To be honest, Ryoha never considered himself a righteous person. When Naruto challenged him just now, Ryoha had already decided to go all out. Otherwise, Naruto would have thought that Ryoha wouldn't kill him. Now, Ryoha had no need for any restraint. Therefore, if Naruto couldn't dodge or block the previous attack, it would have been a certain death. However, Ryoha had other things to do, and he intended to use only one move.
It wasn't that he didn't want to deal with Naruto, but it wasn't necessary and he didn't have time. The intangibility he used to evade Naruto's Rasengan just now wasn't the same as Tobi's simple evasion using Kamui. It was true phasing, transforming his body between the real and ethereal.
Ryoha had already mastered this intangibility ability when he awakened his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. It wasn't a power brought by the fusion of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
During the moment he used intangibility just now, he recalled the mystery of the Third Stage of Hiraishin no Jutsu that Namikaze Minato had told him. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration passed through his mind.
"Is this the Fourth Hokage's way of protecting you? To comprehend the Third Stage of Hiraishin at this moment. The Fourth Hokage truly lives up to his name. He even calculated this step."
Ryoha laughed. He didn't expect that the Third Stage of Hiraishin left to him by the Fourth Hokage would actually save Naruto's life. He was certain that if he had started attacking just now and missed that fleeting inspiration, it would have required much greater effort to complete the Third Stage of Hiraishin in the future.
"Well then, goodbye." Ryoha waved his hand. Naruto posed no threat to him, no matter how much he grew. On the contrary, Ryoha had to seize that fleeting moment of inspiration. It was the key to mastering the Third Stage of Hiraishin. As long as he grasped it, Ryoha could learn the Third Stage in a matter of days.
Therefore, Ryoha chose the path of mastering the Third Stage of Hiraishin over killing Naruto. Moreover, he had achieved everything he came here for and even obtained unexpected gains. It could be considered giving face to the Fourth Hokage in his final moments. After all, Ryoha had said that if he could avoid killing, he wouldn't. If Naruto dared to challenge him again in the future, Ryoha would kill him.
"Fourth Hokage, the First, Second, and Third Stages of Hiraishin—I have fulfilled your wishes. If your son challenges me again next time, he'll have to possess the strength to fight me or the ability to save his own life, or else it will be a certain death for him."
Ryoha muttered to himself. He didn't believe that a slightly stronger ant could threaten him. What was more important than killing Naruto was grasping that fleeting moment of inspiration. He had to seize it. Immediately, Ryoha used the Hiraishin no jutsu and disappeared from the spot, accompanied by Suigetsu and Karin.
"Naruto, are you okay?" Ino and Sakura both used medical ninjutsu on Naruto's bleeding upper body with two holes. Shizune asked with concern.
"I'm fine. I just didn't expect that there would still be such a huge gap between him and my Sage Mode. I thought that with Sage Mode's power boost and increased perception of danger, even if I couldn't defeat him, together with all of you, we would have a chance against Ryoha. But now it seems that I overestimated myself and underestimated Ryoha. Just one move and he turned me into this state," Naruto said with a bitter smile.
"You've just completed Sage Mode, it's not urgent. Moreover, your current strength is at the peak of Elite Jonin. If you reach the level of a Kage, and with Sage Mode and our support, we should be able to fight against him," Fukasaku reassured.
Fukasaku comforted him, but thinking back to the two orange beams that came from nowhere just now, he couldn't help but shudder. It was too fast, almost as fast as light. Even if Naruto's taijutsu and ninjutsu abilities were increased by dozens of times in Sage Mode, along with his perception of danger, he could barely dodge his vitals.
If it were someone else, it would have been a certain death. As for Gamaken and Gamahiro, they were relatively lucky. Ryoha's attack was directed at Naruto, so they didn't get pierced through their vital points, but they were still heavily injured.
"Why didn't you read their moves just now?" Byakko asked in confusion.
"After I said I would use only one move just now, and considering that our purpose today was not to kill them but to test the Natsuhi, obtain Hidan's blood sample, and test my eye, we have done it all. There's no need for unnecessary complications. Moreover, with our current strength, destroying them is not a difficult task at all. In fact, compared to the unexpected gains today, these things are nothing," Ryoha said.
After returning to the Land of Snow's royal palace, Ryoha immediately went to the training room, which was his usual place for training.
"What are the unexpected gains?" Byakko looked at Ryoha, who had already started training, and didn't disturb him. However, she couldn't help but ask Natsuhi and Haku who were beside her, arousing their curiosity.
"I think it's the Third Stage of Hiraishin," Tsunade said as she appeared without them noticing.
"The Third Stage? I understand. It should be a fleeting inspiration, right? If you can't grasp it, it may disappear forever, and it will take even more time and effort to complete the Third Stage of Hiraishin in the future."
Byakko nodded, starting to understand. If it were her, she would also make the same choice as Ryoha. After all, their purpose in coming here today was not to kill the people of Konoha, and they had all accomplished what they came for. Moreover, they obtained the unexpected gain of the inspiration for the Third Stage of Hiraishin.
It would be a waste, too unworthy, to miss out on this fleeting inspiration in order to kill the people of Konoha, who could be killed at any time. Ryoha would be an idiot if he didn't choose to come back and grasp this inspiration.
"He is smarter than anyone else. How could he do something useless?" Tsunade smiled. She didn't mind that Ryoha was ahead of her in the development of the Hiraishin no Jutsu. The Second Stage of Hiraishin was already enough for her, and she was currently focused on mastering her own ability to create life. She didn't have time to worry about these things for now.
In reality, to complete the Third Stage of Hiraishin, based on the secret given by Minato, if Ryoha and Tsunade were willing to set aside their current training and focus solely on the Third Stage of Hiraishin, it might take a few months to complete. However, with this fleeting inspiration, if they could grasp it, it might only take a few days. That's why Ryoha immediately abandoned everything and returned, especially since he had already said he would use only one move.
So why would Tsunade mind? She knew very well that if Ryoha hadn't received this fleeting inspiration, he wouldn't have focused on training the Third Stage of Hiraishin. Instead, he would continue with his bloodline fusion. Obviously, he didn't want to be distracted. But now that he had the inspiration, he could probably complete the Third Stage in a matter of days. Therefore, Tsunade would eventually learn it too. It wasn't something to worry about, especially since using the Transient Youth would speed things up. But Tsunade didn't want to be distracted. She wanted to focus on mastering her ability to create life first because it had reached a critical moment. However, if she also received the same fleeting inspiration as Ryoha, she wouldn't mind setting aside her current tasks.