura said.
"Hmm, it's good that you understand. You're currently in a period of rapid growth as a ninja. I hope you don't go down the wrong path," Kakashi cautioned.
This age was crucial for ninjas. Unless they were naturally gifted with all five affinities, no one would try to develop chakra affinities at this stage. Developing chakra affinities was something ninjas considered only after reaching their peak strength, as a way to add more tools to their arsenal.
And when a ninja's strength had reached its peak, developing chakra affinities would definitely be much easier and more fruitful than at this stage.
Kakashi was naturally worried about Sakura. If she went in the wrong direction at this stage, her future potential would be limited. In common terms, she would be a jack of all trades, master of none, ending up like a "copy ninja."
"That's all for now, Sasuke. Keep up the good work. You can ask Sakura for advice. Although this ninjutsu doesn't suit Sakura, you can learn from her chakra control techniques. They can speed up your learning of this ninjutsu," Kakashi said, then disappeared with a Body Flicker Technique.
"Tch..." There was no way Sasuke would ask Sakura for help. He couldn't bring himself to do that. If it were Naruto, he would have already pestered Sakura to teach him.
Seeing that Sasuke had no intention of asking for her help, Sakura started pondering how to incorporate Lightning Release into her existing ninjutsu to increase their power.
For example, she could add Lightning Release chakra to her Water Cutter to increase its penetrating power and paralyze enemies.
But Lightning Release was too volatile, without a fixed shape. Just forming the Raikiri in her hand earlier was difficult enough. Incorporating it into Water Release would require even more precise control. This was even harder than doing two things at once.
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