Chapter 120: Lightning Against Lightning

 

Kakashi vanished from Tonbo's perception.

Not completely. The forest still held displaced air, compressed moss, and minute changes in reflected sound. Yet the chakra signature Tonbo ordinarily used as the center of those details had faded into the background.

Kakashi had spent two years studying their previous matches. He knew Tonbo's perception distinguished living patterns from the field around them, so he suppressed his chakra while wrapping himself in an earth clone's residue and moving through ground already saturated by ninjutsu.

Tonbo found the idea impressive.

The kunai reached his neck before admiration became a distraction.

Metal struck metal. Tonbo turned and caught Kakashi's blade with his own, sparks falling between their locked hands.

"Closer," Tonbo said.

Kakashi's Sharingan rotated. "Not close enough."

He released the kunai rather than contest the bind. Tonbo felt chakra below and abandoned his footing as an earth spear erupted beneath him. Wind Release followed before he landed, driving him toward the barrier mark he had placed earlier.

Kakashi had spent the match avoiding that mark. Now he used Tonbo's presumed safe position as a trap.

Tonbo triggered the seal from the air. The mark unfolded into a curved plane, caught the wind, and redirected part of it beneath him. He rode the altered current over the spear and landed at the edge of the field.

"You guessed the mark was defensive," Tonbo said.

"You made it obvious enough to become suspicious."

Both breathed harder now. Kakashi had consumed more chakra through copied techniques and the active Sharingan. Tonbo carried the accumulated cost of fighting Guy, Balanced Frame, and one Instant Opening. Neither possessed the reserves for a prolonged second hour.

Kakashi formed seals.

Lightning gathered in his right hand with the cry of a thousand birds. Chidori required a direct charge, but the Sharingan turned its dangerous speed into a path Kakashi could read and correct.

Tonbo recognized the declaration. One final exchange.

"Convenient," he said. "I have a lightning technique that still lacks combat data."

"You developed it specifically for this moment?"

"Not specifically for you. You are merely an excellent measuring instrument."

Guy cheered from the ridge. The twins gripped their harnesses as the sharp sound of Chidori reached them.

Tonbo placed his left hand over his right wrist and aimed an open palm. Thin arcs crawled between his fingers. Several narrow seal strips hidden around the damaged field responded, establishing a channel through the charged air.

Lightning Release: Thunder Channel. The technique had begun as a question about enemies capable of absorbing ninjutsu. A dense mass of chakra offered such opponents a simple target. Thunder Channel used chakra chiefly to establish direction, then drew upon electrical charge dispersed through a prepared field. It remained imperfect, dependent upon conditions, and too slow to conceal its gathering power.

Against a charging Kakashi, speed was no longer its largest problem.

"Chidori!"

Kakashi crossed the distance.

Tonbo released the channel.

A white line leaped from his palm with a crack that silenced the birds. Chidori struck its center. Kakashi's hand divided the discharge around his body while the opposing lightning tore at the shape of Chidori. For one suspended instant, both techniques remained visible as branching veins between them.

Then the currents collapsed.

The blast threw Kakashi sideways and forced Tonbo to one knee. Static lifted dust and loose hair across the field. The scent of scorched stone spread through the clearing.

For several seconds neither moved. Tonbo listened past the ringing in his ears, confirmed Kakashi's heartbeat, and only then released the seal he had prepared for an emergency interruption.

Guy arrived between them before either could attempt another attack.

Kakashi's glove smoked. His fingers moved when he tested them, though slowly. Tonbo's right arm tingled from palm to shoulder, and the last of his prepared seals had burned black. They formed the Seal of Reconciliation from where they stood.

"A draw," Kakashi said.

Tonbo rose with deliberate care. "I remained conscious after fighting two opponents."

"You selected the order and the field."

"Strategic excellence."

"You also required Guy to open five Gates before beating him."

Guy raised a hand. "I support counting that victory separately."

Tonbo ignored him. "Then we agree I produced the best overall result."

"We agree that your ability to rename a draw remains undefeated."

Guy gave both men an enthusiastic thumb. "Your final techniques were magnificent. Kakashi cut through lightning with lightning, and Tonbo turned the entire field into a weapon."

"The field requirement is the weakness," Kakashi said. His attention had already shifted from competition to analysis. "Without prepared seals, can you establish the channel?"

"At shorter range and lower power. The ambient charge is unreliable, and shaping it costs almost as much as producing lightning directly."

"An absorber could still take the chakra establishing the path."

"Possibly. The technique is not a solution yet. It is evidence that an attack can divide its function between chakra and the environment."

Kakashi looked across the scorched seal positions. Tonbo had invited him to test Balanced Frame, but Thunder Channel explained why the match had included so much movement through chosen terrain. Every trap, Water Wall, and wind exchange had also altered the conditions for the final technique.

"Next time," Kakashi said, "I choose the field."

"Next time," Tonbo replied, "I will know that you intend to choose it."

They both began planning around a match that did not yet exist.

Guy stretched his recovered legs. "Then next time I shall fight both of you together."

"No," Kakashi and Tonbo said.

The woven eagle descended to the ridge. Tenyu's eyes shone.

"Dad glowed."

"The one-eyed man glowed more," Maki said.

"Dad was brighter."

"They fell at the same time. It was a draw."

Tonbo looked at his daughter. "Your perception is developing well."

"She could not see the important details," Tenyu protested. "When I surpass you, I will remain standing."

"A valuable objective. Begin by remaining seated while the eagle lands."

Tenyu discovered that he had loosened one harness strap for a better view and corrected it before Tonbo finished speaking.

Maki pointed toward Guy. "When we turn four, will you teach us the black-arm punch?"

"When you turn four, you begin a preparation program. Strength techniques come after balance, control, and safe falling."

The twins exchanged a troubled glance. Kiba's stories had described Tonbo's preparation program in enough detail to damage its appeal.

"Could we learn lightning first?" Tenyu asked.

"No."

"Flying?"

"No."

"Dishwashing with chakra?"

Tonbo considered it. "That can be arranged."

The children realized too late that they had volunteered.

Kakashi reopened his book as they began the walk home. "You make domestic labor sound like a forbidden technique."

"It requires repetition, precision, and consequences for poor control. The Academy could learn from it."

Guy announced that he would wash one thousand dishes if it improved his control. Kakashi increased his pace. Tonbo followed with the twins and the folded eagle, leaving the broken field to a pair of earth clones assigned to repair what three responsible jōnin had done to it.

Behind them, the last charge faded from the air. The Academy bell carried faintly across Konoha, ending the first day of a new generation.