Naruto: The Hidden Shadow Style

If categorized, the "Lightning Release: Mikage" technique currently used by Haseo should fall under the category of high-speed taijutsu within a compound elemental chakra framework. It could be called Shifting Body Technique... after all, any ninjutsu capable of achieving major displacement in a short time can be referred to as a Body Flicker Technique. However, this is absolutely not the same concept as space-time ninjutsu.

No matter how fast Haseo moved, his speed simply traversed continuous space within continuous time, unlike the "Flying Thunder God," which constantly jumped between space-time nodes.

Furthermore, although Haseo claimed he was using the "Lightning Release: Mikage," that wasn't exactly accurate in reality. Lightning Release was only the surface aspect of this technique; its true essence and critical component lay hidden within the Water Release pseudo-meridians, which formed the vitally important foundation.

Since pseudo-meridians were not real meridians, Haseo named this water-based technique that created them "[Water Release: Dazong Lu]."

Haseo's special Lightning Release Water Release state was actually the result of blending two distinct chakra natures—a rare fusion only he could achieve. Therefore, the correct name for this technique should be "[Lightning Release Water Release: Mikage Dazong Lu]."

Without doubt, from a technical classification standpoint, this should be considered an S-rank high-difficulty ninjutsu. Yet practically speaking, such difficulty ratings hold no real significance because regardless of its difficulty level, this compound technique could only be used by Haseo himself.

Ultimately, it came back to that original issue—the problem of dual-natured chakra fusion without coexistence within a single ninja lifeform.

Currently, it seemed Haseo was the only unique exception capable of overcoming this limitation. Thus, even if every training step of this technique was fully documented and personally taught step-by-step, no one else would truly master it.

Even if someone achieved certain results through practicing this method, what they'd eventually learn would be the Kekkei Genkai "[Storm Release]," rather than "[Mikage Dazong Lu]."

Comparing these two techniques, Storm Release naturally possessed higher destructive power and efficiency. However, it lacked the physical speed boost inherent to Lightning Release techniques. So, even if given a choice, Haseo would still opt for his own "[Mikage]" instead of "[Storm Release]"... despite Lightning being weaker than Storm Release, lightning still had no shortage of destructive power whatsoever.

When fighting ninja, whether it was five million or fifty million tons of TNT-equivalent damage rarely made a difference—both would result in instant death anyway.

But a ninja with speed and one without speed were completely different beings.

Lightning Release was wild energy; most often, ninjas could only apply rough control over it. While possessing tremendous destructive capability, it also placed immense physical strain upon the user themselves. Similar to when Haseo developed his Mikage technique, other lightning techniques like the Lightning Cutter and Chidori Current shared this characteristic.

Compared to the Lightning Cutter, Haseo's Mikage had clear and undeniable advantages.

Firstly, the Lightning Release Haseo employed had drastically reduced the physical strain typically associated with lightning chakra usage, making its negative effects nearly negligible.

Another key difference is that Mikage is essentially a cyclical form of Lightning Release, unlike Kakashi's Lightning Cutter, which is a divergent technique. Therefore, Mikage's chakra utilization efficiency is extremely high. Combined with the previously mentioned characteristic of placing no burden on the user, Haseo's technique can be sustained for extended periods. It doesn't just have that one-hit-kill punch typical of Lightning Release; it also doubles as a high-speed taijutsu in longer fights.

Furthermore, because Haseo's Lightning Release is both controllable and cyclic in nature, beneath its wild attribute lies a tamed side. This enables him to further adjust his output rate by overclocking or underclocking, thus regulating the technique's power and speed. He maintains extreme swiftness while gaining enhanced flexibility. So unlike how Kakashi was back when he first used the Lightning Cutter, Haseo isn't limited to charging in straight lines between two points. That kind of simplistic movement significantly diminishes the advantage of speed—no matter how fast you move, if enemies can predict your trajectory, how effective can you really be?

Lastly, during the use of [Mikage Dazong Lu], the chakra within Haseo's body undergoes an orderly dual circulation. This doubled chakra circulation boosts his physical abilities—his strength and attack power far surpass what they used to be, all thanks to this dual-thread system. Based on this, Haseo has even decided to maintain his secondary set of pseudo-meridians continuously throughout daily life.

Of course, Mikage also shares the common drawbacks inherent in high-speed taijutsu techniques. The most notable issue is the necessity for extremely high perceptiveness while using the technique. Without either Byakugan or Sharingan, despite Haseo's exceptional dynamic vision, it still remains within normal human limits. When things move too fast, even spectators can't keep up—and sometimes, Haseo himself has trouble following along too.

Fortunately, [Mikage Dazong Lu] is merely a foundation—it hasn't been fully developed yet.

"The first phase of the experiment seems successful," Haseo said. "Now it's time for further testing." With those words, Haseo once again stepped back toward Kōga and the others before walking farther away.

"A second phase?" Sakumo Hatake was even more surprised.

All he had witnessed these past few days were Haseo turning himself into something like a bloated pig and then struggling to return to shape. Could such a simple process really allow a ninja to suddenly gain enlightenment and develop such a powerful jutsu?

Who knew 'pigs' could be worth so much?

Clearly, Hatake had never seen the situation where an outbreak of swine fever caused pork prices across the entire Land of Fire to skyrocket. To answer that directly? Yeah, turns out pigs *can* be that valuable.

Ignoring Sakumo's astonished remark, Haseo mused to himself—if he'd gone through so much trouble just to implant a Lightning Release circuit within his body, would that really be satisfying enough?

Standing on the lake surface once again, Haseo began activating the unique Water Release within his pseudo-meridians. Previously, it had merely remained inside his body, but now he intended to spread this Water Release across a ten-meter radius around his body… [Water Release: Dazong Lu] was developed as a unique form of Water Release, featuring extremely high conductivity and highly sensitive perception.

Soon after, the occasional blue arcs of lightning radiating from Haseo became even more frequent and brighter.

Although the Water Release dispersed around him lacked the same concentration density found within his pseudo-meridians—in fact, to the naked eye, there appeared to be absolutely nothing surrounding his body—the Lightning Release he emitted precisely followed this distribution, completely filling the area up to ten meters around him.

After completing these preparations, Haseo attempted to move again using the same technique as before… and…

[And just like that], his speed shot up dramatically!

This improvement would have been imperceptible to others' naked eyes—after all, their eyes had barely kept up with him originally—but Haseo himself could feel the difference clearly.

What he had just done seemed simple on the surface, yet produced unimaginable results. By arranging in advance like this, Haseo established a weak electric field filled with faint Lightning Release around his body. This "preheating" and environmental adaptation allowed Haseo to break through previous speed limits when moving within this field.

[Of course,] this came at the cost of much higher chakra consumption—but the perks were way more than just extra speed—it allowed Haseo to achieve an enormous enhancement in sensory perception through the distributed chakra. While using high-speed Lightning Release, the visual blind spots he experienced could now be fully compensated for by more precise dynamic perception.

[Hiding in Mist Technique] served as the inspiration for this idea, but Haseo's [Water Release: Dazong Lu] possessed perception capabilities far subtler and stronger than that technique.

Therefore, in the blink of an eye, Haseo no longer needed to move about blindly.

Compared to Lightning Release jutsu like Chidori and Raikō (Lightning Cutter), the drawback of Haseo's [Mikage] was that it lacked the natural paralyzing effects typically associated with Lightning Release techniques like Chidori or Raikō. [Mikage] did not include control effects. However, Haseo never required such paralysis in the first place… inducing paralysis in opponents would require building resistance against it yourself first. In essence, this was just a regrettable compromise—a damaging method that hurt both sides equally.

Precisely because they couldn't avoid the paralyzing effects of Lightning Release, ninja had no choice but to use it as a weapon.

But Haseo was different—he could cast aside the drawbacks of Lightning Release while keeping only its strengths. All he truly needed was the extreme speed granted by Lightning Release.

So…

[Should someone ever ask]: "Between you and Kakashi—who's faster?"

[You'd reply without hesitation]: Definitely you! How on earth could Kakashi keep up?

[Lightning Release Water Release: Mikage Dazong Lu] was a ninjutsu far superior to [Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter].

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