They Are Real

On the outskirts of the Uchiha clan's territory, Anko looked left and right, her eyes filled with envy.

"Coming to your place always makes me furious. You're so close to several dango shops; it's a waste for such a prime location to be given to a guy like you who only knows how to slack off."

"Is that so? Then do you want to come live here with me?"

Unable to keep her expression in check any longer, Anko couldn't help but snap.

"You jerk, Hanazuki! You've been like this since way back, always spouting such nonsense. Now that I think about it, our first meeting was exactly the same!"

"You kept going on about some 'Imperial Release: Nine-Clan Detachment Technique,' but you were really just treating everyone like idiots. I get so mad just thinking about it!"

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he recalled what he had said when they first met at the Ninja Academy.

"You ask me what the most terrifying ninjutsu is?"

"Naturally, it's a Causal Law ninjutsu. Among the ones I know, that forbidden technique is the most dangerous."

"As long as you mention certain words that are taboo to it, not only will you lose your life, but your relatives and friends—and even their relatives and friends—will be erased by an ancient and mysterious power."

"The name of the technique? Hmm... Imperial Release: Nine-Clan Detachment Technique!"

Young Anko had been completely taken in, and they had only grown close afterward. Thinking of this, Hanazuki turned around and said with a straight face.

"The Imperial Release: Nine-Clan Detachment Technique is real. It's just like the great treasure of Laugh Tale, the Grim Reaper who maintains the balance of the three realms, or the Millennium Items sleeping in the desert lands—it's just that they all exist in a distant, unreachable world!"

"Ah! Here we go again. When will you ever... forget it, let's just leave it at that. This lady is tired. The Tale of the Gallant Anko, officially concludes."

Lying on the sofa like a salted fish, Anko had completely lost her fighting spirit. No matter how many hints she dropped, the guy in front of her remained as oblivious as a block of wood.

"We can't end it just like that. Didn't you say you wanted to test a ninjutsu?"

"Let's just leave it. Any ninjutsu that can be tested indoors probably isn't anything powerful anyway. Do whatever you want; I've given up resisting."

Before Anko could react, a cold substance was injected into her neck, flowing along with her blood into her heart.

"What is this?"

"A special secret technique that acts on chakra and spiritual energy. It was developed to address the lack of innate defensive capabilities in ninjas. The specific result is like this."

Ding!

A pitch-black, custom-made kunai pressed against her exposed elbow. Following the rhythm of her instinctive breathing and heartbeat, pale blue ripples and lines flickered into view, as if connecting the surface of her body into a single whole.

At that moment, Anko was stunned. She hadn't condensed any chakra using hand seals, so how could it have gathered automatically to deflect Hanazuki's custom kunai?

"No hand seals required. Compared to the chakra needed for other ninjutsu, the consumption is practically negligible. This is the defensive secret technique: Blut Vene."

"The current Blut Vene isn't finished yet. It's just a few fragmented inspirations combined with the research findings of Orochimaru-sensei. It's enough to block ordinary kunai and explosive tags."

"The most critical part is that even a genin can use it. It can improve a ninja's survival rate to a certain extent. Not bad, right?"

Facing that breezy, smiling face, Anko was dazed for a moment before asking softly.

"Blut Vene—where did you get the inspiration for this?"

"In a dream."

Hanazuki turned his head to look at the Book of Vermilion Moon resting by his pillow, which was currently emitting a light invisible to ordinary people.

Ever since he started carrying the Book of Vermilion Moon with him, strange knowledge would occasionally enter his mind. It seemed the Black Nine-Tails hadn't been lying.

However, Hanazuki couldn't figure out why the Book of Vermilion Moon could attract knowledge about the Quincy, but Blut Vene was the most comprehensive piece of information he had collected in the last few days.

As long as one prepared a special solution that could automatically combine physical and spiritual energy and injected it into the blood vessels, one could significantly increase their physical defensive capabilities.

This was the reason why the Quincy could fight against Hollows and the Grim Reaper; they were all human, and there wasn't much difference in their blood vessels.

Compared to the Quincy who injected Reishi directly into their blood vessels, the Blut Vene Hanazuki developed added a step of combining physical and spiritual energy, but the difference wasn't significant.

"You... I always feel like you're becoming a bit like Orochimaru-sensei. Someone who can develop secret techniques—compared to you, I really am like an idiot."

She stabbed at her own skin again and again. Whether it was her usual blind spots or her fingertips, the near-omni-directional defense left Anko feeling exceptionally discouraged.

"No, there is a fundamental difference between me and Orochimaru-sensei. I will do my best to ensure my secret techniques are harmless to people. Orochimaru-sensei wouldn't care about the safety of his test subjects."

"When do you think the war will end, Anko?"

"With Minato-sensei there, it should end very soon, right?"

Like a child—she was a child, after all—Anko had found a novel toy and was playing with the Blut Vene repeatedly. Hearing Hanazuki's question, she answered offhandedly.

"Is that so? We have different opinions! This war might unexpectedly last a long time. Until Orochimaru-sensei achieves his goal, he will be surprisingly determined."

Meanwhile, in the Land of Bears, at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water.

Nara Shikaku's brow relaxed. Ever since the Rock Hidden forces in the Land of Grass were intercepted by Namikaze Minato and Hatake Kakashi, the pressure on various battlefields had eased significantly.

There was no doubt that as long as they fought steadily on this front, he believed the Third Shinobi World War would finally come to an end by the end of the year.

In an unnoticed corner, a winding snake looked around before disappearing from the battlefield.

A few days later, a shocking piece of bad news reached Konoha, immediately plunging the previously favorable situation back into uncertainty.

"What did you say? The war supplies were destroyed by the Mist Hidden at any cost, and the Mist Hidden side is in a difficult position? Why would the Mist Hidden know the location of the supplies? Was the intelligence leaked?"

In the Hokage's office, the brush in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand, who had been leisurely practicing calligraphy, trembled. Drops of ink splattered onto the rice paper, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"How could Shikaku make such a mistake? What exactly happened? Was there an internal spy?"

Thoughts raced through his mind. Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent. Minato was currently stationed at Kannabi Bridge, and although Uchiha Hanazuki was temporarily staying in the village, he had the task of containing the Third Tsuchikage. Was there no one else to use?

"Among the recent graduates, are there any genin who have shown talent?"

Suddenly, a member of the intelligence division rushed in excitedly.

"Report to the Third Hokage, Uchiha Shisui has discovered and defeated the Mist Hidden ninjas who infiltrated near the Land of Fire. The enemy squad leader was the Mist Hidden jonin who stole the Byakugan, Ao!"