Shunpo vs. the Body Flicker Technique

Itachi's gentle voice reached Ye Wuyue's ears, making him swallow the question he wanted to ask.

"Mm."

Ye Wuyue closed his eyes as well and hugged Itachi...

Although he had agreed to Itachi's request, he had no intention of giving up on investigating the matter. Itachi's reaction told him that this incident was definitely not as simple as it seemed—perhaps even worse than he had imagined.

Still, he did not plan to press Itachi any further. Itachi was the kind of person who liked to shoulder everything himself, hoping to handle it all through his own strength.

But he had never considered that a person's abilities were limited. Some things could not be resolved alone, no matter how powerful one was, how hard one tried, or how seriously one took them—let alone resolved perfectly.

Besides, others might not want someone else solving their problems or arranging their lives...

Ye Wuyue decided to investigate the incident himself. After all... Itachi's way of handling such matters did not reassure him in the slightest.

After resting for another morning, Ye Wuyue went to the Ninja Academy. He had only fainted because his body was overly exhausted; it was nothing serious.

As usual, Fugaku was not home. But neither was Mikoto. Ever since Sasuke was born, Mikoto had become a housewife and no longer needed to go on missions. Unless something major happened, she was usually at home.

This made Ye Wuyue realize the seriousness of the situation even more.

When Itachi learned that he was going to the Ninja Academy, he had wanted to take him there. But after receiving a summoned crow, he left and asked Izumi to escort him instead. After all, Izumi was now a Chunin and had also mastered the Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

The moment he arrived at the Ninja Academy, Ye Wuyue knew his suspicions had been correct. The looks many people gave them now held an added measure of disgust.

Although the villagers had never had a good impression of the Uchiha Clan before, they had not gone so far as to show it so openly. At most, they cursed them behind their backs, and quite a few villagers still respected their clan.

"Look, they're the 'traitor clan.'"

"They still have the nerve to swagger around here. I really don't know what they're thinking."

"If Konoha were full of clans like theirs, it probably would've been destroyed long ago."

"I wonder how the Fourth Hokage will deal with them."

"I hope I never have to see them again."

The scattered whispers kept reaching Ye Wuyue's ears. At that moment, he roughly understood how Naruto must have felt back then. Though the treatment Naruto received had probably been far worse than this.

Konoha's villagers... were really easy to manipulate. This was probably Danzo's handiwork again. He really knew how to steer public opinion.

But through them, Ye Wuyue noticed something else. The phrase "traitor clan" caught his attention.

Traitor clan... Did that mean someone in the clan had defected? Given the current situation, the most likely person to have defected was Uchiha Setsuna. But one person defecting should not have caused such a severe reaction.

Orochimaru had defected from Konoha a year ago as well, yet no one called Hiruzen Sarutobi a "traitor teacher." Even Danzo, who had been closely connected to him, had not received much punishment. It had to be said that Danzo and Hiruzen's defensive capabilities as a duo were absurdly high.

Danzo stayed underground to take the blame for Hiruzen Sarutobi, while Hiruzen remained aboveground, supplying Danzo with resources and sheltering him.

Together, they were practically unstoppable in politics. If the two of them had not disagreed with each other, Ye Wuyue could not imagine who could possibly bring them down.

Izumi naturally heard the villagers' remarks as well. The smile on her face vanished, and she looked at Sasuke with concern.

"Little Sasuke, how about big sister takes you to skip class and eat some Tricolor Dango?" Izumi leaned close to Ye Wuyue's ear and whispered.

She was afraid that Sasuke, still just a child, would not be able to bear all those rumors.

Ye Wuyue, who had been deep in thought, immediately understood Izumi's intention.

"No need, Izumi. My friends are waiting for me," Ye Wuyue said with a smile.

"But..." Izumi wanted to say more, but a voice interrupted her.

"Hey—Sasuke!"

A boy wearing a black T-shirt with a red swirl pattern on the chest was waving at them. Then he ran over.

"You came to school! Iruka-sensei said you were sick and didn't come this morning. You're way too weak, getting sick right after school started. A powerful ninja like me doesn't get sick so easily!" Naruto said, planting his hands on his hips with a smug expression. When the nearby villagers saw him, their chatter noticeably quieted.

"You? A powerful ninja? That description clearly doesn't suit you, idiot. Want to compete?" Ye Wuyue shot back mercilessly.

Naruto's personality was like a blend of Minato and Kushina—bright and reckless.

Naruto jumped in anger at that. "Damn it! You dare question me?! Today, I'll show you who's boss! Let's race and see who gets to the classroom first!"

"Sure. Do you need me to give you a few seconds' head start?" Ye Wuyue asked with a disdainful look.

Seeing him so lively, Izumi gradually relaxed.

"Hmph! Of course not! Just don't cry when you lose!" Naruto said with a snort, his lips pouting.

"Then let's begin! See you later, Izumi!" Ye Wuyue waved at Izumi as their race was about to begin.

"See you!" Seeing him in such spirits, Izumi finally set her worries aside and waved back with a smile.

"3!"

"2!"

"1! Go!"

At Ye Wuyue's shout, he and Naruto shot forward like arrows.

Ye Wuyue had originally intended to go easy on him, but after witnessing Naruto's speed, he abandoned that thought. Naruto was using the Body Flicker Technique, and his proficiency was far greater than Ye Wuyue's. Both his speed and distance slightly surpassed Ye Wuyue's Shunpo. He was practically a miniature Yellow Flash.

Ye Wuyue became serious as well and used Shunpo. One black and one yellow figure flashed through the Ninja Academy.

More than ten seconds later, the two appeared at the classroom door at the same time. Although Naruto's Body Flicker Technique was slightly better in both speed and distance, the interval between Ye Wuyue's Shunpo uses was shorter. As a result, their overall speeds ended up about the same.

"You're not bad! You actually managed to keep up with my speed." After using Body Flicker so many times, Naruto still looked perfectly normal. Compared to someone who started panting after using the Sharingan for only a few minutes, his endurance was simply on another level.

"I should be the one saying that to you, shouldn't I?" Ye Wuyue said.

Then the two exchanged smiles and pushed open the classroom door together.