Escaping the Mist Ninja starts with backstabbing your teacher.

Chapter 156 Kakashi's Decision, Tsunade's Permission!

Was it because he no longer had the Sharingan? Or was it because—he had been seeing himself through other people's eyes all along?

Kakashi loosened his fist, the lightning dissipated in his palm, and the courtyard returned to the silence of the moonlight.

He looked down at his palm, his right hand, the hand that held the knife.

His palms and fingertips were covered in calluses, the distribution and thickness of which recorded his fighting habits over the years.

The thickest points are the base of the thumb, the middle joint of the index finger, and the web between the thumb and index finger. These are marks left from holding kunai and short swords for a long time, and are also the legacy left to him by his father.

He suddenly remembered what his father had said when he was very young, when his father was still alive.

On a moonlit night similar to today, in this courtyard, his father handed him a wooden knife, then knelt down and looked him straight in the eye.

"Kakashi, swordsmanship isn't something you learn by looking at your eyes."

As a child, he didn't understand: if you don't use your eyes, do you use your heart?

His father seemed to see through his confusion, smiled, and said nothing, but simply turned the wooden knife in his hand in a different direction.

Point the knife tip towards the ground, then hold his hand and guide him through his first knife swing.

He still remembers that action.

Kakashi looked up, the moonlight falling on his face, making his dead fish eyes look exceptionally clear.

His gaze fell on the old cherry tree in the corner of the yard, where the tree still bore the knife marks he had made when he was a child practicing with a knife.

The footprints, varying in depth and crooked, resemble the footprints left by a child learning to walk.

He withdrew his gaze, clenched his fist again, and his chakra condensed once more, this time not in his palm, but throughout his entire body.

Lightning-attribute chakra surged through his meridians, stimulating every muscle fiber and elevating his reaction speed and explosive power to a new level.

It's not Chidori.

It is Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

He had seen information about the Third Raikage during one of the Anbu missions.

The man, whose body was crackling with lightning, single-handedly fought against ten thousand Iwa ninja, and did not fall for three days and three nights.

That power did not come from the Sharingan, nor from the bloodline limit, but from the ultimate exploration of one's own physical limits.

Kakashi's lips twitched slightly, not in a smile, but more like a sense of relief.

"With my own eyes—" he whispered, his voice so soft it was carried away by the night breeze, "to continue living."

In the courtyard, lightning flashed once more. This time, it was no longer the faint firefly in his palm, but a blue-white radiance that enveloped his entire body.

An electric current pulsed across his skin, emitting a soft hissing sound and casting flickering light on his figure.

The paper lanterns under the eaves swayed gently in the wind, and the light and shadow moved inch by inch on the courtyard wall.

The old cherry tree in the corner of the courtyard stands silently, like some ancient and steadfast witness.

Its branches are etched with the marks of time; the knife marks are still there, and the child who wielded the knife is still there, only now he has grown up.

The night breeze swept through the courtyard, carrying the scent of the distant forest.

The moonlight remained as clear as water, enveloping the entire courtyard in a silvery-white stillness.

As the lightning gradually dissipated, Kakashi stood in the center of the courtyard, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, calmly gazing at the star-studded sky above.

The night is still long.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, a thin layer of morning mist still shrouded the rooftops of Konoha Village.

Kakashi hadn't slept all night. He sat on his porch with the short sword across his knees, the leather scabbard gleaming a dark red in the morning light.

The old cherry tree in the courtyard appeared particularly serene under the gray-blue sky, and the knife marks of varying depths on its branches were wet with dew, gleaming with a moist light.

He stood up, tucked the dagger back into his waistband, changed his clothes, pulled up his headband, and went out of the house.

The streets were deserted in the early morning, with only a few ninjas doing their morning exercises passing over the rooftops, creating a slight whooshing sound.

Kakashi didn't take the main road, but instead walked along a quiet alley towards Tsunade's temporary residence in Konoha.

Tsunade lived not far from the Hokage Building; it was a two-story building surrounded by trees.

This was a residence specially prepared for her by the Third Hokage. Although Tsunade herself did not care about "where to live," she was more concerned about whether there were taverns and casinos nearby.

Kakashi stopped in front of the door and raised his hand to knock.

It wasn't Tsunade who opened the door, but Shizune. She was wearing a plain-colored kimono, her hair casually tied back, and she was holding the toon that always followed her in her arms.

Upon seeing Kakashi, she paused for a moment, then stepped aside slightly to make way for him in the doorway.

"So early? Lady Tsunade is still here—" Shizune hesitated for a moment, "Yes, she's still resting."

Kakashi glanced inside the door and could faintly hear even breathing coming from the second floor.

He nodded, but instead of going inside, he stood at the doorway, took his hand out of his pocket, palm up, and condensed a faint ball of lightning.

Blue-white electricity pulsed in his palm, emitting a faint hissing sound.

Shizune looked down at the ball of lightning, her brows furrowing slightly: "This is—Raikiri? No, Raikiri's chakra is much greater than this."

"It's Lightning Release Chakra Mode." Kakashi calmly said, withdrawing his lightning. "I'd like to ask Lady Tsunade to check if this power will affect the seal on my left eye."

Shizune glanced back at the stairs; Tsunade's breathing remained steady, showing no signs of waking up.

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Lady Tsunade should be waking up soon. Please go to the reception room and wait for me. I'll make some tea."

Kakashi was seated in the reception room to wait. The room was small and simply furnished, with a low table, a few cushions, and a traditional Chinese ink painting on the wall depicting a pond in the rain.

Outside the window was a small bamboo grove, the bamboo leaves swaying gently in the morning breeze, making a rustling sound.

He didn't sit down, but stood by the window, gazing at the bamboo grove. His hand unconsciously rested on the short knife at his waist, his fingertips tracing the leather texture on the scabbard.

After an unknown amount of time, footsteps came from the stairs.

Tsunade, wearing a loose yukata with her hair draped over her shoulders, walked down the aisle, carrying a steaming cup of tea.

Her face still showed signs of sleepiness, but her eyes had regained their usual energy.

"You brat, disturbing people's sleep so early in the morning! Don't you know that disturbing a woman's sleep is a serious crime?"

Kakashi turned around and bowed slightly: "I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade."

"Speak, what is it?" Tsunade plopped down on the cushion behind the low table, crossed her legs, placed the teacup on the table, propped her chin up with her hand, and looked at him lazily.

Kakashi recounted his experience in the courtyard the previous night, not the detailed training process, but the feeling.

The flow of chakra, the spread of lightning within the body, and the sense of control that is even more "close" than the Sharingan.

His tone was calm, as if he were reporting a mission, but Tsunade saw something she had never seen before in his dead fish eyes.

It wasn't confusion, nor was it unwavering passion; rather, it was a quiet, composed resolve.

Tsunade listened without speaking immediately. She picked up her teacup, blew on it to cool it down, and took a sip.

The tea was very hot, and her brows furrowed slightly before relaxing.

"Lightning Release Chakra Mode, that's something from Kumogakure." Tsunade put down her teacup, her gaze falling on Kakashi's face. "Where did you learn it?"

"Nobody taught me," Kakashi said honestly. "I just—learned it by trial and error."

"I suspect it's my left eye that gives me this power."

Tsunade was silent for a moment, then tapped her fingers lightly on the table, making a rhythmic sound.

"You mean, without any reference materials or teacher's guidance, you touched the threshold of Lightning Release Chakra Mode just by the feeling given by your left eye?"

Kakashi nodded slightly. "It's just the initial stage, it lasts a very short time, and it consumes a lot of chakra."

"Let me see!" Tsunade stood up, walked up to Kakashi, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

The chakra in his palm seeped into his body, sensing the flow of chakra in his meridians.

A moment later, she withdrew her hand, her brows furrowing even more deeply.

"Your chakra pathways are wider than the average person's, especially in your arms and legs. This physique is very suitable for training Lightning Release Chakra Mode."

She hesitated for a moment, then her tone became more serious: "But there's still a seal on your left eye; what that man left behind is still inside that eye."

"I'm not sure right now whether stimulating the meridians throughout my body with Lightning Release Chakra Mode will affect the seal on my left eye."

Kakashi was silent for a moment: "Therefore, I need your judgment."

Tsunade turned around, walked to the window, her back to Kakashi. Outside, sunlight was filtering through the clouds, turning the bamboo leaves a warm golden hue.

"My assessment is that you can practice, but only within the scope of my monitoring."

Tsunade's voice came from the window, carrying an undeniable certainty: "Come here every three days for a check-up. If there are any abnormalities in the seal on your left eye, stop immediately."

"Yes," Kakashi replied, bowing his head.

"And also," Tsunade turned around, crossed her arms, and looked at the short sword at Kakashi's waist, "you can't put down your swordsmanship either."

"Guy is right. Lightning Release Chakra Mode is a supplement; swordsmanship is your foundation. Don't put the cart before the horse."

Kakashi's fingers lightly traced the scabbard: "I understand!"

"Alright, go ahead!" Tsunade waved her hand, sat back down at the low table, picked up her teacup, and said, "Have Shizune prepare some tonics for you. Practicing Lightning Release Chakra Mode is very taxing on your body, so don't overdo it."

Kakashi bowed slightly, turned and walked towards the door. Just as his hand touched the doorknob, Tsunade's voice came from behind him again.

"Kakashi."

He stopped and looked back.

Tsunade held her teacup, but her gaze wasn't on the teacup; it was fixed on his face.

"If anything seems unusual, be sure to contact me immediately!"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"

He opened the door and went out.

The door closed behind him, and the sound of his footsteps receding into the distance echoed in the corridor.

Tsunade sat behind the low table, holding a teacup, her gaze fixed on the bamboo forest outside the window, remaining motionless for a long time.

The morning breeze rustled the bamboo leaves.

In the distance, wisps of smoke rose from the rooftops of Konoha Village.

A new day has begun.