Ancient Ninjutsu

"I assume you've heard about the guy impersonating Jiraiya in the village; his existence is causing me no end of trouble."

"He's harassing you?"

"Hell no! Only by catching him can I clear my name and prove I'm not a peeping tom, so I'm hoping you can help me out, brother."

"Jiraiya has been searching for him this whole time, and I'm afraid I can't help you with that."

Danzo spread his hands helplessly, a look of feigned difficulty appearing on his face.

In truth, Danzo had no intention of helping Shen Ye; if that guy was never found, the misunderstanding would remain firmly pinned on Shen Ye.

For Danzo, this was a stroke of good fortune, a way to deal with Shen Ye without lifting a finger.

Shen Ye sighed deeply, feigning disappointment as he shook his head and walked outside.

Danzo leaned against his bed, watching Shen Ye leave in silence, only dropping the mask of concern for a sinister expression once he had vanished.

An immature idea began to take root in Danzo's mind.

With countless members in the Anbu, he could simply find someone he trusted to frame Shen Ye, and his reputation in Konoha would be thoroughly ruined.

At that point, Danzo wouldn't even need to act himself to achieve his goal; destroying a person's reputation was often far more effective than killing them.

Shen Ye stepped back into the light, glancing back at Danzo's direction with a sneer.

If you want to look for trouble, I'll show you some mercy for now, but next time, I'll finish you off directly.

Clenching his fist, Shen Ye felt his strength increase slightly, and even the circulation of blood and energy within his body had become much more potent.

With that, Shen Ye immediately asked the system what skill he had stolen from Danzo.

If he wasn't mistaken, only the First Hokage's Wood Release could possess such immense vitality.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully stealing Danzo's skill: Wood Release, Root Explosion! Steal Skill cooldown: 3 hours."

Shen Ye nodded to himself; this time, he hadn't just successfully stolen an offensive ninjutsu, but also strengthened his own body.

As for Danzo, who had implanted the First Hokage's cells into his own body, Shen Ye was quite curious about the power of the ninjutsu he had stolen from him.

Surveying his surroundings, Shen Ye pushed off the ground, leaped onto the roof, and sprinted toward the distant forest, eager to test the power of the technique.

However, Shen Ye seemed to have forgotten that his system ability allowed him to unleash the maximum potential of any stolen ninjutsu without the need for extensive training.

With no one around, Shen Ye took a deep breath.

"Wood Release, Root Explosion!"

Feeling the flow of chakra, Shen Ye thrust his right arm forward, and his fair skin instantly transformed into a thick, sturdy tree trunk.

Countless plants in front of him were shredded to pieces by the twisting trunk.

As the trunk slowly fell to the ground, Shen Ye's fair arm reappeared, looking even smoother and more flawless than before.

However, Shen Ye could only use it once with his current chakra levels; the remaining energy was insufficient for a second attempt in the short term.

"Even with the chakra absorption from Sage Mode, it will take several hours before I can release it again. It seems I need to be more cautious when using it."

"Little one, to think you can use the First Hokage's Wood Release. It seems Lord Danzo was right; you will eventually become a disaster."

A masked figure appeared before Shen Ye, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against a large tree.

Shen Ye looked closely and realized this was the same guy who had held Yue Xing hostage that day. As expected, Danzo's intentions had never been pure.

"As a ninja of Konoha, are you really determined to sell your life for Danzo?"

"Lord Danzo's orders were only to observe you during this period, but it seems I can no longer let you keep your life."

"Since I'm a man about to meet his death, could I at least know your true face?"

The masked man nodded and slowly removed his mask, revealing his true identity.

Shen Ye frantically processed the information on the man before him, trying to find his most direct weakness; he didn't want to waste any more time with this guy.

Having already used Wood Release, Root Explosion, he had recovered significantly, but he was still far from his peak state.

"Except for Lord Danzo, you are the second person to see my true face. You can die in peace now."

"Bai Dun, did you really think I knew nothing about the Anbu?"

Shen Ye chuckled, his expression gradually relaxing, which in turn made Bai Dun nervous.

In the entire village, he only had his Anbu codename; the name Bai Dun had been sealed away the moment he joined the Anbu, never to be mentioned again.

"Who exactly are you? How do you know such classified information?"

"Go down below and ask those dead ninjas; perhaps they will give you the answer."

Shen Ye stepped back with his right foot, concentrated his strength into his left fist, and slammed it toward Bai Dun.

"Strength of a Hundred, Partial Multi-Size Technique!"

The massive fist hung in mid-air, generating a powerful gust of wind that surged toward Bai Dun.

Bai Dun's hair was blown backward, forcing him to squint his eyes.

"Having suffered at your hands once, do you really think I'll be intimidated by the same technique a second time?"

"Water Release, Water Wall Technique!"

Bai Dun formed hand seals with both hands and slammed them into the ground, creating a towering wall of water before him that blocked the gale entirely.

Shen Ye nodded; it was clear that last time, he had only managed to scare him off through a surprise ambush, and he had been observing him from the surroundings for quite some time.

However, after a few breaths, a massive gap appeared in the water wall as the secondary attack generated by the Strength of a Hundred took clear effect.

Caught off guard, Bai Dun was instantly struck by the force, his body sent hurtling backward across a great distance.

"In such a short time, your strength has grown this rapidly. I will absolutely not let you leave this forest alive today."

"The same goes for you. Since you have discovered my secret, it would be better for you to just obediently go to your death."

Not intending to give Bai Dun a moment to catch his breath, Shen Ye charged forward with a shuriken in hand, the sound of clashing metal ringing out through the air.

Though he had yet to graduate from the Ninja Academy, Shen Ye wielded his shuriken to trade blows back and forth with the chunin Bai Dun.

If any other ninja were here, they would never believe that this was an assault Shen Ye could pull off, as every strike forced Bai Dun to give his all.