Having annihilated the three Hidden Cloud ninjas with Flash Release, Satoru didn't waste time and pursued Shi and his men at maximum speed.
Meanwhile, the fleeing Shi and the other Cloud shinobi noticed something was wrong with their rearguard.
"Why haven't those three returned yet?" one Cloud ninja asked worriedly.
"Looks like they won't be coming back. That guy named Satoru finished them off," replied the sensor ninja, his face grim.
"We greatly underestimated that kid, Satoru. So young, yet so terrifyingly strong," Shi had already clashed with Satoru and fully grasped the incredible power he wielded.
"We'll stay! We'll keep delaying that Satoru guy!" Two other Cloud ninjas also made a firm decision and stayed behind to cover their commander's retreat.
Satoru instantly sensed this change.
"Left two more for cover. They must know the previous rearguard fell to me," Satoru decided to deal with the remaining ninjas first. It was a good chance to reduce the number of strong Hidden Cloud warriors.
After all, among the great shinobi villages, Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud stood out both in quantity and quality of their ninjas.
Easier said than done. Satoru didn't continue chasing Shi but turned and charged straight at the two Cloud ninjas who had set an ambush for him.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Upon approaching, Satoru immediately triggered several explosive seals. Clearly, the enemies had prepared for his arrival too.
"Ninja from Konoha! As long as we're here, you won't catch Lord Shi!" the two shinobi declared, eyeing the approaching Satoru.
Satoru just shook his head and calmly replied, "You must not have realized my full power yet, huh? Don't worry, the fight will be over soon.
"Flash Release!"
The speed granted by Satoru's Flash Release turned any close-range movement into something akin to the Body Flicker Technique. If he actually used Shunpo, his speed became even more unbelievable.
When Satoru appeared right in front of the two ninjas using the Body Flicker Technique, they were shocked to their cores.
"What... what monstrous speed! Like the Raikage himself!"
"And we're fighting an enemy like that?!"
"Our powers are simply incomparable, you get that?! We're in different leagues!"
Satoru's Flash Release exerted colossal psychological pressure on the opponents. In the next second, his staff crashed down on them, sending both Cloud ninjas to the ground.
"We didn't even have a chance to counterattack!"
"Is this... our end?"
The two shinobi couldn't match Satoru's speed. The heavy blows from his Diamond Staff instantly shattered their defenses, leaving them unable to even twitch, let alone stand.
"You two must be jonin from the Hidden Cloud, right? Relax, I'm not interested in you right now," Satoru smiled faintly, then activated Flash Release and vanished in an instant. The two defeated jonin tried to give chase, but their bodies completely refused to obey them.
Satoru resumed pursuing Si, glancing at his hands along the way.
"Now I can dispatch jonin so easily... My power has truly grown significantly... However, it's still not enough. Far from enough," Satoru felt he had become very strong, but he knew that against opponents at the level of the Sage of Six Paths or those surpassing Kage level, he still had no guaranteed victory.
Facing monsters on the level of Tailed Beasts, Satoru also admitted the possibility of defeat. Therefore, he had no intention of resting on his laurels and continued to strive relentlessly for even greater power.
"Si! You won't escape this time!" With a firm resolve, Satoru activated Flash Release again. In just a few minutes, he caught up to Si once more.
"Caught up so fast? Those two... you finished them off too?" Si was extremely surprised and alarmed.
"I never imagined... you're this strong!"
"The seven-year-old genius from Konoha... the word 'genius' can no longer describe you. Your current power would shock and terrify anyone who learns of it!"
"And that Kekkei Genkai of yours... I've never heard of anything like it..."
"However, if you think we were just running aimlessly, you're gravely mistaken," Si frowned and made a hand signal.
One of his subordinates immediately raised something upward, and in the next moment, a signal flare shot into the sky.
"This?.. A signal?" Satoru hadn't expected the enemy to use a signal flare. Clearly, the foe had set up an ambush here with reinforcements.
Sure enough, seconds later, Satoru was surrounded. This time, there were far more enemies, and leading them was a ninja with hair half white and half black.
"Fukai! Be careful with this kid! He's very, very strong!" Si was heavily exhausted but immediately warned the newcomer.
"You're done here. Leave the rest to me. No matter how strong he is, I'll hold him back," replied the man called Fukai.
Satoru looked at Fukai standing before him and immediately recognized who it was.
"I didn't expect the Hidden Cloud to let a jinchuriki like you roam without supervision. Aren't you afraid ninjas from other villages will capture the Eight-Tails?" Satoru asked.
*Clack! Clack! Clack!*
No one answered Satoru. They all surrounded him in a tight ring. Fukai looked at the young Konoha ninja and said, "Looks like you know me. You know too much, so this time, you definitely won't escape."
Satoru shook his head. "I think you've misunderstood the situation. You're the ones surrounded by me. Why would I run? And why fear a bunch of people about to die?"
"Funny!" Fukai sneered coldly.
Satoru felt a twinge of confusion. This man's real name was Fukai, but he later earned the nickname "Blue Bee" and became known as Blue Bee. He was something like a mentor to Killer B and the previous jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails.
By all accounts, he should have died during the Second Great Ninja War when Orochimaru drove him into a berserk state, leading to his death. Satoru couldn't understand why he was alive now.
"Maybe because of my arrival in this world, the course of events has changed somewhat?" Satoru had no answer and could only accept the current reality.
"Lariat!" Blue Bee, standing before him, suddenly charged at Satoru, his body enveloped in lightning.
Seeing this, Satoru wasted no words. He immediately activated his Flash Release chakra, coating his entire body with it, and surged toward Blue Bee at incredible speed surpassing Wind Release and Lightning Release.
*BAM!*
In their first clash, Satoru sent Blue Bee flying back with tremendous force.
"How is that possible?! This kid... he blocked Lord Bee's Lariat!"
"Overpowered Bee head-on?! Impossible! Bee's strength is nearly on par with Lord Raikage himself!"
The surrounding jonin were deeply shocked.
"Hey! No time to gawk! We attack together! Finish this Konoha ninja!" The Hidden Cloud ninjas, aiming to buy time for Bee, charged at him en masse.
Seeing this, Satoru immediately shouted, "Flash Release: Wave of Chaotic Light!"
Countless flashes of light appeared above Satoru's head. These flashes shot outward in all directions, seemingly with homing capabilities, pursuing every enemy.