Days later, Pakura was back in Sunagakure.
Her mission was over, and she had returned completely.
From Sunagakure's point of view, Pakura had caused chaos in the Land of Fire and even slipped away from under Hatake Sakumo's nose. This was a huge morale boost. Even though they hadn't managed to kill the Hokage's son, it was still a win. After all, passing through a field of flowers without leaving a trace spoke volumes.
From Konoha's perspective, Sarutobi Ryo had forced Pakura to retreat and abandon her plans in the Land of Fire. She avoided the Land of Fire after that. This was a victory for Konoha, another success for the Black Grim Reaper.
Both sides felt like they had won.
But only Sarutobi Ryo and Pakura knew who would have the last laugh.
Namikaze Minato had been sent out, but he came back empty-handed - that was another matter.
However, the leaders of Konoha jumped at the chance to spin the story their way.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura announced, both internally and publicly, that Pakura had run away in a panic when she heard that Namikaze Minato was coming.
How many people actually believed it was another question entirely.
A week after Pakura left...
Sarutobi Ryo's training took a pause.
Having gained his fifth Kekkei Genkai, Sarutobi Ryo's overall abilities had jumped again.
First, he could now maintain over 15 Shadow Clones while training at full speed.
This meant he was training 15 times faster.
It also showed that Sarutobi Ryo's Chakra reserves, stamina, and Chakra control had all improved.
His Shadow Clones could last longer, too.
Most importantly, he now had the Swift Release.
Inside the mostly repaired Manor, Sarutobi Ryo took a step and immediately felt the difference.
It was as light as a feather, like his body had lost all its weight.
He leaped, and it felt like he was floating.
Sarutobi Ryo landed and savored the feeling.
"Swift Release!"
In the next instant, he vanished and reappeared on the wall.
"It doesn't need Hand Seals. It changes my body directly. This Kekkei Genkai creates power from within..."
After this first test, Sarutobi Ryo continued to train.
When Yamanaka Hui walked over from the courtyard next door, she saw... a black shadow constantly moving.
In the daylight, the shadow moved so fast it almost left a trail of afterimages.
And it was completely silent, like a ghost.
As Sarutobi Ryo's speed increased, the black afterimages became a series of black lines.
Yamanaka Hui struggled to keep up, her eyes darting back and forth.
Soon, she couldn't even see Sarutobi Ryo's shape anymore.
"It seems Young Master has mastered Swift Release. But this speed... it's incredible!"
His speed was now close to that of the best users of the Body Flicker Technique.
People like Namikaze Minato and Hatake Sakumo.
Whoosh.
Sarutobi Ryo stepped silently, reappearing in plain sight.
"Amazing..."
Sarutobi Ryo couldn't help but be impressed by the Swift Release Kekkei Genkai.
After just a little training, he was already approaching the level of Namikaze Minato and others.
With more training, he could easily surpass Namikaze Minato's Body Flicker Technique.
Then, the only Ninja who could match his speed would be Hatake Sakumo, the Fourth Raikage, and a few others.
Of course, Namikaze Minato was still young.
But even if he reached his full potential, as shown in the stories, his Body Flicker Technique wouldn't be as good as Sarutobi Ryo's Swift Release.
Unless he became the perfect Nine Tails Jinchuriki.
Namikaze Minato would have to rely on the Flying Thunder God Technique.
In Sarutobi Ryo's opinion, Hatake Sakumo was the best choice for the Fourth Hokage.
And for the Fifth Generation...
It would be a competition between him and Namikaze Minato.
So, thinking about it now wasn't a bad idea.
"Young Master, congratulations..."
Yamanaka Hui walked over, congratulating her Young Master on mastering Swift Release.
"The Konoha Upper Echelon have just issued an order. Iwagakure has launched a large-scale attack..."
Iwagakure had at least 15,000 Ninja.
Onoki wouldn't send them all at once, of course.
The growing number of troops showed that the Ninja World Great War was heating up.
It was moving from small skirmishes to full-scale battles.
So, the pressure on Konoha's front lines had increased greatly.
Kumogakure was also constantly harassing them.
Kirigakure had recently taken back the Land of Whirlpools and was now bothering the Land of Fire's inland areas.
Sunagakure was constantly causing trouble as well.
Konoha was facing multiple enemies at the same time.
In this situation, even experts like Hatake Sakumo couldn't be everywhere.
The Konoha Upper Echelon's plan was to use every Konoha Ninja to the best of their ability.
Sarutobi Ryo's mission was to go to the Iwagakure front lines.
The main force would handle the main battle.
Sarutobi Ryo's job was to sneak into the enemy camp and assassinate their commanders.
"Assassination?"
Sarutobi Ryo raised an eyebrow.
The Anbu's work was always connected to the dark side.
Assassination was common.
But taking out the enemy's leader from inside an army was difficult.
Luckily, he had mastered Swift Release, which would allow him to move without being detected and not be afraid of being surrounded.
"I'll give you the details on the way..."
Sarutobi Ryo left immediately, taking his Anbu Squad Six to Iwagakure.
Sarutobi Ryo sensed a trap in this mission.
Were the Konoha Upper Echelon getting nervous after seeing him defeat Pakura?
It was possible.
...
Two days later.
Sarutobi Ryo led his Anbu Squad Six to the Iwagakure front line in the northern Land of Fire.
Konoha was fighting Iwagakure in two places.
One was through the Land of Rain.
The other was through Land of Grass.
Sarutobi Ryo was currently located where the Land of Fire and Land of Grass met.
Iwagakure had crossed Land of Grass to attack the Land of Fire.
According to intelligence, they had a team of over 1,000 people in Land of Grass.
They were waiting for supplies before launching a large-scale attack.
Land of Grass also had a Shinobi Village called Kusagakure.
But because they were weak, they surrendered immediately and pretended to be dead.
Iwagakure didn't bother with Kusagakure. They were destined to be exploited.
The Five Great Nations required Kusagakure to build Hozuki Castle to hold important criminals from various countries.
So, Kusagakure spent a lot of money on this project and became very poor, making it impossible for them to rise up.
The Five Great Nations ignored them, using them as a training ground for new Ninja without any plans to destroy them.
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[T/N:
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