Future Height?

Though he had caused a small stir, Deidara and Kurotsuchi, who were still Genin, as well as the Five-Tails Jinchuriki squad left behind in the village and Roshi, the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, had all been easily toyed with by him.

With the Invisibility Cloak, as long as he did not use Chakra, he had nothing to fear even from sensory-type ninja. Those sensory ninja could only sense his rapidly departing Shadow Clones, while they could not find even a trace of his real body.

He simply draped himself in the cloak and slowly left Iwagakure. The war between the Stone Shinobi and the Cloud Ninja should have been nearly over by now. If he lingered for two or three days, that wily old Ōnoki of Both Scales would likely return.

By then, Ōnoki of Both Scales might even seal off the village and slowly search for the intruder. After all, the Second Shinobi World War had already ended.

Therefore, Oguri Hayashi could not copy his leisurely conduct in Kumogakure. He had to leave immediately.

On his way out of Iwagakure, he often encountered scattered Stone Shinobi. He casually captured several Genin for interrogation, and learned that the Stone Shinobi had already suffered a complete defeat. Seeing the Konoha symbol on him, the Stone Shinobi did not look particularly despairing, because they believed he was merely a Konoha Genin gathering intelligence. Once he obtained the information, he would let them go.

After Oguri Hayashi slit their throats, they still stared at him with incredulous expressions, unable to understand why this Konoha ninja had been so ruthless.

After covering his tracks and using Earth Release and Fire Release to completely reduce them to ashes, Oguri Hayashi shook his head and leaped onto the cliff.

Ever since he began practicing My Style Secret Technique, his body had grown increasingly strong. Along with his body, his spirit and eyesight had strengthened as well.

Though he still could not project his qi outward, concentrating it in his eyes allowed them to shine with divine light. His gaze had become sharper and more powerful, allowing him to easily see an apple a hundred meters away.

Standing atop the mountain, he could barely make out the fleeing Stone Shinobi and the pursuing Cloud Ninja.

But there were only scattered skirmishes. Most people no longer had any desire to fight.

Though he remembered only fragments of ninja world history, he clearly remembered that the Second Shinobi World War had ended with the conclusion of the war between the Stone Shinobi and the Cloud Ninja.

In other words... the Second Shinobi World War was over?

Standing atop the rock, he felt like a swordsman looking in all directions, lost and uncertain.

The Second Shinobi World War was over. The major events of the ninja world would temporarily come to a halt until the Third Shinobi World War began. In other words, there was a high chance that those Reincarnators had already returned to Infinite Hall. The next time they descended, it would likely be during major battles of the Third Shinobi World War.

Such as Kannabi Bridge and Mount Kikyo.

So where should he go now?

He really was somewhat lost.

Should he continue going to Konoha to steal ninjutsu scrolls, slowly cultivate and grow stronger on his own, or develop his own forces?

Konoha was different from the other ninja villages. The other villages had their own natural defenses: Iwagakure had cliffs, Kumogakure had high mountains, the Sand Shinobi had deserts, and the Mist Ninja had the sea. Only Konoha had forests.

It was precisely because of this that Konoha had a considerable number of Sealing Squads and Barrier Squads.

When it came to Sealing Jutsu and Barrier Ninjutsu, Konoha could be said to surpass the entire ninja world.

Whether it was the Reaper Death Seal or the Five Elements Seal used to seal Tailed Beasts, both were things Oguri Hayashi desperately wanted.

But Konoha was different from the other villages. Konoha had extremely tight Barrier Ninjutsu, and anyone who entered the village would be detected by the barrier, drawing the attention of Konoha's Uchiha Guard Squad.

Of course, Konoha's guards were indeed important, but throughout Konoha's many wars, enemies had rarely ever fought their way into the village itself.

In other words, it was a position where one could coast along until retirement.

However, before the Uchiha clan massacre, Konoha's Uchiha Guard Squad was an existence even stronger than the Anbu.

Oguri Hayashi had never had any dealings with the Uchiha in the village. The Uchiha would neither give him an eye nor allow him to learn their inherited Fire Release ninjutsu, so why should he waste his time humbling himself to curry favor with them?

Still, when he thought about possibly facing the Uchiha, he felt somewhat apprehensive.

But he was already a Jonin now. With the Invisibility Cloak as well, there should be no problem.

He knew that if he returned to Konoha to steal ninjutsu, he would surely encounter some people from Konoha. Yet for some reason, an eager impulse stirred within him.

Perhaps it was like returning home in glory, or perhaps it was the joy of gaining power after always being so cautious and restrained.

A sudden urge to go back and take a look seized him.

Perhaps this was what it meant to be human.

Perhaps this was what it meant to be mortal.

He wiped his face, then shot into the sky. Under the Light-Weight Rock Technique, his body was as light as a bird's. High in the sky, he spread his body, and the Winged Suit sewn from silk instantly unfolded. Riding the wind, he became like a flying squirrel and began speeding forward.

He was much faster this way than Ōnoki. Since Iwagakure stood at a rather high elevation, he crossed the battlefield in one sweep, becoming like an eagle in the sky as he flew toward Konoha.

Speaking of flying squirrel suits, he did not understand why so many people who had transmigrated into Naruto had never considered making one.

This was clearly a strategic weapon powerful enough to change the entire course of a battle. Anyone who obtained one could easily charge into Kumogakure to fight or retreat. Iwagakure's sheer cliffs and the Sand Shinobi's fierce winds could both be conquered with a flying squirrel suit.

If powerful ninja had this item and equipped themselves with a parachute, they could probably go anywhere under heaven.

Yet among the countless transmigrators in the ninja world, not a single one had thought of this...

This thing made him look like a weirdo in bizarre clothing, but that was only because the membranes between the sleeves and legs of his flying squirrel suit made him look like a rock-singing hippie when the zippers were undone.

But once the zippers were pulled up, it could ensure that he suffered no harm from jumping down from a high place—even without a parachute, a ninja's physical constitution meant that falling from a height of around a dozen meters would never injure him.

Of course, that required enduring the strange looks of others.

But for a ninja, staying alive was what mattered most, wasn't it?

After leaving the Land of Earth, he instead began walking steadily toward Konoha, one step at a time.

Because he discovered that when he practiced the Heavier Rock Technique, it was as though he were doing gravity training in a Gravity Chamber from Dragon Ball. The Heavier Rock Technique made his body instantly incomparably heavy, as if several hundred kilograms had suddenly been added to him.

This might have been a little too early for a twelve-year-old, but his desperate desire for strength meant he did not care how tall he would grow in the future. Rapidly increasing his strength was what he truly needed to do now.