Arrival at Central City

Leaving the village to Hashirama gave Torikaze complete peace of mind. His son was also being well cared for at his maternal grandfather's home, so he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

He could finally have a serious fight with Yan.

Early the next morning, Torikaze changed into a more fitted white robe embroidered with golden cranes. He wore a jade crown on his head and carried a longsword at his waist.

Judging by his appearance alone, he was no different from an immortal.

But in terms of strength, he was probably far behind.

"I wonder how much of my ancestor's strength I have now. I probably can't even compare to half of it."

Torikaze shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. Then he leaped into the air and blew a whistle. Seiryu and Ryuufuu, who were incubating eggs in the crane nest, spread their wings together and flew toward him.

Chakra suddenly erupted around Torikaze, and vast amounts of cloud mist poured from his sleeves, propelling him through the sky at high speed.

Everywhere he passed, the clouds and mist were swept aside as though the heavens had been split open, forming a "skyway" that led directly to Central City in Rain Province.

He was unbelievably fast. A Kage-level ninja needed half a day to travel from the Land of Fire to Rain Province's border.

Yet Torikaze took barely more than an hour to fly all the way from Konoha to Central City.

The Chakra consumed during that journey was incomprehensibly immense. An ordinary person would have died long ago after expending so much Chakra, perhaps even borrowing against their next life.

Yet Torikaze had used it merely to travel.

As a crane cry rang out from the sky, the people on Central City's streets all raised their heads