Imperial Shadow (Part 1)

Regarding the fact that Monzaemon might have escaped, Hanyu only felt a sense of regret, though he could not really blame anyone. It was, in truth, within the realm of reason; if the man were so easily finished off, he would have been killed long ago and would never have survived until now.

Since the opportunity had not been seized, there was nothing more to be done. Hanyu did not dwell on it, and he slept quite peacefully that night. When he woke the next day, he indeed felt much more refreshed; although there was still a slight sense of discomfort in his body, it was entirely negligible.

He rose from his sickbed and walked outside the tent. The morning air carried the chill of winter, making him shudder and sharpening his senses. Before he could even stretch his limbs, however, he turned to see Chichiwa standing guard at the entrance of the tent.

"Chichiwa?" Hanyu did not understand why she would be here at such an hour.

"The three of us agreed to take turns guarding you while you were hospitalized. My condition was the best yesterday, so I took the first shift," Chichiwa explained her presence.

"..."

It was not that Hanyu could not understand the intentions of his companions, but her actions, aside from expressing those "intentions," served no other purpose; it was entirely "formalism." One had to realize that the frontline hospital was located in the very center of the Konoha camp. Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for an enemy to infiltrate this deep. And if an enemy were to appear here, it was clear that one or two guards would be of no use—the only premise for such a situation would be the total collapse of the Konoha front line.

However, facing the kindness of his teammate, even knowing it was superfluous, Hanyu could not say much. At present, the few of them were merely in a "working relationship"—they were neither friends, nor could their relationship be called close. Thus, he could not reject this kindness, as that would be akin to slapping a helping hand... Hanyu might have had a bit of a dense, straightforward mindset, but he was certainly not lacking in emotional intelligence.

"Actually, we are the ones who should be saying thank you for yesterday. If it weren't for you, I believe we would never have escaped from Monzaemon," Chichiwa added. In truth, when they encountered Monzaemon, she had already lost all hope; she simply had not expected Hanyu to perform as he did.

Frankly, it had shocked her immensely... In this squad, only Chichiwa, who had carried out spy-elimination missions, knew that three months ago, Hanyu was still an ordinary person. Yet, who could have imagined that in such a short span of time, he would become a ninja capable of skillfully using multiple Ninjutsu?

To grow from a mere civilian into a ninja capable of holding off Monzaemon in such a short time—Hanyu's performance could even be called that of a genius.

"We are all members of the same squad. I only did what I could; it is not worth praising, let alone boasting about," Hanyu shook his head. Even if it were only for the sake of his own survival, he would have done his best in yesterday's battle. Moreover, since he had taken the initiative to assume the role of squad leader, while he gained the most basic right to speak, he also had to shoulder his own sense of responsibility.

To let his squad members go to their deaths—honestly, no matter how incompetent Hanyu might be, he could not be so detestable as to allow that.

Perhaps because of their conversation, Hatake Sakumo soon walked out of his tent as well.

"What are you talking about?"

"Reflecting on yesterday's battle... Are you alright now?" Hanyu asked Hatake. His and his squad's performance yesterday could be called acceptable, yet that could not mask the fact that their first mission had been a failure.

"Other than feeling a bit hungry, I don't have any other major problems," Hatake said.

Hanyu thought to himself that for a person to constantly feel hungry was a major problem in itself; he hoped the previous events hadn't left this guy with psychological trauma...

Right now, if one were to conduct a census across the entire Konoha front line, asking who found Military Ration Pills delicious, at least two people would nod incessantly in affirmation. Those two people were named Hanyu Yu and Hatake Sakumo.

"What is the reflection on the battle?" Hatake, of course, did not know he had found common ground with Hanyu regarding gourmet food, and he steered the topic back to the battle.

"Simply put... I need some speed."

Ultimately, what Hanyu needed was speed—the peak speed that belonged to a ninja. And he was not unaware of the method to solve his own shortcoming in speed; in fact, the method was right before his eyes—it was nothing more than Lightning Release.

After sunrise, Nara came to relieve Chichiwa, and shortly after, Koga also came to Hanyu's side to perform another detailed check of his physical condition.

"The poisoning issue has been resolved, but..."

"But?" This made Hanyu's mood tense up. Could there be other problems with his body?

"No, it's nothing." Koga, however, swallowed the words that had reached his lips.

What Hanyu did not know was that because of his intimate relationship with Sanshao, Koga understood him far better than he imagined.

It was precisely because of this understanding that Koga felt Hanyu's chakra growth rate was a bit too fast. Honestly, it was somewhat abnormal. Even with the added benefit of the Senju Secret Medicine, it was difficult for an ordinary person's chakra to grow to Hanyu's current level in just three short months.

However, this was merely Koga's own opinion; perhaps he was just being overly suspicious. After all, faster chakra growth was ultimately a good thing.

"You are still practicing Lightning Release, aren't you? Moderate stimulation is beneficial for your cellular-level metabolism, but never overdo it. A chaotic and violent power like Lightning Release always places too great a burden on the body," Koga added at the end.

According to him, the stimulation of Lightning Release seemed to help Hanyu expel the remaining toxins in his body, but it should not be excessive.

"Chaotic?"

His words left Hanyu deep in thought.

Whether it was pure chakra or elemental chakra, both were special energies stored within the body. However, Ninjutsu was different. For instance, Water Release or Earth Release had the characteristics of materialized substances, while Fire, Wind, and Lightning Release converted chakra into special, lethal energy.

There was a fundamental difference between elemental chakra and Ninjutsu.

To give the simplest example: Lightning-attribute chakra would run quietly through the meridians in the body; it was controllable and docile. But Lightning Release was completely different. Once released, it would only run rampant through the body, stimulating and damaging every cell. In a sense, it was a type of Ninjutsu that killed a thousand enemies while damaging oneself by eight hundred. Ninjas who used Lightning Release had to first endure the ravages of their own techniques, gradually increasing their resistance to Lightning Release through constant practice.

But no matter how one practiced, the side effects remained. Powerful techniques like the Chidori Current placed an extremely high burden on every cell in the body, easily causing electrolyte imbalances, leading to various complications, and resulting in physiological and psychological problems for the user—such as nervousness, bitterness, resentment, a dark outlook, extremism, or antisocial personality traits.

However, if one could solve the problem of the chaotic damage caused by Lightning Release, would everything not become different?