Body Flicker Technique and the Puppeteer's Secret (Part 1)

A puppet resembling an insect appeared before everyone's eyes. It was about 1.2 meters long, with its middle part arched high like a beetle's shell, clearly concealing many Hidden Weapons or similar items.

Its head looked somewhat ferocious, with a large wooden mouth that opened and closed with a clicking sound. It had about 10 legs around its body and was draped in a tattered dark gray cloak.

"So ugly!" Shuichi couldn't help but exclaim, completely disregarding what the other person thought. He genuinely thought so; it was even uglier than Kankuro's Crow later on. What else could it be but ugly?

"..." Everyone present was speechless. This kid had no serious expression at all once the fight started, and his body language and words revealed his disdain for his opponent.

"You..." Tekki was furious. The puppet was mocking him right in front of its master, showing no respect for him at all.

Without further ado, he twitched his finger, and the insect puppet suddenly opened its mouth even wider, countless silver needles flying out rapidly, shimmering with silver light, likely carrying deadly poison.

"Crack!" Shuichi's chakra flowed rapidly throughout his body. With a stomp of his foot, he quickly jumped to the side, easily dodging Tekki's attack.

While still floating in the air and not yet landing, he channeled another amount of chakra to the soles of his feet, just as his ninja shoes were about to touch the ground.

"Thud!" The moment he landed, a small amount of chakra suddenly surged from the soles of his feet, cleverly canceling out the impact of the rapid movement, so that his feet were not affected by the recoil at all.

Without pausing, the remaining chakra in his legs erupted again, giving Shuichi, who was moving sideways, another boost of forward momentum, propelling him swiftly toward Tekki.

"How is this possible? This kind of movement, is this what Kui meant by fast?" Such a thought flashed through Tekki's mind, but at the same time he desperately tried to make his brain command his hands and feet to react.

At that moment, it seemed as if the whole world, including himself, had slowed down in his field of vision, while his opponent was moving so fast. This contrast was so unsettling that it made him want to vomit blood.

As Shuichi rushed towards him, he experienced for the first time what it felt like for his brain to control his hands and feet.

The information about one's own reaction is like a slow current, transmitted from the brain through the nerves to the muscles, and then the muscles in the hands receive the signal, so that the arms are crossed and raised with all their might to protect the upper body as much as possible.

At the start, Genes, wary of Shuichi's speed, stood nearly 20 meters away and positioned his puppet slightly off-center from the other side, intending to use it to block Shuichi from getting close.

But to his complete surprise, Shuichi displayed movement skills he had never heard of before.

After the puppet launched its attack, Shuichi moved from the side to the front in one fluid motion. The people in the stands could clearly see his body draw an "L" shape, as if defying the laws of physics.

After launching its attack, the insect puppet stood like a wooden stake, never receiving any further instructions from its master. Shuichi flew past it at high speed, even landing and adjusting himself as he approached Tekki, before kicking him directly in the upper body.

"Bang!" Just as Tekki managed to raise his arms, he was kicked squarely by Shuichi. The force of the kick sent him flying backward uncontrollably, crashing to the ground just before hitting the wall.

How is that possible?

"This... this is the Body Flicker Technique, it's amazing!" Most of the Genin in the arena hadn't reacted yet, but almost all the Jonin watching the battle were shocked.

"How could this be? Is this new genius from Konoha a monster?" Tosha Elite Jonin Sunagakure, was incredulous, and the iron bars he was holding rattled.

Laymen watch the spectacle, experts watch the details.

If there were a Ninjutsu in the Shinobi World that everyone knew was very powerful and practiced constantly, but just couldn't improve upon, then most formal ninjas would definitely think of the Body Flicker Technique, a D-rank Ninjutsu.

Ninjas are a profession that pursues mobility. Although they possess chakra, they are still just mortals. If they are slashed in the head or stabbed in the heart, they will die just like ordinary people. Speed is one of the most important attributes of a ninja.

It's normal for ninjas to use chakra to move, such as traveling through forests, but to use such a fast and unpredictable Body Flicker Technique as Shuichi in battle is exceptionally difficult.

The most crucial point here is the technique of using chakra.

After kicking Tekki, Shuichi glanced around and saw many spectators with shocked expressions, which he found understandable.

Since he learned the Body Flicker Technique, he has practiced it almost every day to reach his current level.

After becoming Orochimaru's apprentice, considering that he was a man with a system, he decided to make the Body Flicker Technique one of his main combat methods and told Orochimaru, wanting his opinion.

When Orochimaru found out, he didn't object. Instead, he discussed everything about the Body Flicker Technique with Orochimaru in detail.

Through his constant practice, he personally experienced why there were so few ninjas in the Shinobi World who could use this technique to such a high degree.

The principle can be explained by his standing long jump in his previous life, which is actually a sports test that is relatively easy to get injured in.

When a person jumps with all their might, they will face a huge reverse impact upon landing. At this moment, the person's legs need to bend appropriately in order to use the leg muscles to cushion the impact. If they stand straight on the ground, the possibility of injury is very high.

This force can even travel to the waist and upper body; Shuichi himself has experienced a back injury after a standing long jump.

Although the people in the Shinobi World are much stronger physically than those in their previous lives, they still face the risk of injury when performing such actions because human joints are just as fragile.

The Body Flicker Technique is essentially an enhanced long jump; not only is it faster, but the distance traveled is also significantly greater, and the impact force is increased exponentially. Without chakra protection, even the toughest legs would break.

Therefore, the key to using the Body Flicker Technique effectively lies in chakra.

First, there is the complete one-time Body Flicker Technique. The specific process is to conduct an appropriate amount of chakra to the feet, release some of the chakra through the pressure points on the feet to form propulsion, move at high speed for a short time, and then release the remaining chakra evenly when landing.

When jumping, chakra acts like a spring.

Upon landing, chakra acts like cotton.

The difficulty lies in the fact that the elasticity of the spring and the cushioning effect of the cotton must complement each other, so precise calculations are needed on how much chakra to use for cushioning.

If you use too little, it will definitely injure your legs.

So, wouldn't it be safe to use the Body Flicker Technique by using a large amount of chakra as a buffer?

Shuichi, after experiencing it firsthand, provided an answer: that's not the case.

When Genin train their chakra control, Tree Climbing is a mandatory course to practice transferring chakra to their feet. Subsequent Water Walking training involves releasing this chakra in a reasonable way, which is very similar to the principle of the Body Flicker Technique and can be considered the foundation of the Body Flicker Technique.

In order to train himself to use the Body Flicker Technique for actual combat, Shuichi used a data-driven example as a reference.

Using himself as a reference, his total chakra volume is quite outstanding, but like all normal people, he only has a few meridians in his feet. He is not an abnormal being; at most, his meridians are thicker and tougher than those of ninjas of the same age.

Assuming his feet can hold 10 points of chakra, to use a perfect Body Flicker Technique, he would first use 5 points as a spring, and then use nearly 5 points as a cushion upon landing, because there would be some air resistance.

Because the meridians in the feet do not exist in isolation, when a portion of the chakra is used for jumping, the chakra in other meridians immediately surges in due to the departure of that portion. Therefore, the amount of chakra used as cushioning upon landing must be consciously controlled by the user; one cannot mindlessly release all the remaining chakra from the feet.

You can do that, similar to releasing a large amount of chakra as a buffer. While it allows for a safe landing, it involves the drawback of the Body Flicker Technique in its normal state: the recovery time after landing.

There are two possible outcomes from doing this. For example, if the amount of buffering exceeds 5 points, the user will be able to stand up, but the extra pushing force will still be there. However, it will no longer be able to push the user. In order to relieve the pressure, the user will freeze in place for a moment.

In actual combat, if you jump to a safe place after reconnaissance, such as behind or to the side, the enemy cannot follow up immediately, then you have successfully used the Body Flicker Technique to evade the enemy's attack.

This is also the standard method used by most Chunin and some Special Jonin. Although there is a moment of stun, it has little impact.

Another outcome carries a greater risk. For example, if you use 7 to 9 points of chakra as a buffer, you will land safely, but you may face an uncontrollable second jump after landing, or you may land on softer or harder terrain, at which point you will not know where you will fly.

Therefore, after practicing for a while Shuichi consulted Orochimaru again to see how a ninja of his caliber would handle this problem.

This information actually involved a ninja's own secret, but Orochimaru explained it to Shuichi in detail without any hesitation, and even demonstrated it himself.

He was demonstrating the level of a top-tier Elite Jonin the Shinobi World. His movements were very smooth, without any obvious stiffness. However, it was different from those ghostly figures who flew around randomly. There were also slight adjustments to his body posture.

After Orochimaru's detailed explanation, Shuichi finally understood how to do it.

Just like humans have muscle memory, ninjas of this level use what can be described as chakra memory.

Because it's too difficult to calculate the movement distance of the Body Flicker Technique in a real battle, they would select a few specific distances to move during regular practice. For example, Orochimaru would use 5 meters, 10 meters, 15 meters, and so on. After a lot of practice, he could use the Body Flicker Technique with almost no lag.

However, this is not a true Continuous Body Flicker stunt, as transferring chakra to the feet is quite difficult.

If it's a short distance like 5 meters, Orochimaru can use the Body Flicker Technique twice in a row because he has enough chakra in his legs.

However, if the distance were to be increased to 30 meters, one would not dare to perform such a long-distance Continuous Body Flicker Technique, because it is very likely that one would find that there is not enough chakra to buffer the movement before landing, since the interval between movements is too short, and the situation would be bad.

The secret to how masters at the Kage level can perform what appears to be Continuous Body Flicker lies in their use of pure Taijutsu -based Body Flicker Technique as transitions, as demonstrated by Orochimaru.

"I see."

The Body Flicker Technique, which uses chakra, requires time to replenish chakra, but does not require any physical movement.

The Taijutsu Body Flicker Technique requires the use of muscles and bending of the legs, but it does not require chakra.

Therefore, after using the Body Flicker Technique, one can bend both legs to move using Taijutsu. During Taijutsu movement, one can quickly observe the surrounding environment, not only to determine a new safe landing point, but also to calmly wait for the chakra in the soles of the feet to be replenished.

This alternating use forms a perfect cycle, much like how in the game of Shuichi's previous life, you would use a skill to cancel the aftercast animation of a basic attack, and then use a basic attack to cancel the aftercast animation of a skill—it's a similar concept.

"This method of combining chakra with Taijutsu is used by most of the top Shinobi World," Orochimaru said, "But it still has some limitations."

For example, the human body has limitations, and in pure Taijutsu, movement is best performed between 45° to the left and 45° to the right from the front (back).

A complete 90° sideways movement is extremely difficult, slow, and very harmful to the body. A slight mistake can result in twisted legs, so it is rarely used in high-level ninja battles.

"However, using chakra does not have this limitation. For example, Hanzo of Amegakure uses chakra entirely to perform Continuous Body Flicker Techniques, and can choose any angle. This is a truly ghost-like movement technique."