Compared to the previous iris mark on Li Anshi's daggers, this one was significantly larger, covering almost half the blade.
Swish—
Li Anshi threw the dagger in his hand. In the next instant, his figure appeared by the window, his hand reaching out to catch the dagger just as it was about to fly out.
"Hiss..."
"You've already mastered it?"
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi was once again stunned.
Although Li Anshi had already said that he had obtained Master Tobirama's notes on the creation of the Flying Thunder God Technique three years ago, and had even developed a jutsu to transfer his daggers to his hand based on that incomplete data, it was still far too astonishing that he had successfully performed the complete technique right in front of him after just one look.
This meant that not only did Li Anshi have a strong talent for ninjutsu, but his ability to sense space was also terrifyingly powerful.
"Yes."
Putting the dagger away, Li Anshi nodded.
"However, it will still take some time to get used to it before I can truly apply it in battle."
"Furthermore, the real Flying Thunder God Technique consumes a lot more chakra than summoning the daggers."
"And the pressure of spatial transfer on the body is not insignificant."
"Even with my current physical strength, if I were to perform more than ten consecutive spatial jumps, my body might not be able to withstand the pressure and I could get injured."
Speaking of this, Li Anshi's understanding of Minato Namikaze's strength grew once again.
Li Anshi didn't know how many spatial jumps the Second Hokage could perform at one time, as there were no records.
But there were records for the future Minato Namikaze.
He was a super-powerhouse who could instantly kill fifty ninjas in a single moment using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Putting other things aside, in terms of physical strength alone, Minato Namikaze of that era was perhaps even stronger than the current Li Anshi.
Of course, there was another possibility.
That was that Minato's affinity for space far surpassed his own.
Therefore, when Minato used the technique for spatial movement, the pressure he experienced was far less than what Li Anshi felt.
As for neural reaction speed, Li Anshi felt that he should be no less than Minato.
Having comprehended the concept of "freedom," Li Anshi could even adjust the trajectory of a thrown dagger, giving him a sense of "bullet time."
In this state, his perception of time seemed to stretch, and correspondingly, his neural reaction speed was greatly enhanced.
If he could adapt to using the Flying Thunder God Technique in such a state, he could surely perform dozens of consecutive teleports in an instant, just like Minato.
However, Li Anshi felt that such a fighting style was too inefficient.
He could kill forty or fifty ninjas in an instant just by casually throwing a handful of daggers.
"More than ten consecutive times?"
Hearing this, Hiruzen smiled and shook his head.
"Anshi, you should be content."
"Even Master Tobirama, I have never seen him perform more than ten spatial jumps at once."
Tobirama Senju's Flying Thunder God Technique was not a primary means of combat like it was for Minato.
For Tobirama, its greatest use was for travel.
After the death of the First Hokage, Tobirama had relied on this technique to move between various battlefields, holding back the Stone, Sand, and Cloud ninjas outside the borders of the Land of Fire.
It was precisely because of this that he had earned the title "Fastest in the Ninja World."
Of course, Tobirama had also created a ninjutsu to accompany it.
The Flying Thunder God Slash!
This was the only offensive ninjutsu he had that was based on the Flying Thunder God Technique. Many ninjas, unfamiliar with this move, would be killed by him in an instant.
During the Warring States period, Madara Uchiha's younger brother, Izuna Uchiha, was also a super-powerhouse who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
But in his battle with Tobirama, he had been caught off guard and instantly killed by the Flying Thunder God Slash.
Minato Namikaze, on the other hand, used the technique more for high-speed positional combat.
His kunai in the early stages, and the Rasengan later on, were his primary means of killing enemies.
For ordinary ninjas, a single kunai after teleporting to their side was enough to take their life.
But Kage-level powerhouses were terrifyingly strong.
A mere kunai could not threaten them.
Therefore, Minato had used the Tailed Beast Bomb as a model to create the seal-less ninjutsu, the Rasengan.
Compared to Tobirama and Minato, Li Anshi's use of the Flying Thunder God Technique was more geared towards evasion.
It was a means of self-preservation for when he encountered large-scale attacks that could reach him from over a hundred meters away.
The "Man-Dagger Unity" state allowed him to possess the property of cutting through anything, but maintaining it consumed a huge amount of chakra.
For Li Anshi, this was also a "finishing move."
He could rely on it to break through one or two powerful and threatening techniques, but he couldn't maintain it for long.
Once his chakra was severely depleted, he would have to exit the state. Otherwise, even he could be drained of all his chakra and die.
"That's true."
Nodding, Li Anshi no longer dwelled on it.
He had now completed his training of the Flying Thunder God Technique. Even though he had not yet integrated the ability to transfer himself and his daggers, it did not stop him from first creating a batch of daggers for teleportation as a backup.
"Thanks, Lord Hokage."
Waving at Hiruzen, Li Anshi walked out of the office.
"Since you're about to discuss the 'promise not to use Little Li's Flying Dagger first' proposal with the other villages, I won't disturb you."
"For the next while, I'll probably be in secluded training."
"If there's a mission that requires my assistance, you can have the Anbu find me directly."
"If nothing unexpected happens, I should be in my shop."
After watching Li Anshi leave, Hiruzen put away the Scroll of Seals, returned it to the cabinet, and reactivated the barrier.
As Konoha's most important legacy, Hiruzen was extremely cautious with the storage of the scroll.
The fact that the future Naruto Uzumaki had been able to successfully steal it was something any discerning ninja would know was fishy.
At that time, everyone had thought the Third Hokage was using Naruto as bait to lure out the mastermind, and that the scroll he had stolen was surely a fake.
Even for bait, the Third Hokage would never use the real Scroll of Seals.
However, no one had expected that in the fake scroll Naruto had stolen, there was a real jutsu that was perfectly suited for him.
"The Professor" was a title Hiruzen had earned after his prime.
This title was not only because he had mastered composite ninjutsu of all five elements, elevating his strength to the peak of the Kage level, but also for his exquisite mastery of ninjutsu.
After observing Naruto for twelve years, it would have been unreasonable if Hiruzen didn't know what kind of jutsu would best bring out his potential.
Perhaps this was also a way of expressing his apology to the late Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
However, with Li Anshi's existence, who could say if the future would still be the one he knew?
…
Under the tacit understanding of the great ninja villages, the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools seemed to cause no ripples in the ninja world.
In its place were two heavyweight pieces of news: Little Li's Flying Dagger making a move again after three years, and the Uzumaki clan's return to Konoha.
Three years ago, Little Li's Flying Dagger had burst onto the scene, establishing his name with the lives of nearly a thousand Cloud ninjas and becoming the first legendary figure on the "special pardon" list.
Three years had passed, and the rise of Sakumo Hatake had also drawn the attention of the ninja world.
He was the second ninja to trigger the "special pardon."
However, the appearance of two such pardons seemed to have made some ninjas question its value.
Those who had witnessed Li Anshi's skills doubted what means Sakumo could possibly have to be placed on the same list.
Those who had witnessed Konoha's White Fang in action questioned who was stronger, Li Anshi or Sakumo, both being on the same list.
Those who had seen neither in action felt that their reputations probably exceeded their actual strength.
They felt that Little Li's Flying Dagger and Konoha's White Fang were, at most, on par with the Kage of their respective villages.
But now, Li Anshi had once again used the lives of over six hundred ninjas from the four great villages to show the entire world the true weight of the "special pardon."
This was not just the word of the Cloud Village, but a terror witnessed by the four great villages and numerous smaller ones.
An encirclement of over two thousand people, and in a short time, he had killed over six hundred. The remaining thousand-plus ninjas had been so intimidated that they didn't dare to move for the three minutes it took him to slowly walk away with thirty-odd children.
Besides the news spread by the four great villages, Konoha was also heavily promoting the return of the Uzumaki clan. From now on, the Uzumaki were ninjas of Konoha, serving the village and, in turn, receiving its protection.
It was important to note that the current Uzumaki clan consisted of only thirty-odd children under the age of twelve, with almost no ability to protect themselves.
With Konoha's declaration, any other village wanting to make a move on them would have to think twice.
Not to mention, these children had been personally brought out of the Land of Whirlpools by Little Li's Flying Dagger himself. It was likely he felt a certain connection to them.
Provoking Konoha was not terrifying.
But if you provoked Little Li's Flying Dagger, not even your own village could protect you!
Of course, if the Uzumaki clan members became ninjas and died in a conflict during a mission, it would be because of their own lack of strength.
But if there was a planned and premeditated move against them, they had better pray that it was Konoha who came to seek justice.
While the entire ninja world was abuzz with these two pieces of news, no one paid any mind to the already destroyed Land of Whirlpools, or the resources it had left behind.
Even Konoha was the same.
Of course, this had a lot to do with the partial sealing jutsu data that the other three great villages had sent to Konoha.
And this data, after being confirmed by experts, had a few omissions but no errors.
After Li Anshi had broken into the Land of Whirlpools, he had stayed there for over three hours.
No one knew if, during that time, the people of the Land of Whirlpools had given the sealing jutsu data to the children to take with them.
What's more, even if the children didn't have the data, the wife of the First Hokage was still alive!
As the eldest daughter of the former Uzumaki clan head, Mito Uzumaki's marriage to Hashirama Senju was not just for show.
Her mastery of sealing jutsus was in no way inferior to her father, Ashina Uzumaki.
If the other villages dared to give Konoha fake data, she would definitely discover it.
At that point, the relationship between them and Konoha would become tense again.
Although Konoha's Little Li's Flying Dagger had taken some of the Uzumaki children, he had not interfered with their actions against the Land of Whirlpools.
Furthermore, after the country's destruction, the place where the sealing jutsu data was stored had not been destroyed.
The ninjas of the four great villages did not believe that the Uzumaki had simply run out of time or were reluctant to burn the data.
Little Li's Flying Dagger must have said something to them, which had made them fight to the death but leave the legacy of their sealing jutsus behind.
This favor had to be remembered!
He could pretend he had done nothing, but they could not truly act as if he had done nothing.
Of all the resources in the Land of Whirlpools, the legacy of the sealing jutsus accounted for at least half.
Besides, this was also a sign that Konoha had agreed to their previous proposal. Out of both reason and courtesy, they needed to honor their promise and give Konoha a copy of the data they had obtained.
Of course, while they wouldn't dare to alter the data, leaving out a page or two was unavoidable.
With so much data, it was only normal to miss a page or two, right?
The destruction of the Land of Whirlpools thus vanished silently from the ninja world.
…
"Tsunade!"
In the shop, several black lines appeared on Li Anshi's forehead again.
Lately, Tsunade had been getting more and more out of hand.
Before, she would at least leave him enough money in the drawer to post a mission.
But the last few times, he hadn't even had enough for that, and had had to go and collect the softwood himself.
Although collecting softwood was not a difficult task for him, Li Anshi had always kept the roles of "ninja" and "woodcarving shop owner" very distinct.
When he was a ninja, he would take on missions for payment.
When he was a shop owner, he would go to the Hokage's office to post missions to collect softwood, then carve and sell his works.
This current situation, being both a shop owner and a ninja, made him feel like an overworked beast of burden...
Working two jobs, and all the money gets taken by a woman...
Scumbag woman, hmph!