Flash Step

Lush trees stood thickly throughout the forest, and sunlight struggled to pierce through the canopy, bringing a ray of life.

Just then, several sounds rang out in quick succession.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

The entire way, Shimura Kazumi kept moving at a rapid pace, seemingly without the slightest regard for Sosuke following behind her.

Behind her, Sosuke followed close at her heels with an easy smile, never falling behind.

Glancing back at Sosuke, she saw how relaxed he looked. The sight left Kazumi, who was leading the way, both surprised and annoyed.

This brat can actually keep up with me!

Let's see how long you can keep it up!

She had already decided that she would make sure Sosuke learned just how formidable she was.

Neither of them spoke or made a sound.

Suddenly, Kazumi sped up again. Ahead of Sosuke, her slender figure leaped through the dense forest several times, then seemed to vanish.

Following behind her with his usual calm, easygoing expression, Sosuke now looked faintly helpless.

This Hannya seems to have a real problem with me! At this rate, she'll shake me off before we even reach the town up ahead. This won't do. I have to think of something!

As Sosuke thought it over, he searched for a way to catch up with Hannya.

At the speed they had been going earlier, he could just barely keep up. But now that Hannya had gotten serious, her pace was beyond his reach.

Suddenly, a good idea came to Sosuke.

A trace of excitement hid in his eyes behind his glasses.

Perhaps it was time to try that footwork again. If I can master it and get used to it during this mission, it'll be an excellent way to improve my strength.

With that, Sosuke stopped and carefully watched the direction in which Hannya had disappeared.

His gaze grew calm and focused.

Slowly, a thin layer of chakra appeared over his body, clinging to him like a cicada's shell.

There was no other way. Flash Step was an advanced movement technique that used extremely high-frequency steps to push off the air in an instant, allowing the user to move through space at incredible speed!

Naturally, Flash Step had very demanding requirements: first, a powerful physique; second, the ability to push off the air at an extremely high frequency!

Sosuke's body was still too young to withstand that kind of strain, so he used chakra to form a thin protective membrane over his skin.

Of course, the fine, precise chakra control this required was enough to make most people give up before they even tried!

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

Flash Step!!

"Crack!"

The tree trunk rang out with a loud impact.

In an instant, his figure vanished from the air!

A lingering afterimage remained where he had been standing!

Only after his figure had completely disappeared did the gale created by his high-speed movement suddenly sweep through, making the leaves in the tree sway wildly!

"Rustle!" "Rustle!"

With Flash Step, Sosuke moved as if teleporting!

He kept racing forward!

His figure appeared on a branch, but before it had fully taken shape, he was already on another branch. Afterimages appeared and disappeared without pause! Appeared! Disappeared!

Then vanished again!

But Sosuke was under tremendous strain!

He had to maintain the thin chakra covering his body with all his strength!

Although Flash Step let Sosuke reach incredible speeds,

that speed placed a tremendous burden on his internal organs. And while moving at such a pace, he could only react nimbly thanks to the Slash Path he had grasped; his eyes' dynamic vision simply couldn't keep up with the scene before him!

And so, as he continued racing forward,

Sosuke gradually caught up with Hannya.

Shimura Kazumi had already slowed down and was strolling along, looking completely relaxed.

She had only wanted to teach Sosuke a lesson, so after leaving him behind, she had slowed her pace and waited for him without hurrying.

In her mind, Sosuke would have to keep chasing desperately for at least half an hour before he reached her.

Thinking of that ever-smiling face, she couldn't help smiling beneath her mask.

"Brat, you're always wearing that smile, like nothing ever matters to you. Let's see if you can still smile this time!"

But the voice that suddenly sounded behind her left her utterly stunned!!

"Well, I finally caught up with you, Hannya."

The sudden voice shocked Shimura Kazumi! As it rang out, a gust of wind swept fiercely past!

Kazumi turned around in utter astonishment!!

When she saw the figure in the white Shinigami Robe billowing in the wind, she was truly shaken to the core!

He actually caught up!! But he's only a nine-year-old child! How could he have made it here!!! Could he really be a super genius?!

"Y-you actually caught up... How is that possible?" Shimura Kazumi stammered in disbelief.

At her words, Sosuke gently wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled faintly once more.

"To catch up with you as quickly as possible, I used up a lot of chakra. But I did manage to confirm something: this high-frequency footwork seems comparable to the Body Flicker Technique."

Hearing him, Shimura Kazumi was baffled by the footwork he was talking about!

"You mean this!? Could it be!! You used some kind of footwork to catch up with me? How can a footwork like that even exist!"

Sosuke chuckled again as he replied, an odd glint flashing unnoticed in his eyes.

"That's right. It's a footwork technique I came up with myself. I call it Flash Step. I tried it out today, and it really does reach a pretty good speed."

Kazumi's first thought was to disbelieve him, but the facts seemed to be right before her eyes, leaving her no choice but to believe it.

"F-Flash Step!? You created it yourself!!"

She asked hesitantly, speaking slowly.

After Sosuke confirmed that it was true,

his explanation left her practically dumbfounded!

A nine-year-old boy!

Had actually created a Taijutsu footwork technique comparable to the advanced ninjutsu Body Flicker Technique!

Who would believe that?!

No wonder Uncle had taken this guy as his disciple! Could he really be an out-and-out genius?!

Sosuke's explanation had left Shimura Kazumi at a loss. She thought to herself that when they returned to the village, she had to tell her uncle about this and let him deal with it.

Thinking back to how she had wanted to make a fool of him earlier, Kazumi found her feelings toward Sosuke growing incredibly complicated!

The two continued on their way, each lost in their own thoughts, without speaking again.

Sosuke still wore a smile, but no one could tell what was going through his mind behind his glasses.

And so, they arrived at Qiuyuan Town.

It was the town closest to the bandits' hideout.