Fierce winds whipped up sand and dust, making Naoki Senju narrow his eyes involuntarily. The instant dark clouds obscured the blazing sun overhead, Shizune sprang into motion, appearing at his side almost instantly. Her slender arm held incredible strength. If she struck a vulnerable spot, a single blow would leave Naoki unable to fight back.
But Shizune softened in the end. Rather than aiming for a vulnerable, lethal spot, she punched toward the Jianjing pressure point on his shoulder. In plain terms, it was the shoulder's funny bone, much like the one at the elbow. If struck by an outside force, these areas could cause anything from a numb arm to a loss of bodily control.
However, this sort of fighting method would only appear in a fight between Naoki Senju and Shizune.
First, apart from top-tier medical-nin like Tsunade and Shizune, how could anyone locate an enemy's precise pressure points in an ever-changing battle, let alone strike them? It was immensely difficult.
Second, Shizune would not hold back against an enemy. Even if she needed to capture someone alive and target nonlethal pressure points, she would choose to pierce them with senbon and poisoned needles. That was far less trouble than striking them with force, and more effective too.
Just as Shizune's fist was about to connect, Naoki, already sporting injuries all over his body, grinned smugly as though his scheme had succeeded.
With just a slight turn, he let Shizune's decisive blow hit empty air, then raised his eyebrows provocatively, signaling for her to keep attacking.
Although startled by Naoki's speed, Shizune was hardly about to concede. Twisting with her momentum, she swept her long, shapely leg toward his lower body. They were only an arm's length apart. At such close range, she felt there was no way he could dodge.
Got him!
No, that didn't feel right!
Rather than looking pleased at landing her strike, Shizune looked utterly shocked. Naoki Senju was slowly "dissipating" before her. It was not a clone vanishing into white smoke and chakra, but something dispersing like a wisp of smoke.
Was that... an afterimage?!!
Tsunade, who had been watching from the sidelines, looked as though she had swallowed a ton of lemons. She was positively sour with envy.
At some point, Naoki Senju had appeared behind Shizune. He patted her rounded shoulder and said with a smile:
"Who are you looking for, Sister Shizune?"
Shizune spun around, but the speaker was nowhere to be seen. In another blink, Naoki was already beside Tsunade. Coming to her senses, Shizune felt utterly dejected. Naoki had surpassed her even in taijutsu.
Tsunade, however, shot Naoki several fierce glares before explaining to Shizune:
"Naoki cheated just now. Although he only attached chakra to the soles of his feet to move at high speed, that's still a form of the Body Flicker Technique, so it counts as ninjutsu."
Overjoyed, Naoki laughed and begged Shizune for mercy:
"My dear big sister, I was wrong. But I've taken enough of a beating today. Let's spar again next time."
Chakra control exercises, from tree climbing practice to water walking, were relatively basic training and not particularly difficult. The next level involved attaching chakra evenly to the soles of the feet while keeping it flowing, greatly increasing a ninja's speed. This was called the Body Flicker Technique.
Its most notable practitioner was Shisui Uchiha, known as Body Flicker Shisui.
The difficulty of the Body Flicker Technique lay in applying it to actual combat. After all, it was a burst-type ninjutsu and very difficult to control completely. It required exceptional chakra control, the ability to divide one's attention, and fast reflexes.
Thus, the Body Flicker Technique was generally used for traveling. Even Naoki Senju had only just incorporated it into combat. To reach Shisui's level, he needed more actual combat experience. Ordinary training was no longer useful.
Tsunade rewarded the smug Naoki with a flick to the forehead and scolded him in her sweet voice:
"I told you to practice your taijutsu properly, and you went looking for shortcuts again. Since you've learned the Body Flicker Technique, you can spar with me next time. Let's see just how fast it is."
After delivering her scolding with all the authority of an elder sister, Tsunade undid Naoki's clothes with a pained expression and began treating his bruises bit by bit with Healing Jutsu, which had fewer side effects.
Shizune also blushed sheepishly as she helped beside Tsunade. She had inflicted all these injuries, after all.
Watching those two lovely faces as they focused intently on treating him, Naoki felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction and enjoyment.
Suddenly, Tonton, who had been sheltering from the blazing sun in a shady spot nearby, cried out:
"Oink, oink~ Oink!"
Interrupted, Shizune and Tsunade had yet to understand what she meant when Naoki Senju, who had been enjoying himself with his eyes closed, snapped them open. A sense of danger stabbed at him, and his heart pounded violently. With no time to think, he pulled the two women up, and they rolled aside to dodge.
The next instant, kunai blanketed the spot where the three had been. Then a searing light flared, and a violent explosion and flames shot into the sky. Before the first wave of explosions ended, a second wave of kunai and explosive tags came hurtling in, even more numerous and powerful than the first.
Once the billowing smoke cleared, the towering boulders around them had been blasted into small pieces of rubble that buried the area. Several steady-breathed figures in black cautiously approached the rubble.
But when they were still ten meters away, they stopped without warning and began forming hand seals.
Bang~
A tremendous force blasted the rubble apart. Her face full of fury, Tsunade leaped out and descended from the air with astonishing might.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain."
The distinctive superhuman strength-based ninjutsu displayed its tremendous power. With Tsunade at its center, the ground within dozens of meters instantly cracked and collapsed. Before the three figures in black caught within its range could finish their hand seals, the tremendous recoil severely injured them. Blood spilled from their mouths and noses as they retreated hastily, no longer daring to get anywhere near Tsunade.
Amid the rubble, Naoki Senju put up another Wood Locking Wall. Struggling to quell his anger and keep it from showing, he told Shizune:
"Sister Shizune, wait here. Sister Tsunade and I will be right back."
"No! I can't just watch you and Lady Tsunade fight!"
Seeing Shizune's firm words and her serious, anxious face, Naoki Senju finally remembered that she was no delicate woman. He shook his head helplessly and said:
"Sister Shizune, you're a medical-nin. Protecting yourself has to come first in battle. You mustn't put yourself in danger until the very last moment. The second rule of Sister Tsunade's medical-nin code says that medical-nin must never stand on the front lines. Have you forgotten?"
Perhaps feeling his words had been too harsh, he patted Shizune's head and made his tone as gentle as possible, though a trace of icy killing intent still crept into it:
"Keep Tonton safe. I'll be right back."
With that, an opening appeared in the Wood Locking Wall. Once Naoki Senju left, it closed, protecting Shizune securely within.
Looking at the ninjas dressed in black, wearing nothing that identified them and using different ninjutsu, yet all surrounding and attacking Tsunade, Naoki Senju's heart was cold as ice, but his fury burned as fiercely as the blazing sun.
Danzo, Root, I will slay you!