Desperate!

With that, he wrapped his left hand in clouds and slammed a heavy palm strike into the chest of Setsuna Uchiha!

Yet, after receiving this blow from Torikaze, Setsuna felt no pain at all.

Setsuna wanted to mock him, but he found that he could no longer exert any strength in his body; his lips became incredibly heavy, and his limbs felt as if they had simply vanished!

Terror filled his eyes, and though he tried to grunt, he could not make a sound, forced to stare fixedly at Torikaze.

"Do you know why this technique is called Cloud Transformation?"

Torikaze said calmly.

Hearing this, Setsuna stopped struggling and ceased making any sound, his eyes devoid of all emotion, hollow and dead.

In the next second, Setsuna's body dissipated with a boom, turning into wisps of white clouds that drifted toward the horizon and vanished.

This Cloud Transformation technique was the core ninjutsu of Cloud Release, though it was considered a beginner-level move.

Once one mastered Cloud Transformation, they learned how to turn a living person into cloud vapor, which was crucial for learning or developing more powerful Cloud Release ninjutsu.

"Hmm, it's still different from Dust Release."

Torikaze muttered to himself.

He had previously thought the effect was similar to Dust Release, but only after using it could he clearly feel the difference.

Dust Release pulverized all matter within a region into an atomic state, whereas Cloud Release turned the target into cloud vapor; the two were quite distinct.

While it might sound inferior to Dust Release, Cloud Release ninjutsu was ever-changing, whereas Dust Release only had the Atomic Dismantling Jutsu.

Torikaze looked in the direction where Hiruzen and the others were heading; he estimated he could catch up, as killing Setsuna Uchiha hadn't actually taken much time.

"Cloud Release: Cloud Surge!"

A massive amount of cloud vapor erupted from Torikaze's sleeves, pushing him directly into the high sky like a thruster! A moment later, he dropped back down!

"Holy! That's intense! I'm not very good at this yet!"

Because it was his first time using this ninjutsu, he couldn't control it well, causing him to fly erratically and nearly crash into trees several times!

Torikaze increased the output of the cloud vapor, stabilized his flight in mid-air, and after repeatedly trying for a while, he finally managed to master it.

His mood improved instantly, and he circled in the air several times: "Woo-hoo! Here I go!"

He then flew toward Hiruzen and the others, leaving only a trail of cloud vapor in the sky.

Not long after Torikaze left the area, a head that was half-black and half-white slowly emerged from the soil in the bushes by the roadside.

"So that is the descendant of that person," White Zetsu said faintly, seemingly devoid of any emotion.

Black Zetsu chimed in: "It certainly seems so."

"Even though the scroll was secretly modified, I didn't expect him to still learn it."

Black Zetsu reached out and picked up the arm that Torikaze had severed: "It was just a casual move anyway; it doesn't matter if it didn't succeed."

White Zetsu gave a soft response.

"Is this thing of any use?"

"Who knows? It was just a casual move, after all."

They then slowly sank back into the ground.

Torikaze, on the road, naturally knew nothing of this; he was currently 'speeding' along the wide path.

In the state of Cloud Surge, Torikaze's speed was incredibly fast, and since this technique merely utilized propulsion to maintain what was essentially flight, it did not consume much chakra. Most importantly, it could not be used in combat, making it merely a technique for traveling or showing off.

[Ding—Chaos Event has ended. Completion: A. Reward: 6000 Calmness Points.]

"Whoa!" Good heavens, this one Chaos Event gave him 6000 Calmness Points directly!

After waiting for a long time to confirm that his Chaos Points hadn't increased because he had ruined someone's plan, Torikaze began to celebrate wildly in mid-air.

Everything was moving in a good direction; if things kept going like this, what was there to fear from Madara Uchiha?

In high spirits, Torikaze accelerated his flight and finally spotted Hiruzen and the others before a fork in the road.

"Hey, everyone!" Torikaze called out loudly.

On the ground, Hiruzen's ears twitched: "Why does it sound like I heard Torikaze's voice?"

Koharu looked toward the rear upon hearing this, but she didn't see a soul: "You must have misheard? There's nothing there!"

"Impossible!" Hiruzen said righteously: "Don't underestimate my ears, which have spent years peeking at the women's bath... ahem... no, no, I mean years patrolling the women's bath!"

Upon hearing this, Koharu immediately beat Hiruzen to a pulp without a second thought!

"You pervert! You can even say something like peeping so righteously!"

Hiruzen rubbed his swollen cheeks, looking aggrieved: "I really did hear it."

Danzo, standing to the side, looked at Hiruzen and couldn't help but shake his head: "Then why didn't your ears, which have been patrolling for years, tell you that Torikaze is in the sky?"

Everyone immediately looked up at the sky and indeed saw Torikaze hovering in mid-air, with rolling white clouds erupting from his sleeves.

Hiruzen Sarutobi saw this and immediately said to Utatane Koharu: "See! I told you I heard it!"

But the result he got was another sound beating: "Do you think I'm hitting you because of that! You pervert!"

Having been beaten twice in a row by Utatane Koharu, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't even speak clearly, feeling nothing but grievance.

Why should he be beaten for peeking into the women's bathhouse? This was a family tradition, after all!

At this moment, Torifu also slowly descended, a smile still on his face.

Everyone else was a bit confused; what, did having diarrhea make you feel that good?

But regardless, Torifu's entrance could be considered full of style; what could be cooler than descending from the sky?

"Hello everyone, I rushed and rushed, but I finally caught up with you."

Utatane Koharu walked up and circled around Torifu: "Torifu, what kind of ninjutsu is this? Can Cloud Release fly?"

Facing Utatane Koharu's question, Torifu answered readily: "Sister Koharu, this relies on the propulsion generated by constantly releasing thick white clouds; it's not true flight."

He then explained the drawbacks, and Utatane Koharu understood that this was just a travel ninjutsu, though it was still very novel; it was the first time she had ever seen such a technique.

At this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been beaten into speechlessness, squeezed out from behind and stammered: "Since Torifu is back, let's continue on our way."

The voice sounded very strange, and for a moment, Torifu couldn't even recognize who it belonged to.

And when he looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, he was even more bewildered: "Sister Koharu, who is this pig-headed guy?"

Utatane Koharu rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment: "Ah... haha... this is Hiruzen."

Upon learning this, Torifu didn't say anything, but simply cast a look at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi received it and nodded, as if to say: "Good brother, everything is understood without words!"

Because Hiruzen Sarutobi made everyone want to laugh whenever he opened his mouth, Danzo temporarily took over as captain, leading everyone back to the village.

Since Torifu had returned to the team, everyone's speed increased a little.

About two hours later, the group could already clearly see the gates of Konoha.