Chapter 22: Body Flicker Training
The shuriken competition didn't demonstrate much overall growth, as many students had already performed well the previous year.
In the taijutsu tournament, among the top-ranked competitors, only Uchiha Rai and Shimura Shin made significant measurable progress.
Considering these results, Kaito speculated that his outstanding performance in last year's Leaf Concentration examination might have caused everyone to focus intensively on improving that particular skill.
However, the three Inuzuka Clan students performed considerably better and more aggressively than last year.
Due to their poor exam results the previous year, their family had subjected them to "special" intensive training to prevent further disgrace to the clan's reputation.
During one particularly intense match, an Inuzuka boy shouted desperately:
"I'll defeat you no matter what! I never want to go through that kind of hellish training again!"
Hearing this outburst, the other two Inuzuka students also grimaced with obvious understanding.
Kaito vaguely understood the implication and thought to himself:
This world desperately needs laws protecting children from abusive training methods!
Sadly, the Inuzuka clan boy was still mercilessly defeated by Shimura Shin, making everyone present feel sympathy for the poor child.
However, the taijutsu competition did provide Kaito with an excellent opportunity to test his own progress. He felt very satisfied with the results.
After releasing the Gravity Seal, his body moved noticeably faster, and his strikes landed with significantly greater force.
He fought Senju Teru to a draw in their match—an impressive result.
After the first week of classes concluded, Kaito walked into the Library and entered Section D. He thought to himself:
I've practiced the Substitution Jutsu over a thousand times now. I still can't reduce the required hand seals. Honestly, if it requires three full seals, this technique becomes almost completely useless against competent shinobi. Even an ordinary genin can recognize the seal sequence and become immediately vigilant.
However, Kaito believed it might still prove effective against common bandits or untrained opponents.
Regardless, he suspected it would require several more years of dedicated practice to successfully reduce the seal requirement.
So he decided to shift focus toward learning new techniques instead.
He quickly located the jutsu he wanted to study next. He felt genuinely excited to learn this particular technique—it was one of his favorites from the series.
After finding the scroll, he softly muttered, "Body Flicker Jutsu."
He found a secluded corner to sit and began reading the instructional scroll carefully.
After thoroughly analyzing the content, he concluded:
Well, this technique is simultaneously simple and complex.
It was simple because it only required one hand seal—the Tiger seal. Therefore, the chakra molding method was relatively straightforward.
It was complex because actually executing this jutsu properly proved extremely difficult.
One had to concentrate substantial amounts of chakra specifically in the legs to achieve such high-speed movement.
According to the scroll's guidance, initially practitioners could only flicker a few meters at most.
Only when one could consistently flash over one hundred meters away was the technique considered truly learned.
The scroll also mentioned using smoke bombs or leaves before employing this jutsu so enemies couldn't accurately predict your flickering direction.
Additionally, it was critically important to ensure you didn't accidentally collide with people or solid objects when using this high-speed movement technique.
Kaito felt his developing abilities as a Sensor-type might significantly help him avoid obstacles during flickering.
However, there wasn't actually a "maximum flickering distance" per se, but rather the key factor was duration—how long one could maintain the technique continuously.
Kaito had originally assumed that escaping using this jutsu would require learning to flicker multiple times in rapid succession.
But in reality, it was about sustaining the technique. So if you could flicker one hundred meters in one second and maintain the chakra flow for ten seconds continuously, you could cover a full kilometer.
Kaito thought this was actually preferable—more convenient than repeatedly activating the jutsu again and again.
After memorizing the entire technique from the scroll, Kaito departed the Library.
He used the Transformation Jutsu to disguise himself as an unfamiliar thirteen-year-old boy and appeared in an empty alley. Then he ran toward a nearby small forest.
He circled through that forest area, using his sensory abilities to detect if any chakra signatures were present. Then he concluded:
Alright, this forest is clear of people. And I'm thoroughly disguised. So I can begin training safely.
Although a densely wooded forest isn't ideal for practicing the Body Flicker Jutsu, since my initial flickering distance will be very short, it shouldn't pose problems. However, once I start flickering long distances, I'll definitely need to find an open training area.
He then began practicing this new technique intensively.
Kaito spent the following months training peacefully. His physical conditioning continuously improved due to the Gravity Seal training he'd imposed on himself.
He gradually increased the seal's pressure by 0.1% increments whenever he adapted.
At the Academy, Genki began teaching the Transformation Jutsu to the class.
Kaito experimented and discovered it was surprisingly easy to fake hand seals without actually molding any chakra.
But he felt this approach was wasteful of training time... So he tried a different method.
He began deliberately skipping the first hand seal, but while transitioning to the second seal, he attempted to mold the chakra for the first seal without the physical aid of forming it.
In this manner, he practiced performing these jutsu with one fewer hand seal than required.
As expected, Senju Teru and Uchiha Rai demonstrated the most natural talent for ninjutsu techniques. They constantly competed for the top two rankings.
No matter how diligently Shimura Shin trained, he could only manage third place.
Hyuga Hodaka, Hyuga Hana, and the Aburame clan student competed among themselves for positions four through six.
Kaito deliberately maintained his Transformation Jutsu ranking at tenth place, his Clone Jutsu at seventh, and his Substitution Jutsu at eighth.
Although he learned the proper chakra molding within three days, it took him a full month to successfully execute the Body Flicker Jutsu for the first time.
Even then, he could only flicker a few meters forward.
During the following month, instead of immediately trying to increase flickering distance, he focused entirely on improving his activation speed and successfully achieved instantaneous execution without requiring any hand seals whatsoever.
Within that month alone, he practiced thousands of repetitions to accomplish this goal.
Next, he began focusing on extending the range of the Body Flicker Jutsu. It required four and a half months of dedicated training to consistently reach one hundred meters per flicker.
Then he started concentrating on maintaining the Body Flicker Jutsu for progressively longer durations.
It was during this training period that the incident involving Kumogakure's attempted kidnapping of Hyuga Hinata and the subsequent death of Hizashi Hyuga occurred.
The next day at the Academy, both Hyuga Hodaka and Hyuga Hana appeared unusually somber and serious.
To accurately measure his progress, Kaito purchased a stopwatch from a shinobi equipment shop.
Six months later, he could flicker four hundred meters in less than four seconds. He thought with satisfaction:
My original plan was to begin learning elemental ninjutsu at this point, but the Body Flicker Jutsu genuinely has more advanced applications I want to master. I'll continue with this. Training the Body Flicker to an elite level will prove critically important for future survival and mission success.
He continued his Body Flicker training intensively. By the end of the second year's final exams, Kaito could successfully maintain the technique for 12.76 seconds and had traveled 1.9 kilometers in a single continuous use.
He could also change direction mid-flicker now, although he couldn't do it frequently or sharply yet.
And he could successfully flicker through dense forest terrain while avoiding collision with trees—a significant achievement in obstacle navigation.
He felt very satisfied with this remarkable progress.
At the Academy, he'd successfully reduced the hand seals required for the Transformation Jutsu and Clone Jutsu by one seal each, and the Substitution Jutsu was extremely close to being reduced by two seals.
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