Of course, this was all theoretical.
Shiraishi Gisei didn't possess the Sharingan; he could only rely on his raw perception to control his chakra. If Madara Uchiha had paired this technique with his Sharingan, his control would undoubtedly have been far superior to Gisei's.
Gisei raised his hand and threw the first shuriken at Hanzo. One second later, he threw the second, followed immediately by the third.
The first shuriken was incredibly fast. Hanzo narrowed his eyes and blocked it with his kusarigama.
The moment the metal clashed, Gisei moved.
A streak of lightning flashed, and he instantly appeared right in front of Hanzo.
Hanzo's pupils contracted sharply. Without thinking, he slashed down with his kusarigama.
"Secret Technique: Butterfly Clone." (Hiden: Chō Bunshin.)
The kusarigama struck Gisei, splitting him clean in half.
Instead of blood, butterflies scattered in every direction.
At that exact moment, the second shuriken reached Hanzo's eyes.
Hanzo tilted his head slightly, letting the blade fly past, barely grazing his ear.
Lightning flashed again!
"Lightning Release: Scorching Stream Kill!"
Gisei used the Body Flicker Technique to appear behind Hanzo, his fist radiating terrifying heat as he drove it toward Hanzo's heart.
Simultaneously, the third shuriken arrived at Hanzo's eyes.
An instant pincer attack from front and back.
Sensing the fatal crisis behind him, Hanzo ignored the shuriken and whipped around, using his kusarigama to block Gisei's fist.
A deafening boom erupted from the collision, kicking up a fierce wind.
Hanzo realized then that the battle had fallen completely into his opponent's rhythm. If this continued, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Ninja Art: Body Flicker Technique!"
Hanzo flickered to the ground, staring up at the brat standing on his salamander, falling into silence.
The salamander, Ibuse, began to get restless, its tail suddenly whipping toward Gisei.
Lightning lit up the air again.
Gisei reappeared next to Sakumo Hatake and the others, landing perfectly on the shuriken he had pinned to a tree earlier.
The scene went quiet.
The battle had seemed long, but in reality, it had lasted only three seconds.
In those three seconds, Gisei had used the Lightning Body Flicker three times in a row, relying on his absolute speed advantage to catch Hanzo off guard.
Hanzo raised his kusarigama. The blade, glowing red from the heat, had snapped in half, with molten iron still dripping from the break.
He reached back and pulled a shuriken from behind him, examining it closely.
It was the third shuriken Gisei had thrown. The chakra thread attached to it had snapped when he flickered back. Now, it was just an ordinary piece of metal.
Hanzo tossed both the shuriken and the broken kusarigama to the ground.
"That speed... amazing!"
"Brat, state your name, and I'll let you go."
Hanzo knew very well the toll that kind of speed took on the body. Although the boy looked unharmed, he definitely wasn't feeling relaxed. Compared to Gisei's internal strain, Hanzo's external injuries weren't even worth mentioning.
And he was right.
Three seconds, one flash per second.
Gisei could already feel that tiny blood vessels in his body had ruptured. Mentally, he was exhausted.
Sakumo noticed it immediately and hurried over to carry him on his back.
Gisei let out a breath of relief and quickly began using medical ninjutsu to treat his internal injuries. Unlike external wounds, internal damage could leave permanent aftereffects if not treated immediately.
As for Hanzo asking for his name, Gisei wasn't that stupid. Ninjas took pride in remaining unknown, and he was currently an Anbu on a mission, wearing a mask.
Seeing Gisei remain silent, Hanzo seemed to understand.
"That is truly regrettable."
"Brat, live on with the title of Swift Thunder (Shitsurai). One day, we will meet again."
Hanzo jumped onto Ibuse, and the salamander began to slowly sink into the earth.
By the time they could no longer sense any enemy chakra, ten minutes had passed.
Gisei jumped down from Sakumo's back.
"Captain, I'm fine now."
Sakumo let out a sigh of relief. "You... that was amazing!"
Hanadanuki gave him a thumbs-up, and even Shintori, the usually taciturn woman, looked at him in disbelief.
"I heard the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique was the fastest in the ninja world. I think your Lightning Body Flicker is no worse than the Flying Thunder God."
Hanadanuki sighed with emotion. "The day has finally come. It seems we'll have to call you Lord Swift Thunder from now on."
Gisei's face darkened. "What Swift Thunder? I wouldn't want such a tacky title even if you gave it to me. Ninjas should take pride in being unknown. I am an Anbu."
Sakumo suddenly asked, "How many times can you use that Lightning Body Flicker in one breath?"
Gisei fell silent.
Sakumo quickly realized his mistake. "Sorry, I couldn't curb my curiosity."
Gisei shrugged. "You saw it. I used it three times and I'm tired as a dog. If I kept going, my blood vessels would burst. That was my limit."
Actually, he could use it a few more times, but there was no need to mention that.
"Captain, do we continue the mission? We haven't obtained any intelligence on this trip."
"It doesn't matter. We fought off Hanzo the Salamander. Even if we go back empty-handed, the Third won't blame us."
Hanzo returned to the Land of Rain.
Someone immediately reported that the team pursuing Danzo had failed.
There wasn't the slightest look of surprise on Hanzo's face. He knew that without him personally leading the chase, relying on his useless subordinates would accomplish nothing.
After all, the only real power the Rain Village had was himself.
Behind him, a subordinate asked in a low voice, "Lord Hanzo, why did you let that brat go?"
Hanzo sighed, ignoring the question.
Whether or not he killed the brat wasn't important. What mattered was that Konoha's attitude toward the Hidden Rain was getting tougher.
If this continued, he wouldn't be surprised if Konoha declared war on the Land of Rain tomorrow.
The Land of Rain wasn't ready for war.
He wasn't ready for war.
Chasing Danzo had mostly been for show. Even if he had caught him, he would have just used him to negotiate with Konoha and buy time.
It's just...
That streak of lightning, fast to the extreme, flashed before his eyes again.
Talented people just keep appearing in Konoha...
Three days later, the gates of Konoha Village appeared in the distance.
After returning home, Gisei took off his Anbu uniform and changed into loose clan robes. He lay in the courtyard, lit a cigarette, and smoked it comfortably.
When he finished, he used Reverse Summoning to transport himself to Butterfly Habitat Valley.
The valley had completely changed appearance.
On the right side of the square, there were many more iron cages now. Inside were over a dozen locked-up ninjas.
When they saw Gisei, they couldn't help but shiver, shrinking desperately to the back of their cages.
These were all experimental subjects Gisei had brought back using the convenience of his missions. As for the bandits from before, he and Mei had long since played them to death. Bandits were ordinary people, after all; they couldn't withstand many experiments.
He found his research plan on the table in the center of the square.
At the very top of the list was his research on cell activation.
This project had hit a bottleneck and needed various instruments to proceed. Butterfly Habitat Valley didn't have the conditions—there was no electricity here, for one.
"It seems I'll have to establish a secret base in Konoha..."
He looked toward the ninjas locked in the cages and revealed a smile as bright as sunshine.