The roar was deafening.
His vision was completely cut off, replaced by shadows crashing down from every direction. The dark-red boulders carried tremendous force, compressing the air at the bottom of the Canyon until it emitted sharp, explosive cracks.
Baishi did not look up.
Maxed-out Lightning Release Chakra raced wildly through the meridians in his legs. His muscle fibers bulged from excessive blood flow, and tearing pain, accompanied by explosive power, instantly coursed through his entire body. He was like a black bolt of lightning skimming the ground, weaving through the gaps between the falling Boulders at his absolute limit.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Hundreds of tons of rock slammed into the mud one after another. Mud mixed with sharp fragments sprayed wildly in every direction like large-caliber bullets. A shard no bigger than a fingernail grazed Baishi's cheek, slicing straight through the edge of his ANBU Mask and leaving a deep, bleeding cut across his face.
Warm blood dripped from his chin, but Baishi had no time to care.
The Iwagakure Jonin's Earth Release suppression was terrifying. This was simply not a battlefield that an ordinary ANBU could withstand. The enemy not only possessed an enormous amount of Chakra; even more frightening was his absolute control over the terrain.
"Don't let him catch his breath! Seal off his landing points!"
The Iwagakure Jonin's rough roar exploded through the billowing smoke and dust. He kept his hands in a seal, continuously pouring his thick Earth-natured Chakra underground.
The remaining four Iwagakure elites suddenly recovered from the shock of watching their companion get killed in an instant. They displayed extremely high tactical discipline, quickly spreading out to occupy the raised rock walls on both sides of the Canyon.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
More than a dozen Kunai bound with Explosive Tags formed a crisscrossing web of fire, shooting viciously toward the path along which Baishi was moving.
Baishi forcibly twisted his waist and abdomen in midair. His body bent at a bizarre angle that defied the laws of physics, barely avoiding the explosive shock waves from two Explosive Tags. The scorching flames singed the edge of his clothes, and the smell of gunpowder rushed into his nose.
The instant he landed, the earth beneath his feet suddenly began to writhe strangely. The originally solid ground transformed into a viscous, gray-black swamp.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld." Baishi's gaze was icy.
The instant both feet sank into the swamp, a powerful pulling force tried to swallow his entire body.
"Got you! You rat!"
On the rock wall to the right, an Iwagakure Chunin seized the opportunity and rapidly formed hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Rising Spears!"
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Four extremely sharp earthen spears suddenly thrust out from the swamp beneath Baishi's feet, shooting straight toward his thighs and abdomen.
At the moment between life and death, Baishi abruptly brought his hands together.
Bang!
The instant the spears pierced through his body, Baishi exploded into a cloud of white smoke. A wooden post riddled with holes was pinned firmly in place by the earthen spears.
"Substitution Technique? Don't even think about escaping!"
The Iwagakure Jonin's combat experience was incredibly seasoned. He did not even look at the wooden post, instead turning his massive body sharply upward. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Baishi, who had just appeared in midair.
"He's up there! Smash him down!"
The Jonin's thick arms suddenly lifted upward.
Rumble!
The ground directly beneath Baishi shook violently. A solid stone wall a meter thick rose from the earth like a giant beast bursting from the soil, completely blocking Baishi's route for a downward assault.
That was not all. Driven by Chakra, the surface of the stone wall instantly sprouted a dense mass of rocky spikes. This was no Earth Wall meant for defense, but a gigantic Meat Grinder!
A fierce wind whipped across Baishi's robes.
With nothing to push off against in midair, he was about to crash into the spiked stone wall.
"Chakra consumption: fifteen percent."
Baishi's mind was like a cold, precision instrument, frantically calculating his remaining options even in this desperate situation. The Simulator's maxed-out Lightning Release was powerful, but the capacity limit of this cannon-fodder body was too low. If he squandered all his Chakra here, then even if he killed every Iwagakure shinobi, he would never make it out of this forest.
That sinister old bastard Venom Fang was definitely still watching from the shadows.
His absolute fear of death transformed into the utmost rationality at this moment. He had to survive. Not only did he have to survive, he also had to take control of his own fate and trample every high-and-mighty player moving the pieces beneath his feet!
Baishi reached one hand into his Ninja Tool Pouch and abruptly hurled a Kunai fitted with a long, thin steel wire.
Clang!
The Kunai struck perfectly into the steep cliff wall on the left. Using the pull of the steel wire, Baishi forcibly swung himself aside in midair, narrowly sliding past the spikes on the stone wall.
However, this was precisely the opening the Iwagakure Jonin had painstakingly created.
"Die!"
At some point, the Jonin's massive body had already leaped into midair by stepping off the stone wall. The muscles in his right arm bulged high, while the entire limb was tightly encased in an extremely thick layer of rock armor that gleamed like metal.
"Earth Style: Ultra-Added Weight Rock Fist Technique!"
The air groaned under the pressure of the punch, producing a piercing sonic boom. The violent pressure even blew away half of the ANBU Mask on Baishi's face, revealing eyes as cold and sharp as blades.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
To the left was the perfect rock wall, to the right was the stone wall covered in spikes, and below was the bottomless Underworld Swamp.
Directly ahead was a heavily armored rock fist powerful enough to smash a summoning beast's head to pieces.
His room to maneuver was completely sealed off.
This was the absolute suppression brought by a veteran Jonin beneath Kage Level. Without engaging in flashy ninjutsu clashes, he had relied purely on terrain and experience to force his prey into a hopeless dead end.
"You Konoha scum, pay for my subordinates with your life!" The Jonin's face twisted with extreme delight, his fist less than half a meter from Baishi's chest.
At this critical moment.
Amid the raging wind, Baishi suddenly released the steel wire clenched in his left hand.
His body completely lost its balance and entered a free fall. But he showed no panic whatsoever. His unruffled eyes remained fixed on the rock fist so close at hand.
He did not form any seals for a defensive technique.
Instead, he slowly raised his right hand.
His five fingers spread apart. His thumb curled inward, while his index and middle fingers pressed together.
An extremely bizarre one-handed seal, completely outside the conventional system of ninjutsu, took shape in midair in an instant.
"Why do you think I lured you into the air?"
Baishi's voice was utterly calm, yet it passed clearly through the chaotic pressure of the wind and reached the Iwagakure Jonin's ears.
The Jonin's pupils contracted sharply. An intensely fatal sense of danger seized his heart in an instant. But he was in midair, his heavy punch already launched, and he had no way to pull it back.
The next second.
Blinding blue light finally erupted without restraint at the bottom of the dark Canyon.