Six months.
That's how long it had been since Kayomi first stepped onto the scorched training field with Sakumo Hatake.
Six months of breaking and rebuilding. Of silence and sweat. Of burning away the wildness within him until something calmer, sharper, and stronger remained.
His flames no longer roared.
They whispered.
What once was an untamed inferno was now a steady, controlled burn.
Sakumo didn't train him with praise or punishment. He trained him with presence.
No shouting. No lectures.
Just a quiet nod when Kayomi did something right and an even quieter silence when he didn't.
Correction came in the angle of a foot.
The twitch of a brow.
A shift in stance that said try again.
Every morning began in stillness.
Every night ended in exhaustion.
And slowly, something shifted.
By the end of the second month, his muscles ached less.
By the fourth, his chakra began to hum in rhythm.
By the sixth… he moved differently. Cleaner. Quieter. Like a sword returning to its sheath.
The system hadn't chimed in weeks.
No quests. No flashy upgrades. No glowing titles.
Just repetition.
Just work.
And somehow… that was enough.
But today felt different.
The wind had a tension to it. The sky hung heavier, stained with ash from distant fires.
The forest was silent too silent. Like it, too, was holding its breath.
Sakumo stood at the edge of the border training field, arms folded, his figure still as stone. The rising sun caught in his silver hair, casting a faint halo around him. His expression, as always, unreadable.
"You've grown," Sakumo said, voice calm and even. "But words are nothing. Show me."
Kayomi blinked. "You want to spar?"
Sakumo didn't answer. He simply unfastened his flak vest and tossed it aside. "I want to see how far you've come."
Kayomi felt his pulse quicken but he nodded. "Then I won't hold back."
They both stepped into the clearing. No formal stance. No countdown.
Just two warriors facing each other under a blood-orange sky.
And then movement.
Sakumo dashed forward, fast as a shadow in motion. Kayomi's instincts screamed. He ducked low, sweeping his leg. Sakumo flipped effortlessly over it and launched a precise jab at Kayomi's ribs.
Too clean
Kayomi countered with a burst of chakra, his hand glowing with fire.
"Fire Style: Blazing Palm!"
A flaming wave erupted from his strike, forcing Sakumo to twist mid-air and land lightly behind him.
"You're using fire like a scalpel now," Sakumo said mid-movement. "Good."
Kayomi smirked. "You haven't seen anything yet."
He slammed his palms together.
"Fire Style: Flame Dragon Barrage!"
Three serpentine dragons of fire erupted from the earth around him, coiling and snapping toward Sakumo with glowing fangs. The older shinobi weaved through them with inhuman grace, slicing one in half with a kunai charged in chakra, then vanishing in a flicker of speed.
Kayomi's eyes widened.
Behind me.
He spun and barely raised a flame wall in time to block a strike aimed at his shoulder. The impact rippled through the flame, and Kayomi was sent sliding back, boots digging trenches into the dirt.
He grinned.
This was the fight he wanted.
He raised a hand, and the ground beneath him began to melt.
"Lava Style: Magma Surge!"
A pool of glowing, bubbling lava burst from the soil, forcing Sakumo to leap high into the trees. The air shimmered with heat, and the field hissed under the weight of molten chakra.
But Kayomi wasn't done.
His hands moved in rapid succession tiger, horse, dragon, ram then stopped.
He slowly reached for the bandages wrapped tightly around his eyes.
"Let's turn up the heat."
With a single pull, the cloth fell.
His Six Eyes gleamed red-gold, refracting the light like molten gemstones.
And behind them, his Sharingan spun two tomoe, smooth and sharp.
Sakumo's expression finally shifted. A flicker of recognition. Of respect.
"Finally showing your cards?"
Kayomi didn't respond. He simply moved.
And the world bent around him.
Sakumo threw a kunai Kayomi saw the arc before it left his hand.
He ducked, chakra flaring in his legs, and vanished in a flicker of fire.
He reappeared behind Sakumo
A real flicker this time
And launched a spinning kick, cloaked in flame.
Sakumo caught it, barely.
The force sent both of them crashing through a nearby boulder.
They landed opposite each other, breathing hard.
Sakumo's smirk was faint, but real. "Not bad."
Kayomi wiped blood from his lip. "I'm just getting started."
They clashed again. Fists met flame.
Steel met lava.
Speed met insight.
Kayomi weaved illusions into his strikes, redirecting vision, displacing sound.
His Sharingan tracked even Sakumo's feints, and his Six Eyes dissected angles and micro-movements before they happened.
And then an opening.
Just for a blink.
But that's all Kayomi needed.
He twisted beneath a sweeping leg, slammed his foot into Sakumo's back, and launched him into the air.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A spinning fireball roared into Sakumo's chest mid-air.
Boom!
The explosion rocked the clearing.
When the smoke cleared, Sakumo lay on one knee, coughing, his arm singed and his vest half-melted.
Kayomi stood above him, both eyes glowing, chest heaving.
And for the first time…
Sakumo smiled.
"You win."
Kayomi blinked. "...What?"
"I've seen enough." Sakumo rose slowly, brushing ash from his shoulder. "You're ready."
But then
His form shimmered.
Kayomi's eyes narrowed.
"Sakumo…?"
And in the blink of an eye, the man before him unraveled into smoke, dispersing into the wind with a soft fwoosh.
A Shadow Clone.
The real Sakumo's voice came from above, calm and amused.
"You didn't think I'd fight you full-force yet, did you?"
Kayomi turned, spotting him standing atop a high branch, arms folded, gaze unreadable.
"Still," Sakumo said, "You adapted. You kept your cool. And you landed the final blow. That clone had my chakra and instincts but you outpaced it."
A pause.
"You passed."
Kayomi stared for a second longer, then let out a breathless laugh, shaking his head. "Of course it was a clone…"
He didn't feel disappointed. Not really.
Because if it had been the real Sakumo
He'd have fought just as hard.
And maybe that was the point.
Then a soft chime echoed faintly in his mind.
> [System Notification]
Quest Chain: "Silent Flame, Steady Blade" - -Completed.
- Rewards will be given shortly
Stat Window Update Available…
Would you like to view your current stats?
[ Y / N ]
Kayomi blinked.
Then smiled.
Not yet.