15:Escaping and Making a Deal

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It's been a few days since Ryoichi escaped the Time Patrol, he's been hiding in an abandoned house in the city's slum since the Time Patrol has blocked most of the important areas and has been discreetly scanning the whole city.

Ryoichi didn't had any idea at first why the Time Patrol was being so hushed, but he soon came to the conclusion that the Patrol did not want his existence revealed. But honestly, it was a good thing for Ryoichi because if they didn't care about the secrecy then they would have been able to find him in hours even in this massive city.

Talking about the city, it was big. Big enough to give Tokyo a run for its money. But despite being that big, the city was very congested due to its old structure and was overpopulated which caused huge price inflation in housing, and renting that led to the creation of the city's biggest portion — The Slums where Ryoichi was currently hiding.

While Ryoichi was hiding in the slums that didn't mean he wasn't doing anything. He's been gathering information about all the exits of the city both legal and illegal.

Leaving the four main legal entrance aside that were definitely monitored too look for him, Ryoichi focused on the illegal points.

He discovered quite a few illegal entry points since legal entry inside the city was very difficult because of most people not having the Universal Alliance ID, not to mention the extremely expensive entry fee due to it being one of the most sought-after cities in Human-Shinobi Alliance territory.

Ryoichi contacted one of the brokers of these illegal entries and scheduled an escape from the city, but before they could come to an agreement Ryoicji found the man cooperating with the Time Patrol.

After that incident, Ryoichi abandoned his plan of escaping the city through the black market's illegal entry points. And thought of smuggling a Thunder God Kunai outside through a merchant caravan or something. But the problem with that plan occurred was that the Patrol had a complete read on his abilities and they were using some kind of device to track seals related to spacetime Jutsu on the city's entrances, with that, this plan also failed.

So it came to his last option which was to place a Thunder God seal in a hidden information scroll of an underground faction of information brokers.

Ryoichi tracked that organisation because he knew the black market wouldn't let the suspicious movement of the Time Patrol slip and would definitely sell it for profit. And since the Patrol was secretly monitoring every cellular communication and messages, the black organisations had no choice but to send the information on papers.

Ryoichi waited as he live-tracked his seal exiting the city and once he felt the seal was at a good distance he teleported to its location.

Ryoichi immediately entered stealth and flickered away from the black faction's caravan. But before he could create any distance, a red barrier formed in a hundred meters radius, trapping him in.

Ryoichi's movement halted as he felt hundreds of Chakra entering his active Haki radius and approaching quickly. Ryoichi cold face turned emotionless as he once again cut off his emotions for the approaching battle. He can't afford to let his battle maniac tendencies affect his rational thinking and action right now when the cost is his memories which holds information that would shake the very structure of this Universe.

Ryoichi waited as the Patrollers completely surrounded him before a woman of a shade darker than his own with an average face and whitish blonde hair that reminded him of Raikage came forward from the encirclement.

Ryoichi put on a fake smile as the woman opened her mouth. "I am the Third Time Commander Ayesha and you are under arrest for committing a Class 9 Time Felony."

Ryoichi observed the smug smile of Ayesha and profiled the kind of woman she was behind his own fake smile.

"Whatever do you mean, Commander Ayesha?." He asked.

"Do not try to get information out of me with that smart brain of yours Senju Ryoichi." Ayesha snorted while still giving Ryoichi the information that she knew of his real identity.

"Ohh I wouldn't dare, but would you be kind enough to tell me how you knew what I was planning?"

"Well, why not? It wouldn't do any harm since we will be removing your memories of this timeline anyway." Ayesha said with a shrug before she continued.

"Senju Ryoichi you might not know but you are one of the most studied people in history, and the amount of analysis of your traits and personality done through centuries from your official biography is astronomical. The Alliance's official Shinobi schools have at lest one chapter related you in every grade's history book, they even take it so far to compare the traits of newly enrolled students to yours to judge them. Not to mention every high-level government exams has some questions related to you."

Ayesha finished and shook her head.

"Forgot me, even a grade 10 student probably knows more about you than you know about yourself." She spoke again.

"Is that so…"

"Yes. Now that I kindly answered your question would you be also kind enough to surrender willingly?"

"You know me so well, what do you think?" Ryoichi questioned while opening his Temporal Perception.

Ayesha didn't reply to his question, instead, she signalled her subordinates and flickered towards Ryoichi.

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The moon hung low in the night sky, casting an eerie glow over the battlefield as Ayesha's advanced Shinobi troops, clad in gold and black futuristic armor, pressed relentlessly against Senju Ryoichi. Despite his exceptional skill, the sheer numbers and advanced techniques began to take a toll on him. Wearing nothing but his normal attire, Ryoichi held his ground, his a lone figure fighting off any army of trained Shinobis with advanced technology.

As the battle raged on, Ryoichi tapped into the Sage Mode, the air around him resonating with the essence of nature. His movements became faster, his attacks became stronger, and with his enhanced senses the battle became a dance with Ryoichi as it lead dancer. But Time Petrol wasn't detered with his improved prowess, they relentlessly assaulted him with advanced tactics, technology and Justus he was unfamiliar with.

In the midst of the chaos, Ryoichi unleashed his newly acquired Time Kekkai Genkai, manipulating the fabric of time to gain an edge.

However, the Time Patrolers, under Ayesha's command, adapted swiftly due to them already knowing about his Kekkai Genaki. Their advanced armor and technology proved formidable, their advance seals unaffected by his Seal Matrix. And slowly they started inflicting wounds that began to accumulate on Ryoichi. Despite his superior skill, the toll of the battle was evident as injuries marred his once untarnished form.

'Why aren't they healing?" Ryoichi thought as he glaced at his unhealing wounds before focusing back to his enemies.

Determined to turn the tide, Ryoichi delved deeper into his abilities. His golden eyes flickered with intensity as he contemplated forcefully utilising the full capacity of his Temporal Perception with his cellular level body control.

Just as Ryoichi prepared to unleash the formidable power of the Temporal Perception, a blinding light erupted on the battlefield, momentarily blinding all but him. Amidst the brilliance, a woman with features eerily similar to Ayesha's emerged. She possessed an air of warmth and kindness that attracted people's trust.

In a swift motion, the woman reached Ryoichi and caught his injured body. Supporting him from his shoulder, she brought out a talisman and ripped it apar, making both disappear from the blinding light.

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Ryoichi and the white-haired wom appeared in a small house beside a clearing inside a deep forest.

Ryoichi quickly separated from the woman and used his Kekkai Genkai to reverse his body's time and healed his injuries. Once healed Ryoichi looked back at the woman who was patiently waiting for him with a warm smile.

"Drop the act, it won't fool me. So directly who are you and why help me?" Ryoichi questioned directly, not even schooling his emotionless expression. He could easily see through her fake expression, especially since his Haki has developed minor empathy ever since his acquisition of Sage Body, not to mention the device given to him by his Future projection is still showing the spacetime lock symbol.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to fool you. I've studied your history extensively, Senju Ryoichi — the legendary figure from the past. I've studied your every move, your strengths, and your weaknesses." The woman replied with the same smiling face.

"But yet you're trying to fool me with your fake smile. What game are you playing, and how do I fit into your version of the future?" Ryoichi lightly questioned her motive once more, his face still emotionless.

"Impressive, Lord Ryoichi. Not many can see through my facade. And as for my motive? I have a proposition for you, a chance to return to your timeline without getting your memory tempered." The woman said as a cold look replaced her previously smiling face.

"Speak plainly. I have little time for games."

"Fine… kill my sister. The one you fought some seconds ago."

"Hmm? Why do you want her dead? And why through me?"

"Ohh! You want to know the reason? Well it's not that deep, I want my dumb, narcissistic, ugly sister dead because I want to inherit the heir position of the Lightning faction. You see despite being more beautiful, smarter, stronger, and talented despite being younger than my sister, I'm a bastard. An illegitimate child who can't inherit the Lord position of the Lightning faction. But what if there are no choices other than me, then those old fogies will have no choice but to accept the fate." The woman's cold face cracked as she started to giggle.

"Why me?"

"Ohh! Because she hid about your existence to rack achievements and merit. You are famous you know, if the higher up knew she was killed by you, not only would they not care about her death but would also blame her for her stupidity."

"Is that all?"

"Yes…? Do you want more drama?"

"No…" Ryoichi contemplated her words before accepting her request, he neither cared about her reason nor her request. The moment he finds the himself outside the range of the spacetime lock he will immediately leave this timeline without any delay.

"So when and where will I be killing your sister?"

"Here and now!"

"What do you mean?"

"Ohh we are currently standing on her hidden base where she keeps her slush funds and some of her darkest secrets hehe~ so be ready she will be here in any minutes and will be coming without any backups.

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[AN: If you want to read more go to my Patr*on/41_Claws. There are 10+ advance unedited chapters on it…]

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