Zetsu!

Then his left hand, wrapped in Cloud Qi, slammed into Uchiha Setsuna's chest!

But after taking Torifu's palm strike, Uchiha Setsuna felt no pain.

Setsuna still wanted to taunt him, but then realized he couldn't move his body. His lips felt impossibly heavy, and his hands and feet seemed to have vanished!

His eyes filled with terror. He tried to make a sound, but all that came out was a faint mumble. All he could do was stare at Torifu.

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

Kumonaka Torikaze said calmly.

At that, Setsuna stopped struggling and fell silent. All emotion disappeared from his eyes, leaving them hollow and lifeless.

The next second, Setsuna's body dispersed with a rumble, turning into wisps of white cloud that drifted toward the horizon and vanished.

Cloud Transformation was the most essential ninjutsu in Cloud Release, though it was also one of the first techniques a practitioner learned.

Once you mastered Cloud Transformation, you learned how to turn a living person into Cloud Qi. That was crucial to learning or developing even more powerful Cloud Release techniques.

"Hmm, it's different from Dust Release after all."

Torifu muttered to himself.

He'd thought the technique worked much like Dust Release, but he could only feel the difference clearly once he'd actually used it.

Dust Release broke down all the matter in an area into atoms, while Cloud Release turned its target into Cloud Qi. There was a huge difference between the two.

It might not sound as impressive as Dust Release, but Cloud Release had endless variations, while Dust Release had only one technique: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu.

Torifu glanced in the direction Hiruzen and the others had gone. He figured he could catch up; killing Uchiha Setsuna hadn't taken him very long.

"Cloud Release: Cloud Surge!"

A great mass of cloud burst from Torifu's sleeves, propelling him straight into the sky like a thruster! Then he dropped back down!

"Holy crap! That's exhilarating! I haven't quite got the hang of this yet!"

Since it was his first time using the technique, he couldn't control it very well and flew all over the place. Several times, he nearly crashed into a tree!

Torifu increased the cloud output and steadied himself in midair. After trying repeatedly for a while, he finally managed to get the hang of it.

In high spirits, he looped through the air several times. "Woohoo! Here I go!"

Then he flew toward Hiruzen and the others, leaving only a trail of Cloud Qi in the sky.

Not long after Torifu left, a black-and-white head slowly emerged from the ground in the roadside grass.

"So he's descended from that man," White Zetsu said blandly, seemingly without a trace of emotion.

Black Zetsu agreed. "Looks like it."

"We even secretly altered the scroll, but he still learned it."

Black Zetsu reached out and picked up the arm Torifu had severed. "It was only a move on the side, anyway. It doesn't matter if it fails."

White Zetsu gave a soft acknowledgment.

"Is this thing useful?"

"Who knows? It was only a move on the side, anyway."

Then he slowly sank back into the earth.

Torifu, traveling along the road, knew nothing about any of this. He was busy speeding along the wide highway.

With Cloud Surge active, Torifu moved incredibly fast. Since the technique relied only on thrust to maintain what was supposedly flight,

it didn't consume much Chakra. Most importantly, it couldn't be used in battle, so it was only good for traveling or showing off.

[ Ding—Chaos Event ended. Completion: A. Reward: 6,000 Calmness Points. ]

"Whoa!" What a haul! That one Chaos Event had given him 6,000 Calmness Points!

After waiting for a while and confirming that his Chaos Points weren't going up from ruining anyone's plans, Torifu started celebrating wildly in midair.

Everything was going well. If things kept up like this, what was there to fear from Madara Uchiha?

In high spirits, Torifu flew faster. At last, he spotted Hiruzen and the others near a fork in the road.

"Hey, everyone!" Torifu called out.

On the ground, Hiruzen's ears twitched. "I could've sworn I heard Torifu."

After hearing him, Koharu looked behind them, but couldn't see anyone. "You must've imagined it. There's nobody there!"

"No way!" Hiruzen declared. "Don't underestimate my ears, honed by years of eavesdropping at the women's baths... Ahem... No, no, I mean years of patrolling the women's baths!"

At that, Koharu immediately gave Hiruzen a thorough beating without a second thought!

"You pervert! You say 'peeping' like it's something to be proud of!"

Hiruzen rubbed his swollen cheek, looking aggrieved. "I really did hear him."

Watching Hiruzen, Danzo couldn't help shaking his head. "Then how come those ears of yours, honed by years of patrolling, didn't tell you Torifu was in the sky?"

Everyone immediately looked up and, sure enough, spotted Torifu hovering in midair, thick white clouds billowing from his sleeves.

Hiruzen turned to Koharu at once. "See? I told you I heard him!"

But all he got in response was another beating. "Is that why I'm hitting you, you pervert?!"

After Koharu had beaten him twice in a row, Hiruzen could barely get the words out. He could only feel wronged.

Why did he have to get beaten for peeking at the women's baths? Wasn't it a family tradition passed down for generations?

By then, Torifu was slowly descending, a smile still on his face.

Everyone was a little confused. What was going on? Had his stomachache been so satisfying that it put him in a good mood?

Whatever the reason, Torifu's entrance had been incredibly stylish. Was there anything cooler than making a dramatic entrance from the sky?

"Hey, everyone! I hurried as fast as I could, and I finally caught up with you."

Koharu came over and circled Torifu. "Torifu, what kind of ninjutsu is that? Can Cloud Release really let you fly?"

Torifu happily explained her question. "Sis Koharu, I'm generating thrust by continuously releasing dense white clouds. It's not real flight."

Then he explained the technique's drawbacks. Koharu understood that it was just a way to travel, but it was still quite novel. She'd never seen a technique like it before.

Hiruzen, who'd been beaten until he couldn't speak properly, squeezed forward from the back and stammered, "Since Torifu's back too, let's get moving again."

His voice sounded so strange that Torifu couldn't place it at first.

But when he looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, he was even more bewildered. "Sis Koharu, who's that pig-faced guy?"

Utatane Koharu rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Ah... haha... that's Hiruzen."

After learning who it was, Torifu said nothing. He just shot Hiruzen a look.

Hiruzen nodded back, as if to say, "Good brother. Everything's understood without a word!"

Since Hiruzen's voice made people want to laugh whenever he spoke, Danzo temporarily took over as team leader and led everyone back to the village.

With Torifu back in the group, they picked up the pace.

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