Leaf Flicker Technique

Upon hearing Kawadera Uchiha name the Body Flicker Technique as his request, Tobirama Senju said:

"Having experienced the most brutal battlefields, you have become more afraid of death, so you want the Body Flicker Technique?"

Kawadera Uchiha sidestepped two incoming kunai and said:

"Lord Second, evaluating my values is a meaningless act. If I were to be killed because of a distraction, you would no longer be able to contribute to your Konoha."

Tobirama Senju fell silent, then said:

"You currently only know the basic taijutsu Body Flicker, which involves gathering chakra into your calves and feet to assist in pushing off, thereby achieving rapid movement.

I can grant you the Leaf Flicker Technique; it is a more advanced Body Flicker skill."

A tremor of the soul occurred, and Kawadera Uchiha gained a surge of memories, as if he had used the Leaf Flicker Technique countless times before.

The Leaf Flicker is a high-level version of the taijutsu Body Flicker.

For the first round of training, place a leaf on your head, then infuse chakra throughout your body, especially into the parts that exert vertical force: the neck, back, thighs, knees, and calves.

While squatting, ensure the leaf on your head does not fall off.

The leaf will fall freely, swaying left and right due to wind resistance, commonly known as "falling leaf drift."

As the leaf drifts, the body must sway accordingly, exerting force throughout the entire frame to control the intensity.

After hundreds of repetitions, if you can make your squat perfectly match the trajectory of the falling leaf, you will not only train your core strength but also the stability of your lateral movements.

In the second round of training, squat and stand while balancing the leaf, performing the falling leaf drift during the squat and replicating the lateral trajectory while standing.

In the third round, balance multiple leaves on your head, keeping them relatively still relative to one another while squatting and rising.

After completing these three rounds until proficient, your core and legs will become accustomed to the auxiliary force of chakra; this is the advanced training method for the Leaf Flicker Technique.

Deep squats are excellent for muscle development, and when combined with the unpredictable drifting of the leaf on your head, this regimen ensures that when you use the Body Flicker, your entire body exerts force for maximum speed.

According to the memories passed down by Tobirama Senju, some people combine the Leaf Flicker with the Substitution Technique to achieve an even more ghostly effect.

Kawadera Uchiha remembered that in the anime, the jonin Hayama Shirakumo possessed a stylish Leaf Flicker.

It was a pity, however, that Tobirama Senju was like a squeezed tube of toothpaste, withholding the secret to combining the Body Flicker and Substitution techniques.

Kawadera Uchiha had not only obtained the training method for the Leaf Flicker but also the insights behind it.

When he squatted, his muscles instinctively knew how to exert force and coordinate with his chakra, which made his progress much faster than starting from scratch.

After four or five jumps, he began to get a feel for it, making his Body Flicker Technique faster.

He checked his Eight Ninja Stats panel.

With the preliminary mastery of the Leaf Flicker, [Speed] rose from 5.8 to 6.1, and [Power] changed from 3.7 to 3.9.

The increase in [Speed] was expected, while the increase in [Power] was likely a byproduct of better core engagement.

Kawadera Uchiha Eight Ninja Stats:
Ninjutsu-6.4, Taijutsu-6.2, Genjutsu-8.0, Intelligence-6.9;
Power-3.9, Speed-6.1, Stamina-6.7, Seals-6.7.
Total-50.9

No matter how strong your offense and defense are, they are useless if you cannot run fast enough.

The Frame-Skipping Illusion Body Flicker combined with the standard Body Flicker would be his primary focus for the near future.

Just as Kawadera Uchiha was contemplating how to further improve his Body Flicker, a terrifying explosion erupted behind him!

Turning his head slightly, he saw a blinding, horrific light!

What was happening?

He immediately crouched with all his might, the Leaf Flicker technique he had just learned allowing him to drop rapidly, taking advantage of the momentum to dive into a crater created by an explosive tag nearby.

As the shockwave and heatwave rolled over him, Kawadera Uchiha pressed himself flat against the ground, digging his hands and feet into the soil.

The intense vibration left him dizzy and disoriented.

Once the shockwave passed, he crawled out of the crater.

A whistling sound cut through the air, and Kawadera Uchiha instinctively dodged.

A blue object grazed his shoulder and embedded itself into the ground behind him.

He turned to look and saw it was a fragment of a blue shoulder guard.

The shoulder guard still bore the crest of the Senju clan!

After a brief moment of recollection, wasn't this the color of Ken Senju's armor?

Ninjas who had lived through the Warring States period were fond of wearing armor.

Pulling the armor fragment from the ground, he looked toward the direction of the explosion.

At the center of the blast, the ground had been scorched into a charred, circular area.

On the eastern outer edge of the circle, there was a gap where the ground remained the color of soil, as if something had been blocking the path, obstructing the shockwave and reducing the power of the explosion.

Not far from the explosion, Seiei Senju stumbled to his feet, covered in blood, looking around in a daze for something.

Just moments ago, his father had stood before him like a wall against the terrifying blast.

He had survived, but his father had been swallowed by the explosion.

Where was his father? Where was he?

Kawadera Uchiha looked down at the fragments of armor, thinking to himself, Surely Ken Senju wasn't blasted into nothing but dust, was he?

A beastly roar echoed through the forest, sounding like a cat and a leopard all at once, and an unsettling chakra emanated from the distance.

Kawadera Uchiha finally understood what was meant by ominous chakra; his skin felt slightly feverish, yet his heart turned cold with fear. That must be the Two-Tails, right?

Kawadera Uchiha took off running, continuing toward the direction of the command post.

His mission was to act as a messenger ninja; he absolutely could not die here. At a time like this, the mission came first—he could not afford any delays.

Faint roars drifted from behind him as Seiei Senju rallied the surrounding Konoha ninja.

"Do not be afraid... they must have paid a price as well... we... keep charging! Do not let the sacrifice of... go to waste!"

Kawadera Uchiha looked back to see the Konoha ninja ahead advancing instead of retreating, continuing their charge toward the Cloud Ninja under the leadership of Seiei Senju.

He considered himself hard-hearted, yet he could not help but slow his pace at this moment.

Seiei Senju's hair was disheveled, matted into stiff felt by blood; he did not know if that blood contained any of his father Ken Senju's.

With a powerhouse like Ken Senju dead, the remaining Konoha ninja, organized by Seiei Senju, continued to erupt with combat power, exuding an aura of those seeking life through death.

In contrast, the Cloud Ninja were retreating step by step.

The explosion of that Tailed Beast Bomb had made no distinction between friend or foe, killing two battalions of Cloud Ninja.

"Lord Second, I was wrong," Kawadera Uchiha said within his sea of consciousness.

"I bet you that out of those forty-some Senju ninja, at least twenty would die in battle.

I was wrong; I was too conservative. Look, there are only three of them left now!"

Seiei Senju charged at the very front, with two ninja bearing the Senju clan crest on their backs to his left and right.

It was only a dozen meters behind the three of them that the other ninja following their counterattack were positioned.

Ten minutes passed, and Kawadera Uchiha was nearly at the command tent before the voice of Tobirama Senju finally echoed in his sea of consciousness.

"Ken was a good child; he was a nephew I acknowledged..."