After a few quick leaps, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin landed in front of Shimizu.
"Not bad, Obito," Shimizu said with a hint of surprise. "You can actually keep up with Kakashi now."
Compared to before the war, Obito—the former dead last—had improved a lot in terms of speed.
Sure enough, war was the fastest way to temper a shinobi.
"That's because I've been training hard every single day!" Obito shot a glance at Kakashi beside him and puffed out his chest confidently. "After all, I'm Kakashi's number one rival. How could I possibly be weak?"
"With skills like yours?" Kakashi replied flatly. "You're not even qualified yet."
"What?!" Obito's eyes widened in shock. "Kakashi, that's not what you said earlier!"
"You literally just said I'd gotten way stronger than last time! Why are you putting me down in front of Senior Shimizu?!"
"That was only because I didn't want to discourage you," Kakashi said calmly. "I reluctantly gave you some encouragement."
"But now it seems like your ego has already shot through the roof. Someone needs to knock you back down a bit."
"Senior Shimizu, did you hear that?!" Obito protested loudly. "He's the same age as me but always talks like he's lecturing someone!"
"Alright, you two, stop arguing," Rin interrupted gently.
Then she reminded them softly, "…Didn't you forget why we came here?"
The two boys fell silent instantly.
"So," Shimizu asked, raising an eyebrow, "what exactly did you come for?"
He had deliberately come out into this empty wilderness to experiment with Wood Release so no one would notice.
Yet these three had still managed to track him down.
Clearly they had a reason.
Obito and Kakashi exchanged glances for several seconds before Obito finally spoke.
"Ahem… Senior , your Body Flicker Technique is insanely fast, right? We want to learn it."
Straight to the point.
Well—when someone was simple-minded, their logic tended to be simple too.
The goal was clear, at least.
And honestly, Shimizu didn't dislike that kind of directness.
"Hey! Who asks like that?" Kakashi elbowed Obito hard, clearly dissatisfied with his approach.
Obito immediately protested. "Then how else was I supposed to ask?! You were the one who told me to do it! And this is how I talk!"
"You're being rude. How could Senior Shimizu possibly—"
"Hey, hey, are you two done yet?" Rin cut in again, this time with a noticeably firmer tone. "What if Senior Shimizu leaves while you're arguing?"
The two immediately fell quiet.
The tense atmosphere vanished in an instant.
Shimizu almost laughed.
They were still just kids after all—every emotion written plainly on their faces.
So he answered bluntly.
"No problem. I can teach you."
"Yesss!"
Obito jumped up immediately, flashing a big V-sign with his fingers.
"'Shunshin no Shimizu' is going to teach us the Body Flicker Technique!"
…Shunshin no Shimizu?
That nickname had originally only circulated within the ANBU.
Had it already spread outside?
"Where did you hear that?" Shimizu asked.
"Everyone's saying it," Obito replied eagerly. "They say your Body Flicker is unbelievable—no one can match it!"
Kakashi scratched the back of his head.
"I always knew your Body Flicker was fast, Senior… but I didn't realize it had reached that level."
That level?
"Some people even say your Body Flicker is faster than Sensei's," Rin added softly.
Faster than the Yellow Flash?
The rumors were getting more and more ridiculous.
And yet instead of asking Minato, they came to him?
"We've heard all about your feats," Obito continued excitedly. "And that crazy Water Release of yours too."
Then his expression suddenly turned gloomy.
"…Too bad we can't learn that."
Obito suddenly looked indignant again.
"And then Sensei said he'll teach us the Flying Thunder God Technique once the timing is right. But I've already become a chūnin and he still says it's not time yet…"
"This is wartime! Who has the luxury to wait?!"
"Alright then," Shimizu said casually. "I'll teach you now. Listen carefully."
The three of them immediately straightened up, ears perked, focusing intently as they prepared to receive instruction from the famed "Shunshin no Shimizu."
In truth, Shimizu's secret wasn't complicated.
First, channel more chakra into your feet than an average shinobi would.
Then, through relentless repetition, train yourself to sense the exact point where your center of gravity lies.
Once you can pinpoint it precisely, unleash a large burst of chakra at that point to propel your body forward.
That was it.
But—
It had taken Shimizu ten years of relentless training to reach his current level.
Well… "ten years" was just a rough number.
In reality, he had spent nearly twenty years repeating that same dull, monotonous training before reaching his present mastery.
"It sounds simple… but actually practicing it must be incredibly hard," Obito said thoughtfully.
"Senior," Kakashi added, frowning slightly, "if you spend so much chakra just on Body Flicker, aren't you worried about running out of chakra during battle?"
Shimizu straightened his back proudly.
"I have a lot of chakra."
Right now, he truly had the qualifications to say that.
His reserves were already approaching the peak level of an elite jōnin.
"…."
All three of them looked at him with obvious envy.
Of course, the real reason Shimizu had poured so much chakra into Body Flicker was far less glamorous.
Back then, he'd trained it obsessively for one simple reason—
To stay alive.
He had discovered that the more chakra he dumped into the technique, the faster and farther it could propel him.
But there was no way he'd admit that.
It would completely ruin the heroic, dignified image he had built for himself.
"By the way, Kakashi," Shimizu said suddenly, "about that technique we discussed earlier—Chidori. I've made some new discoveries."
He formed a quick series of hand seals.
Lightning Release: Chidori Current!
Violent blue electricity erupted around him, crackling with the sound of thousands of chirping birds. In the quiet of the night, the dazzling arcs of lightning were impossible to ignore.
"This technique is called Chidori Current."
Then Shimizu formed another seal.
Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear!
A concentrated beam of blue-white lightning shot from the tip of his left index finger, piercing straight through a rock several meters away in the blink of an eye.
"This one is Chidori Sharp Spear."
The three young ninja were completely stunned.
Even someone with no technical knowledge could see the creativity and practicality behind those two techniques.
Without delay, Shimizu explained the mechanics, properties, and activation methods in detail—passing everything on to Kakashi.
"That's everything about these two techniques," Shimizu finished. "Kakashi, did you memorize it?"
"…I did."
"Senior, you're a genius!!" Obito blurted out. "You're even amazing with Lightning Release…"
The admiration and longing in Obito's eyes reminded Shimizu of his younger self.
Back when he had looked up at the Legendary Sannin the exact same way—
Hoping that someday, the weak version of himself could grow strong enough to stand where they stood.
"As long as you keep training consistently, Obito, you can reach that level too."
"Really? I can?" Obito asked, almost unable to believe it.
"Yeah. You can," Shimizu said firmly. "Look at how much stronger you've gotten just from training hard lately."
"A shinobi grows through small, steady efforts every single day."
"Kakashi is stronger than you right now because while you were playing around, he was still training. You know that, don't you?"
"…Yeah." Obito's voice dropped.
"So if you're just waiting to rely on your eyes—thinking you'll start working hard once you awaken them…"
"By then, it might already be too late."
"Time doesn't wait for anyone."
...
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