Chapter 6

As soon as Sosuke's words fell, the Jōnin, whose heart had been pierced, was suddenly surrounded by blue lightning.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a complete human into a humanoid piece of charred coal.

The smell of burnt flesh filled the air, confirming that this time, the man had indeed died—not just pretending, as Sosuke had done before!

With a radar-like sense of everything happening around him, Sosuke wasn't caught off guard by the sneak attack.

In fact, before the four enemies even found him, Sosuke had already sensed their presence. He had only left behind a decoy earlier to lure them into his trap.

The moment Sosuke truly appeared, one of the four enemies was already defeated!

After realizing the danger, they no longer dared to underestimate Sosuke and hurriedly used the Body Flicker Jutsu to create distance between themselves and him.

Based on previous intelligence and his recent performance, Sosuke was undoubtedly a shinobi specializing in close combat.

The best way to deal with such an opponent was to maintain distance and use ninjutsu to attack him.

After taking down one enemy, Sosuke glanced at the remaining three and couldn't help but feel them with a slightly higher level of respect.

However, despite their formation, they still couldn't make up for the difference in speed.

Their hand-seal speed might be impressive, but at this moment, Sosuke had the power of lightning on his side!

Even though his abilities weren't as fast as real lightning because of some limits, Sosuke was still far faster than these Jōnin when forming seals!

However, among the group, the leader was different, and Sosuke couldn't quite figure out his strength. 

There was only one likely explanation for this: This man was an Elite Jōnin.

In the era of Konoha, around the time of the Second Shinobi War, the number of shinobi capable of reaching Elite Jōnin level was likely fewer than ten in total.

Moreover, Elite Jōnin were usually the strongest shinobi from the major shinobi clans yet now, such a person had been sent to assassinate him!

He never expected that one day, a mere Tokubetsu Jōnin like him would be treated like a Kage-level enemy.

After all, Elite Jōnin often mastered powerful secret ninjutsu, and even a Kage could be killed if they let their guard down.

Sosuke hadn't expected that Danzo, that old fox, would be so cautious—sending even an Elite Jōnin just to take him out!

Staring at the three shinobi surrounding him, Sosuke slowly held his breath.

He had only recently obtained his abilities and couldn't fight for too long. 

He had to end this quickly!

In the next instant, a loud thunder roared again, and before the three could react, Sosuke's figure vanished completely from their sight.

Seeing the situation, the three immediately retreated and began forming hand seals at high speed.

Before they could even finish half their jutsu, Sosuke had already appeared right in front of one of them with just a blur of shadow.

After realizing the threatening situation, one of the shinobi hastily switched to the hand seal for the Substitution Jutsu to escape!

However, before he could even complete the first seal, Sosuke's blade had already severed his head!

The severed head spun through the air in a perfect arc. Even as it hit the ground, the man could hardly believe that such lightning-fast speed belonged to a mere Tokubetsu Jōnin.

Before the head had settled, Sosuke had already appeared beside the other Jōnin.

This one had a rather unique ninjusu, just as Sosuke arrived, his body transformed into an illusory shadow and rushed straight toward him!

Seeing this move, Sosuke's eyes lit up. He quickly used his speed advantage to dodge the shadow.

He recognized this technique right away and instantly guessed who this Jōnin was.

"Dan Kato!"

This ninjutsu was Kato Dan's Spirit Transformation Jutsu, a jutsu that allowed direct control over an enemy's body while attacking their mind.

He knew his mental strength wasn't strong enough, and he dared not let the shadow touch him recklessly.

He hadn't expected that even Kato Dan was working for Danzo, which meant that Danzo had completely manipulated Tsunade.

If he hadn't appeared, Danzo would have used Kato Dan to manipulate Tsunade. Then, by orchestrating Kato Dan's death and using the opportunity to kill Tsunade's younger brother, Danzo would have driven Tsunade into complete despair, forcing her to leave Konoha.

Danzo's methods seemed far more ruthless than he had initially imagined. Even though he knew Dan, Sosuke wouldn't show mercy in a life-or-death battle.

The Spirit Transformation Jutsu might seem powerful, but it still relied on the user's physical body, and Dan couldn't maintain his spirit form indefinitely.

Seizing this opportunity, Sosuke flickered beside Dan's motionless body. 

Since he couldn't move at that moment, Sosuke struck with lightning speed without hesitation.

In just the blink of an eye, Sosuke had sliced Dan's body in half!

The spirit form of Dan, still hovering in the air, instantly lost control when his real body was cut, forcing him to return to his body immediately.

From a distance, the Elite Jōnin watched in shock as his subordinates were annihilated in mere moments.

He became extremely fearful of Sosuke.

This terrifying speed and his clean, flawless kenjutsu instantly reminded him of Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake!

It was well known that at this time, White Fang was second only to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo in terms of strength within Konoha. Even the Kage of other villages would remain fully alert and cautious when facing him!

This left the leading Elite Jōnin even more bewildered.

In the next instant, a sharp clang rang out, and this time, Sosuke's sword didn't cut off the enemy's head. Instead, it clashed in midair with the sword of the Elite Jōnin!

After this single strike, the Elite Jōnin understood more about Sosuke's fighting style.

He was really fast, but the force behind his sword wasn't strong, and his technique relied more on speed and surprise attacks.

However, Sosuke's sword seemed much sharper! It even slightly cut the Jōnin's sword, even though they were made of the same material!

"Lightning Chakra Enhancement…?"

The Elite Jōnin murmured to himself.

Sosuke also became serious. 

As expected, no elite Jōnin was easy to deal with, and the enemy's experience had barely tracked his usually unstoppable speed!

'I was sure this Jōnin didn't possess Sharingan or any other advanced sensory abilities. That meant the shinobi had relied solely on his eyes and battle instincts to track my movements.'

Such a strong enemy, Sosuke didn't hold back. He immediately launched attacks from dozens of different angles!

The elite Jōnin had no choice but to defend against the relentless strikes and had no chance to counterattack!