Water Shadow? Who Does He Think He Is?

"Yue—"

His first experience crossing space was far from pleasant. The intense acceleration abruptly shifted to stillness, bringing with it a violent dizziness and nausea.

Even though the system had directly granted him mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique, giving Namikaze Yoru a solid foundation in spatial perception, the effect of this space-time ability varied from person to person. Clearly, it would take time to adapt.

More importantly, Yoru realized a critical issue: he did not possess Minato's innate nerve strength and extreme reaction speed.

In a high-intensity battle requiring continuous use of the Flying Thunder God, he might not be able to respond in time.

Even so, the Flying Thunder God Technique had become one of Yoru's powerful trump cards. After all, even Uchiha Izuna, who had awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan, had fallen to it on first encounter.

He tried it several more times. Supported by his powerful Uzumaki Constitution, the nauseating sensation of weightlessness was rapidly fading. He was quickly adapting to this spatial leap.

Carefully hiding a kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God mark in the roof beam, Yoru couldn't help but joke to himself, "Does this count as setting up a return point for myself?"

The next day.

The sky was barely light when Yoru, whose biological clock was already fixed, woke up out of habit.

He put on his training uniform and headed toward the Konoha Training Ground, wondering along the way why Might Duy hadn't come to his door today.

As soon as he stepped into the training ground, he heard the familiar "Youthful Roar."

"Youth! Limit Release! Fifth Gate—Gate of Limit, open!"

Might Duy's aura suddenly transformed. A thick green chakra surged around his entire body.

He charged forward at an astonishing speed. Under such fierce acceleration, the targets in his path shattered from the force of his punch wind alone, before his fist even made contact.

Then Duy released the well-known "Eight Inner Gates Formation," propping his hands on his knees and gasping for air. The strain was obvious.

Even though Yoru had mentally prepared himself, witnessing this scene firsthand left him deeply shaken.

Unlike the dazzling brilliance of ninjutsu, unleashing such power purely through taijutsu was nothing short of remarkable. This was the strongest taijutsu in the shinobi world—the commoner's ultimate cheat.

If his original physique hadn't been completely unable to keep up with Duy's training, Yoru would have come to claim this "cheat" long ago.

"Brother Duy, what's this?"

Seeing Yoru approach, Might Duy laboriously raised his hand, gave a thumbs-up, and grinned. "This is a test of my training results. The Eight Inner Gates Formation—what do you think?"

"Incredible. To reach this level with just taijutsu..."

"Let's train together! I'll teach you!" Duy's tone suddenly turned serious. "If I never come back from a mission... at least this technique will have a successor."

Through their conversation, Yoru learned that Duy had been assigned to a mission.

Without a family of his own, the first person he thought of was Yoru, who had acknowledged him. That was why he demonstrated the Eight Inner Gates here, hoping to pass on the technique.

Although Yoru's initial approach to Duy hadn't been entirely pure, after spending this time together, he had come to genuinely respect him.

Even when mocked by others, Duy had always followed his own ninja way. He was a true shinobi.

With some persuasion, Yoru accepted the Eight Inner Gates training scroll. Because Duy had exhausted himself opening the gates earlier, he didn't train as usual today. Instead, he focused on guiding Yoru through the basics.

Land of Water, Kirigakure.

"What? Those madmen of the Kaguya Clan went to Konoha to assassinate Senju Nawaki?" The Third Mizukage glanced at the letter in disbelief. Even his usually half-closed eyes widened slightly.

But thinking it over, it wasn't impossible for the war-crazed Kaguya Clan to do such a thing. Not to mention that the letter from Konoha included solid evidence of Kaguya bloodline traits.

Setting the sharply worded letter on his desk, the Third Mizukage felt a headache coming on. They had just finished the war that destroyed the Land of Whirlpools. Even though they had gained much, the loss of shinobi was real.

The Whirlpool ninjas would rather die than surrender. Most had taken a large number of Kirigakure elites with them through mutual-destruction seal techniques.

Moreover, both Kirigakure and Sunagakure followed a policy of elite forces. Every lost shinobi came at a great cost.

The difference was that Suna's elite strategy stemmed from insufficient funds, while Kiri's was due to constant infighting among bloodline clans.

The Third Mizukage waved over an attendant and ordered the letter sent to the Kaguya Clan Compound, demanding an explanation.

Kaguya Clan Compound.

As clan head, Kaguya Kimihito stared at the letter in front of him, equally bewildered.

Someone from the clan had crossed the sea, gone straight into the Land of Fire, and assassinated the young heir of the Senju Clan?

Though it sounded absurd, Kaguya Kimihito still gathered the clan members for a meeting.

When he brought up the matter, the Kaguya clan members, who had been bustling in for the assembly, fell into an odd silence for a moment. They exchanged confused glances with one another.

Then, suddenly, a wave of cheers erupted. Some even lamented that such a bold operation hadn't succeeded.

Kimihito repeatedly demanded the clan maintain order, emphasizing that Konoha had pressured them through the Mizukage and that the matter must be thoroughly investigated.

Hearing this, the clan members below exploded again.

"The Mizukage? Who the hell does he think he is!"

"I've been putting up with him for too long. Does he really think the Kaguya Clan is afraid of him?"

"Is he Konoha's dog? Taking their side to question us?"

Seeing the clan's fury rising, Kimihito feared they might go too far. At this rate, they'd probably grab their Bone Spikes and head straight to the Mizukage Building for a fight.

"Silence!"

Kaguya Naoto suddenly erupted with an overwhelming pressure. As a clan that revered strength, the Kaguya's worship of the powerful was buried deep in their bones. Everyone immediately turned to look at the clan head.

"I want to know—who among you has been away from the compound during this time?"

Logically speaking, the Kaguya Clan rarely ventured out except for battle, so this kind of screening should have been effective—provided the clan members cooperated.

"It was me! I haven't been here these past few days. I went to the Land of Fire."

"Kid, don't talk nonsense. I saw you training in the compound yesterday. It was actually me who went."

"The truth is..."

The Kaguya clan members spoke over each other, all eager to take the blame onto themselves, shielding the nonexistent "hero."

Even an elder of the Kaguya Clan, who walked with a cane, tried to force his way forward to take responsibility.

Kaguya Naoto, one of the few in the clan who still kept a clear head, looked at the scene before him and knew deep down that trouble had come.

Sure enough, amid the fierce argument, some radical clan members began to shift the blame, saying, "If the Mizukage wants an explanation, why make things hard for our own people?"

With that, a bone spike extended from his palm and stabbed fiercely into his own chest. The surrounding Kaguya clan members had no time to react, and the man fell dead on the spot.

The Kaguya Clan Compound fell into dead silence. The clan, already harboring great resentment toward the Mizukage, now glared hatefully in the direction of the Mizukage Building.