Kill Dan Katō! Return to the Village

After killing that Elite Jonin, Shin used Yomotsu Hirasaka once more, passing through a spatial gate to return to Mikoto's side.

Seeing Shin and Kushina return, Mikoto finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Kushina, what's wrong?"

Noticing Kushina's pale complexion, Mikoto asked with concern; could it be that Kushina was injured?

Kushina shot Shin a glare, then shook her head at Mikoto.

"I'm fine, I just saw some rather bloody scenes earlier and felt a bit sick."

"Shin, that Dan Katō got away," Mikoto said to Shin.

Shin glanced in the direction Dan Katō had fled. Even though he was injured, the speed of an Elite Jonin was still nothing to scoff at; in the blink of an eye, he had vanished from sight.

"Let him run. Some people just end up running right back to where they started," Shin said with a meaningful tone.

Shin then turned his gaze toward the Elite Jonin fighting Tsunade.

Tsunade had already gained the upper hand, but that Elite Jonin was still holding his own against her by relying on his combat experience.

"You're too slow, Tsunade. Let me give you a hand."

"Flash Shadow Slash!"

Without using Yomotsu Hirasaka, he relied on his own speed, moving like a bolt of lightning to appear instantly beside the Elite Jonin, his Kusanagi Sword slashing out at a speed even Tsunade couldn't track.

By the time Shin sheathed his blade, Tsunade had only just snapped back to reality, only to see the Elite Jonin collapse with eight fatal sword wounds on his body.

Tsunade took a deep breath. That was less than a second, right? In that brief moment, Shin had actually unleashed eight strikes.

"When you take action, you have to be clean and efficient. If I did it like you, I'd have finished my meal before you were even done fighting."

Shin turned his head, speaking to Tsunade in a tone that was half-instruction and half-showing off.

Tsunade was speechless. She suspected something was wrong with her eyes; was that really an Elite Jonin who had just been cut down?

What was an Elite Jonin? They were the top-tier combatants of the major ninja villages, individuals who had survived countless brushes with death. Killing one was never an easy task.

Yet, in just a second, Shin had slaughtered him.

And with the speed Shin had displayed, even she wouldn't have been able to dodge it.

"Shin, are you a monster? How are you this strong?" Tsunade couldn't help but ask.

"A monster? What kind of talk is that? I'm a genius, and a hardworking one at that," Shin said, looking dissatisfied.

"My talent is high, I work ten times harder than anyone else, and I'm 'cheating'—why shouldn't I be this strong?"

Tsunade looked at Shin, signaling that while his logic seemed sound and she had no rebuttal, she had no idea what "cheating" meant.

"What about Dan Katō and that other Elite Jonin?"

Tsunade decided she didn't want to know about cheating for now and asked about the other two.

"The other Elite Jonin is already dead, and Dan Katō is still running."

"Dan Katō got away?" Tsunade's brow furrowed.

"I said he's still running, not that he escaped. Some people just run right into my hands."

As he spoke, Shin used Yomotsu Hirasaka to open a pitch-black spatial gate in front of them, and Dan Katō ran straight out of it.

Looking at Shin and Tsunade before him, Dan Katō, his face scorched by burns, was completely bewildered.

When Dan Katō was fleeing, a dark spatial gate had suddenly appeared in his path. Because the distance was so close, he couldn't stop in time and ran straight into it, only to find himself face-to-face with Shin and Tsunade.

"You're pretty good at running, aren't you? Keep going. If you manage to get away, I'll admit defeat."

Shin looked at Dan Katō with a playful smirk. With Mind's Eye of the Kagura to lock onto his target and the ultimate spatial ninjutsu Yomotsu Hirasaka at his disposal, was Shin worried about Dan Katō running?

Dan Katō was in a desperate spot; he couldn't even use his ultimate technique, the Spirit Transformation Technique, here.

He figured that the moment he tried to use it, he'd be killed—it would be a pure suicide mission, as that technique was meant for hiding and launching sneak attacks.

"Forget it, I'm done playing with you." Shin unleashed a Rasengan, punching a hole through Dan Katō's body before he could even react.

Through this, Shin realized that his strength was enough to face Kage-level experts without pressure, and he could kill Elite Jonin at will.

Even Kage-level experts couldn't kill Elite Jonin so casually, but Shin could, simply because he was too fast.

Speed is the only way to break through everything; it is invincible. Even against a Kage-level powerhouse, if they dared to be careless, Shin might just find the opening to kill them in an instant.

"Shin, why did you kill Dan Katō?"

Tsunade looked at Dan Katō, who had a hole punched through his body by Shin's Rasengan and was already lifeless, and couldn't help but ask.

"Killing him is the only logical choice. Do you really expect to use him to testify against Danzo, Tsunade? Save your breath; it's completely useless."

"Why?"

Tsunade had indeed been thinking along those lines, hoping to use this evidence to make Danzo pay the price.

Shin didn't know how to answer. Why? Because even if there were actual evidence, Sarutobi Hiruzen would never take action against Danzo.

Besides, as Danzo's subordinate, Danzo's sinister nature ensured that he would have placed some kind of failsafe on the man; in the end, he would absolutely be unable to say anything.

"Do you really think you can topple the Assistant to the Hokage with a mere Dan Katō? Furthermore, could Dan Katō even reveal anything? Even if everything went in our favor, would the Third Hokage really punish Danzo?"

Shin's barrage of questions left Tsunade completely speechless. Even if there were evidence, based on her understanding of her teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen, he wouldn't do anything to Danzo.

"For now, we'll just destroy all the bodies and act like we know nothing," Shin said to Tsunade.

"The Third Hokage approved them to follow us. Won't the Third Hokage ask about it?" Mikoto asked.

"Mikoto, do you really believe Dan Katō's words? I guarantee you, the Third never sent Dan Katō to assist us," Shin said with a smile.

For a C-rank mission, it was impossible for the Third Hokage to send someone to assist them, so Dan Katō was lying from the start.

"Tsunade, you should have seen through this too, right?" Shin asked, looking at Tsunade.

"Ahem, I saw through it."

Tsunade coughed lightly, her face flushing slightly. As for whether she had actually realized Dan Katō was deceiving them, only she knew for sure.

Afterward, Shin used the Great Fireball Technique to incinerate all the corpses. Once the evidence was destroyed, he took Tsunade and the others back toward Konoha.

Using Yomotsu Hirasaka to open a space-time portal, Shin and the others appeared directly not far from Konoha.

"This space-time ninjutsu can actually cover such a long distance; it's truly convenient," Tsunade couldn't help but remark.

"By the way, where did you get this space-time ninjutsu?" Tsunade asked Shin.

"It's a dōjutsu of my Mangekyou Sharingan," Shin said, pointing to his eyes.

Tsunade opened her mouth, wanting to ask about Shin's Sharingan, but she didn't know if she should.

The matter of the Sharingan likely concerned Shin's secrets.

Shin also noticed Tsunade's hesitation.

"You want to know about my Sharingan, right?"

"Yes, but if you don't want to talk about it, I won't press you," Tsunade nodded. She did want to know, but she didn't want to put Shin in a difficult position.

"I'll tell you both about it slowly once we get back."

Shin didn't intend to hide it; if he had wanted to keep it a secret, he never would have revealed his Mangekyou Sharingan in the first place.