Even the pursuers dispatched by the Third Hokage had been chosen with great care.
Orochimaru, a quasi-Kage-level ninjutsu specialist; Minato Namikaze, a jonin-level ninjutsu specialist; Hyuga Hiashi, a jonin-level taijutsu and reconnaissance specialist; and Shisui Uchiha, a jonin-level genjutsu specialist.
Moreover, Minato Namikaze was a direct disciple of the Hokage's line, Hyuga Hiashi represented the next generation of the Hyuga Clan, and Shisui Uchiha could represent the Uchiha Clan. If even this lineup failed to bring Tsunade back, then any blame would have to be shared by everyone.
Surely they would not condemn the important future heirs of their own clans?
If they could not be punished together, then they could only be let off together.
However, that was not the Third Hokage's main concern. What truly bothered him was something Oguri Hayashi had revealed.
"Lord Hokage, keep a close eye on familiar people who appear in the village for no apparent reason."
To ordinary people, those words would indeed sound inexplicable. But to shinobi, they were not strange at all.
There were countless techniques among shinobi. To speak of distant examples, there was Orochimaru's Reanimation Jutsu; closer at hand, there was Shisui Uchiha's Kotoamatsukami, which the Third Hokage knew nothing about. Even Uchiha genjutsu could accomplish something like that. Yet familiar people appearing in the village for no reason was far from normal.
The Third Hokage had great faith in Jiraiya's intelligence-gathering abilities, so he gave him an even more important mission. It might be connected to why Oguri Hayashi had defected. The deaths of those four people before his defection had also been a trigger, and their identities had to be uncovered.
The Third Hokage's side had already begun investigating the reason for Oguri Hayashi's defection.
Meanwhile, Oguri Hayashi did not slow down at all.
"Damn, he's fast!" Even Orochimaru, leading Shisui Uchiha, known as Body Flicker Shisui; Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash; and the taijutsu specialist Hyuga Hiashi, could not catch up to him.
And he was carrying a woman who weighed over a hundred kilograms!
His physical abilities were simply monstrous!
"Lord Orochimaru, I have a mark ahead. I'll go intercept him first!" Minato Namikaze said from behind Orochimaru.
"Go." Orochimaru's expression was grave.
The Yellow Flash vanished from behind Orochimaru in an instant.
"He's so fast. He's already appeared three hundred meters ahead of us and is rapidly closing in on the target." As a Konoha jonin, Hyuga Hiashi had no need to conserve Chakra during the pursuit. His Byakugan remained activated as he tracked Oguri Hayashi's figure without letting up.
Watching Minato appear in front of the target in an instant, Hyuga Hiashi exclaimed in amazement.
Once Minato landed a hit and planted a mark, the target would never be able to escape them, no matter where he ran.
Oguri Hayashi watched Konoha's Yellow Flash appear directly ahead of him. He tossed Tsunade upward, rapidly formed hand seals, then slowly rose into the air again. Catching Tsunade, he drifted gradually toward the sky.
Tsunade looked on in surprise as the ground grew farther and farther away. She saw Minato leap high into the air to attack Oguri Hayashi, but by then Oguri Hayashi was already a full twenty meters above him.
Minato Namikaze threw out a kunai, which rapidly closed in on Oguri Hayashi. Oguri Hayashi held Tsunade with both hands and had no way to make the kunai veer away. He knew clearly that if Minato Namikaze's kunai came close to him, it meant Minato Namikaze himself would come close as well. Once Minato Namikaze approached, the spatial mark he had prepared long ago would mark him.
He absolutely could not let Minato Namikaze's kunai get close.
Tsunade could clearly feel Oguri Hayashi's chest swell. Then he turned his head and spat out the air he had inhaled.
That air shot from his mouth like a sharp sword, forming a physical force in midair that slammed into the kunai.
The kunai was knocked flying while still six meters away from him. Minato instantly appeared more than ten meters away and caught his kunai. Watching Oguri Hayashi retreat into the distance, he let out a helpless sigh, formed hand seals, and vanished from the sky.
"Lord Orochimaru, I'm sorry. He got away." Minato Namikaze appeared near Orochimaru and the others, his face filled with shame.
"That technique was the Tsuchikage's..." As the strongest ninjutsu specialist in Konoha besides Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru naturally knew the signature techniques of the ninja world's major powers inside and out.
"And that earlier Lightning Release was the Raikage's... Could it be..." Orochimaru muttered, his pupils narrowing slightly. A hint of anticipation stirred in his heart, though none showed on his face.
"Let's return. This man is extremely troublesome. Let Teacher Hiruzen make the decision." Orochimaru spoke with great calm, even a trace of coldness.
"Yes." Though the other three jonin were somewhat puzzled, they still lowered their heads in acknowledgment.
"Some intelligence needs to be sent back," Orochimaru said, seemingly talking to himself, yet also seeming to offer an explanation.
None of the three asked. Since Orochimaru had not said what intelligence it was, it meant they were not qualified to know.
The four hurried back, while Minato returned directly to the Hokage's office to report.
His ability was simply too useful. When he returned to the Hokage's office and reported the information to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi adjusted his hat and nodded. "I understand. Go find Jiraiya about this. He'll tell you some things."
As one of the candidates for the next Hokage, he naturally possessed an advantage in terms of intelligence. There were some matters the Third Hokage would not hide from him.
Elsewhere, after Oguri Hayashi had taken Tsunade far from Konoha, he used Earth Release to create a cave. Then he sent a Shadow Clone out to hunt. As for his main body, he did not dare relax in the slightest while keeping watch over Tsunade, one of the Three Legendary Sannin.
Still, even while watching Tsunade, he could slowly train.
He primarily cultivated Lightning Release, so when Tsunade saw lightning blooming from his hands, she was slightly startled.
At his age, he could already perform Lightning Release Chakra nature transformation?
With the Book of Thunder, his Lightning Release Chakra nature transformation had already become extremely proficient. One technique within the Book of Thunder, [Lightning Release: Violent Torrent], involved a Lightning Release Chakra nature transformation similar to Chidori.
And now, he was using Chakra nature transformation to develop a new technique of his own.
That was right, he was creating a new ninjutsu.
A Lightning Release ninjutsu.
His hands slowly moved side by side, lightning interweaving and tearing between them. The technique looked exceptionally dangerous.
"The Raikage's Body Forging Technique, the Tsuchikage's Light-Weight Rock Technique... You were the one who recently stole the secret techniques of the Cloud Ninja and Stone Shinobi, weren't you?!" Tsunade had been watching coldly from the side when she suddenly spoke.
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