Shunpo (Please collect! Please recommend!)

Lush, dense trees stood closely packed within this forest, with sunlight struggling to pierce through the canopy to bring a glimmer of vitality.

At this moment, several sounds rang out in quick succession.

"Swish!" "Swish!"

Throughout the journey, Shimura Kazumi maintained a rapid pace, appearing as if she did not care at all about Sosuke following behind her.

Behind her, Sosuke wore an easygoing smile, keeping pace closely without falling behind in the slightest.

Glancing lightly at Sosuke trailing behind her and seeing his relaxed, comfortable expression, Shimura Kazumi could not help but feel surprised and annoyed.

This brat is actually keeping up with my speed!

I'll see how long you can keep this up!

Her mind was made up; she was determined to let Sosuke know exactly how formidable she was.

Neither of them spoke, and there was no communication between them.

Suddenly, Shimura Kazumi increased her speed once more. Ahead of Sosuke, her slender, graceful figure leaped rapidly through the dense forest, and in a few bounds, she seemed to vanish from sight.

Sosuke, who had been following her with a calm and easygoing demeanor, now revealed a look of slight helplessness.

This Hannya seems to have a major grievance against me! If this continues, I'll likely be left behind before we even reach the city ahead. No, this won't do; I must come up with a plan!

As Sosuke thought this, he pondered how he could catch up to the Hannya ahead.

He could barely keep up with her previous speed, but the pace she was setting now that she was serious was something he could not hope to reach.

Suddenly! A brilliant idea occurred to Sosuke.

A hint of excitement flickered deep in his eyes beneath his glasses.

Perhaps it is time to try that footwork again. If I can master it and adapt to it during this mission, it would be the best thing for improving my strength.

With that, Sosuke stopped in his tracks and stared intently in the direction where Hannya had disappeared.

His gaze was calm and composed.

Slowly, a thin layer of chakra emerged on his skin, clinging to his body like the wings of a cicada.

There was no other way; Flash Step was an advanced technique that utilized ultra-high-frequency footwork and instantaneous air-stepping to achieve supersonic movement through space!

The requirements for Flash Step were naturally extremely harsh: first, a robust physical constitution, and second, ultra-high-frequency instantaneous air-stepping!

Sosuke's underage body naturally could not handle such intensity, so he used chakra to coat his skin, maintaining a thin protective film!

Of course, such skillful and precise chakra control was enough to make others stop in their tracks!

Sosuke stood on a tree branch, his body sinking slightly as his legs began to shimmer with chakra.

Flash Step!!

"Snap!"

A violent sound erupted from the tree trunk.

Suddenly, his figure vanished from the air!

Where he had been standing, a residual afterimage of his body remained!

It was not until his form had completely vanished that the wind generated by his high-speed movement suddenly whipped up, causing the leaves on the trees to shake incessantly!

"Rustle!" "Rustle!"

In this state of Flash Step, Sosuke was like a teleporting blur!

He moved forward incessantly!

His figure suddenly appeared on a branch, but before his form could fully solidify, he appeared on another, with afterimages constantly appearing! Vanishing! Appearing!

Vanishing once more!

However, Sosuke was under immense pressure!

He was exerting all his effort to maintain this thin layer of chakra on his skin!

Although Sosuke could achieve ultra-high-speed movement using Flash Step, such speed placed a massive burden on his internal organs. Furthermore, during this high-speed movement, he could only react flexibly by relying on the Slash Path he had realized; his eyes' dynamic vision could not track the scenery before him at all!

Just like that, as he continued to push forward!

Sosuke gradually caught up to Hannya's figure.

Shimura Kazumi had already slowed her pace, moving forward leisurely with an easy, comfortable air.

She only wanted to teach Sosuke a lesson, so after shaking him off, she had slowed down, waiting for him at a steady, unhurried pace.

In her mind, Sosuke would need at least another half-hour of desperate chasing to catch up to this point.

Thinking of that face that always wore a smile, she couldn't help but hook her lips into a smirk beneath her mask.

Stinky brat, always wearing that smile as if nothing bothers you. Let's see if you can still smile after this!

However, the voice that suddenly rang out from behind her left her utterly shocked!!

"Well, I've finally caught up to you, Hannya."

The sudden voice gave Shimura Kazumi a massive shock! Along with the sound, a gust of wind suddenly blew violently!

Shimura Kazumi turned her head to look back in utter astonishment!!

Seeing that figure in the white haori billowing in the wind, Shimura Kazumi felt truly incomparable shock in her heart!

He actually caught up!! And he was only a nine-year-old child! How could he possibly have caught up!!! Could it be! Was he really a super genius!!

"You... you actually caught up... how is that possible?" Shimura Kazumi questioned, stuttering with a look of disbelief.

Hearing her words, the Sosuke before her gently wiped the sweat from his forehead and offered a faint smile once again.

"In order to catch up to you as quickly as possible, I consumed a large amount of chakra, but I finally verified one thing: this high-frequency footwork seems to be comparable to the Body Flicker Technique."

Hearing his words, Shimura Kazumi was also very puzzled as to what this footwork he spoke of was!

"You mean this!!? Could it be!! You used some kind of footwork to catch up to me! How could such footwork exist!"

Sosuke chuckled again in response, though a trace of an imperceptible, strange light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

"That's right, a type of footwork I came up with. I call it Flash Step. I tested it out today, and the speed it can reach is indeed quite good."

Hearing Sosuke's words, Shimura Kazumi's first thought was disbelief, but the facts seemed to be laid out right before her, leaving her no choice but to believe.

"Flash... Flash Step!? Did you create this yourself!!"

She asked slowly, hesitating in response to Sosuke's words!

Upon receiving Sosuke's definitive answer!

This claim left her almost dumbfounded!

A nine-year-old boy!

Could actually create a taijutsu footwork comparable to the high-level ninjutsu Body Flicker Technique!

No one would believe this if it happened to anyone else!!

This guy! No wonder Uncle took a liking to him and took him as a disciple! Could this guy really be an out-and-out genius!!

At this moment, Shimura Kazumi was at a loss because of Sosuke's claims. She thought to herself that once she returned to the village, she must tell her uncle about this and let him deal with it.

Thinking back to how she had actually wanted to see this guy make a fool of himself earlier, the way Shimura Kazumi looked at Sosuke inevitably became extremely complicated!

Along the way, the two of them were lost in their own thoughts and did not continue to communicate.

Sosuke maintained his smile, though no one knew what he was thinking behind his glasses.

Just like that, they arrived at Qiuyuan Town.

The town closest to the bandits' location.