Kakashi and Shisui were locked in fierce combat with their opponents, while Hyuga Shin—having just sent the enemy leader flying with a single strike—quietly stepped to Satoru's side. He made no move to join the fray.
He didn't need to.
With his experience and insight, it took him only a glance to determine how both fights would end.
Kakashi, an elite of the ANBU, had shown unmatched talent since childhood. His years of missions had tempered him in blood and fire—his strength, speed, and battle sense were all top-tier.
And with his three-tomoe Sharingan, he controlled the entire rhythm of the fight.
The only reason his opponent was still standing wasn't that Kakashi lacked an opening to kill him—it was because Satoru had told them earlier to try to take one alive.
And in most cases, capturing a target alive was far harder than killing one.
As for Shisui, he appeared to be at a disadvantage, forced onto the defensive by the Cloud-nin's aggressive assault.
But both Hyuga Shin and Satoru could see through it at a glance.
Every one of the enemy's attacks missed Shisui by just a hair's breadth.
That tiny sliver of distance looked accidental—but in reality, it was a gap the enemy could never close, no matter how he tried.
Though Shisui was still young and physically weaker than his foe, with the Sharingan, he read every movement before it happened.
His apparent retreat was deliberate—meant to bait his opponent into overconfidence.
The more desperate the Cloud-nin became, the more likely he would make a fatal mistake.
And when that mistake came, Shisui would turn the battle around in an instant.
Both fronts were under control.
Satoru's gaze shifted toward the last remaining enemy in the courtyard—the one surrounded by scrolls.
From the brief conversation earlier, Satoru already knew what that man was doing.
And in the short dozen or so exchanges that Kakashi and Shisui had fought, the Cloud-nin had already spread twelve long scrolls across the ground. Complex seals now glowed faintly, forming a completed pattern.
"Heavenly Transmission Technique…" Satoru murmured, watching with interest.
"A space-time ninjutsu, but one that works completely differently from the Flying Thunder God."
"The differences in strengths and weaknesses are obvious… but it's definitely worth studying."
As the man finished aligning his seals and straightened to glance toward the ongoing battles, a faint whoosh of air brushed past his ear.
Before he could react, Satoru flicked his wrist.
A kunai, wrapped in Lightning Release chakra, shot from his hand—its speed far surpassing that of an ordinary throw.
The Cloud-nin's instincts kicked in; his head jerked aside just in time. Years of combat experience had honed his reflexes.
The kunai scraped past his cheek and buried itself in the ground behind him.
He turned instinctively toward where it had landed—completely unaware that the boy who had been standing quietly behind Hyuga Shin was no longer there.
"Thud!"
The kunai struck the earth with a dull impact, the hilt sinking completely into the soil.
Under the enhancement of Lightning chakra, its penetration had skyrocketed—an excellent demonstration of chakra nature transformation applied to throwing weapons.
The Cloud-nin's face paled as he saw the sheer force behind that throw.
But before he could even turn back—
A flash of motion appeared at his side.
A small figure. A glimmer of blue-white light.
Then came the impact.
"Bang!!!"
Hyuga Satoru had already activated the Flying Thunder God Technique the instant his kunai reached its target.
He reappeared beside the enemy as the weapon hit the ground, driving his palm straight into the man's abdomen.
He hadn't aimed to kill.
His strike precisely sealed several of the Cloud-nin's chakra points, cutting off his chakra flow—but the sheer force behind the blow sent the man crashing backward, unconscious before he hit the ground.
As the defeated jonin hit the dirt, Satoru calmly approached the now-complete Heavenly Transmission seal array, crouching to inspect it with keen interest.
No ninja ever complained about knowing too many techniques.
And this one—this space-time ninjutsu—had enormous potential.
On the battlefield, the Heavenly Transmission Technique was widely used by the Hidden Cloud to transport supplies, greatly reducing logistical strain.
That incredible supply efficiency was a major reason behind the Cloud's battlefield dominance.
The Flying Thunder God could achieve similar effects, but only within a limited range.
After all, it required the user to sense their marked coordinates—and a person's sensory range was finite.
"Ho…" Hyuga Shin murmured, his brows lifting slightly.
"So he's already grown to this level, has he?"
Satoru's sudden move had caught him completely off guard.
He hadn't even realized the boy had vanished until Satoru appeared beside the Cloud-nin and struck him down.
Watching his grandson's clean, decisive technique, Shin couldn't help but smile in admiration.
He had kept a close eye on Satoru's training and had a general sense of his progress—but this was the first time he'd seen the boy's real combat ability.
And as a man who had crawled through the mud of war, Hyuga Shin firmly believed—a ninja's true growth happens only on the battlefield.
He'd long been hoping for Satoru to have a chance to fight outsiders.
That chance hadn't come—until tonight.
Now, watching Satoru's flawless execution, he finally caught a glimpse of the boy's true strength.
In Shin's mind, if Satoru had lived during the war years, he would've made a name for himself in no time.
The Flying Thunder God combined with the Gentle Fist…
Even just imagining it sent a chill down Shin's spine. Against any opponent—no matter how strong—Satoru would always have a chance to win.
And that kind of possibility was truly terrifying.
Satoru's unexpected strike stunned everyone—including the remaining two Cloud-nin still battling Kakashi and Shisui.
So this was the target of their mission?
A child strong enough to crush a veteran jonin in seconds?!
With two powerful guards beside him as well, they knew instantly—this mission was over.
Their focus wavered. Their composure broke.
And once their hearts faltered, their bodies followed.
Shisui saw it first.
Their eyes met—and in that instant, his Sharingan flared, casting a genjutsu so subtle that his foe froze mid-motion.
That single heartbeat was enough.
Shisui closed in and bound the Cloud-nin with thin steel wire in a flash.
Almost simultaneously, Kakashi finished his own fight.
Using a shadow clone to draw the enemy's attention, his real body emerged from the ground beneath him—Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu—dragging the Cloud-nin waist-deep into the soil, leaving only his terrified head above the ground.
Perhaps in other circumstances, that man would never have fallen for such a trick.
But shaken and desperate, he had already lost the calm judgment a shinobi required—and thus, his defeat came swiftly.
The courtyard fell silent once more.
Hyuga Satoru's "small test of the blade" had ended—and the enemies of the Hyuga Clan lay scattered in the dirt.
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