When Sosuke returned to the village, an Anbu Ninja soon came looking for him.
"Captain Sosuke, please report to the Hokage Building as soon as possible. There's a new appointment for you."
The Anbu Ninja looked at Sosuke respectfully, his voice tinged with excitement as he spoke in a low tone.
Sosuke nodded lightly at his words and smiled. "Sorry for the trouble. I understand."
Seeing the smile on Sosuke's face, the Anbu Ninja was clearly excited. A moment later, he vanished from the spot with a "whoosh."
After he disappeared, a hint of amusement showed in Sosuke's eyes beneath his glasses. He murmured, "An appointment? I wonder what it could be..."
As his words faded, his figure vanished without a sound.
The next moment, the space near the Hokage Building warped slightly, and Sosuke suddenly appeared there.
He frowned as he looked around, then glanced at the tear along the edge of his haori and the barely visible streak of blood on his fair palm. He murmured to himself, "I ended up so far off course. And these injuries... were they caused by that spatial barrier earlier?"
"Just as I thought. Without an external object to pinpoint the spatial coordinates, navigating through space is far too dangerous... One slight misstep, and I could be swallowed up completely..."
His eyes glimmered as he spoke in a low voice. "Flying Thunder God... What a brilliant idea. Using Kunai to mark coordinates avoids the risk of plunging headfirst into a spatial barrier..."
"Too bad... in the end, it's just a tool for the weak to depend on..."
With that, he straightened his clothes and slowly walked toward the Hokage Building nearby.
With a wave of his hand, the small streak of blood on his palm healed completely, leaving no trace.
Inside the