Leaf Flicker Technique

When Kawadera Uchiha named the Body Flicker Technique as the jutsu he wanted, Tobirama Senju said:

"You've become more afraid of dying after experiencing the bloodiest battlefield. Is that why you want the Body Flicker Technique?"

Kawadera Uchiha dodged two kunai flying toward him and said:

"Second, judging my values is pointless. If I get distracted and killed, you won't be able to serve your Konoha."

Tobirama Senju fell silent, then said:

"You only know the basics of Taijutsu and the Body Flicker Technique, gathering chakra in your calves and feet. The chakra helps your calves push off, allowing you to move quickly.

"I can teach you the Leaf Flicker Technique, a more advanced Body Flicker technique."

A stirring in his soul came over him, and Kawadera Uchiha gained a few more memories. It was as if he had used the Leaf Flicker Technique countless times.

The Leaf Flicker Technique was an advanced form of the Body Flicker Technique.

For the first round of training, place a leaf on your head, then channel chakra throughout your body, especially into the parts used to push off vertically, such as your neck, back, thighs, knees, and calves.

As you squat, make sure the leaf stays on your head.

The leaf should fall freely, swaying from side to side against the resistance of the wind. This was commonly known as the falling-leaf drift.

As the leaf drifted down, your body would sway from side to side along with it, while you exerted force throughout your body and controlled its strength.

After hundreds of repetitions, if you could make your squat follow the leaf's falling path exactly, you would not only train your core, but also improve your stability when moving laterally.

For the second round of training, squat and stand while keeping the leaf on your head. As you squat, follow the falling-leaf drift; as you stand, replicate the leaf's side-to-side path.

For the third round of training, place several leaves on your head and make sure they all stayed relatively still as you squatted and stood.

After mastering all three rounds, your core and legs would grow accustomed to using chakra to assist their movements. This was the advanced training method for the Leaf Flicker Technique.

Squats were excellent for building muscle. Combined with keeping a leaf on your head and tracking its unpredictable drift, this training would teach you to exert force throughout your body when using the Body Flicker, making you even faster.

According to the memories Tobirama Senju had passed on, some people also combined the Leaf Flicker Technique with the Substitution Technique to achieve an even more elusive flicker.

Kawadera Uchiha remembered that Hayama Shirakumo, a Jonin in the anime, had a stylish Leaf Flicker Technique.

Unfortunately, Tobirama Senju was doling out knowledge a little at a time. He hadn't shared the trick for combining the Body Flicker and Substitution techniques.

Kawadera Uchiha had gained not only the training method for the Leaf Flicker Technique, but also experience using it.

As he squatted, his muscles instinctively knew how to exert force and coordinate with chakra, letting him learn far faster than if he had started from scratch.

After four or five jumps, he began to get the hang of it, making his Body Flicker Technique faster.

He checked his Eight Ninja Stats panel.

After he grasped the basics of the Leaf Flicker Technique, his [Speed] rose from 5.8 to 6.1, while his [Strength] increased from 3.7 to 3.9.

The increase in [Speed] made sense. The boost to [Strength] was probably a side effect of improving the way his core muscles exerted force.

[Kawadera Uchiha's Eight Ninja Stats:

Nin-6.4, Tai-6.2, Gen-8.0, Int-6.9;

Str-3.9, Spd-6.1, Sta-6.7, Han-6.7.

Total-50.9]

No matter how strong your offense or defense was, it couldn't beat being able to run fast.

The Frame-Skipping Illusion Body Flicker combined with the Body Flicker Technique was what he should focus on improving for now.

Just as Kawadera Uchiha was considering how to further improve his Body Flicker Technique, a terrifying explosion suddenly rang out behind him!

He turned slightly and saw a blinding flash!

What was happening?

He immediately dropped into a full squat. The Leaf Flicker technique he had just learned let him drop quickly, and he threw himself into a nearby crater blasted out by an Explosive Tag.

The shock wave and heat swept toward him. Kawadera Uchiha pressed himself hard against the ground, digging his hands and feet into the soil.

The violent tremors left his head spinning.

Once the shock wave had passed, he climbed out of the crater.

A sharp whistle cut through the air, and Kawadera Uchiha instinctively dodged.

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

He turned and saw a fragment of a blue-green shoulder guard.

The Senju Clan crest was still on it!

Thinking back, wasn't that the color of Ken Senju's armor?

Ninja who had lived through the Warring States Era all liked to wear armor.

He pulled the armor fragment from the ground and looked toward the explosion.

At the center of the blast, the ground had been scorched into a blackened circle.

There was a gap on the eastern edge of the circle, where the ground was still its normal earthy color. It seemed something had blocked the shock wave there, reducing the force of the explosion.

Not far from the blast, Seiei Senju staggered to his feet, covered in blood. He searched around in a daze.

His father had stood in front of him like a wall during that terrifying explosion.

He had survived, but the blast had swallowed his father.

Where was his father? Where was he?

Kawadera Uchiha looked down at the armor fragment and wondered if Ken Senju had been blown to pieces.

A beast roared through the forest, sounding like a mix between a cat and a leopard. An unsettling chakra came from the distance.

Kawadera Uchiha finally understood what people meant by unsettling chakra. His skin grew faintly hot, but fear chilled him to the bone. That had to be the Two-Tails, right?

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

His mission was to deliver a message. He couldn't die here. The mission came first now; he couldn't let it be delayed.

Faint roars came from behind him. Seiei Senju was rallying the Konoha Ninja around him.

"Don't be afraid... They must have paid a price too... We... Keep pushing! Don't let their sacrifice... be in vain..."

Kawadera Uchiha looked back. The Konoha Ninja ahead weren't retreating. Led by Seiei Senju, they charged at the Cloud Ninja again.

He had thought himself hard-hearted, but even he couldn't help slowing down.

Seiei Senju's hair hung loose and disheveled. Blood had matted his black hair into a stiff felt. He couldn't tell whether some of the blood belonged to his father, Ken Senju.

A powerful warrior like Ken Senju had fallen, yet the remaining Konoha Ninja continued to fight under Seiei Senju's leadership, their spirits burning with a readiness to die.

The Cloud Ninja, by contrast, were steadily driven back.

The Tailed Beast Bomb's explosion had made no distinction between friend and foe, killing two of the Cloud Ninja's squads.

"Second, I was wrong." In the Sea of Consciousness, Kawadera Uchiha said:

"I bet that at least twenty of the more than forty Senju Ninja would die in battle.

"I was wrong. I underestimated it. Look, there are only three left now!"

Seiei Senju was at the front, with two Ninja behind him on either side. The Senju Clan crest was visible on their backs.

The other Ninja following them in the counterattack were more than ten meters behind.

More than ten minutes passed. Kawadera Uchiha was almost at the command tent before Tobirama Senju's voice finally sounded in the Sea of Consciousness.

"Ken was a good kid, a nephew I held in high regard..."