Deep in the gloomy Redwood Forest, the light was sliced into scattered fragments by layer upon layer of treetops.
The Root death soldier codenamed Wildcat moved between the thick tree trunks like a weightless ghost. He had completely broken away from Venom Fang Squad's route and was sprinting toward a set of coordinates on the other side of the Land of Fire's border.
The wind howled past his ears. Beneath Wildcat's Mask, his eyes were as still as a pool of dead water, without the slightest ripple of emotion. Lord Danzo's secret order had been engraved into his mind before departure: "Venom Fang and that expendable called Owl are merely bait to draw Iwagakure's attention. Your true mission is to cut off Namikaze Minato's team's route for reinforcements while they're held up by Iwagakure's main force."
This was the true borrowed-blade strategy of Konoha's higher-ups.
Use a low-ranking ANBU to lure out Iwagakure's elite, then use Iwagakure's forces to wear down or even erase the Yellow Flash, whose name shook the Shinobi World. On the chessboard of power, there had never been a shortage of sacrifices to cast aside at will. Chakra erupted beneath Wildcat's feet. His figure turned into a black streak and vanished completely into the depths of the forest.
At the same time, at the entrance to the Canyon.
Behind a dark-red boulder towering a hundred meters high, Venom Fang crouched in the cold, damp shadows, looking down over the Canyon floor.
Gray miasma churned below. Venom Fang's gaze pierced the thin mist and locked firmly onto Baishi, who was surrounded by three Iwagakure ninja. A cruel curve tugged at the corner of his mouth.
That fool had actually walked into the dead zone at the C-4 coordinates without the slightest precaution.
"Go to hell, trash. I'll collect your compensation for you." Venom Fang sneered inwardly. To ensure that this "borrowed blade" stabbed Baishi straight through, he had no intention of leaving anything to chance.
Venom Fang formed hand seals before his chest with extreme slowness.
Earth Release: Rock Stealing Staff!
Ten meters behind Baishi on the Canyon floor, several sharp stone spikes silently bulged from the rock wall. They discreetly blocked Baishi's blind spot for retreat. His escape route was completely sealed, and the borrowed-blade scheme formed a perfect loop at that moment.
In the center of the Canyon, the atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.
The cold, damp wind carried the earthy stench of rotten leaves mixed with miasma as it rushed toward them. Baishi stood where he was, the hem of his black trench coat snapping in the wind.
Three elite ninja wearing Iwagakure Protectors stood in a triangular formation. The heavy pressure of Earth Release Chakra squeezed the surrounding air until it was stifling.
"Has Konoha's ANBU fallen so far that it has to send a brat who hasn't even finished growing his hair to die?" The leading Iwagakure Jonin twisted his thick neck, his bones cracking like popping beans. The veins on his burly arms bulged, and he looked at Baishi as if he were already a corpse.
Baishi said nothing.
He did not even turn around to look at the retreat sealed by the stone spikes. His right hand whipped out from beneath his loose sleeve.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three kunai tore through the miasma with razor-sharp whistles, shooting toward the faces of the three Iwagakure ninja. They were not meant to kill, but were merely the most basic tactical probe in a ninja clash.
"Looking for death!" A trace of contempt flashed through the Iwagakure Jonin's eyes. He neither dodged nor evaded, instead stomping his thick right leg against the ground.
He formed a seal with one hand!
Baishi's pupils contracted sharply beneath his Mask. His Lightning Release sensing instantly caught the trajectory of his opponent's Chakra gathering toward his throat—Snake, Boar, Dog!
Earth Release: Earth Wall!
With a thunderous boom, a thick stone wall rose from the ground and precisely blocked the three men. Several crisp clangs rang out as the kunai struck the wall and bounced away.
But at the instant the kunai rebounded, a cold curve pulled at the corner of Baishi's mouth.
A folded Explosive Tag was hanging extremely discreetly from the tail ring of one kunai. Its cinnabar markings had already brightened to the limit.
Boom!
Violent flames instantly swallowed the edge of the stone wall. A scorching wave mixed with flying rocks swept in all directions, and the pungent smell of nitric acid immediately overwhelmed the earthy stench of the miasma.
"Cheap tricks!"
Before the smoke had even dispersed, the Iwagakure Jonin's massive body crashed through the remnants of the stone wall like a heavy tank. Using the explosion as cover, he crossed more than ten meters in an instant and appeared directly above Baishi.
His broad short blade, wrapped in dense Earth Release Chakra, came crashing down toward Baishi's head. The blade split the air with an ear-piercing shriek.
Baishi did not look up. Maxed-out Lightning Release Chakra circulated wildly through his meridians, pushing his nervous reaction speed to the extreme. He could clearly track every inch of the blade's descent.
Just as the blade was about to split his Mask, Baishi's body shifted half a step to the left with uncanny strangeness.
Squelch!
The short blade slammed into the ground, cleaving a half-meter-deep fissure through the hard Rock Layer. Shattered stones flew everywhere, tearing the hem of Baishi's trench coat.
His strike missed. A trace of astonishment flashed through the Iwagakure Jonin's eyes. How could this brat be so fast?
Before he could react further, Baishi's left hand had already latched precisely onto his wrist. At his fingertips, an extremely faint yet violently intense spark of Lightning flashed and vanished.
Lightning Release: Micro-current Stimulation!
Crackle!
The Iwagakure Jonin felt a burst of intense pain shoot through his wrist. His entire right arm instantly went numb for half a second.
That half second of rigidity was all Baishi needed.
Baishi gripped the kunai in his right hand in reverse and slashed viciously along the inside of his opponent's arm toward his throat. His movements were clean and decisive, without the slightest unnecessary pause.
Earth Release: Hardening Technique!
At the brink of life and death, the Iwagakure Jonin displayed astonishing combat instincts. Enduring the numbness, he instantly turned the skin of his neck a dull gray-black, like indestructible rock.
Screech!
The sharp kunai scraped across his petrified skin, sending up a dazzling shower of sparks and leaving behind only a shallow white mark.
"Die!" the Iwagakure Jonin roared. His left fist, carrying immense force, smashed viciously toward Baishi's chest.
Boom!
Baishi's body flew backward like a kite with a severed string and crashed heavily against the rock wall behind him with a muffled boom.
"Finish him!" Seeing this, the other two Iwagakure Chunin immediately closed in from both sides. Two kunai stabbed viciously toward Baishi's heart and throat, one from the left and one from the right.
Above the boulder, Venom Fang watched this scene, the mockery in his eyes growing even stronger. It was over. After taking a blow from Iwagakure's Chakra Enhanced Strength, Baishi would have lost the ability to move even if he wasn't dead. This blade was truly convenient to use.
However, just as the two Chunin's kunai were about to pierce Baishi's body—
Bang!
A cloud of white smoke exploded beneath the rock wall. The "Baishi" who had been struck became a Substitution Log covered in cracks. Three Explosive Tags were neatly stuck to its surface, their fuses already burned out.
The pupils of the two Iwagakure Chunin instantly shrank to pinpoints.
"Fall back!"
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion echoed across the Canyon floor, and violent flames tore the gray miasma apart. The scorching blast sent the two Chunin who failed to dodge flying across the ground, blood instantly staining the earth red.
Above the boulder, the smile on Venom Fang's face froze. Substitution Technique? When had he formed the seals?!
Amid the smoke and dust of the explosion, Baishi's figure appeared like a ghost ten meters to the right, in a blind spot. He knelt on one knee, his left hand pressed against the ground while his right maintained an unfinished hand seal.
His eyes beneath the Mask radiated a chilling calm.
The earlier kunai probe, the close-quarters battle, and deliberately exposing a weakness to be sent flying had all been for this repositioning. He had already determined the limits of the Iwagakure Jonin's defense and had successfully caught the two obstructive Chunin within the Explosive Tags' lethal range.
"Elemental advantage. Earth Release's Hardening Technique absolutely can't withstand Lightning Release's focused penetration." Baishi calculated rapidly inwardly.
He rose to his feet and slowly wiped away a trace of dust clinging to the edge of his Mask with his thumb. Chakra began surging madly toward his right arm. Azure Lightning flickered faintly in his palm, emitting a piercing sound like a thousand birds crying out.
Just as he prepared to launch a fatal strike and reap the battlefield completely—
The earth beneath Baishi's feet suddenly let out an extremely strange gurgling sound. The Rock Layer, originally hard as stone, instantly turned into a viscous swamp. Like an invisible giant hand, it clung tightly to his legs and spread upward at tremendous speed.
Earth Release: Underworld Swamp!
Amid the smoke, the Iwagakure Jonin's coarse voice rang out, thick with murderous intent. He had not only survived; he had used the blast wave from the explosion to complete this large-scale restraining ninjutsu in secret.
The mire instantly swallowed Baishi's knees, and the circulation of his Lightning Release Chakra came to a dangerously complete halt.
Directly in front of Baishi, the Iwagakure Jonin's massive body broke through the smoke once more. He gripped a huge stone spear condensed from high-density rock in both hands, aimed it at Baishi's heart, and hurled it with devastating force.
"Die, rat!"
The stone spear rapidly expanded in his pupils. His escape route was sealed, and his legs were trapped in the mire. Violent Earth Release Chakra locked tightly onto Baishi's presence.