Hearing Hibari's words, Tobirama wasn't angered. Instead, a smile appeared on his face as he said, "I never doubt the future you speak of. Sooner or later, Hibari, you will grow to be a stronger shinobi than me. This is also the future I anticipate and wish to see..."
Pausing for a moment, Tobirama stretched his shoulder, then continued, "But that's not now. The assessment of your strength is complete, and you've satisfied me greatly. Next, we'll see if you have the qualifications to learn and accept the Flying Raijin Technique..."
As soon as Tobirama finished speaking, he didn't give Hibari a chance to reply. He swiftly reached into his ninja tool pouch.
The next second, in Hibari's sight, Tobirama threw several kunai around the area, each one marked with the Flying Raijin formula...
"This is..." Hibari murmured, watching the scene with extreme vigilance.
Before he could think further, Tobirama's figure vanished. The next moment, he appeared behind Hibari, instantly kicking out with three swift kicks towards Hibari's back.
Fortunately, Hibari had maintained absolute vigilance from the start. The moment Tobirama kicked, Hibari quickly lowered his body, and a flash of lightning erupted from him. He then swept his leg backward, close to the ground.
However, just as Hibari's leg, imbued with Lightning Release power, was about to sweep Tobirama, Tobirama had already vanished from that spot. Immediately after, his figure reappeared directly in front of Hibari, and a short blade, appearing from who knows where, was in his hand. The blade mercilessly thrust towards Hibari's neck, as if aiming to cut him down.
At this moment, Hibari had no way to perform any other evasive maneuvers. However, his mind was quick. The instant Tobirama's short blade thrust forward, he raised his arm, allowing his Lightning Release Armor combined with the black armor on his arm to serve as an obstruction.
Grazing the blade of Tobirama's short blade, he skillfully deflected it upwards, changing the blade's trajectory. The blade, which should have pierced Hibari's neck, ultimately grazed Hibari's face and pierced into the back, the sharp edge creating a tiny cut on Hibari's face, leaving a trace of blood.
At the same time, Hibari retracted his sweeping kick. Just as he was about to counter, Tobirama activated the Flying Raijin Technique again, his entire being instantly vanishing from Hibari's sight.
Subsequently, Tobirama moved like an elusive ghost within the area, launching several surprise attacks on Hibari from various angles. Each time, he would strike once and then withdraw, without any hesitation or delay. Even when Hibari intentionally exposed several weaknesses, he failed to lure Tobirama in, instead suffering various blows himself.
As Tobirama's attacks increased in frequency, Hibari's body accumulated more subtle injuries. Even his black layered armor was almost 'forcibly removed' by Tobirama.
Hashirama, standing outside the arena, whispered softly, "Tobirama is testing Hibari's reaction speed. So far, it seems it's still not quite up to standard. Although he can parry, he's always just a tiny bit slow, and that tiny bit, for the Flying Raijin Technique, is already a world of difference."
Hiruzen also said with some regret, "It seems Hibari is still slightly lacking if he wants to learn the Flying Raijin Technique. What a pity..."
Just then, Tobirama reappeared in front of Hibari, his short blade directly thrusting towards Hibari's heart. Given Hibari's reaction speed, he should have been able to dodge, but this time, he merely lowered his body slightly, making no evasive maneuvers.
The next moment, Tobirama's short blade pierced through the protection of the Lightning Release Armor, thrusting straight into Hibari's shoulder, exiting the other side and bringing forth a splash of crimson blood.
Tobirama seemed not to have expected Hibari to react in this way. He hesitated slightly, and at that moment, Hibari bought himself this brief window of time. He quickly brought his hands together in front of his chest, then roared, "Raging Thunder!"
As his words fell, electric light surged over Hibari's body. However, this time, it didn't seem to be merely superficial like the Lightning Release Armor. Instead, a large amount of Lightning Release was constantly circulating within Hibari's body.
Meanwhile, Tobirama no longer hesitated. He vanished again, reappearing not far in front of Hibari, holding the short blade from which blood dripped downwards, looking at Hibari and pondering something unknown.
The Fourth Raikage, A, once used Lightning Release to activate his cells, which allowed him to achieve a instantaneous body flicker technique comparable to Minato Namikaze after activating his Lightning Release Chakra Mode. His speed was so fast that he was known as the 'Blue Lightning'.
However, that required years of continuous training and constant strengthening of one's body to achieve. While Hibari had also strengthened his physique, he hadn't reached that level yet.
Therefore, at this very moment, he forcefully stimulated his body with Lightning Release power. This allowed Hibari to burst out with extremely fast speed for a short period, but once the time passed, even with his incredibly strong physique, he would be fatigued for ten to twenty minutes before recovering to normal.
Previously, Hibari didn't want to use such a jutsu with side effects. After all, once he entered a state of fatigue, facing his grandfather would be like being a fish on a cutting board, utterly defenseless and at his mercy.
But now, he had no choice but to use it, because he clearly understood that if this continued, he would also be 'doomed.' Rather than slowly being 'tortured' to death, it was better to unleash his brilliance and perform spectacularly on this stage!
"Ojiisan, here I come!" Hibari said, looking at Tobirama.
The next moment, his figure was truly as fast as a blue lightning bolt, leaving a trail of lightning that couldn't dissipate in the air. He instantly appeared in front of Tobirama, then fiercely chopped down with a hand blade.
"Lateral Bolt of Pain: Chop!"
The moment the hand blade fell, Tobirama's figure once again transformed into Flying Raijin and vanished. This time, however, Hibari did not strike the ground with his hand blade. Instead, the instant Tobirama disappeared, he steadily stopped his hand blade in mid-air. At the same time, another blue electric arc cut through the air, and his figure also vanished from its original spot.
As soon as Tobirama landed with his Flying Raijin, Hibari's figure also appeared behind him. This made Tobirama's eyebrow twitch slightly. He had encountered such things before; many powerful shinobi had been able to keep up with his Flying Raijin speed using various clever methods.
Otherwise, Tobirama would have been invincible long ago. However, he hadn't expected Hibari to be able to keep up with that speed at this moment, which greatly surprised him.
"This time, I can see clearly!" Hibari murmured softly.
The next moment, he drove an elbow into Tobirama's back from behind.
"Elbow Bolt!"
The move was fierce, but it hit nothing. Tobirama's figure had vanished again. However, immediately following was a trail of blue lightning. The instant Tobirama landed, Hibari locked onto his position and pursued him with incredibly high movement speed.
Thus, one was rapidly teleporting, and the other was rapidly giving chase. In a moment, the entire area was filled with blue lightning afterimages. Whenever Tobirama's figure appeared, Hibari would transform into blue lightning and follow, the two of them one after another, as if neither could gain the upper hand over the other.
"Hibari's speed can actually be this fast?" Hiruzen said, watching the scene with great surprise.
If it were him, facing such speed, he wouldn't even be able to choose to keep up. He would only be able to adopt a defensive posture and seek opportunities to counter.
Although Hashirama had lost most of his power, his eyesight was still excellent. He frowned and observed for a while, then said, "Although Hibari seems very fast, he is indeed still a bit slower than Tobirama. Many times just now, Tobirama could have chosen to counterattack, but he didn't. I think..."
"Tobirama-sensei is still testing Hibari, right?" Hiruzen said softly after hearing Hashirama's words.
"Exactly. Tobirama is, after all, known as the 'Fastest Shinobi in the World.' Even if Hibari can make himself this fast, it's impossible for him to keep up with Tobirama so easily. And it seems Hibari's speed is..." Hashirama said with a smile.
"Gradually decreasing. It seems he can't maintain this state for a long time right now," Hiruzen said with a smile.
Tobirama, who was currently engaged in a 'chase scene' with Hibari, also seemed to sense that Hibari's condition was continuously declining. Previously, whenever he appeared somewhere, Hibari could instantly follow, but now there was a slight increase in the time gap.
'Reaching his limit?' Tobirama thought to himself.
This time, after he landed with Flying Raijin, he didn't immediately activate another transfer as before. Instead, he spun around, a kunai clutched in his hand. The next second, Hibari's figure appeared, and the scene now looked as if Hibari himself had run into the kunai.
At this critical moment, Hibari abruptly stopped his movement, then pulled back at an extremely fast speed, creating about two meters of distance.
"Good reaction," Tobirama said with a satisfied, soft tone.
As soon as his words fell, the electric light on Hibari's body gradually dissipated. Then, even the Lightning Release Armor vanished with it. Afterward, Hibari's legs went weak, and he almost knelt on the ground.
The Lightning Release power had 'raged' within him for so long. At this point, it wasn't excruciating pain, but rather a sensation of complete 'numbness,' and even some itchiness and soreness.
Fortunately, Hibari didn't lose face by actually kneeling. He staggered forward two steps and managed to stand firm. Then, his powerful physique began continuously alleviating the fatigue and numbness within his body.
"Using that move... wouldn't that just leave you at my mercy?" Tobirama said, looking at Hibari with a chuckle.
"How many people can be as fast as you, Ojiisan? Normally, my sudden burst of speed would catch the opponent off guard, and even a fatal blow would be very possible, right?" Hibari said somewhat helplessly.
"Perhaps..." Tobirama said with a smile. Then, looking at Hibari's somewhat helpless expression, he smiled and said, "I already told you, if you want to defeat me, that's in the future, not now... However, you certainly gave me a big surprise. To be able to precisely control yourself under that kind of high-speed movement means..."
"I'm qualified to learn Flying Raijin, right?" Hibari asked, a hint of excitement in his voice.
Tobirama's lips curved upward as he smiled and said, "That's right, you're qualified. When we go back, come learn Flying Raijin with me!"
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are 50+ advance chapters available for you to read!