The Charging Thunder

In fact, even if Aburame Ryoma tried to retreat now, it was already too late.

"Did you know?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo suddenly spoke. "The outcome is often decided in an instant."

Lightning flashed in his left hand.

The shuriken in front of Aburame Ryoma crackled with lightning.

Aburame Ryoma began to retreat, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Feel the thunder!"

A flash of light streaked past, racing forward in an instant!

Aburame Ryoma had only just left the ground.

Shiraishi Yoshijo's right hand was already pressed against his chest.

After a burst of crackling electricity, Aburame Ryoma dropped to his knees, smoke rising from his body.

Shiraishi Yoshijo had held back.

If he had struck Aburame Ryoma with his fist, the man would have been seriously injured at the very least.

He didn't think there was any need to be that harsh.

So the instant Lightning Body Flicker activated, he changed his fist into an open palm.

Even so, Aburame Ryoma would have to spend at least a week in the hospital.

"It's over."

Shiraishi Yoshijo dusted off his hands and sighed. "What a boring fight."

Truthfully, he was only saying that.

He had acted careless from the start to fool everyone, and he had deliberately thrown the shuriken with little force.

He would have done the same no matter who his opponent was. It was a strategy he had planned in advance.

The goal, of course, was to let his opponent's guard down.

If Aburame Ryoma had dodged the shuriken as soon as Shiraishi Yoshijo threw it, Yoshijo would probably have had no choice but to use his still-incomplete Lightning Body Flicker.

He might still have won, but it wouldn't have been so easy.

Unfortunately, there were no what-ifs in a fight.

The moment Aburame Ryoma failed to get away from the shuriken, his fate was sealed.

Shiraishi Yoshijo looked at the middle-aged Jonin, who still hadn't recovered, and said, "You should announce the result."

Only then did the middle-aged Jonin react. He stared at Yoshijo as if he were a monster.

"Winner: Shiraishi Yoshijo!"

Once the result was announced, most of the spectators finally came to their senses.

"You've got to be kidding!"

"What was that speed?"

"Hey, that fight—"

Even Shiraishi Eizawa wore a strange expression. He asked Takemoto Masamasa, "Did Uncle Shuichi teach him that?"

Takemoto Masamasa turned back to his daughter with a bewildered look.

Takemoto Anna hurriedly shook her head.

On the high platform, the Third Hokage and his companions fell silent.

Orochimaru watched Shiraishi Yoshijo, his gaze full of fervor.

Tsunade stood there with her mouth open, yet in her mind she pictured herself pinning Shiraishi Yoshijo down and rubbing his face into the ground.

Jiraiya looked utterly disbelieving, as if he were living in a dream.

After a long while, the Third Hokage murmured, "Shi-Die... what a frightening power."

Danzo narrowed his eyes and suddenly said, "Hiruzen, let him join the Anbu. It would be a waste to send someone with talent like that to the hospital."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and shook his head.

Even the Hokage couldn't treat the shinobi clans like easy prey, especially when Shiraishi Yoshijo had displayed such talent.

The others were probably already itching to make a move. If he handled this poorly, it could provoke an immediate backlash.

Utatane Koharu suddenly asked, "What kind of Ninjutsu was that? It looked remarkably similar to the Flying Thunder God."

The Third Hokage still shook his head. With his experience, he could tell it was a kind of Body Flicker Technique.

This was the first time he had seen a Body Flicker Technique that used wire connected to a shuriken.

"It should be some kind of Lightning Body Flicker. I don't know how it works yet, but from the way he used it, it probably has a lot of limitations."

As expected of the Hokage, he had spotted the drawbacks of Shiraishi Yoshijo's Lightning Body Flicker at a glance.

"Orochimaru, go tell Shiraishi Yoshijo to meet me at the Hokage Office. I want to ask him about his intentions myself."

Even the Third Hokage had no choice but to compromise in this situation and try to win Shi-Die over with a gentler approach.

That was how politics worked.

Once you showed that you could be useful, people would rush to offer you benefits.

As for those who were no longer useful, others wouldn't just kick them aside—they would make sure to stomp on them a couple of times, just in case they survived.

When Shiraishi Yoshijo left the underground training ground, his good uncle was waiting for him.

"Not bad."

Shiraishi Yoshijo shrugged, as if it had been nothing.

Shiraishi Eizawa gave a helpless laugh and reached out to ruffle his hair.

"Did you come up with that Body Flicker Technique yourself?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo nodded, took a shuriken out of his tool pouch, and tied a wire to it.

"Grandpa Shuichi told me to use lightning's conductivity in combat. I had a sudden idea and came up with this Body Flicker Technique. Pretty impressive, right?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo looked as if he were begging for praise.

"Oh~~ So Yoshijo-kun is that kind of genius after all. You developed that Ninjutsu yourself? That's truly astonishing."

That voice...

Orochimaru!

Shiraishi Yoshijo made a face like he'd swallowed something awful. He turned around and saw the Sannin standing behind him.

Orochimaru wore an especially "warm" expression.

Tsunade looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. Jiraiya had a bright red handprint on his face. There was no need to ask who had left it there.

Shiraishi Yoshijo remembered some unpleasant things.

When he had asked them for information, each of the three had been more obnoxious than the last.

Shiraishi Yoshijo's expression immediately changed. He snorted and stared at the three of them without a hint of warmth.

"Unrelated parties, please leave at once. Don't interrupt this touching moment between family."

Orochimaru's smile froze on his face.

He had actually thought he and Shiraishi Yoshijo got along quite well. They were even desk mates. How had things ended up like this?

Shiraishi Eizawa tapped Shiraishi Yoshijo on the head and said with a laugh, "They're your classmates, aren't they? You shouldn't be so rude. All right, I have things to do, so you can talk."

With that, Shiraishi Eizawa left.

Shiraishi Yoshijo tilted his head back and looked at the sky. He didn't think there was anything to talk about with those three. He brushed some nonexistent dust off his sleeve and turned to leave.

Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya all looked as if they'd just eaten something disgusting.

"Yoshijo-kun, wait. The teacher wants to see you."

Shiraishi Yoshijo stopped and pointed at himself. "Which teacher? Kawano or the Hokage?"

"The Hokage. Come with me."

Orochimaru took the lead. Shiraishi Yoshijo frowned and followed.

He hadn't expected the Third Hokage to want to meet with him. Why?

His uncle handled all the clan's affairs. As for Yoshijo, he was completely in the dark and knew nothing.

What was the point of meeting him? Or was there something the Third Hokage wanted from him?

Lightning Body Flicker?

Even if the Hokage wanted to obtain a Ninjutsu like that, surely he wouldn't be so shameless about it.

Could it be about what he would do in the future?

But could a private deal like that really be discussed openly?

He couldn't figure it out, so Shiraishi Yoshijo shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

The question now was what attitude he should take when speaking with the Third Hokage.

Should he stand with his clan or with the village?

Under normal circumstances, this would have been a trivial matter.

But when meeting with the Third Hokage, it would be magnified many times over. To a great extent, it would determine how the Third Hokage treated him.

A political rival in the future, an ordinary villager, or the successor to the Will of Fire?

The more Shiraishi Yoshijo thought about it, the stranger his expression became. He was practically caught in a whirlpool of indecision.

He didn't notice that his presence was making the atmosphere among the Sannin increasingly awkward.

Normally, the three of them said whatever came to mind. But now, they couldn't bring themselves to say anything in front of Shiraishi Yoshijo.

Pride could be a big deal or a small one.

It didn't matter in front of friends, and it didn't matter in front of enemies, either.

But for someone caught between those two, it was a serious problem.

To the three of them, Shiraishi Yoshijo was exactly that sort of person.

Familiar, annoying, and intriguing all at once.

They wanted to improve their relationship with him, but were afraid that speaking up would make them lose face and give Shiraishi Yoshijo something to mock them about.

Even the idiot Jiraiya kept his mouth shut.

Tsunade began signaling to Orochimaru. Jiraiya looked torn, and Orochimaru figured that, since he and Shiraishi Yoshijo were desk mates after all, he should speak up.

"Yoshijo-kun, do you seem to hate us?"

Only then did Shiraishi Yoshijo come back to himself. He glanced at Orochimaru.

"Drop the 'kun' and the 'seem to.' It's not just your imagination."

That was enough to set off the powder keg.

Jiraiya bared his teeth and claws. "You bastard, Shiraishi Yoshijo! What's a dead-last like you saying? Damn it!"

Tsunade clenched her fist. "Have you forgotten how you used to beg for mercy in front of me?"

Orochimaru was relatively calm, but his smile had vanished completely.

Shiraishi Yoshijo ignored them and walked on by himself.

He knew the way to the Hokage Office. Why should he go with those three annoying people?

As Shiraishi Yoshijo walked farther away, the three exchanged glances, their faces darkening.

Tsunade: "Does this guy think he's better than us?"

Jiraiya: "Is that really the point? This is about a man's dignity!"

Orochimaru: "I think certain people need to be taught a lesson."

Jiraiya hesitated. "Isn't that going too far? We're teammates, after all. Are we really going to fight him?"

Tsunade punched him. "Idiot! You just said you were a man. Have you forgotten what happened at the opening ceremony?"

Tsunade began dredging up Jiraiya's humiliation. His face turned bright red, and without a word, he chased after Shiraishi Yoshijo.

Orochimaru glanced at Tsunade, then followed.

Tsunade had been fearless and unruly since childhood, so she wasn't intimidated by a little thing like this. She clenched her fist and went after them, too.

Shiraishi Yoshijo was still pondering the Third Hokage when a sound suddenly whooshed through the air behind him.

A small stone was flying toward him.

Shiraishi Yoshijo tilted his head slightly, then turned to look at Jiraiya, who had thrown it. His face remained expressionless. "You want to fight?"

Orochimaru and Tsunade caught up, too. Shiraishi Yoshijo frowned. "You're planning to gang up on me?"

Tsunade stepped forward and said, "Don't worry. Jiraiya's enough to take you down."

Orochimaru folded his arms and stared at him coldly.

"I'll be your opponent!"

Jiraiya put his hands on his hips, feeling like he was back in top form.

Shiraishi Yoshijo tilted his head, then put on a fake smile.

"You started this, so don't blame me. Honestly, I've been waiting for this day for a long time. That idiot Jiraiya is no match for me. I suggest you all attack me together."

Being called an idiot to his face by someone he didn't get along with... That feeling—

Jiraiya: "You bastard! Today, the great Jiraiya will show you what I can do!"

He began forming hand signs, then opened his mouth and spat out a fireball.

"Fire Release: Enton!"

Shiraishi Yoshijo curled his lip, fixed his gaze on Tsunade and Orochimaru, and smiled oddly.

"Water Release: Water Clear Wave!"

The Fire Release and Water Release collided, and white mist instantly billowed upward!