Though Richard had already used Aeroga and Wind Blade Barrage in front of Team 7, this was Konoha after all. It seemed too harsh to directly attack ANBU who were just following him with wind spell.
After lowering his hand, Richard immediately used the Body Flicker Technique without hesitation.
In an instant, he vanished as if into thin air.
Less than five seconds later, all four ANBU who had been following him were thrown onto the street one by one.
The Body Flicker he used wasn't any special version - just the standard technique.
But thanks to his superhuman speed, his Body Flicker was much faster than anyone else's.
To be honest, even without Body Flicker, just using his raw speed meant few people in this world could keep up with him.
After tossing the ANBU onto the street, Richard didn't continue attacking them.
"I don't like being watched," he warned. "Next time, I can't guarantee you'll make it back alive."
With that, he ignored the helpless ANBU, used Body Flicker to vanish from their sight, and continued toward the red-light district.
Though Richard had easily overpowered them, the four ANBU weren't seriously injured.
After standing up and exchanging glances, they quickly left without resuming their pursuit of Richard.
Richard easily reached the red-light district and headed to the same underground club he'd visited the night before.
The hostess at this place had impressed him, and he had no intention of trying somewhere new until he got bored of this one.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage sat behind his desk, listening to the ANBU's report.
These ANBU were the same ones Richard had just sent packing.
After hearing their report, the Third Hokage said calmly, "I understand. You've all worked hard. Go and rest."
The four kneeling ANBU stood, bowed to the Hokage, then used Body Flicker to leave the office.
After they left, the Third Hokage opened a drawer and took out a crystal ball.
Placing it on his desk, he immediately used the Telescope Technique.
Though "telescope" might seem like an odd name for a technique using a crystal ball, the ball was essential for this jutsu.
The crystal ball served as a medium to monitor the village or locate specific targets.
Simply monitoring the village only required adjusting the viewing angle.
Finding a specific person was more complicated.
To locate someone with the Telescope Technique, besides the crystal ball, you needed to know the target's chakra type.
Otherwise, you'd have to search every corner of the village manually.
Though the Third Hokage had never met Richard, he knew Richard possessed all five chakra natures: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water.
This wasn't information from Kakashi - Richard had filled it out himself on the village registration form.
When registering as a ninja, you had to note your chakra natures at the end of the form.
Though you could list false chakra types, doing so would only raise suspicion.
In Konoha, few ninja possessed all five chakra natures.
Without difficulty, the Third Hokage's Telescope Technique locked onto Richard.
What's this...?
Seeing the image in the crystal ball, the Hokage frowned slightly.
Richard was playing a flirtatious drinking game with a scantily-clad hostess in the underground club.
Though he wasn't doing anything completely inappropriate, it wasn't exactly dignified either.
He ditched the ANBU just to go drinking at a hostess club?
The Third Hokage had assumed Richard shook his tail because he planned to do something harmful to the village.
Instead, he'd just gone to an adult entertainment venue for drinks.
Well, technically, drinking at such establishments wasn't strictly legal.
After watching Richard for a few minutes through the Telescope Technique, the Third Hokage ended the jutsu.
He wasn't young anymore.
If he kept watching, he might get a nosebleed soon.
The hostesses around Richard were young with impressive figures.
After putting away the crystal ball, the Third Hokage frowned in thought.
Though Richard showed no signs of threatening the village, he couldn't ignore a stranger with elite jonin-level strength who had arrived just days ago.
After thinking for a while, he made a decision.
Since covert surveillance wouldn't work, they'd try another approach.
Decision made, the Third Hokage picked up the report in front of him.
The report detailed everything Richard had done since entering the village - or at least, everything the ANBU had discovered.
It covered exchanging 800 million ryō at the currency shop, trying every ramen flavor at Ichiraku, buying a house near the Uchiha district, purchasing a shop downtown and opening it today, and so on.
After skimming the report, the Third Hokage said, "Inform Yugao Uzuki to make contact with Richard."
"If possible, she should gain his trust and discover his purpose for coming to the village."
As soon as the Hokage finished speaking, an ANBU wearing a tiger mask materialized in the office.
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
The tiger-masked ANBU used Body Flicker and vanished.
Once alone, the Third Hokage picked up his pipe and began puffing away.
At midnight, after spending 3-4 hours in the underground club, Richard left the red-light district and headed home.
Though the hostess had been quite good, he had no intention of spending the night there.
He soon returned to his new home near the Uchiha district.
Just as he was about to take a bath and go to bed, he stopped heading toward the bathroom and turned to look at a large tree near his house.
Even indoors, his super vision wasn't hindered by walls or other obstacles.
Without effort, he spotted someone hiding behind the tree.
Seeing who it was, Richard frowned slightly.
The person watching him wasn't an ANBU, but Sasuke.
Staying up late to spy on me? What's this kid thinking?
Though puzzled by Sasuke's behavior, Richard didn't waste time guessing. He turned to the window and opened it.
Then he used Body Flicker to leave his room.
The next second, he appeared behind Sasuke.
"Did you want something from me?"
Hearing the voice behind him, Sasuke jumped like a startled animal.
He instinctively pulled a kunai from his ninja pouch.
Only after recognizing Richard did he put the weapon away.
"No, I was just taking a walk," Sasuke replied quickly.
"That's a good excuse," Richard said casually. "Taking a midnight stroll that just happens to lead you behind a tree where you can watch my house."
Hearing Richard's comment, Sasuke stopped pretending and said directly, "Last night you said you could make me stronger, and Kakashi-sensei also said you're stronger than him."
"But besides being better at taijutsu and the Body Flicker Technique, I don't see how you're better than Kakashi-sensei."
Richard wasn't surprised by Sasuke's doubts.
This wasn't the Sasuke who had trained with Orochimaru for two years and developed his own fighting style. This was the Sasuke who couldn't even use Chidori yet.
"From your tone, it sounds like you look down on physical skills," Richard noted.
"Let me ask you something: why do ninja learn ninjutsu?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a disdainful expression crossed Sasuke's face.
"Do you really need to ask? Obviously, it's to gain more power."
"And what happens after you gain more power?" Richard continued.
Hmm...
Sasuke was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.
"Whether you're learning ninjutsu or taijutsu, in the end, it's all about getting the power to defeat your enemy," Richard explained.
"In other words, as long as you defeat the enemy, the method doesn't matter."
"For example, there's no real difference between killing an enemy with the Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu or stabbing them with a kunai. The end result is the same – a dead enemy."
"Since the result is the same, why must we use ninjutsu instead of taijutsu?"
"If you can't even understand this basic concept, don't bother seeking revenge against Itachi."
"Forget the gap in Sharingan ability and ninjutsu – the difference in mindset alone guarantees you'll never beat him."
Richard looked at Sasuke seriously as he spoke.
His goal was to change Sasuke's belief that taijutsu was inferior to ninjutsu, but Sasuke didn't react as expected.
Instead, at the mention of Itachi's name, Sasuke's face twisted with uncontrollable killing intent.
Seeing this, Richard sighed and continued, "Anger can make you stronger, but only if you control it – not the other way around."
"I just mentioned Itachi's name, and you couldn't keep your anger in check."
"With your current self-control, you might as well forget about revenge and go to bed."
"You're so different from him."
"By the way, you already know his talent surpasses yours."
"He graduated from the Academy at age 7 with the highest scores, while you only graduated at 12 and weren't even top of your class."
"He awakened his Sharingan at 8. He passed the Chunin Exams and became a chunin at 10. He joined ANBU at 11..."
Before Richard could finish, Sasuke cut him off.
"Shut up!" he shouted, his face filled with murderous rage.
"Not bad eyes – very murderous," Richard remarked.
"Unfortunately, looks alone can't kill."
"Actually, I should say YOU can't kill with your eyes. If it were Itachi, he could kill with just a glance."
"His Sharingan is far beyond yours. You saw it that night when the Uchiha clan was massacred – a power you still can't even touch."
"You're asking for death!" Sasuke roared.
He pulled out the kunai he'd just put away and lunged at Richard.
He might have maintained some composure when Richard just mentioned Itachi.
But when Richard brought up the night of the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke could no longer contain his rage.
In a flash, Sasuke was in front of Richard, driving the kunai toward his heart with lightning speed.
For a genin, Sasuke's movement wasn't slow.
But to Richard, he might as well have been moving through molasses.
Just as the kunai was about to touch him, Richard raised his left hand, caught Sasuke's wrist, neutralized his attack, and lifted him off the ground.
With a slight flick of his wrist, Richard sent Sasuke flying tens of meters away.
SPLASH!
Unable to recover his balance in time, Sasuke hit the water like a rock.
Several seconds later, Sasuke climbed out, channeled chakra to his feet, and stood on the river's surface.
"Calm down, please," Richard said, using Body Flicker to appear near Sasuke.
He hovered in the air, looking down at the soaked genin.
"If that wasn't enough to cool your head, you're not qualified to be my student."
"You're right," Sasuke admitted, looking up at Richard. "I let anger control me just now."
"I'm not ready to face him yet."
"Help me. I want to get stronger."
"Not bad. At least you can admit when anger takes over," Richard nodded.
"You're Kakashi's student, so I won't teach you ninjutsu or anything like that."
"If you want to learn, come to me at night."
"When I'm home, I'll teach you how to fight – how to defeat and kill enemies in the shortest time possible."
Though Richard had mastered hundreds of jutsu, most were conventional techniques that any jonin could learn.
Apart from the Rasengan, which was somewhat special, the rest were standard ninja techniques.
When it came to teaching ninjutsu, he didn't think he could do better than Kakashi.
So instead, he'd teach Sasuke how to fight.
"Alright!" Sasuke agreed without hesitation.
"That's all for now. You can go home," Richard dismissed him.
Sasuke had only taken a few steps when Richard called out again.
"By the way, how much money do you have right now?"
Sasuke stopped, turned back to Richard, and asked with confusion, "I haven't counted exactly, but probably around 10-20 million ryō."
"After your mission tomorrow, take 5 million ryō and go to a shop downtown called 'That Weapon Shop.'"
"It's my store. There's a ninja tool there that would suit you."