A Second, A Moment

Of course, this is only true in theory.

Shiraishi Yoshijo does not possess the Sharingan, so he can only rely on his sensory perception to manipulate his Chakra.

If Uchiha Madara were to pair his skills with the Sharingan, his ability to control Chakra would certainly be far superior to that of Shiraishi Yoshijo.

Shiraishi Yoshijo raised his hand and threw the first shuriken at Hanzo, waited a second, then threw the second, followed by the third.

The first shuriken moved at high speed, and Hanzo narrowed his eyes, using the sickle in his hand to parry it.

As the sound of metal clashing rang out, Shiraishi Yoshijo moved.

A flash of lightning streaked across the air, and he appeared instantly before Hanzo.

Hanzo's pupils constricted sharply; without a second thought, he swung his sickle downward!

"Secret Technique: Butterfly Clone."

The sickle struck Shiraishi Yoshijo, slicing him clean in two.

Dozens of butterflies scattered and flew away.

At this moment, the second shuriken reached Hanzo's eyes.

Hanzo tilted his head slightly, and the shuriken grazed past his ear.

The lightning flashed again!

"Lightning Release: Scorch Flow Kill!"

Shiraishi Yoshijo flickered behind Hanzo, his fist radiating a terrifying heat as he slammed it directly toward Hanzo's back.

The third shuriken arrived in front of Hanzo once more.

A pincer attack from front and back had formed in an instant.

Sensing the lethal danger coming from behind, Hanzo ignored the shuriken and whipped his head around.

He used his sickle to block Shiraishi Yoshijo's fist.

A deafening boom erupted from the impact, and a violent gale surged forth!

Hanzo realized by now that the battle had fallen entirely into his opponent's rhythm; if he let this continue, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Ninja Art: Body Flicker Technique!"

Hanzo flickered to the ground and fell silent, staring at the brat standing atop Salamander Ibuse.

Salamander Ibuse began to grow restless, its tail lashing out violently toward Shiraishi Yoshijo.

The lightning flared once more.

Shiraishi Yoshijo returned to the side of Hatake Sakumo and the others, landing precisely on the shuriken he had pinned to a tree earlier.

The scene fell quiet for a moment.

This battle seemed long, but in reality, it had lasted only a brief three seconds.

In those three seconds, Shiraishi Yoshijo had used the Lightning Body Flicker three times in succession, relying on his absolute advantage in speed to catch Hanzo off guard.

Hanzo raised his sickle; the glowing red blade had snapped in two and was still dripping with molten iron.

He reached back, pulled the shuriken from his back, and brought it before his eyes to examine it closely.

This was the third shuriken Shiraishi Yoshijo had thrown.

The Chakra threads had snapped the moment he flickered away.

It was now just an ordinary shuriken.

Hanzo dropped both the shuriken and the sickle onto the ground.

"That speed of movement is remarkable!"

"Brat, give me your name, and I will spare your life."

Hanzo knew very well how much strain such a high-speed flicker placed on the body.

Although the brat looked unscathed, he certainly couldn't be feeling easy.

Compared to Shiraishi Yoshijo, the external injuries he had sustained were not worth mentioning.

In fact, that was exactly the case.

Three seconds, one flicker per second.

Shiraishi Yoshijo could already feel that some of the minor meridians within his body had ruptured.

He was also experiencing a profound sense of mental exhaustion.

Hatake Sakumo sensed this and quickly bent down to carry him on his back.

Shiraishi Yoshijo let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly used medical ninjutsu to treat his injuries.

Internal injuries were different from external ones; if not treated immediately, they could leave lasting damage.

As for Hanzo's demand for his name, Shiraishi Yoshijo was not that foolish.

Ninjas take pride in remaining unknown, especially since he was currently wearing a mask and executing a mission as an Anbu.

Seeing Shiraishi Yoshijo remain silent, Hanzo seemed to understand.

"This is truly a pity."

"Kid, live on with the name Jirai; one day, we will meet again."

Hanzo leaped onto his salamander, and the creature began to slowly sink into the ground.

Ten minutes had passed by the time they could no longer sense the chakra of any enemies.

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 also gave him a thumbs-up.

Even Shincho, a woman of few words, looked at him with an expression of disbelief.

"I've heard that the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique is the fastest in the ninja world, but I think your Lightning Body Flicker is no longer inferior to it."

Hanari sighed: "The day has finally come; it seems I'll have to call you Lord Jirai from now on."

Shiraishi Yoshijo's face darkened: "What Jirai? That's such a tacky name, I don't want it. Ninjas should take pride in being unknown; I am an Anbu, after all."

Hatake Sakumo suddenly asked: "How many times can you use that Lightning Body Flicker in one go at most?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo fell silent.

Hatake Sakumo then realized: "My apologies, I couldn't help my curiosity."

Shiraishi Yoshijo shrugged: "You saw it yourself; I was exhausted like a dog after using it just three times. If I kept going, my blood vessels would have burst. That was my limit."

In truth, he could have used it a few more times, but there was no need to mention that.

"Captain, are we continuing the mission? We haven't gathered any intelligence on this trip."

"It doesn't matter. We drove back Hanzo the Salamander; even if we go back now, Hiruzen Sarutobi won't blame us."

Hanzo returned to the Land of Rain.

Someone had just reported that the team pursuing Danzo had failed.

No trace of surprise could be seen on Hanzo's face.

He understood that without him personally pursuing Danzo, those useless subordinates of his would never have succeeded.

After all, he was the only powerhouse the Rain Ninjas had to offer.

Someone behind him asked in a low voice: "Lord Hanzo, why did you let that kid go?"

Hanzo sighed and did not answer his subordinate's question.

Whether or not he killed that kid was not important.

What mattered was that Konohagakure's attitude toward Amegakure seemed to be growing increasingly aggressive.

At this rate, he wouldn't be surprised even if Konohagakure declared war on the Land of Rain tomorrow.

The Land of Rain was not yet prepared for war.

And he was not prepared for war either.

The pursuit of Danzo was merely for show; even if he had actually captured Danzo, he would have used him to negotiate with Konohagakure to buy more time.

However...

Before his eyes, that flash of lightning, fast to the extreme, seemed to appear once more.

Konohagakure truly produces talent after talent!

Three days later, the gates of Konohagakure appeared before them.

After returning home, he took off his Anbu uniform and changed into his loose clan robes.

Shiraishi Yoshijo lay in his courtyard, took out a cigarette, and began to smoke contentedly.

After finishing his cigarette, he used a reverse summoning to travel to the Butterfly Habitat Valley.

The Butterfly Habitat Valley had completely changed in appearance.

On the right side of the plaza, there were now rows of iron cages.

Over a dozen ninjas were locked inside.

When those ninjas saw Shiraishi Yoshijo, they couldn't help but tremble, each of them desperately shrinking toward the back of their cages.

These ninjas were all test subjects that Shiraishi Yoshijo had captured while taking advantage of his missions.

As for the previous bandits, they had long since been played to death by him and Mei.

Bandits were ordinary people, after all, and could not withstand many experiments.

He found his research plan on the experimental table in the center of the plaza.

At the very top of the list was, quite clearly, the research on cell activation.

This research had currently hit a bottleneck and required the use of various instruments to proceed.

The Butterfly Habitat Valley lacked these conditions; after all, there was no electricity here.

"It seems I need to establish a secret base in Konohagakure."

He looked toward the ninjas locked in the cages and revealed a sunny smile.