Lightning Flash

The Uzumaki Clan's research into souls was indeed profound, because in ancient times, the world had been filled with all manner of demons and monsters.

Among them, the mysterious ghostly entities had been especially difficult to deal with and even harder to destroy.

Later, people discovered that they could use sealing techniques to seal away these ghostly entities, then rely on time to gradually erase them.

This was how soul-targeting sealing techniques began to develop.

The Uzumaki Clan's research into souls had developed during that era, and their greatest masterpiece was the S-rank Soul Sealing Technique, the Reaper Death Seal, which could seal even the Nine-Tails inside the Shinigami's stomach.

As the Uzumaki Clan's princess and the strongest sealing technique ninja of the present day, Mito Uzumaki had naturally inherited the clan's legacy and possessed deep knowledge of souls and even the Pure Land.

Thus, she understood very well just how fragile a soul was when it first underwent Soul Evasion.

Forget moving—even a gust of wind might have been enough to show signs of dispersing it.

Yet Kirito's soul before her was extraordinarily unusual. She had never expected it to be so powerful and solid. It could move the moment it left his body. If she had not seen it with her own eyes, she might not have believed any of this was real.

After moving around the room for a short while, Kirito began to feel tired, along with a stinging pain.

He realized something was wrong, then, under Mito and Kushina's astonished gazes, smoothly returned to his body.

More than ten seconds later, Kirito opened his eyes again. He immediately felt as though his body had been hollowed out, and his mind was utterly exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to lie down on the floor and get some proper sleep.

He tried to stand up and stretch his body, only to nearly fall over. Fortunately, Kushina reacted quickly and grabbed him, preventing him from face-planting onto the floor.

"Thanks, Kushina."

Kirito thanked her.

At his words, Kushina's smiling face flushed slightly red, and she hurriedly released the hand gripping Kirito's shoulder.

The moment she let go, Kirito naturally fell onto her kneeling legs.

"Ah!!!"

Kushina immediately let out a scream and shoved Kirito away with all her strength.

Though Kushina looked small and frail, she was incredibly strong. Kirito was sent flying outright, his head slamming hard into the wall and embedding itself in it.

"A-Are you okay?"

The moment Kushina pushed Kirito away, she realized she had done something wrong and asked fearfully.

Kirito was in decent physical condition. With difficulty, he pulled his head out of the wall, blood running down his forehead as he looked at Kushina and smiled. "I'm fine."

The instant he finished speaking, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out. He fell to the floor and began snoring soundly.

Kushina thought Kirito had died. Her face turned pale, and her whole body trembled as she looked pitifully toward Mito.

Seeing this, Mito could not help but smirk mischievously. Only when Kushina was on the verge of tears did she comfort her, "Don't worry. That kid's tough—he won't die. But remember to apologize once he wakes up. Go carry him to the guest room so he can rest."

Kushina immediately nodded obediently, then hoisted Kirito onto her shoulder and quickly left the room.

Once Kushina had left, Mito swiftly wiped the smile from her face and called out, "Momoka."

"Mito-sama, your orders?"

Momoka Senju instantly appeared before Mito on one knee and replied respectfully.

"Go tell that old fool, the Third Hokage, to bring the Spirit Transformation Technique. And tell him and that brat Danzo to keep a close eye on things. If anything happens to Kirito, I'll make both of them regret it."

Mito said coldly.

"Yes."

Momoka accepted the order and vanished from the room using the Body Flicker Technique.

"That idiot Tobirama—how could he hand the village over to a fool like Hiruzen? And that brat Danzo is getting more and more outrageous in pursuit of his goals. He's learned the Will of Fire straight into a dog's belly. I never should have let someone like him become an advisor..."

After Momoka left, anger appeared on Mito's face as she spoke with both frustration and concern.

Of course, she had already learned from Momoka that the Third Hokage and Danzo planned to use Kirito as bait to draw out the spies hiding within the village.

When she learned of it, she had been furious enough to nearly cause a severe leak of Nine-Tails Chakra.

If this had been two years ago, and the Third Hokage and Danzo had dared to do such a thing, she would have immediately taught those two fools a lesson.

Unfortunately, she did not have much time left. Even suppressing the Nine-Tails inside her was becoming difficult. If she forced herself to take action, she likely would not live to see the day Tsunade returned from the battlefield.

With no other choice, she could only issue a warning.

"Hashirama, I understand less and less of the village you left behind. I only hope Konoha's new shoots can continue to grow strong and set everything back on the right path."

Mito closed her eyes, deep exhaustion appearing on her face as she sighed.

That evening, at the Training Ground in the backyard of Chizuru's home within the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Chizuru was currently taking part in her daily Practical Combat Class. Her opponents today were three Elite Chunin from the Uchiha Clan.

Chizuru's attire was no different from what she had worn during the day. The only difference was the slender longsword in her hand.

Under the lights, the longsword glinted with a chilling radiance, giving off an indestructibly sharp aura.

This sword was called Lightning Flash Fierce Battle, a famed blade forged from Chakra Metal mixed with a special Lightning Release metal. Not only did it possess exceptional chakra conductivity, but true to its name, once infused with chakra, it would automatically generate lightning.

Under Homura Uchiha's watchful gaze, the battle began.

Chizuru opened her eyes, activating her Sharingan as Lightning Release Chakra instantly enveloped her limbs.

She drew her sword, and a shrill crackle of lightning suddenly rang out.

The next moment, more than a dozen Chizurus of varying forms appeared across the Training Ground amid flashing lightning.

As the lightning faded, the three Elite Chunin cried out almost simultaneously. Their chests were pierced by swords, hot blood spraying out as they dropped to their knees with stunned expressions.

"Click~"

Chizuru appeared behind the three of them and sheathed her sword.

In the blink of an eye, she had effortlessly defeated three Elite Chunin.

Had this been a fight to the death, the three Elite Chunin would already have been slain by her blade.

"Not bad. You've completely mastered the Lightning Surge Secret Technique. However, try not to use that move too often in the future. It's best kept as a trump card for deciding the outcome. Does that move have a name?"

Watching Chizuru instantly defeat three Elite Chunin from their clan, Homura Uchiha nodded approvingly and praised her.

Defeating three Elite Chunin at once was not particularly difficult. Any Konoha Jonin who had passed rigorous examinations could accomplish it.

Even if they were Elite Chunin of the Uchiha Clan.

But for an eight-year-old girl to achieve such a feat, it could only be described as terrifying.

And now, his granddaughter, in whom he had placed such high hopes, had done exactly that.

"Lightning Flash."

Chizuru uttered the two words expressionlessly.

After saying that, she turned and walked into the house without sparing the three Elite Chunin on the ground another glance.

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