"Slap... slap..."
Waves as high as bare ankles came one after another, carrying the fiery glow of flames as they repeatedly crashed against the massive tree root, and the countless roots beyond it.
"Tap!"
A wet footprint suddenly appeared on the enormous root, half submerged in water and half still on shore.
"Splash!"
With the sound of someone emerging from the water, another wet footprint appeared. The waves before the root suddenly parted like waterfalls to either side, forming a sizable circular ripple that spread outward, pushing back against wave after wave of fiery water rushing in.
"Slap!"
Then, a wet handprint abruptly appeared in front of the two footprints, scattering countless tiny droplets that left specks of water all over the huge root.
"Drip, drip, drip!"
Afterward, a series of droplets splashed down around the handprint and footprints, gradually outlining the mark of a crouching human figure in water.
"Hah... hah..."
Then, rapid breathing came from slightly above the human-shaped water mark, like someone who had been drowning suddenly taking in air.
"Plop!"
"Plop!"
"Plop!"
As the dripping gradually slowed, the human-shaped water mark became clearer and clearer. A panting young man, kneeling and sprawled on the ground, slowly emerged beneath the moonlight and the firelight reflected on the distant water.
Finally... finally avoided them...
There had to have been over two thousand of them from this direction alone...
As his figure emerged, this rather startling thought crossed Chiba's mind as he knelt on the ground.
Just now, while underwater, he had been about to climb up the enormous tree root that slanted from the soil on shore into the water. Then, a dense chorus of Water Walking sounds had suddenly rung out above him. Startled, he had immediately hidden beneath the root and used the Water Release: Invisibility