Boom!
A blinding burst of fire erupted without warning deep in the swamp. Three Miniature Explosive Tags, specially treated with Lightning Release Chakra to keep out moisture, detonated at once beneath the sealed surface of the mud.
The muffled blast shook loose stones from both sides of the Canyon. A violent shock wave hurled foul-smelling mud and rubble straight at Venom Fang in midair, like a miniature mudslide.
"Substitution Technique!"
At the last possible moment, Venom Fang's hands blurred. With a dull pop, a thick section of broken timber appeared in his place and was instantly shredded into wood chips by the blast.
Ten meters away, Venom Fang crouched on a jutting rock at the edge of a cliff. Flecks of scorching mud struck his pure white mask, giving off an acrid smell of burning.
He looked down at the enormous crater below. The superior amusement in his eyes finally vanished, replaced by a vicious urge to kill.
"You wrapped the Explosive Tags in a faint layer of Lightning Release Chakra to keep out the swamp water, then used steel wire to set them off underwater..." Venom Fang slowly rose, his Leather Boots scraping against the gravel. "You've been plotting against me since the moment we left Konoha?"
In the swamp, Baishi stood half-submerged in murky water.
"Cough... cough!" He turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blackened, poisoned blood.
The green-glowing Kunai remained lodged in his left collarbone. The Iwagakure Jonin's poison was vicious; it had already spread through his blood to the entire left side of his body. From shoulder to fingertips, he felt nothing. His heart seemed trapped in an icy fist, each beat bringing a tearing stab of pain.
Chakra remaining: three percent.
Baishi gripped his Short Blade in his one working hand and planted its tip in the mud to support his unsteady body. He raised his head and met Venom Fang's gaze through his bloodstained mask.
"Plotting?" A harsh note of mockery ran through Baishi's hoarse voice. "Against fools like you, who can't even kill someone without sneaking around? Why would I need a plan?"
Venom Fang's eyes turned utterly cold.
He leaped from the rock and landed firmly on solid ground at the swamp's edge. His standard-issue ANBU Ninja Blade angled toward the ground, its edge gleaming coldly in the dim light.
"So you hid more than your strength. You're much smarter than your file says." Venom Fang advanced one steady step at a time, cutting off every possible escape route.
"But clever people tend to die first." Venom Fang stopped five meters from Baishi. His voice rose, taking on a cold, unquestionable official tone. "Owl of ANBU Team 7 deserted his post during a border-clearing mission and colluded with Iwagakure to ambush his comrades, resulting in the destruction of his entire squad."
He slowly raised his Ninja Blade, pointing its tip at Baishi's throat.
"For desertion and treason, you are hereby executed on the spot!"
The self-righteous sentence echoed through the empty Canyon. Venom Fang needed a perfect excuse. Even with no third person present, the Root-trained killer was accustomed to branding his targets with charges they could never shake before erasing them.
That way, the report filed back in Konoha would be airtight.
Baishi offered no defense against the accusation. Instead, he chuckled softly.
The laughter tugged at the wound in his collarbone, sending uncontrollable spasms through his muscles, but he kept laughing. Muffled by his mask, the sound was deeply unsettling amid the blood-soaked battlefield.
"What are you laughing at?" Venom Fang frowned and tightened his grip on the blade.
"I'm laughing at that old dog Danzo. Every subordinate he trains is a worthless fool who can only recite lines." Baishi spat out the blood in his mouth and staggered to his feet.
He stared at Venom Fang's pure white mask and played his first card with precision. "Colluding with Iwagakure? Ambushing my comrades? Even that hypocritical old man, the Third Hokage, wouldn't believe charges that stale. Do you really think nobody knows what you're up to?"
Venom Fang's gaze sharpened. "What do you mean?"
"Where did Wildcat go?" Baishi asked instead of answering.
Behind his mask, Venom Fang's pupils abruptly contracted.
Baishi caught that split-second stiffness, and his mocking smile deepened. "Wildcat broke away from the squad as soon as we entered this forest. He didn't head toward the Iwagakure base. He went to the route everyone has to take around the edge of Redwood Forest."
Baishi spoke quietly, but every word cut like a knife through Venom Fang's composure.
"Let me guess. Namikaze Minato's squad is in Redwood Forest on a mission to seize intelligence. Wildcat went to cut off their support route and, when the time comes... put a blade in that blond prodigy's back."
"And you deliberately lured me into this Canyon so Iwagakure could kill me for you. First, you could report to the higher-ups that I'd served my purpose as 'bait.' Second, even if Namikaze Minato survived and traced it back to me, I'd be dead and unable to say a word. Root could wash its hands of the whole thing."
With every sentence Baishi spoke, Venom Fang's killing intent swelled.
By the time Baishi had laid out the entire plan, Venom Fang's knuckles had gone white around the hilt.
How was that possible?!
This expendable grunt, who'd spent his time in ANBU meekly following orders and whose hands shook at the thought of killing a Genin—how could he have seen through the Top Secret plan Lord Danzo had devised himself? He knew he was bait, and he even knew Wildcat had gone to intercept and kill Namikaze Minato!
That was beyond clever. It was as if he could see everything!
"You know too much to be left with an intact corpse." Venom Fang's voice changed completely. The official tone was gone, leaving only naked malice.
He could not let Baishi say another word. This unforeseen threat was too dangerous. He had to erase him completely, right now!
"Water Style: Water Body Flicker!"
Chakra surged from Venom Fang. The muddy water beneath his feet became a rushing current, carrying him forward and leaving an afterimage behind.
He was too fast.
The speed an Elite Jonin of ANBU could unleash at full strength was more than the exhausted Baishi could react to.
A gust heavy with moisture struck Baishi's face. Venom Fang had already appeared like a ghost in the blind spot on his left.
"Die!"
The Ninja Blade shrieked through the air as it slashed viciously toward Baishi's neck.
Baishi had no time to form a hand seal. Relying on instinct alone, he clumsily raised the Short Blade in his right hand to block.
Clang!
The piercing crash of metal rang out. Sparks flew, and Baishi felt a crushing force slam through the hilt into his right arm.
The webbing between his thumb and forefinger split open, spraying blood. His ANBU Short Blade flew from his hand, spun through the air, and buried itself in the mud far away.
Baishi was sent flying like a kite with its string cut. He rolled several times through the swamp before slamming into a rock half as tall as a man with a heavy thud.
"Ugh!" Another mouthful of blood burst from his lips.
Baishi slumped against the rock, his chest heaving. His vision doubled badly; Venom Fang appeared to him as three blurred figures.
The poison was nearing his heart, and his Chakra was completely spent. He did not even have the strength to lift a finger.
"It's over."
Venom Fang flicked the muddy water from his Ninja Blade and walked steadily toward Baishi. He took nothing for granted. Every step was careful, his eyes fixed on Baishi's hands in case he pulled out another Explosive Tag.
Four meters.
Three meters.
Two meters.
Venom Fang stopped before Baishi. From there, he could take off Baishi's head with one stroke while remaining safely beyond his reach, even if Baishi lunged at him.
"Your plan was impressive, Owl. But against overwhelming strength, intelligence and a sharp mind won't save your life."
Venom Fang gripped the hilt with both hands and raised his Ninja Blade high overhead. Its edge lined up with Baishi's carotid artery.
Baishi leaned against the rock, disheveled black hair clinging to his forehead. He neither begged nor struggled. He simply watched Venom Fang.
Or rather, he watched the patch of mud beneath Venom Fang's feet.
"You're right. Against overwhelming strength, schemes really are useless."
Baishi's hoarse voice was quiet, its calm enough to raise goosebumps.
"But have you forgotten... I said I wouldn't need a plan against a fool like you?"
Venom Fang's brow twitched. An overwhelming sense of mortal danger shot through him.
He instinctively tried to retreat, but at that moment, he felt the faintest Chakra fluctuation in the mud beneath his feet.
Baishi's right hand, which had hung limp at his side all this time, discreetly brought thumb and forefinger together to form the most basic Tiger Seal.
Beneath his mask, Baishi's lips curled into a bloodthirsty, cold smile.
"Explode."