As Hanzo the Salamander developed the idea of withdrawing...
The atmosphere of this battle line suddenly underwent a significant change.
During the day, Konoha dared not attack Amegakure again because Hanzo the Salamander personally guarded the city walls.
With the Body Flicker speed of this Demigod of the Ninja World, even if they flanked to the opposite direction of Amegakure, he could arrive quickly, or swap positions with a Reverse Summoning Technique.
At night, reconnaissance teams, Anbu, and the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan discovered that Amegakure actually stopped sending assassination squads to assassinate them.
Konoha ninjas thought it was due to Gojo Yoru's deterrence.
After all, in the entire Konoha, besides a few ninja clans and ninjas who weren't afraid of Amegakure's assassination squads, only Gojo Yoru, the Flying Thunder God user, and assassins second only to Hanzo the Salamander could hunt Amegakure's assassination squads in turn.
After Gojo Yoru returned, almost every night, Rain ninjas died at his hands, sometimes even wiping out an entire assassination squad.
Those qualified to come out and assassinate Rain ninjas were almost all Chunin and Tokubetsu Jonin skilled in certain fields. Cultivating an assassin of this level required not only selecting students with assassination talent from the Ninja Academy but also spending several years and resources to train them.
With Amegakure's small number of ninjas, even if one Rain ninja exchanged for two Konoha ninjas, exhausting all Rain ninjas wouldn't wipe out this battle line.
So Konoha ninjas all believed Amegakure was scared by Gojo Yoru's killing.
Amegakure's reaction gave both sides a breathing spell.
...
"What is that guy Hanzo up to again? Could he really be scared by the Gojo kid's killing?"
"Maybe it's just a delaying tactic, stalling for some purpose."
"Then should we continue to attack?"
"There's no need to add such unrewarding casualties. Let everyone rest for a while; it's a good time for a comprehensive resupply."
In a clearing in the rocky mountain area, several tents were set up, forming a simple command post.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru were communicating, while Gojo Yoru was training in another tent, having just achieved significant results.
The talent improvement brought by the second evolution made Gojo Yoru fall in love with training again.
Those profound Ninjutsu knowledge that he could only understand a little before, and even if he fully understood, his body couldn't execute due to limited talent, were now mastered by Gojo Yoru one by one.
Relying on terrifying Chakra control and the assistance of powerful basics and Ninjutsu knowledge, Gojo Yoru could even walk a path of inventing Ninjutsu, also achieving results.
At that moment, Gojo Yoru finally knew how amazing Senju Tobirama's Ninjutsu talent was.
He also finally understood why Orochimaru in the original work liked researching Ninjutsu so much.
For talent monsters, the feeling of researching and inventing Ninjutsu was simply wonderful.
Every time a Ninjutsu was thoroughly understood and every time a new technique was born, it not only meant becoming stronger and enriching the arsenal but also possibly discovering a new field and gaining a deeper understanding of Chakra.
In Gojo Yoru's eyes, it was another step towards the origin of Chakra.
"No wonder I understood it with my eyes and brain before, but my body wouldn't listen at all. This technique not only has extremely high requirements for neural reaction speed but also has equally high standards for Sealing Jutsu talent and Chakra control talent..."
At this moment, Gojo Yoru was training the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Last year, when he opened the independent scroll of this technique, Gojo Yoru learned it almost instantly, but the consumption for this technique was Space-Time Chakra.
Once Space-Time Chakra ran out, Gojo Yoru couldn't use the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Because his talent was limited, he couldn't condense the Flying Thunder God formula with ordinary Chakra at all.
Even though the talent improvement brought by the first evolution at that time made Gojo Yoru already worthy of being called a genius.
But such geniuses were a dime a dozen not only in Konoha but even in the Ninja World.
Even a genius like Orochimaru, seen once in a decade, didn't qualify to cultivate the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Now, having completed the second evolution, with talent transforming from genius to super genius, Gojo Yoru finally challenged the Flying Thunder God Technique again.
Unlike last year when he understood but couldn't do it.
Now, Gojo Yoru, who had welcomed huge improvements in all aspects, finally experienced the difficulty of cultivating a Super S-rank Ninjutsu.
S-rank Ninjutsu were already Secret Techniques that might not be learned no matter how much time and effort were put in.
But for such Ninjutsu, if a person with outstanding talent in that type spent a lot of time, there was still a high probability of learning them.
Super S-rank Ninjutsu, however, were simply techniques choosing people.
Not just one talent requirement, but multiple talents, and each talent had to be outstanding, even rarely seen in many years.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was such an existence.
The previous Gojo Yoru didn't understand why the Flying Thunder God Technique had requirements for neural reaction speed.
It wasn't until his return this time, killing in all directions on the battlefield, that Gojo Yoru understood why Namikaze Minato could single-handedly wipe out dozens of Iwa ninjas.
Powerful neural reaction speed was simply bullet time, spider-sense, a super-weakened version of space-time talent.
Others were at 1x speed, but he was at 2x, 3x speed... No wonder Namikaze Minato's Body Flicker was so fast and his combat reading ability so strong.
Before evolution, it was incredible that he could defeat such a guy.
Fortunately, he hadn't grown up back then; otherwise, Gojo Yoru would have been the one beaten.
Without powerful neural reaction speed, one couldn't cultivate the Flying Thunder God Technique, just as without powerful physical fitness, one couldn't use the Heavenly Transfer Technique for super-long-range teleportation.
If Gojo Yoru didn't have Space-Time Chakra, when he teleported using the Flying Thunder God Technique, his body would freeze on the spot, unable to achieve seamless transition.
Approaching the enemy in this way would be pure suicide.
Besides neural reaction speed, there were equal requirements for Chakra control and Sealing Jutsu talent.
When Chakra control reached a realm unattainable by ordinary people, combined with Sealing Jutsu and neural reaction, one could, like making storage scrolls, use ordinary Chakra hands to grasp a trace of invisible space-time power, finally condensing it into a space-time mark that would never disappear, which is... the Flying Thunder God formula.
The reason Gojo Yoru could understand before but his body wouldn't listen was that he didn't meet any of the three requirements.
Like him, there were Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and a host of other Ninjutsu geniuses.
But now...
Gojo Yoru examined the Flying Thunder God kunai in his hand, the corners of his mouth rising in an arc, his mood very pleasant.
On the handle of the kunai, a pattern was engraved.
Not the tomato pattern with the character "Night" inside, but an Ouroboros forming an infinity symbol.
Since completing the second evolution, apart from cultivating Lightning Release and developing new techniques, Gojo Yoru spent all his other time researching the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Spending more than a month, with countless attempts, Flying Thunder God formulas condensing one by one and then dispersing like ink, experiencing excitement and disappointment time and again... Gojo Yoru finally completely mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique.
From now on, his level of difficulty would rise again.
In the future, using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he no longer needed to consume Space-Time Chakra. Not only did his endurance improve significantly, but he could also use the latter for more things.
Otherwise, one teleport would consume a certain amount of Space-Time Chakra, making Gojo Yoru reluctant to use the Flying Thunder God Technique freely during combat, avoiding many attacks if possible.
Using secret techniques like "Hollow Purple" required controlling Chakra output, must leaving energy for one or two Flying Thunder God teleports.
But now, these restrictions and worries were all gone.
Just the second evolution brought him such a huge improvement; Gojo Yoru looked forward even more to the third evolution six years later.
"Yoru-sama, Orochimaru-sama and Jiraiya-sama are asking for you."
At this moment, a voice came from outside the tent.
"I understand."
Gojo Yoru put away the Flying Thunder God kunai and walked out of the tent.
Then he saw the command team packing up, seemingly preparing to evacuate.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya looked solemn.
Gojo Yoru walked over and greeted: "Orochimaru-sensei, Jiraiya-senpai."
The address quietly changed.
Not because Gojo Yoru became arrogant, but because Jiraiya requested it.
With his command in battle this year and the terrifying dominance displayed upon his return, Gojo Yoru had become a recognized Elite Jonin in the Ninja World, one of Konoha's ace combatants.
In future Jonin Meetings of the village, Gojo Yoru would not only be qualified to participate but would also have a very forward seat.
With such status, except for the Hokage, the Council of Elders, and Gojo Yoru's teacher, no one could bear his address of "-sama," including Jiraiya, Tsunade, Hatake Sakumo, Kato Dan, and the patriarchs of major ninja clans.
Gojo Yoru was already one of the top members of Konoha's higher-ups circle.
This was the benefit of war!
War kills many people. Even if the Five Kage participated, without intelligence advantage or falling into enemy ambush beyond their ability to handle, they would also die.
In nearly two years of war, countless Chunin and Jonin died in battle.
Their vacant positions must be filled.
Special moments, special promotions; this was the only shortcut for civilian ninjas.
Gojo Yoru was one of the beneficiaries.
If it weren't wartime, even mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique and possessing terrifying Ninjutsu talent, with a promotion speed as fast as Hatake Kakashi's, it would take five or six years to go from Genin to Jonin.
To become an ace combatant, one had to constantly execute missions, carve out a reputation in the Ninja World, and make both friends and foes recognize your strength and deterrence.
But in wartime, in less than two years, Gojo Yoru went from an early-graduated Genin to one of the big shots in the Ninja World.
His strength made the world subconsciously ignore his age.
The address and evaluation for him were no longer "teenage genius" but Black Flash and Number One Speed in the Ninja World.
"Yoru, prepare for battle." Orochimaru suddenly spoke.
The serious expression made Gojo Yoru raise an eyebrow: "Hanzo the Salamander is here again?"
"Mhm, the reconnaissance team has discovered his Chakra approaching us." Orochimaru nodded, but his gaze was somewhat puzzled. "However, this time he didn't come by burrowing or Reverse Summoning Technique, but openly using Body Flicker... just like last year."
Gojo Yoru understood his meaning and couldn't help but ask, "Orochimaru-sensei, are you worried he has another conspiracy?"
"Can't rule out this possibility."
Jiraiya suddenly interjected, speaking words that offended many people: "After all, you assassins suddenly acting openly must have bad intentions."
Gojo Yoru glanced sideways at Jiraiya and complained mercilessly: "Jiraiya-senpai, it doesn't matter if you're not handsome, the key is to have a sweet mouth and know how to please people. Like this, I'm afraid you won't be able to pick up Tsunade-senpai in your lifetime."
Jiraiya was instantly struck by lightning, his heart taking a critical hit, and his body turned into manga colors.
"Prepare for battle; let's see what tricks this guy is playing." Orochimaru reminded.
Gojo Yoru and Jiraiya immediately began organizing equipment, checking gas masks, goggles, and the quantity of antidotes.
Until there were no problems, Orochimaru let the command team retreat, and the three stayed put, waiting for Hanzo the Salamander's arrival.
This situation was obviously not the first time.
After a year of fighting, except for Gojo Yoru who had just leveled up not long ago, Hanzo the Salamander, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya had thoroughly mastered each other's intelligence.
If Gojo Yoru weren't there, they would only play hide-and-seek with Hanzo the Salamander or assemble anti-poison squads to force him back with temporary immunity to poison smoke and massive firepower.
But with Gojo Yoru by their side, they dared to fight Hanzo the Salamander.
The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan would watch this place constantly. Once confirming Hanzo the Salamander was the main body and his purpose, the command team would make the decision most beneficial to their side.
After several exchanges, they actually looked forward to Hanzo the Salamander's arrival.
This time was when Amegakure was weakest.
As one of the ninjas most skilled in the Body Flicker Technique in the Ninja World, Hanzo the Salamander's figure soon appeared in the eyes of Gojo Yoru and the others.
Appearing out of thin air on top of a rock several meters high, Hanzo the Salamander crossed his arms and looked down at the three.
Looking at this pinnacle of the Ninja World, with whom a huge gap still existed no matter how much they grew, Orochimaru and Jiraiya looked solemn. The former took out the Raijin Sword given by Gojo Yoru, ready for battle.
Hanzo the Salamander didn't waste any words and directly stated his purpose: "Let's have the final slaughter, brats."
Orochimaru and Jiraiya were slightly stunned. The latter shouted loudly: "Hanzo, what do you mean by the final slaughter?"
"If you can survive or escape, you will know." Hanzo the Salamander's eyes were full of coldness.
For the dignity of the Demigod of the Ninja World, and to prevent other ninja villages from underestimating him and the Land of Rain, attracting overestimating wolves, Hanzo the Salamander couldn't surrender and withdraw.
Even if he had to withdraw, he had to leave with the posture that the village lost but he didn't.
Only in this way would his strategic deterrence not decrease, and no other small ninja villages would dare to target them.
So, he prepared to fight the three strongest brats on this battle line again.
If he could kill one of them, he would show mercy and withdraw by sparing their lives.
If he beat them away again, he would announce Amegakure's withdrawal from this war with the posture of a victor.
No one knew Hanzo the Salamander's thoughts.
Gojo Yoru guessed the meaning of his words.
The capacity increase brought by the second evolution and the Space-Time Chakra stored in the Yin Seal gave Gojo Yoru great confidence.
Using intangibility, like Uchiha Obito in the original work, no one could sense his Chakra, and Byakugan X-ray vision would also fail. They couldn't distinguish whether he was Uchiha Madara or an impostor using Uchiha Madara's name.
Intangibility + Transformation Technique allowed Gojo Yoru to disguise and infiltrate perfectly like White Zetsu.
Relying on this combo, Gojo Yoru had found Nagato some time ago. Using the code taught to Konan over the past year that only the two could understand, he asked Konan to find a cave to set up a new home many days in advance and also learned that Konan had taken Nagato as a subordinate.
If Gojo Yoru hadn't changed Konan's fate, perhaps the Yahiko trio would have gathered long ago.
Calculating the time, in the original work's Second Great Ninja War, Amegakure should withdraw around this time, with Hanzo the Salamander sparing the Sannin and giving them the title of losers.
Now Gojo Yoru caused a butterfly effect, but there was still the "final slaughter."
It seemed Hanzo the Salamander was preparing to withdraw.
This battle might be the last one.
After this battle, the spirit of the Demigod of the Ninja World would also disappear, and then with each year of aging, his strength would decrease by a notch.
Hanzo the Salamander, holding on with one breath now, might be in his strongest state.
The transformation brought by the second evolution and the huge growth during this period made Gojo Yoru suddenly make a bold decision.
He said to Orochimaru and Jiraiya: "Orochimaru-sensei, Jiraiya-senpai, please let me fight Hanzo alone this time."
Jiraiya's eyes widened instantly: "Are you crazy? That's one of the pinnacles of the Ninja World. We three couldn't beat him before, and now you want to fight him alone?"
Orochimaru asked meaningfully: "Are you confident?"
"The current me is confident regardless of who the opponent is." Gojo Yoru grinned.
From the moment he developed the Dimensional Slash, Gojo Yoru's combat power was the most ambiguous existence in the Ninja World.
From ordinary people to pure-blooded Otsutsuki, he could cut them all.
After mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique, he could cut anyone and run away, provided the opponent didn't have space-time teleportation.
He only appeared weak because the capacity of both types of Chakra was too small, lacking endurance.
The reason he used ninja ranks to classify Space-Time Chakra was that Gojo Yoru didn't know the exact Chakra amount of the "Chakra-deficient" Hatake Kakashi in the future. Also, to make it easier for himself to understand the Space-Time Chakra capacity, he compared it with ordinary Genin, Chunin, and Jonin capacities.
If he knew Hatake Kakashi's Chakra capacity in the future, Gojo Yoru would only use half-Kakashi, one-Kakashi, two-Kakashi as units for Space-Time Chakra.
Now that both Chakra capacities had increased and the Flying Thunder God Technique was thoroughly mastered, usable with both Space-Time Chakra and ordinary Chakra, Gojo Yoru's current strength was even more ambiguous.
Let alone Hanzo the Salamander, as long as the opponent didn't possess stronger space-time abilities, Gojo Yoru feared no one and had the strength to fight them.
Orochimaru also knew this and was full of confidence in his disciple.
Thinking of his rebirth during this period, Orochimaru knew Gojo Yoru's Space-Time Kekkei Genkai must have grown considerably again.
If it were him, maybe he really had that confidence.
Thus, Orochimaru nodded: "Good, then Hanzo the Salamander is yours."
"..."
Jiraiya stared dumbfounded at his good friend, feeling the world suddenly become unrecognizable.
It was one thing for the disciple to be arrogant, but why was the teacher so arrogant too?
Did they forget how they were beaten into fleeing in embarrassment by Hanzo the Salamander this year?
Although they hadn't fought for a while, the gap between them and the Demigod of the Ninja World was still incredibly large.
Letting Gojo Yoru deal with Hanzo the Salamander alone now, even with the Flying Thunder God Technique and Black Lightning, there was no chance of winning, only running away.
It would be better for the three of them to besiege Hanzo the Salamander together, continuing to create opportunities for Gojo Yoru to use the meteor secret technique with incredible speed and amazing power that broke the Salamander's tail.
With luck, the chance of achieving another record was greater than Gojo Yoru fighting alone.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit Jiraiya, thinking of the secret Orochimaru kept from him and Tsunade... Gojo Yoru's secret.
Could it be that Gojo Yoru intended to expose the secret that he would become the God of Shinobi in the future?
Thinking of this, Jiraiya was instantly filled with anticipation.
If it was really that outrageous, maybe he really could deal with Hanzo the Salamander.
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