This kid knew the Body Flicker Technique too? And the extremely rare Water Release Flow Body Flicker Technique, at that?
The kidnapper dared not linger. Chakra erupted beneath his feet, and his speed surged again as he charged toward the edge of the village.
"Leave him here!"
Lei Dou turned into water again, racing across the rooftops like a furious water dragon. A few flickers brought him close.
Just as Lei Dou was about to catch up, two cold flashes shot toward him from the side.
Clang! Clang!
Forced to cancel his Body Flicker Technique, Lei Dou knocked the projectiles away with a backhand swing of his kunai.
He landed on the roof tiles, only for two more ninja in identical clothing to appear ahead.
They were working as a group!
That brief delay was enough for the man carrying Naruto to get far ahead.
The two rear guards said nothing. Twirling their kunai, they advanced with murderous intent.
I didn't bring Zangetsu. Close combat it is.
Lei Dou drew an ordinary kunai from his ninja tool pouch and infused it with chakra.
Water Release: Water Flow Blade!
A layer of high-pressure water instantly wrapped around the kunai's edge, giving off a sizzling cutting sound.
The two ninja exchanged a glance, then attacked without a word, one from each side.
The enemy on the left reached him first, thrusting his kunai straight at Lei Dou's heart with ruthless, practiced precision.
Rather than retreat, Lei Dou stepped forward. One precise swing of his Water Flow Blade sliced the enemy's kunai apart as easily as cutting tofu.
He immediately formed hand seals with one hand!
Water Release: Body Flicker!
With a bang, Lei Dou's entire body became a puddle of clear water that splashed to the ground, his presence vanishing completely.
Both enemies instantly lost their target. They stood back-to-back, scanning their surroundings warily.
The next second-
Rip!
Without warning, a line of blood opened across the neck of the man on the left, and blood sprayed out like a fountain.
He clutched his neck in terror, eyes wide as he collapsed.
A chill ran down the remaining man's spine. Before he could turn, a terrifying coldness pressed against the back of his neck.
Lei Dou's figure slowly emerged behind him, like a ghost from hell.
The kunai in his hand was already buried deep in the man's brainstem.
Playing hide-and-seek with me at night? You're asking to die!
The instant he activated his Body Flicker Technique, Lei Dou had also activated Transparent Release Invisibility, killing without ever being seen.
In just two seconds, two elite ninja were dead.
Lei Dou had no time to examine the bodies. He looked up at the distant black speck that was about to disappear from view.
Trying to run? Let's see you get past my Water Body Flicker!
Just as he prepared to resume pursuit, he caught sight of several masked figures racing toward him out of the corner of his eye.
ANBU!
Since the authorities are here, I'll leave this mess to them.
Lei Dou formed hand seals again.
Water Release: Body Flicker!
Before the ANBU could land, Lei Dou dissolved into countless sparkling streams of water, leaving a long afterimage in the air as he crossed a hundred meters in an instant and lunged after the kidnapper.
That sudden burst of speed left the newly arrived ANBU ninja dumbstruck.
"What... the hell was that speed?!"
The ANBU squad leader landed on the rooftop and sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of the two bodies, each killed with a single strike.
"What clean kills!"
"One cut to the throat, without a single wasted movement. That's the mark of a top assassin!"
"Who exactly was that... watery figure?"
An ANBU ninja stepped forward to examine the bodies and pulled off a mask. "Captain, they're not from Konoha! Judging by their forehead protectors, they're spies from Kumogakure!"
Since these were foreign enemies, the person who had killed them must have been on their side.
But when had Konoha gained a Water Release expert like this?
"Don't just stand there! Notify Lord Hokage immediately! The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has been abducted!"
"Take these two bodies back for disposal! Everyone else, stop gawking and follow me! Full-speed pursuit!"
After shouting those orders, the leader stared ahead with a dark gaze.
We still have to chase them?
The other squad members were deeply uneasy. The mysterious figure's burst of speed had been terrifying, and he had long since passed beyond Konoha's security perimeter.
For that brief instant, his body had seemed to turn into countless flowing streams of liquid, slipping straight out of the village like a slippery loach.
Leaving aside which ninja village could have produced such a bizarre technique capable of liquefying the body-
The fact that he could use a basic release technique with such mastery meant his understanding of Water Release was unfathomable. His strength was probably approaching Kage level.
Although they knew pursuing someone nearly at Kage level was tantamount to suicide, these elite ANBU ninja had no concept of backing down.
The well-trained ANBU squad instantly split into two groups. One stayed to guard the bodies and urgently contact Lord Hokage, while the other gritted their teeth and continued searching beyond the village.
By then, Lei Dou had already broken through Konoha's defensive perimeter and was darting through the dense forest like a phantom.
He stopped spending chakra on that dazzling Flow Body Flicker Technique and switched to the most basic Body Flicker Technique instead, maintaining Transparent Release as he moved as silently as air.
Great Sage, activate thought acceleration mode immediately!
[Great Sage: Command confirmed. Thought acceleration activated.]
In that instant, the world in Lei Dou's eyes seemed to switch to slow motion, every detail around him magnified without limit.
He keenly picked up the traces left behind by the man who had abducted Naruto.
Following the faint signs the man had left, deliberately or otherwise, Lei Dou pushed his speed to the limit.
Although Lei Dou had a solid grounding in the basic Body Flicker Technique, he was still slightly slower in a straight-line sprint than ninja who specialized in speed.
Only after racing through the woods for more than ten minutes did Lei Dou sense that he had closed to within a hundred meters of his target.
That was largely thanks to thought acceleration, which allowed him to identify snapped twigs and flattened grass with precision even in the pitch-black forest, where visibility was terrible.
After plunging into this dark, deep stretch of forest, Lei Dou keenly noticed that the man ahead had strangely slowed down.
This was a rare opportunity. Lei Dou held his breath and quietly crept closer.
Like a hunting leopard, he concealed himself perfectly behind a thick tree, watching the figure ahead through the dense bushes.
Wait. Where's Naruto?
The man's shoulders were empty. He was no longer carrying Naruto. Where had he gone?
How could a living person vanish into thin air?
Where the hell did this bastard hide Naruto?
Lei Dou's mind raced. Since leaving the village, he had pursued almost without touching the ground. His target had never had time to stop and rest, so when could he have hidden someone?
"Strange. Didn't that brat follow me?"
The man in black ahead frowned deeply and muttered under his breath.
Lei Dou had initially thought the man was tired and needed to catch his breath. Now it was clear that wasn't the case at all. He had deliberately slowed down, waiting for someone to take the bait!
What was he really after?
Why risk stopping specifically to wait for someone? Lei Dou gripped his kunai tightly, a fine layer of cold sweat forming on his palm.
Lei Dou's icy gaze locked onto the man's back as though he were looking at a corpse.
Transparent Release remained active at full power. Though this invisible state made wide-area ninjutsu inconvenient, it was an immense advantage for assassination swordsmanship.
Lei Dou moved carefully, trying not to make the slightest sound. He had to take this man alive.
Otherwise, Naruto's whereabouts would truly become an unsolved mystery.
Silently slipping behind him, Lei Dou aimed at the man's unguarded back and drove his kunai toward his heart with a vicious whistle of wind.
With a wet puncture, the kunai struck its mark!
But the instant it sank in, Lei Dou's expression changed sharply. The sensation was completely wrong.
There was none of the resistance of piercing flesh. It felt more like stabbing a dry piece of rotten wood.
Damn it! The Substitution Technique!
Pop!
A cloud of white smoke burst before his eyes. The figure disappeared, leaving only a short log that clattered to the ground.
Lei Dou reacted instantly, his body springing backward on instinct. As he retreated, a row of sharp shuriken struck like venomous snakes, embedding themselves where he had just stood.
Luckily, he had pulled back fast enough. Otherwise, he would have been riddled with holes.
"What a frightening brat. Your reactions are that fast!"
"An ability that hides your body from sight... could that be Transparent Release?"
"To think you've awakened such a rare kekkei genkai. Are you the same type as that sickly Shimozuki Hayate?"
The man in black was clearly shocked by Lei Dou's Transparent Release ability and couldn't help exclaiming.
Lei Dou, meanwhile, used the sound of his voice to pinpoint his hiding place immediately.
Without a word, he activated his Body Flicker Technique!
Water appeared from nowhere and rapidly took shape right in front of the man, as though it had a life of its own.
At the same time, Lei Dou spun like a top. Using the centrifugal force of his rotation, he slashed his kunai viciously toward the man's chest, the blade shrieking through the air.
The man's reactions weren't slow either. Instinctively, he raised his kunai to block Lei Dou's lethal strike.
But he had clearly underestimated the sharpness of Lei Dou's weapon. The strange blue glow along Lei Dou's kunai made him visibly falter.
A sharp crack followed, and his kunai was cut in two as though it were made of paper.
The clothing across his chest split instantly. A hideous wound stretched across his torso, blood spraying out like a fountain.
Having landed his strike, Lei Dou didn't press his luck. He quickly withdrew, gripping his kunai in reverse and taking a defensive stance.
"Who are you? Where did you hide Naruto?"
Faced with Lei Dou's questions, the man seemed more astonished by the fact that he had been injured.
He stared at the blue-glowing kunai in Lei Dou's hand and muttered, "Did you apply some kind of enhancement ninjutsu to your weapon?"
"To think you're so skilled in Water Release and swordsmanship at your age. It seems our intelligence was wrong. We underestimated you."
Our?
Lei Dou immediately caught that key word. This man really did have accomplices!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The man suddenly sprang into action, hurling a dense barrage of projectiles at Lei Dou.
Watching the projectiles fill the air, Lei Dou thrust his left hand into his ninja tool pouch so fast it blurred.
The next second, his left hand seemed to become countless afterimages.
Lei Dou threw shuriken with pinpoint accuracy. They collided fiercely with the incoming weapons in midair, ringing out in a series of sharp metallic clashes as they knocked every projectile down.
Dazzling sparks flew from the clashing metal. That incredible display of throwing skill left his opponent dumbfounded.
"Water Release!"
"Water Release: Water Wave!"
Boom!
The instant Lei Dou threw the projectiles with his left hand, his right had already finished forming one-handed seals.
It took only a simple Horse seal. Then, as though the ground beneath Lei Dou's feet had connected to the ocean, a terrifying torrent erupted.
Like a furious white dragon, the water surged straight toward his opponent.
Watching the enormous wave suddenly spread to a width of twenty or thirty meters, the man in black was utterly stunned.
Where did all this water come from in this godforsaken dry place? Is this brat a monster?
Is this really a Water Release technique a student who hasn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy could cast?
He was a monster among monsters!
BOOM!!!
With a deafening roar, the violent torrent swallowed the man before he could even scream.
Lei Dou seized the instant the man lost his balance and used the Body Flicker Technique again, charging into the raging current.
He grabbed the man's collar in the rushing water and hauled him out like a chick.
Then Lei Dou landed steadily on a high branch nearby that the water hadn't reached.
His cold kunai pressed firmly against the man's carotid artery, its sharp edge already cutting through the skin.
"Talk! Where's Naruto? Who the hell are you?"
Although the captured man was in a sorry state, he suddenly grinned, his smile especially vicious.
"What a frightening brat. So it's not just your swordsmanship that's exceptional. Your mastery of ninjutsu is terrifying too. We seriously misjudged you this time!"
"But kid, you've already been marked. Defeating me won't change anything. In the end, you won't escape this net!"
With a wet sound, blood splattered!
Without warning, the man bit through a poison sac hidden in his mouth or used some other means of suicide, dying instantly!
He had chosen suicide without the slightest hesitation. The discipline of the organization behind him was horrifying!
Damn it! Where did they take Naruto?
Couldn't you at least hand Naruto over before dying?!
No. Calm down. Whatever the reason, I absolutely cannot give up on Naruto.
Lei Dou took a deep breath, raised both hands, and rapidly formed hand seals.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Shadow clones appeared one after another. Through gritted teeth, Lei Dou ordered, "Find him! Tear the place apart if you have to!"
"They had to be somewhere nearby!"
＜
Thinking back, Lei Dou had been held up by those two enemies, then pursued them and used Transparent Release to approach cautiously.
After leaving the Konoha Gate, Lei Dou had kept thought acceleration mode active the entire time.
Along the way, Lei Dou had overlooked nothing-not even a broken blade of grass or a shallow footprint.