For more than a year after returning to reality, the only thing that had accompanied Shimizu was endless, monotonous training.
Compared to his previous life, he no longer had to fight for his life.
Even so, he had still never truly relaxed.
Occasionally guiding the cultivation of the Five Mountains Alliance members and Xu Qing had already become his greatest form of entertainment.
Shimizu lowered his head and glanced at the new lake-blue phone in his hand. The time displayed on the screen showed that there were only a few days left before January 29, 2022.
After briefly recalling Xu Qing's phone number, he remembered that the other party had once told him that familiar yet unfamiliar string of digits more than a year ago.
As expected, the call rang for quite a while before it was answered. Shimizu still remembered that bad habit his former self had of keeping his phone on vibration only.
"Hello?"
"I'm going out for a few days. I won't be coming by lately."
Xu Qing froze for a long while before finally recognizing Shimizu's voice.
"Are you going on a trip?"
In his impression, Shimizu Uzuki was a mysterious, wealthy, powerful, disciplined… homebody.
Someone like him had something to do with travel?
"…You could say that. It's good to change your lifestyle once in a while."
"All right."
After a brief silence, Xu Qing asked again, "Where are you going? And for how long?"
"Nanhai. About a week or so."
"You're not going on the 29th, are you?"
At this point, Xu Qing's tone suddenly became a little strange.
"…You're going to Nanhai on the 29th too?"
"Yeah. Mr. Du Chengming invited me." Then Xu Qing lowered his voice mysteriously. "He said there's going to be a worldwide gathering of supernatural people at the Night God Palace in Nanhai, and that he can take me along to broaden my horizons."
"He thinks highly of you."
"My strength isn't exactly bad now, right?"
When Xu Qing said this, his confidence was clear. There was even a hint of pride in his voice, because in the current world, even people approaching Level 2 were few and far between.
"He only just texted me. I hadn't had time to tell you yet."
"By the way, you're going too? Is this a collective operation by your Five Mountains Alliance?"
In Xu Qing's eyes, Shimizu was also a disciple under the Five Mountains Alliance, and he had a good relationship with Du Chengming.
On top of that, his strength was quite unfathomable. Perhaps he had already stepped into Level 2 long ago.
Because Shimizu had not formed a close relationship with his former self, nor had he revealed or hinted at anything, Xu Qing's strongest impression of him was instead mystery.
Most of his understanding had been inferred from their usual interactions.
"You could say that. Don't forget to let your parents know you're safe when the time comes, so they won't worry."
"Of course."
"How are they… doing now?"
"They're both doing well."
"That's good. I'm hanging up."
"Mm… Bye."
Xu Qing ended the call, and a subtle, strange feeling rose in his heart. It seemed that Shimizu was… somewhat concerned about his parents.
This was not the first time the other party had reminded him not to forget to reassure them.
"Who was that? Is he going to the Night God Palace in Nanhai with us too?"
A young woman beside Xu Qing asked curiously.
From her appearance, she was none other than Lin Jingyan.
Beside her were Ye Xiaoqing, Li Shuwen, and Lin Tianhua. Clearly, the five of them had been having a meal together in this private room of the restaurant earlier.
"A friend."
Xu Qing thought back to Shimizu's attitude.
"He'll be acting alone."
"Tsk, tsk."
…
Back in that world, Shimizu had a habit of occasionally standing atop the Hokage Rock and looking out over Konoha.
Now, he stood at the top of the tallest building in all of Donghai, more than six hundred meters high, overlooking the entire city.
Unlike Konoha's quietness after nightfall, this steel forest still radiated vigorous life even at night.
Dim yellow streetlights illuminated the asphalt roads. Dazzling headlights streamed constantly across them. On both sides of the streets, colorful neon lights shone brilliantly.
This was the super metropolis he had yearned for so deeply in his previous life.
And yet, at this moment, he had long since stopped feeling anything for it.
The temperature had already fallen below freezing. The biting winter wind blew his black trench coat into a fluttering rustle. Thinly dressed, Shimizu stood at the highest point as though he felt nothing, slowly spreading his arms.
After coming to this world, his chakra control had now achieved a modest level of success.
For example, like now.
He opened his perception.
A ripple of pale blue chakra spread out from Donghai Center Tower as its core, quickly scattering into the distance.
Hundreds of meters. Thousands of meters. Tens of kilometers.
Countless flames of life pulsed within his perception, mixed among them over a hundred supernatural individuals who had stepped into Level 1.
This was different from the Second Hokage's contact-based sensory technique, and also different from the Byakugan, a Kekkei Genkai dōjutsu that could directly see through distant objects. This was an extremely refined application of Water Release developed by Shimizu.
At this moment, the countless tiny droplets of moisture drifting through the air were all his "eyes."
As long as there was no interference from another person's chakra, and as long as he did not encounter an extremely dry environment, his sensory range could expand to such an exaggerated distance.
Suddenly, two uninvited guests broke into the edge of his perception. They were supernatural individuals equivalent to Level 1 and Level 2.
But chasing closely behind those two supernatural individuals was a Level 3 "strong one."
A non-human?
Shimizu's phone rang.
"Senior Uzuki, help! We're being attacked by non-humans in Donghai…"
"All right."
Shimizu hung up directly. That had been Du Chengming's voice. Clearly, he and another Level 2 had been attacked by that Level 3 non-human.
At that moment, the target was forty kilometers away.
So, amid the wild, howling north wind, Shimizu slowly closed his eyes. Maintaining his posture with both arms spread wide, he leaped from the top of the tower.
…
"Du Chengming, where is this so-called savior of yours?!"
The driver of the Maybach had already been replaced. A young man looked at the stunned Du Chengming with rising anger. What kind of situation were they in, and this bastard was still dazing off?
"Call him already!"
"I already did."
"Hah?!"
He had not heard Du Chengming explain their current crisis at all. More importantly, Du Chengming had not even given a detailed location.
Was the other person supposed to rescue them from the sky?
"He said, 'All right.'"
"…"
Could this possibly be any more unreliable?
"Don't look at me like that. When he says all right, it really is all right…"
"I swear to—do you know we're about to die?!"
"Shen Tinghao, why are you losing your temper now?! If it weren't for your rotten idea, would we be in such a miserable state?!"
"Damn it! You agreed to it back then too!"
While the two of them accused each other, the shadow behind them gradually caught up.
Boom—!
The monster, with its exaggeratedly massive body, had already appeared before them and stomped down on the hood of the Maybach.
The enormous impact forced the rapidly moving Maybach downward until its front could no longer lift. The violent friction between the metal chassis and the concrete road even ignited a long string of bright sparks.
"We're finished…" Shen Tinghao murmured.
"Brake!"
Du Chengming did not need to remind him. Shen Tinghao had already slammed on the brakes at the first possible moment.
The huge inertia instantly sent the monster tumbling forward.
However, the expensive Maybach was now billowing thick black smoke.
The car was ruined, and with only their legs, there was no way they could escape.
"Then we fight. It's just a werewolf. I'm Level 2, after all!"
"You've killed me. I was supposed to be tomorrow's Level 2…"
The two got out of the car at the same time, preparing for a desperate last stand.
Yet beyond the thick black smoke, only the terrifying werewolf's low, agonized growls remained.
A trap?
But the other side had no need for that at all.
The two exchanged a glance, then cautiously moved around to the side. There, they saw that the werewolf, which had rolled onto the road moments earlier, had been pierced through by a massive pillar of ice.
"This is…" Shen Tinghao froze.
Du Chengming suddenly became bolder. After approaching the monster, he finally saw it clearly.
The three-meter-tall werewolf had been firmly nailed to the concrete road by an ice pillar more than four meters long.
They had thought they were going to die.
They had thought they were about to fight.
Yet the battle had already ended.
The werewolf's wails gradually weakened. Fresh blood flowed across the ground. The ice pillar had pierced directly through its chest, and its heart had probably been crushed to pieces.
Shen Tinghao walked over to Du Chengming's side and subconsciously swallowed.
The ice pillar had actually driven deep into the concrete. How much force had that required?
Level 3?
A Level 3 belonging to the human side?
At that moment, he finally reacted.
"This is the savior you were talking about?"
Du Chengming subconsciously nodded.
"But where is he?"
The two followed the direction the tail end of the ice pillar pointed toward and saw a figure standing on a utility pole in the distance.
"Damn, introduce me to him!"
"He's already gone."
Du Chengming spread his hands innocently.
Sure enough, when they looked back again, there was no longer anyone on that utility pole.
…
Shimizu walked along the road home, thinking back to the smooth feeling of using Ice Release just now.
Since this body now possessed talent for every chakra nature, by using Samehada's Water Release chakra, he could now freely combine five different Kekkei Genkai.
And Ice Release was the Kekkei Genkai he had practiced the longest after Storm Release.
Ice Release ninjutsu possessed excellent defensive power comparable to Earth Release, as well as the sharpness of Wind Release.
It was a highly practical Kekkei Genkai ninjutsu.
If, in his previous life, he had been given enough time to thoroughly master Storm Release, and then go on to develop Ice Release and even other Kekkei Genkai ninjutsu, then…
He sighed.
Still, among all his misfortunes, the greatest blessing was that he had not come to this world alone.
The current Samehada had already grown to more than a meter in length. The amount of chakra stored inside it had also increased, which naturally meant it possessed even stronger combat ability.
So although Shimizu's own chakra reserves had not improved much, his chakra control had undergone a qualitative leap. Samehada had grown considerably as well, and he had also obtained the astonishing talent for all chakra natures, along with five absurdly powerful Kekkei Genkai.
It could be said that, in terms of soft power, he had improved far too much.
He had indeed become stronger than before.
But his enemies…
Where were they?
The werewolf just now, a Level 3 creature powerful enough to become an enemy of all humanity, had not even been able to withstand a single move from him.
Could something like that… really be called an enemy?