Revolution in the Ninja World

Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Kakashi's Backbone of Refusal



Hearing that Sunagakure had dispatched a special mission request to Konoha, specifically designating him as a participant, Habara's first reaction was suspicion. Was Sand formulating some elaborate scheme to finally get rid of him? This worry wasn't mere paranoia. After all, Habara and Sand shared quite a bit of... history, a series of minor conflicts that had snowballed into significant misunderstandings.

Killings on the battlefield fall under the umbrella of "national enmity." While the resulting hatred is difficult to eradicate completely, it's equally hard for it to erupt fully outside of wartime. Even if a Konoha ninja inflicted massive casualties on Sand, Suna wouldn't typically march into Konoha after the war seeking personal vengeance.

But Habara's situation was rather unique. For Sand, he hadn't made his name on the battlefield. Instead, he'd done something far more egregious: he had infiltrated Sunagakure itself and eliminated their Fourth Kazekage with relative impunity.

By now, nobody really remembered why Habara's team had gone to Sand in the first place, or who had harbored ill intentions first. Compared to the monumental result and impact of assassinating a Kage, the preceding rights and wrongs seemed trivial.

In short, for the shinobi of Sunagakure, failing to eliminate Habara before the war ended was an unforgettable regret. Finding an opportunity to kill him postwar had become their unspoken, collective wish.

Konoha's general perception was that Sand harbored more resentment towards "Kakashi of the Sharingan." Beyond the propaganda targeting Kakashi, there was even a two-generation grudge involved—Kakashi being the son of the White Fang. One only had to recall what "Konoha's White Fang" had done to Suna during past wars. But for Sand itself, especially for their elder advisor Chiyo, there was no mistaking the primary target of their deepest animosity.

As for the current alliance between Konoha and Suna? Honestly, believing in the reliability of that alliance was about as sensible as believing Danzo Shimura worked solely and selflessly for Konoha's benefit.

It was precisely because of all these factors that Sand's mission request seemed so utterly bizarre.

Judging by the Third Hokage's demeanor, he was inclined to accept Sand's request. Regardless of the alliance's actual reliability, its symbolic importance remained undeniable. Konoha wouldn't actively sabotage the alliance; in fact, they needed to maintain the relationship as much as possible.

From Habara's personal standpoint, he didn't particularly mind lending Sand a hand. It was just a straightforward "client request." Sand hated him, but he didn't harbor nearly as much hatred for Sand. Perhaps it was better put this way: he had significantly harmed Sand, whereas Sand hadn't managed to inflict much damage on him in return. Thus, he could afford to be nonchalant, like a "light breeze passing under pale clouds."

Habara turned his gaze to the Sand ninja standing before him, looking her up and down before asking, "Are you absolutely certain you need my participation in your mission? Perhaps you should reconsider?"

A complex emotion flickered across the Sand kunoichi's face before vanishing. Clearly, she had her feelings under tight control. "This is the decision of Sunagakure's leadership, Jonin Habara. Your specific abilities are required for the upcoming task."

On one hand, Sand desperately wanted Habara dead. On the other, they needed his help. This was the very definition of… cough… well, the very definition of enduring humiliation for the sake of the bigger picture.

"If it's an official mission request, then as a shinobi, I naturally won't refuse," Habara said. "However… what are the specific details of the mission?" He was, understandably, curious about a task that specifically requested him.

The Sand ninja glanced at the Third Hokage, paused thoughtfully, then handed a mission scroll to Habara. Since Habara had indicated willingness, there was no reason for her to hesitate further.

Habara accepted the scroll, unrolled it, and promptly froze for a second. The mission content was unexpected, yet strangely logical.

If one were to ask what Sunagakure's biggest problem was right now, the primary issue was the lack of a Kazekage. So, naturally, the mission content was asking Habara to become Sand's new Kazekage… Yeah, right. Impossible.

"This mission is indeed exceptionally suitable for me," Habara commented, regaining his composure. "With the necessary intelligence support, I'd say it wouldn't be difficult to complete…"

He momentarily considered asking if Sand had drawn inspiration from the circumstances of the Fourth Kazekage's demise, but the thought was far too callous. He swallowed the words back down.

"I accept," Habara stated, making up his mind quickly after confirming the details. "After all, I bear a small measure of responsibility in this matter. My previous conflict with your Fourth Kazekage was undertaken for the sake of peace in the shinobi world. Accepting your mission now is similarly for the sake of that peace."

Though his tone might have sounded excessively righteous, Habara genuinely felt he was speaking the truth. The words were undoubtedly grating to the Sand ninja's ears, but since Habara had agreed to their request, she couldn't say much. She offered no criticism, but finding words of gratitude proved equally difficult.

"We have been gathering intelligence on this matter for some time now and have already identified a direction," the Sand ninja reported, her voice stiff, devoid of diplomatic pleasantries. "We believe we will grasp more precise intelligence soon. At that time, we hope your side can mobilize promptly…"

"Rest assured," Habara replied smoothly. "As long as there are no problems on your end, there certainly won't be any on ours."

With that, they reached an agreement. The Sand ninja had achieved her objective in coming to Konoha. She wouldn't linger and would return to Suna immediately to report. Habara, consequently, was assigned the additional task of escorting her out of Konoha's territory.

Although Habara had decided to participate in Sand's requested mission and provide them with some "minor" assistance, he wouldn't be leaving for the Land of Wind just yet. His involvement hinged on Sand's progress with their intelligence gathering.

For this particular mission, acquiring the relevant intel was the most crucial and immediate priority. Once Sand secured the necessary information, Habara simply needed to act based on it.

Over the next few days, Habara continued his routine work, methodically collecting feedback from the system trial participants.

It wasn't until two weeks later that Habara heard anything further – not from Sand, but concerning Takigakure. Danzo Shimura's special Konoha delegation had returned from the Waterfall Village, having reached an agreement on handling the earlier Tailed Beast infiltration incident.

Firstly, they confirmed that the Jinchuriki's journey to Konoha was entirely a personal, unauthorized action. Secondly… well, once you establish a "firstly" like that, any "secondly" becomes rather flexible.

In simple terms: Konoha would not hold Takigakure officially responsible. The deaths of the Jinchuriki, the Seven-Tails, and the entire Takigakure Chunin Exam contingent were deemed "accidents." Takigakure provided a certain amount of compensation to Konoha. In return, Konoha agreed to assist Takigakure in recapturing the Seven-Tails once it eventually revived.

Big problems shrunk to small ones, small problems vanished into nothing. The outcome was largely as Habara had anticipated. From that perspective, Habara could almost claim to be an "expert" on Danzo Shimura's methods.

The criminal is Danzo, the investigator is also Danzo. How the hell could any real truth emerge? The result was inevitable. Habara felt his desperate battle against the Seven-Tails had been rather pointless in hindsight. If he'd known, maybe he should have just let the beast rampage into Konoha proper and stomp Danzo into partial paralysis.

Regardless of how it concluded, the end of the joint Chunin Exams eased the mission pressure on Konoha considerably.

Previously, Kakashi had been investigating the attack he and Habara suffered in the Death Forest. Unsurprisingly, he'd found nothing. By now, he had resignedly given up, classifying the incident as an unsolved cold case.

The attacker's identity remained unknown, the primary "witness" Habara offered no clues – what else could Kakashi do? He abandoned the investigation with a clear conscience, knowing he'd hit a dead end.

Walking through the Little Earthen Building, Kakashi spotted Daigo, the building's 24/7 "resident," and suddenly recalled something.

He caught up to her. "Daigo," he began, "did Habara already register one of his original ninjutsu in the Archive?"

"Yes," Daigo confirmed with a nod. "It's a high-difficulty, high-power composite ninjutsu. According to Habara, its power output is somewhat excessive, generally unnecessary for typical combat."

Although ninja love pursuing powerful techniques, Daigo mused internally, from the perspective that a single kunai can be lethal, the power of any ninjutsu could be considered 'excessive.'

Seeing Kakashi's interest, Daigo initially considered emphasizing the learning curve for Habara's original technique. However, she reconsidered and held her tongue. The person asking was Kakashi Hatake; his talent for learning ninjutsu was beyond question.

Upon receiving confirmation, Kakashi immediately said, "Alright, help me redeem that technique. My points should cover it, right?"

"Of course, no problem."

Currently, a significant portion of the jutsu stored in the Archive had been provided by the Copy Ninja Kakashi himself. Due to the special contribution system, his points balance was virtually inexhaustible. Therefore, regardless of the nature of Habara's composite ninjutsu, Kakashi decided to acquire it. He wasn't worried about wasting points; his problem was finding enough ways to spend them.

"Please follow me."

Daigo retrieved two scrolls from her room and handed them to Kakashi. "S-rank ninjutsu. Deducting 1000 points," she stated formally.

Kakashi waved dismissively, indicating the cost was trivial. He took the scrolls back to his office. The Archive was currently in a closed-off phase, not open to the general shinobi population. Thus, tasks like point tracking, jutsu scroll duplication, and technique redemption could be handled by Daigo alone. However, once it opened widely, she would undoubtedly need help; the Archive would require a number of administrators.

Back in his office, Kakashi settled into his chair and immediately unrolled the scrolls. One contained the details of the S-rank composite ninjutsu, while the other appeared to be a sealing scroll containing… something else, likely related materials.

Involving four distinct chakra natures, the technique's chakra pathways were incredibly complex. The diagrams illustrating the hand seals and flow were dizzying. Kakashi decided to skip that part for now and started reading the description.

"Ninjutsu Rank: S" "Ninjutsu Power: S. This is a large-area-of-effect technique, primarily achieving destructive results through extremely high temperatures." "Basic Requirements: The user must possess mastery over Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind nature transformations. During execution, the basic ratio for releasing the four chakra natures is as follows: Earth - 45%, Fire - 24%, Wind - 18%, Water - 13%..."

Why no Lightning…? Kakashi frowned slightly, clearly not grasping the esoteric 'Water-Earth-Fire-Wind foundational worldview' Habara seemed to operate on.

"Note 1: When performing this technique, simultaneously utilize special metal powder. This will elevate the ninjutsu's power by another tier. Standard Fire Style techniques can also be augmented with this metal powder for a similar power increase."

"Note 2: To unleash this technique's absolute full potential, please utilize Sage Chakra. If Sage Chakra is unavailable, infuse Natural Energy. If unable to utilize Natural Energy… well, that's that."

Kakashi: "..."

Kakashi felt a wave of speechlessness wash over him. Based on the description, the combination of four chakra natures plus special metal powder already sounded absurdly powerful. Yet the creator still demanded the use of Sage Chakra? That was simply insane.

The core difficulty clearly lay in precisely controlling the different ratios of the various chakra natures. Any imbalance would likely prevent the technique from reaching its intended power. Considering most ninja wielded their chakra rather crudely, this technique was genuinely formidable.

From Habara's perspective in developing this jutsu, it wasn't just about creating a powerful composite technique. He likely intended it as foundational practice for further utilizing natural energy and potentially learning true Sage Art. Practicing the precise balancing of different chakra natures could lay the groundwork for balancing physical energy, spiritual energy, and natural energy later on.

However, while the technique's difficulty was high, it was a conventional difficulty – a matter of fine control and precision, not the kind of metaphysical, space-time-bending challenge presented by techniques like the Flying Thunder God. Therefore, Kakashi felt confident that, with sufficient practice, he could eventually master it.

Having settled that thought, Kakashi continued reading downwards. And that's when he discovered the true meaning of being beyond speechless.

"Copyright Notice: Given that the name of this ninjutsu possesses a blatant sense of dissonance, per the developer's special request, any user performing this technique must simultaneously shout the technique's name aloud. Compliance with this requirement is entirely voluntary, but we implore all fellow shinobi: please, try to act with some basic human decency."

Uh… Kakashi thought blankly. Who exactly is the one lacking basic decency here?

Kakashi glanced at the name of the ninjutsu printed on the scroll. And then he swore, with every fiber of his being, that he would never use this technique as long as he lived.

No matter how immense its power might be, he, Kakashi Hatake, would absolutely refuse.

Absolutely. Never.

 


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