Of course, that was only in theory.
Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't have the Sharingan, so he could only control Chakra through his senses.
Uchiha Madara, with the Sharingan, would definitely have far better Chakra control than Shiraishi Yoshijo.
Shiraishi Yoshijo raised his hand and threw the first Shuriken at Hanzo. A second later, he threw the second, then the third.
The first Shuriken flew swiftly. Hanzo narrowed his eyes and raised his sickle to block it.
As metal rang against metal, Shiraishi Yoshijo moved.
A streak of lightning flashed, and he appeared in front of Hanzo in an instant.
Hanzo's pupils contracted sharply. Without a second thought, he brought his sickle down!
"Secret Technique: Butterfly Clone."
The sickle struck Shiraishi Yoshijo, cleaving him in two.
Butterflies scattered in every direction.
By then, the second Shuriken had reached Hanzo.
Hanzo tilted his head slightly, and the Shuriken skimmed past his ear.
Lightning flashed again!
"Lightning Release: Scorch Flow Kill!"
Shiraishi Yoshijo used Body Flicker to appear behind Hanzo. His fist, radiating terrifying heat, slammed toward the small of Hanzo's back.
The third Shuriken reached Hanzo at the same moment.
The attack caught him between two fronts.
Sensing the deadly threat behind him, Hanzo ignored the Shuriken and whipped around.
He blocked Shiraishi Yoshijo's fist with his sickle.
A deafening crash rang out as their strength collided, and a gale erupted!
Hanzo now understood that the battle had fallen completely into his opponent's rhythm. If he let it continue, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Ninpō: Body Flicker Technique!"
Hanzo used Body Flicker to reach the ground. He stared at the kid standing atop Ibuse and fell silent.
Salamander Ibuse began to stir, then whipped its tail toward Shiraishi Yoshijo.
Lightning flashed once more.
Shiraishi Yoshijo returned to Hatake Sakumo and the others, landing right on the Shuriken he had stuck into a tree.
For a moment, everything fell silent.
The battle had seemed long, but in reality, it had lasted only three seconds.
In those three seconds, Shiraishi Yoshijo had used Lightning Body Flicker three times in a row, relying on his overwhelming speed to catch Hanzo completely off guard.
Hanzo raised the sickle in his hand. Its red-hot blade had snapped in two, and molten iron was still dripping from it.
He reached back, pulled out a Shuriken, and held it up to inspect it closely.
It was the third Shuriken Shiraishi Yoshijo had thrown.
The Chakra Threads had snapped when he used Body Flicker to return.
Now it was just an ordinary Shuriken.
Hanzo dropped both the Shuriken and the sickle to the ground.
"That Body Flicker speed is incredible!"
"Kid, tell me your name, and I'll let you go."
Hanzo knew all too well how much strain moving at that speed placed on the body.
The kid looked completely unharmed, but there was no way he had gotten off lightly.
Compared to Shiraishi Yoshijo, Hanzo's own external injuries were nothing.
In fact, that was exactly the case.
Just three seconds—one flash per second.
Shiraishi Yoshijo could already feel some of the tiny pathways in his body tearing.
He was also suffering from intense mental exhaustion.
Hatake Sakumo noticed and quickly bent down to carry him on his back.
Shiraishi Yoshijo breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly used Medical Ninjutsu to treat his injuries.
Internal injuries were different from external ones. If he didn't treat them quickly, they could leave lasting damage.
As for Hanzo asking for his name, Shiraishi Yoshijo wasn't stupid enough to give it.
Ninjas took pride in going unnoticed. Besides, he was wearing a mask and carrying out a mission as a member of Anbu.
When Shiraishi Yoshijo stayed silent, Hanzo seemed to understand.
"What a shame."
"Kid, live on with the name Jirai. One day, we'll meet again."
Hanzo leaped onto Ibuse, and the salamander began slowly sinking into the ground.
By the time they could no longer sense any enemy Chakra, ten minutes had passed.
Shiraishi Yoshijo jumped down from Hatake Sakumo's back.
"Captain, I'm fine now."
Hatake Sakumo breathed a sigh of relief. "You were incredible!"
Hanari gave him a thumbs-up too.
Even Shincho, the usually taciturn woman, looked at him in disbelief.
"I heard the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique was the fastest in the Shinobi World. I think your Lightning Body Flicker is already just as fast."
Hanari exclaimed, "The day has finally come. I guess we'll have to call you Lord Jirai from now on."
Shiraishi Yoshijo's face darkened. "What do you mean, Jirai? That name's so tacky, I wouldn't take it if you gave it to me. Ninjas should take pride in going unnoticed. I'm Anbu, after all."
Hatake Sakumo suddenly asked, "How many times can you use that Lightning Body Flicker in a row?"
Shiraishi Yoshijo fell silent.
Only then did Hatake Sakumo realize what he'd asked. "Sorry. I couldn't help being curious."
Shiraishi Yoshijo shrugged. "You saw it yourself. I was exhausted after using it just three times. If I kept going, my blood vessels would burst. That was my limit."
He could actually use it a few more times, but there was no need to mention that.
"Captain, are we going to keep carrying out the mission? We didn't get any information at all while we were out."
"It's fine. We drove off Hanzo of the Salamander. Even if we go back, the Third won't blame us."
Hanzo returned to the Land of Rain.
Someone had just reported that the team sent to pursue Danzo had failed.
There was not a hint of surprise on Hanzo's face.
He knew that without going after Danzo himself, his subordinates—those good-for-nothings—would never accomplish anything.
After all, he was the only formidable fighter Rain had.
Someone behind him asked quietly, "Lord Hanzo, why did you let that kid go?"
Hanzo sighed but didn't answer.
Whether he killed that kid or not wasn't important.
What mattered was that Konoha seemed to be taking an increasingly hard line toward Amegakure.
At this rate, he wouldn't be surprised if Konoha declared war on the Land of Rain tomorrow.
The Land of Rain wasn't ready for war.
And neither was he.
Pursuing Danzo had really just been for show. Even if they had actually captured him, Hanzo would have used him to negotiate with Konoha and buy more time.
Only...
That impossibly fast streak of lightning appeared before his eyes again.
Konoha was full of talented people!
Three days later, the gates of Konoha came into view.
When he got home, he took off his Anbu uniform and changed into his loose clan robes.
Shiraishi Yoshijo lounged in the courtyard, took out a cigarette, and smoked in comfort.
After finishing his cigarette, he used Reverse Summoning to travel to Butterfly Habitat Valley.
Butterfly Habitat Valley had changed completely.
A row of iron cages had been added to the right of the plaza.
More than a dozen ninjas were locked inside.
When they saw Shiraishi Yoshijo, they shuddered uncontrollably and scrambled to the backs of their cages.
They were all test subjects Shiraishi Yoshijo had captured while carrying out missions.
As for the bandits from before, he and Mei had already experimented on them until they died.
Bandits were ordinary people, after all. They couldn't withstand more than a few experiments.
He found his research plan on the experiment table in the center of the plaza.
At the very top was his research into cell activation.
That research had hit a bottleneck and required all kinds of equipment.
Butterfly Habitat Valley didn't have the facilities for it. There wasn't even any electricity here.
"Looks like I'll have to set up a secret base in Konoha."
He looked at the ninjas locked in the cages and gave them a sunny smile.
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