Lightning Flicker

"Retreat!"

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as Hikō sheathed his blade and slammed both palms onto the ground.

Rumble!

The earth shuddered and split open instantly, forcing Hatake Sakumo to halt his pursuit.

Hikō and Taiseki seized the opportunity to fall back and flee.

"No need to chase."

Hatake Sakumo blocked Genma.

The mission was more important than finishing off the enemy.

Genma felt a flicker of regret, but he sheathed his blade and leaped over to Yamashiro Aoba, helping him up. "Are you alright?"

Yamashiro Aoba coughed repeatedly before catching his breath. "I-I'm fine."

He had been kicked so hard earlier that he couldn't catch his breath and had nearly blacked out.

"Those three guys just now, they must have all been Jonin, right?" Yamashiro Aoba asked.

Genma steadied him. "Likely. The guy I was fighting could turn invisible and use Hardening Technique; he was very strong."

If his Shadow Clone and Yamashiro Aoba could have held on for a few more seconds, Genma could have killed Taiseki.

And if not for the Hardening Technique, that blade strike would have claimed his life.

It was precisely because he realized the Iwagakure Ninja Jonin likely mastered Hardening Technique that Genma had suddenly switched to swordsmanship and Lightning Flicker, using the nature transformation to counter Earth Release.

Otherwise, it would likely have been a case of "no smoke, no damage."

The other one must have been the Iwagakure Jonin Hikō; his swordsmanship and taijutsu were both exceptional, and he was fast.

Counting from the moment their teacher Hatake Sakumo made his move, the entire battle had lasted less than three minutes.

As expected of Jonin, they were not easy to kill!

Only someone as powerful as their teacher Hatake Sakumo could face Mahiru—who was also skilled in swordsmanship—and manage to wipe out all his clones and kill the original body in such a short time.

"Shizune, help Aoba check his injuries again."

Genma handed Yamashiro Aoba over to Shizune.

At this moment, three Anbu ninjas arrived "fashionably late."

Hatake Sakumo stepped forward to exchange a few words with them, and the three Anbu ninjas quickly departed.

"Did they go to pursue them?"

Genma withdrew his gaze from the Anbu ninjas, then felt his father staring at him and immediately turned his head.

Yu Fenglan also looked at his outstanding son, revealing a brilliant smile before giving him a silent thumbs-up of praise.

Genma smiled and returned the gesture with a thumbs-up of his own.

Yu Fenglan looked even happier.

Just then, Hatake Sakumo walked over. "Ran'ya, what is your take on this?"

Yu Fenglan put away his smile, his expression turning solemn. "Two possibilities: intelligence leaked from our village, or intelligence leaked from Kusagakure."

"However, I believe the second possibility is higher."

"Code-breaking, intelligence analysis—someone like that clearly holds many secrets; it is only natural for Iwagakure to make a move."

Hatake Sakumo nodded in agreement, then added, "Although it is unlikely that Kusagakure is involved, the potential danger remains."

"Therefore, once we arrive at Kusagakure, you must have someone protecting you at all times."

Yu Fenglan hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Sakumo, you make the arrangements!"

Leave professional matters to the professionals; he only needed to complete his mission well, and it was best not to cause trouble for his son.

On the other side, Shizune finished checking Yamashiro Aoba and confirmed he was indeed fine.

With that settled, Hatake Sakumo gave the order to move out.

However, their pace slowed significantly; even with Anbu clearing the path ahead, Hatake Sakumo remained cautious.

Genma, for his part, relaxed slightly, diverting a portion of his attention to the Setting Collection.

His teacher Hatake Sakumo had killed the Iwagakure Jonin Mahiru, and he had actually gained 1 Setting Value.

Is it because I saved my teacher, allowing him to kill Mahiru during this mission and thereby influencing the subsequent Battle of Kannabi Bridge?

Or is it simply that killing a Jonin like Mahiru is worth 1 Setting Value on its own?

Genma wasn't entirely sure, but gaining Setting Value was a good thing.

With this, he had a balance of 3.1 Setting Value.

If he had possessed Lightning Flicker during that fight earlier, Genma was confident he could have killed Taiseki, or even taken down the other Jonin, Hikō.

"As expected, it is the person who is powerful, not the ninjutsu."

Genma sighed inwardly.

If his Substitution Technique were used by his teacher Hatake Sakumo, he would likely slaughter Hikō and his men as easily as killing chickens.

Just as Namikaze Minato had effortlessly dispatched Mahiru during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge.

"Perhaps I should modify the setting for neural reaction speed first."

A thought flashed through Genma's mind.

He would deal with it once they reached Kusagakure.

Collecting his thoughts, Genma focused on the journey.

The rest of the road was devoid of any further danger, and when they were still twenty kilometers away from Kusagakure, they encountered a squad of ninjas sent by the village to meet them.

With the party expanded, their pace quickened, and they arrived at Kusagakure just in time for lunch.

After being wined and dined by their hosts, Genma and the others returned to the quarters arranged by Kusagakure to rest.

"Genma, you and Aoba will be in a group; rest first."

Upon returning to the quarters, Hatake Sakumo immediately made arrangements, deciding to take Shizune with him to follow Yu Fenglan.

Genma followed the orders and went to rest in a room with Yamashiro Aoba.

Yamashiro Aoba fell asleep soon after lying down, but Genma's attention was fixed on the Setting Collection.

Today's true life-or-death struggle had revealed more of his flaws, making change an urgent necessity.

"Increasing the neural reaction setting requires consuming 1 Setting Value, leaving 2 to modify the original settings, though the effect of 2 Setting Values is hard to predict."

The benchmark for neural reaction speed in the Ninja World was undoubtedly Namikaze Minato.

2 Setting Values were likely insufficient to reach a level comparable to Namikaze Minato.

Previously, Genma had spent a full 8 Setting Values just to obtain One-Tail level chakra.

Even the Jiraiya level required 5 Setting Values.

"Lightning Flicker can enhance both movement speed and neural reaction speed; it's killing two birds with one stone."

Genma mused.

However, he had another target for setting modification—Summoning Technique.

One was to become stronger now, while the other was to gain more Setting Values to become stronger in the future.

Genma thought for a moment and chose the present.

He was afraid of death!

Having made his decision, Genma immediately attempted to modify the settings for Lightning Flicker.

It took three full attempts before he succeeded.

Lightning Flicker 1.0: Can freely use Lightning Release chakra to activate any cell in the body, significantly increasing strength, explosive power, speed, and neural reaction speed.

Genma had wanted the Lightning Release chakra to form Lightning Armor, but that failed.

He had wanted to increase physical strength by activating cells through Lightning Release chakra, but that also failed.

3 Setting Values were clearly insufficient to achieve those two points.

"I hope the effect won't disappoint me."

Closing the Setting Collection, Genma quickly drifted into sleep.

He slept until evening.

Dinner was brought back from outside by Shizune.

After eating their fill and switching shifts, Genma and Yamashiro Aoba followed his father, Yu Fenglan, to attend a meeting organized by Kusagakure.

It was essentially to discuss the schedule and specific arrangements for the exchange meeting over the next three days.

The discussion took about an hour, after which the three of them returned the way they came.

Halfway back, on a stretch of road where no one else was around, Genma quietly created a Shadow Clone that transformed into a stray cat and vanished into the darkness.

Yu Fenglan noticed his son's small maneuver and signaled with his eyes: What's the situation?

Genma blinked: Just in case.

Yu Fenglan quietly gave him a thumbs-up.

Yamashiro Aoba, walking at the front, was completely unaware that the father and son behind him had completed a silent exchange.

As for the stray cat that had slipped away, its purpose was naturally to find Karin's mother.

Since they had arrived, regardless of whether he would actually go through with it, he had to at least ensure the intelligence gathering was done first.