Shikaku's gaze at Kyuushin went from initial scrutiny to shock, and finally to disbelief. He couldn't help but swallow, speaking with difficulty: "Orochimaru, this… this is no laughing matter."
His assessment of Kyuushin's strength was that it could at most reach the jonin level, which was already extraordinary. A ten-year-old jonin, even after racking his brain to recall family records, seemed to be an achievement only a very few people in history had managed.
But now, seeing Orochimaru and Jiraiya's reactions, it was clear they intended to elevate Kyuushin's strength level even further.
Above jonin level?
A ten-year-old Kage-level expert?!
What an enormous joke!!!
He was about to get angry, but when he saw Orochimaru's serious eyes, it was as if a basin of cold water had been poured over him, and he quickly calmed down. However, he still looked at Orochimaru with disbelief, seeking confirmation.
"Don't look at me like that. Anyway, Kyuushin's previous strength was indeed similar to us three. As for whether he has improved recently, I wouldn't know."
Orochimaru's slightly hoarse voice sounded, but this answer was clearly not what Shikaku wanted to hear, so he turned his gaze to Kyuushin, who was sitting beside him.
Kyuushin looked at Shikaku's somewhat pressing gaze. Since it had come to this, he wasn't going to hide it and said directly: "Grandma Mito did say my strength has surpassed jonin."
"Hoo—"
After truly hearing this answer from Kyuushin's mouth, Shikaku couldn't help but let out a long breath, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy, and quickly sat down.
Orochimaru's eyes erupted with dazzling light, looking at him as if he were a treasure, yet he remained silent.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, had his head bowed, muttering something under his breath that even Kyuushin, sitting beside him, couldn't hear clearly.
Sakumo Hatake's gaze held no complexity, only pure admiration, and he said, "Good, excellent!"
But after this sentence, the atmosphere by the campfire fell into silence, and no one spoke again.
Kyuushin also felt a bit helpless, but seeing that everyone was silent, he could only pick up the now-cold lamb leg and started gnawing on it. He hadn't eaten since noon until now, and his stomach had long been rumbling with hunger.
The lamb leg's meat was indeed very tender and chewy. Jiraiya had grilled it just right. Although there were no other seasonings on it, it surprisingly had no gamey smell, only a mouth full of meaty aroma.
Kyuushin made quick work of it, finishing the lamb leg completely in less than ten minutes, and at the end, he wiped his mouth with a lingering sense of satisfaction.
After ten minutes of silence, Shikaku finally suppressed the shock in his heart, and reason returned to the forefront. He adjusted his sitting posture, then looked up and said to Kyuushin:
"Even if your strength is great, the final result will probably be the same as Lord Sakumo. At most, you'll destroy one or two outposts. As for after that, the Sunagakure shinobi will still run when they see you."
"Don't rush this question, Lord Shikaku." Kyuushin didn't answer directly, but instead asked: "If we search with all our might, how many Hidden Sand Village outposts can we roughly locate?"
Shikaku frowned, as if calculating something in his mind, then said:
"The Sunagakure outposts aren't very hidden; they don't seem to deliberately conceal them. We found a few before, but after realizing they were useless, we didn't continue searching.
Now, if we search with all our might, finding a dozen or so shouldn't be a problem. But not all outposts have Sunagakure shinobi, and the numbers vary. Some might have hundreds, while others might only have a few.
After all, they spend more time outside, and opportunities to act are limited."
Kyuushin pondered it. A dozen or so seemed about right. Assuming an average of thirty Sunagakure shinobi per outpost, a dozen would be three or four hundred, which was roughly one-tenth of the total Sunagakure forces for this operation.
After calculating, he looked up and said to Orochimaru and Shikaku:
"This number is sufficient. If we can eliminate them all, I estimate that Sunagakure won't dare to send out such small squads anymore."
"But you haven't solved the most important problem. You can't possibly eliminate Sunagakure shinobi dispersed across a dozen different locations simultaneously, can you?"
Shikaku's brow was tightly furrowed. At least in his mind, such a thing was impossible.
"I can, actually. What do you think this is?"
However, Kyuushin said the exact opposite of his thoughts, then took out a kunai from the ninja tool pouch on his waist and handed it over.
"Hmm? What? Isn't this just an ordinary kunai?"
Orochimaru took it, asking with some confusion. But then he seemed to discover something else, and couldn't help but lean closer to the campfire to make the light brighter.
"This… this is… Second Hokage's Body Flicker Technique?"
Orochimaru finally saw the formula carved on the kunai, but it was completely different from what he had seen before, so he could only guess.
"Exactly, this is the Space-Time Body Flicker Technique created by Second Hokage."
Kyuushin nodded, which instantly made Orochimaru's breathing quicken. He couldn't help but ask: "Kyuushin, what else do you know that we don't?"
But before Kyuushin could answer, Shikaku, who was on the side, was a bit impatient and asked: "What riddle are you two speaking in?"
Considering Shikaku's age, he was only about thirty this year. When Second Hokage Tobirama Senju was in office, he would have only been in his teens, so it was normal for him not to have heard of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Second Hokage was known as the fastest in the shinobi world back then, Lord Shikaku, you must have heard of him, right?"
"Indeed…" Shikaku subconsciously nodded, but then immediately reacted and couldn't help but ask: "Is this technique the one Second Hokage used back then?"
Kyuushin nodded, then briefly explained the general information about the Flying Thunder God Technique to him, and then continued:
"With this ninjutsu, as long as the coordinate formula is set up in advance, I can instantly travel between a dozen Sunagakure outposts. I can achieve complete success in one go, ensuring they don't receive any news. What do you think, Lord Shikaku, Sensei Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru and Shikaku both started thinking. According to what Kyuushin had just said, there was indeed a very high chance of success. However, this would greatly increase the risk Kyuushin had to take.
Although the Flying Thunder God Technique sounded impressive, they had never seen it with their own eyes, so they naturally still had doubts.
What if Kyuushin teleported there but didn't return? He would be surrounded by Sunagakure shinobi.
But just then, Sakumo Hatake, who hadn't spoken much, asked: "Can your technique carry people?"
"It can, but at my current level, I can only carry one at most," Kyuushin confirmed.
"In that case, you just focus on teleporting, and leave the killing to me."
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