Testing

Of course, the truly fierce battles would definitely happen on the third day. If they seized the Invitation Letter now, they would have to protect it for three days while surrounded by wolves. Better to wait until the third day to make a move.

Three days later, a great battle would surely break out at Konoha's gates.

"Mm, the first three layers of the Yang God Martial Way have already been completely deciphered. As for the Path of the Ghost Immortal, although Orochimaru has mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique, it is still vastly different from true Soul Ejection. If I want him to decipher the Dao Scripture, I'm afraid I'll have to wait a long time."

This was different from cultivating the Martial Scripture. After all, Medical Ninjutsu provided a safety net for martial cultivation. No matter what happened, one could basically be saved. This was especially true for training the flesh, muscles, tendons, and bones—as long as the treatment was sufficient and the examinations thorough, nothing could go seriously wrong.

But no one knew how to treat souls, and once something went wrong, it meant certain death. It was not like martial training, where there was still a buffer such as injury.

So even though Sarutobi Toru was full of confidence in Orochimaru, he had prepared himself to wait ten or twenty years for results.

"Alright, Duy. You can't train the Yang God Martial Way too much. That's enough for today!"

"Ah! Is it time already? It can't be helped—my youth won't allow me to slack off!" Might Duy said as he switched to doing push-ups.

Beside him, Inuzuka Hana's face darkened. "If you train like this, will you still have the strength to fight when the enemy comes?"

"It's fine. Like I said, they're just a mob of useless trash." Sarutobi Toru smiled faintly.

Inuzuka Hana looked at Sarutobi Toru's smile and was instantly utterly captivated. Only after a while, when she remembered Fukai being sent flying by Tsunade's punch, did she shudder and come back to her senses.

Mm, Toru is also a medical ninja. I wonder how much of Princess Tsunade's strength he has? Judging from how much the others in Root fear him, he must have at least forty or fifty percent of it!

At that moment, the puppy in Inuzuka Hana's arms suddenly began barking. It leaped from her embrace and bared its teeth in one direction.

"Have three hours passed?" Sarutobi Toru slowly rose to his feet. Might Duy, who had still been exercising, also sprang up from the ground.

Inuzuka Hana's expression turned wary. "There are nine of them in total. They're coming together!"

A team appeared in each of three places: the trees, the ground, and the riverside.

"Oh? Rock Shinobi, Cloud Shinobi, and Mist Ninja? Are you here to escort your seed teams and probe for information about me?" Sarutobi Toru said with a broad smile, completely unconcerned.

"Be careful. The opponent is a medical ninja, and Princess Tsunade's boyfriend. He's probably a user of Chakra Enhanced Strength too!"

"You want to test my strength? As you wish!"

In an instant, three splashes rang out, and the three Mist Ninja by the river turned into clear water.

"Water Clones? You're quite cautious."

Sarutobi Toru stood behind where the three Water Clones had been and shook his hand, speaking with displeasure.

"Th-This... what was that... How is that possible?"

The Cloud Shinobi leader was drenched in sweat. As Cloud Shinobi specializing in the Shinobi World's fastest physical speed techniques, he understood high-speed taijutsu better than anyone among the attackers. In his eyes, Sarutobi Toru's movement just now had not only been unbelievably fast, but also carried an eerie quality.

"No bent knees, no lowered body, no preparatory movements at all. Even his turns were right angles! Does he have no inertia?"

Anyone who ran had to bend their knees, lower their body, or shift their legs. Yet Sarutobi Toru had neither lifted his feet nor moved his legs. Without any warning, he had instantly shifted position, like a ghost, completely violating the principles of human movement. And while moving at high speed, he could turn whenever he wanted and stop whenever he wanted, as if he had no inertia at all.

That was the defining feature of Speed Chakra Mode. After all, it had been modified from the Sunflower Manual. Many of its wondrous aspects belonged uniquely to martial arts, making it far more exquisite than purely violent high-speed taijutsu.

The Cloud Shinobi leader had completely lost the will to fight. The three Rock Shinobi did not fully understand the brilliance of Sarutobi Toru's technique just now, but they could clearly see that none of them were his match.

What a joke. The three Mist Ninja had died without even having time to react. Although Water Clones only had one-tenth of the Main Body's Chakra, their reaction speed was not weakened. Even if they had been Main Bodies, they would still have been killed instantly.

"Yah!" Before any of them could move, Duy charged at the Rock Shinobi. A tall, burly Rock Shinobi immediately stepped forward to meet him, his skin darkening as he clearly activated Hardening Jutsu.

Yet after only a few exchanges of taijutsu, the Rock Shinobi took Duy's Rising Dragon Fist to the chin and instantly became airborne.

Duy then leaped into the air. With nowhere to brace himself, the Rock Shinobi became a punching bag. After a barrage of punches and kicks, he came crashing down headfirst.

"Earth Release—Swamp of the Underworld!"

Fortunately, one Rock Shinobi turned the earth into a swamp with ninjutsu at that moment, preventing the falling man from breaking his neck.

"Earth Release—Earth Dragon Bullet!" The other Rock Shinobi used an offensive ninjutsu, blasting it toward the falling Duy.

Duy kicked off the Rock Shinobi in the swamp and instantly retreated far away, causing the Earth Dragon Bullet to miss.

When a taijutsu ninja fought a ninjutsu ninja, positioning was the key. The human body had no ninjutsu defenses and simply could not withstand ninjutsu attacks, so speed became crucial.

Duy turned into a whirlwind, circling the two Rock Shinobi. The two stood back-to-back, their faces tense.

Sarutobi Toru only glanced at them before losing interest. The front-line tank had already fallen. Against these two mages, the time it took them to form hand seals was enough for Duy to beat them flying three times over.

The three Cloud Shinobi had already exchanged several rounds of hand signals behind his back. Seeing Sarutobi Toru's attention shift slightly, they immediately fled in three different directions.

"Heh, naive." Sarutobi Toru sneered, and his figure vanished.

The leading Cloud Shinobi created three Earth Clones the moment he started running, and they fled in different directions as well.

But amid a series of sharp whizzes, over a dozen flashes of silver shot from Sarutobi Toru's hand. The Earth Clones all dispersed, and despite desperately dodging, the Cloud Shinobi was still struck by two Senbon.

Running slightly slower, one Cloud Shinobi heard a faint gust pass beside him. Startled, he thrust the Kunai in his hand toward the sound, but stabbed nothing but empty air. Then his vision went black, and a searing pain erupted from his eyeballs.

He screamed, but did not stop running. After taking another two steps, he stepped into empty air and fell from the tree, leaving him dazed and battered. Yet he still forced himself up and assumed a guarded stance.

However, the attack he had expected never came. Instead, the screams of his companions faintly drifted over from afar.

The Cloud Shinobi leader lowered the Kunai in his hand and reached up to touch the blood on his face. Only when his hand reached his gouged-out eyes did it begin to tremble.

The other ninja villages currently had no Medical Ninjutsu. Once one's eyes were blind, one was useless. This Cloud Shinobi could already bid farewell to his ninja career.

"He spared me. Does he not even intend to hide his abilities? Heh... hahaha! He truly doesn't consider us worth his notice!" The Cloud Shinobi's expression seemed caught between tears and laughter. His voice was hoarse and harsh, like the cry of a night owl.