After the Masked Man left, the Cross-Verification Squad did not immediately discuss his identity.
They first broke the entire fight down into twenty-seven points in time.
When he turned intangible.
When he touched external objects.
When he attempted to absorb a target.
When resonance from Kakashi's left eye caused a deviation in his teleportation.
Each point required at least two independent records before it could be incorporated into the ability model.
Shisui's subjective impressions, the Hyuga jonin's Byakugan observations, and the responses of the Lightning Release electrical net were divided into three columns.
Once the three columns were overlaid, the space-time ability finally revealed clear limits.
While intangible, he could not be hit by ordinary attacks.
But the Masked Man also could not actively grab, attack, or carry away objects.
When touching an external object, the part of his body in contact with it had to become solid.
When he initiated absorption, a sustained vortex formed between his right eye and the target, preventing him from simultaneously making his entire body intangible for a short period.
Teleporting himself over a long distance required a longer stabilization process than making individual body parts intangible.
This was not invincibility.
His past opponents had simply tended to panic after their first attack passed through him, driving them to keep attacking.
The more urgently they pressed him, the more easily he could catch them when he deliberately became solid.
Based on this, Shikaku devised a coordinated timing strategy.
The first person would not try to land a hit, but would focus solely on forcing the target to switch states.
The second would watch for the parts that became solid.
The third would attack the destination, rather than the afterimage that was turning intangible.
Everyone had to maintain an escape route, and no one was