"I have a mission to handle right now. For the time being, follow my shadow clone—he'll arrange everything for you."
Gojo Yoru took Konan with Flying Thunder God to the hollow of a large tree in the Land of Fire. Then he created a shadow clone, pulled out a kunai, pressed it into Konan's hand, and warned her seriously:
"This kunai—you must carry it on you at all times. Once I'm done with the important business, I'll come find you using this method. Got it?"
"Mhm, mhm…" Konan nodded repeatedly, obedient as can be.
Yoru smiled and patted her head, then blinked back to Tsunade's side in a few jumps.
At this point, Yoru couldn't help marveling at Flying Thunder God's cost-efficiency.
The teleportation principle was somewhat similar to Summoning Jutsu.
As long as you could sense the Flying Thunder God formula, then regardless of distance—near or far—so long as you weren't teleporting a person with you or moving something with enormous volume and mass, the chakra cost was a fixed value.
If the cost scaled with distance, then forget Yoru's space–time chakra—even if you added up all his normal chakra too, he wouldn't even make it out of the Land of Fire before running dry.
From the moment Yoru split from Tsunade, reunited with Konan, arranged things, and returned to Tsunade, only about ten minutes had passed.
And in that short time, Yoru had gone from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rain and back again.
Including the earlier teleport from Konoha to the western border base, Yoru had teleported eleven times in total—one of which carried Tsunade—and it had only consumed two-thirds of his space–time chakra.
If it were intangibility instead, his genin-level space–time chakra could sustain full-body intangibility for less than ten minutes at most.
That might not even be enough to escape the tracking range of Tokiya's rat.
By contrast, Flying Thunder God could cross multiple countries.
That cost-performance… no wonder it was considered one of Shippuden's three great divine techniques.
"You caught up to me instantly…" Tsunade sighed, feeling how completely different this movement was. "No wonder Second Grandpa was once called the fastest ninja in the shinobi world."
When she'd appeared in the Land of Rain earlier, her first reaction had been to savor that long-lost sensation—like she'd been thrown back into childhood, when Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama were still alive.
Now she was simply awed by Flying Thunder God's power.
She'd been sprinting at full speed for almost ten minutes—who knew how many miles she'd covered—yet Yoru could catch up in an instant.
And when she thought about how the formula could be placed on a person too, she couldn't help feeling sorry for Yoru's enemies.
Once Yoru marked someone, unless they could instantly rip off that patch of flesh and then flee far away… it was basically a death sentence.
Yoru smiled and suggested, "Tsunade-sama, my Body Flicker is faster. How about I infiltrate Amegakure first and plant a Flying Thunder God formula, then come back to pick you up?"
"You weren't even at full speed just now?!" Tsunade's eyes went wide, disbelief filling her gaze.
Yoru didn't answer—he turned into a streak of black lightning and vanished from Tsunade's sight.
Tsunade's expression at that moment was exactly like Jiraiya's when he first saw Flying Thunder God—mouth hanging open, too shocked to speak.
Because she was so stunned, and because rain noise covered everything, Tsunade didn't even notice something even more terrifying:
Yoru's absurd movement speed produced no tearing wind sound at all.
This was the result of Yoru's efforts over this period:
Lightning Release chakra stimulating cellular activity + space–time chakra.
His first evolution had already enhanced his innate talent, making him naturally gifted in Body Flicker. And the ghostly, silent step he developed by fusing ordinary chakra with space–time chakra had already left even ANBU specialists feeling inferior.
After mastering Lightning Release nature transformation, Yoru's speed became even more monstrous.
When it came to speed, only those who also specialized in Body Flicker and Lightning Release could barely keep up with him.
To be faster than Yoru, you'd need someone who had trained Lightning Release to an extremely high level.
Those kinds of people were rare in the shinobi world.
And even they, when moving, inevitably produced that harsh tearing sound.
Only Yoru moved both fast and silently—at close range, it was like a horror movie jumpscare straight to the face.
At full speed, Yoru only needed a few minutes before Amegakure's outline appeared ahead.
To avoid being sensed, he used Earth Body Flicker to sink underground in advance, and also used intangibility to hide his presence. He infiltrated Amegakure smoothly.
After placing a Flying Thunder God formula in a sewer tunnel, Yoru blinked back to Tsunade and said, "The formula is planted. Tsunade-sama, let's go."
"Good."
Tsunade nodded, letting Yoru place a hand on her shoulder.
In the next instant, the scenery in front of them shifted from rain-soaked wilderness to a cramped sewer corridor filled only with the sound of drainage.
"Is this the central district?" Tsunade asked.
"Yes. I was worried the outside perimeter would be heavily guarded, so I chose a place like this," Yoru replied.
"Well done," Tsunade praised. Then she bit her thumb, formed seals, and crouched to slap the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Bang! White smoke spread.
A huge slug appeared out of nowhere—so large its head almost touched the sewer ceiling.
"Lady Katsuyu, I'm sorry to summon you in a place like this," Tsunade apologized first, then spoke respectfully. "Lady Katsuyu, I need your help."
"Tsunade-sama, long time no see," the gentle slug sage replied. Not only did she not mind, she even returned the greeting with honorific respect.
Then, as if noticing something, the slug sage tilted her head slightly.
Standing beside Tsunade, Yoru suddenly had the distinct feeling that Katsuyu was… examining him.
What she said next confirmed it.
Before Tsunade could even explain why she'd summoned her, Katsuyu leaned forward a little and asked Yoru:
"Esteemed sir… may I ask if you already have a summoning contract?"
Tsunade—who knew there was only one true Katsuyu and the rest were her split bodies—stared, stunned.
"Uh…"
Yoru also paused, then answered honestly, "I've already signed a contract with Ryūchi Cave."
A scene that shattered Tsunade's worldview immediately followed.
Katsuyu—always endlessly gentle with everyone—actually muttered irritably, "Damn it… that filthy snake got lucky and picked up a treasure."
Then she immediately returned to her usual manner and continued softly, "If you ever dissolve your contract with Ryūchi Cave in the future, Shikkotsu Forest welcomes you."
"Th-thank you," Yoru replied politely with a smile, though inside he felt a chill.
Katsuyu's abnormal reaction clearly meant she had seen something special in him.
And the only truly special thing about Yoru was the high-dimensional "screening" space–time chakra inside his body.
Even his shadow clones couldn't sense the original's space–time chakra—yet Katsuyu noticed it instantly.
The sages of the Three Great Summoning Lands really were no joke.
~~~
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