The lightning generated by chakra is fundamentally different from natural lightning.
The average current of a natural lightning bolt is 30,000 amperes, with a maximum current reaching up to 300,000 amperes, and a voltage of 100 million to 1 billion volts. The power of a medium-intensity thunderstorm can reach ten million watts, equivalent to the output of a small nuclear power plant. During the discharge, the air in the lightning channel expands rapidly due to the sudden increase in temperature, creating shockwaves that result in intense thunder.
When charged thunderclouds approach protrusions on the ground, a fierce discharge occurs between them. At the point of the lightning strike, a strong flash and an explosive roar will appear.
Kakashi and Mei Terumi kept low; they had now entered the thunderstorm region. The air was hot and humid. Dark clouds stretched for tens of kilometers above their heads. Below, in a valley, thunder echoed, and powerful, visible lightning struck the ground at any moment.
To say it struck the ground wasn't entirely accurate; many lightning bolts would first hit the ground, then the ground would flash back, repeating several times. The power of such lightning was among the strongest in similar weather phenomena.
In this area, Kakashi recognized at least three to four types of lightning: linear lightning, chain lightning, and down in the valley, he even saw the legendary and most enigmatic ball lightning.
This natural phenomenon, whose appearance patterns and methods were completely unknown, was actually appearing in clusters here.
A forbidden zone of life.
What could survive in such an environment?
His nose already picked up the acrid smell of pierced air and scorched objects below. Among the large boulders in the valley, there were pits of various sizes. A small stream meandered through the boulders, occasionally splashing up water.
On average, every ten to twenty seconds, their eyes would be blinded by the intense flash for one to two seconds. Kakashi took out goggles for Mei Terumi and himself. The latter truly felt fear; the young woman pressed tightly against the young man, lowering her body posture as much as possible.
"Is this the Thunder Valley…?"
"That's right."
Wearing the goggles, the two felt slightly better. Before arriving, Kakashi had imagined what this valley would look like. Much of his grand ambition to confront nature dissipated in this weather.
Like Mei Terumi, he indeed felt fear.
It wasn't just the lightning between the ground and the sky. Above, within the dark clouds, a massive lightning dragon spanning several miles would occasionally appear, enough to psychologically deter ninety-nine percent of the ninja who came here to train.
Kakashi also understood that only extremely skilled Lightning Release ninja could walk out of this valley.
Currently, the only one who could draw lightning from here and leave alive was the Third Raikage.
The vague original story in his memory, that severed lightning bolt, probably couldn't even compare to the weakest lightning here.
Each of the Five Great Nations had its own forbidden lands, like the Forest of Death or the Land of Bone Burial, and small countries had their forbidden lands too. Kakashi had been to the Forest of Death; the danger there was only for ordinary people. For strong ninja, it was merely uncomfortable.
No wonder this Thunder Valley had no soldiers guarding it; no one would come to such a place.
「High energy reaction ahead, warning, high energy reaction ahead!!」
As he took another step forward, the system timely appeared, with two large red warnings flashing continuously.
「Please avoid this route!!!」
"Even the exclamation marks are scared out. This place is genuinely stimulating."
"What?"
"Nothing, I was just talking to myself."
"Are you really going to train here?"
"Since we're already here, wouldn't it be a waste of time to go back just like this?"
"But it's too dangerous here…"
"Wait for me here."
Kakashi visually estimated a safe distance; another hundred meters, and he would enter the valley.
Mei Terumi didn't insist. This place was too disadvantageous for her; not being a physical type nor a Lightning Release user, she could be of no use here. She could only watch from a distance as the young man prepared to confront the miracle of nature.
"I have an old saying: lightning is the punishment of heaven. Only those guilty of heinous crimes will attract lightning. In some cultivation legends, lightning is also regarded as transcending a tribulation."
His expression, stirred with emotion, was no longer his usual indifference. Kakashi's long-unattended silver hair swayed in the wind.
"You will definitely become a Lightning Release ninja surpassing the Raikage!!!!"
As if venting her own fear, Mei Terumi shouted loudly at the departing Kakashi, whose figure was no less imposing than that of a god.
"Rest assured."
Kakashi, picking up speed, answered in a low voice, rushing alone towards the place where myriad lightning bolts gathered.
His hands flickered with blue light. He leaped down from the side cliff of the valley. The moment the first lightning bolt struck him, the silver-haired young man's muscles began to tear, to ache. His battle-worn hands lost sensation, and the smell of burnt human flesh entered his nostrils.
「One must always push oneself into desperate situations to become stronger.」
While running, he downed a bottle of intermediate recovery potion he had prepared earlier. In an instant, his wounds healed.
He stomped on a rock below, shattering it. A certain sensation rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head; his whole body wanted to burn to ashes along with the thunder.
Viewed from the sky, a tiny figure was attracting all the dark clouds to gather towards it. The grand, magnificent, and awe-inspiring nature disdained his overconfidence, about to turn this fellow who dared to challenge heavenly might into dust.
Kakashi, holding Chidori aloft, severed a thunderbolt falling from the sky, perfecting it into the true Raikiri.
「What improved Chidori? All of them are crooked paths. Extreme speed, extreme destructive power, this is the true essence of Raikiri!!」
The dark clouds in the sky began to swirl, the sound of thunder was terrifyingly resonant, and something horrifying was brewing in the center of the clouds above.
It wasn't an illusion. Kakashi truly felt nature's wrath; these things were definitely not ordinary lightning!!
To this day, the young man understood the meaning of becoming stronger. It wasn't about the bone-deep loneliness, the crushing blow of failure, or the satisfaction of success.
Thinking carefully, he had journeyed under the stars and moon, occasionally looking back to find he had already come so far.
Admitting one's weakness wasn't difficult. A ninja's strength lay in their growth process, not the result.
Only by experiencing extreme pain and enduring to the utmost could one become extremely strong.
A massive, shocking, magnificent ball of light emerged from the center of the dark clouds.
Far away, outside the mountain range, the Kumogakure ninja sensed something. That incomparably powerful lightning force showed no signs of weakening even at this distance.
Several sensory-type ninja were shocked beyond measure. After Lord Third Raikage, was a second ninja challenging heavenly might about to appear?
"…"
Mei Terumi heard the earth-shattering roar from below.
The ball of light landed at a speed of one-thousandth of a second.
"Rai------kiri!!!!!"
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