"The vanguard decoy has been confirmed eliminated. Mission core: cover Namikaze Minato's squad..."
In the narrow dormitory corridor, Baishi gripped the charred top-secret Scroll, the veins on the back of his hand bulging like twisted dragons. He chewed over those few words again and again, and beneath his mask, his lips curled into an utterly savage smile.
So that was it.
Minato's concession in the interrogation room had never been some compromise for the greater good. That blond genius, praised by the entire village as the sun, had long seen through the Third Hokage and Danzo's intentions. He had not even needed to act himself. All he had needed to do was go with the flow and place Baishi into this certain-death trap, and he could erase this "romantic rival" who threatened him without shedding a drop of blood.
What Will of Fire? What place where leaves danced? They were nothing more than fig leaves used by those in power to whitewash peace and purge dissidents!
Baishi's fingertips twitched.
"Psh." A highly condensed streak of dark-blue lightning flashed past, and the top-secret Scroll instantly turned into dust too fine for the naked eye, scattering over the bloodstained wooden floor.
His killing intent swiftly receded, and Baishi's mind regained its absolute clarity. He glanced at the charred Root corpse on the ground. The traces of Lightning Release were far too obvious. If the ANBU examined it, the trump card of his hidden strength would be completely exposed.
He pulled a standard Kunai from the pouch strapped to his leg and, enduring the pungent stench of charred flesh, precisely stabbed the corpse twice in the throat and heart, fabricating the appearance of close-quarters combat. Then he dragged the body into the room and tossed it beside the wooden bed.
Next, he took out an expensive Explosive Tag and attached it to the connection point of the aged chakra lighting circuit, linking it to the half-open window with an extremely thin transparent thread. Once the morning breeze blew, the window would sway and tug the thread, triggering the Explosive Tag and creating a flawless fire caused by an electrical short circuit.
After finishing all that, he retreated into the cramped bathroom.
He turned on the rusty faucet.
Icy groundwater poured over his head, washing away the thick bloodstains on his body, along with layer after layer of black impurities expelled after his cells had reorganized. Water ran down his toned back and gathered into a dark-red whirlpool at the drain.
Baishi braced both hands against the slick wall and breathed deeply of the cold air mixed with moisture.
The pain had completely faded, replaced by an unprecedented sense of fullness. He closed his eyes and focused inward. His formerly dried-up, narrow chakra pathways were now as broad as rivers. The chakra pool that had once only been enough for several C-rank ninjutsu had become a bottomless lake.
His chakra reserves had multiplied several times over! They had absolutely reached the level of an Elite Chunin, perhaps even touched the threshold of a Jonin.
And beyond that, what truly alarmed him was the control that felt as natural as moving his own limbs.
He tried to mobilize a thread of lightning-aspected chakra.
No hand seals.
With merely a thought, a tiny dark-blue arc of electricity danced across his fingertips like a swimming snake. It was utterly restrained, without the slightest trace of wild leakage.
He injected that chakra into his legs with extreme precision.
"Bzzzt—"
Amid the faint crackle of electricity, the muscle fibers in his legs instantly tightened. The soreness and stabbing pain brought on by forcefully stimulating his cells made him grunt, but he did not stop. Instead, he deliberately increased the output.
His muscles swelled high, brimming with terrifying explosive force that seemed ready to burst through his skin.
He bent his knees slightly.
Crack!
He had not even deliberately exerted force, yet the non-slip tiles beneath his feet shattered outright, spiderweb cracks spreading in every direction. Had he not reined himself in in time, that single movement would have been enough to send him smashing through the bathroom ceiling.
"What terrifying explosive power." Baishi took a deep breath and cut off the chakra supply.
Kumogakure's Lightning Release Chakra Mode was the secret inheritance of every generation of Raikage. Though he still could not cover his whole body in Lightning Armor, this extreme fine control over localized cells alone meant his instantaneous burst speed was already enough to kill the overwhelming majority of ninjas at his level in close combat.
This was the trump card that would keep him alive tomorrow.
At dawn, thick fog shrouded the outskirts of Konoha.
Baishi changed into a plain outfit washed pale with wear and silently left the dormitory district.
He had not gone five hundred meters.
Boom—!
A muffled explosion sounded behind him, followed by thick smoke billowing into the sky. Firelight flickered indistinctly through the fog.
"Fire! Put it out!"
The patrolling ANBU and guards were alerted, and the clamor of footsteps and shouts shattered the morning's quiet.
Baishi did not even look back. His gait was steady and measured, every step calculated down to the centimeter, like an emotionless killing machine.
Second underground floor of the Hokage Building, ANBU Logistics Department.
The air was thick with the stench of blood mixed with damp mildew.
Baishi handed over the Third Hokage's written order. The one-eyed old man at logistics gave him a cold glance, then tossed a brand-new ANBU uniform, a black trench coat, and a leather pouch filled with basic ninja tools across the counter.
Finally, the old man pushed a deathly pale Fox Mask toward him.
"Codename: Owl. From today onward, this is your face." The old man spoke hoarsely, pushing over a registration book. "Sign it. Survive this mission, then come collect next month's Soldier Pills."
Baishi said nothing. He picked up the pen and scrawled a crooked signature, then lifted the mask and gently brushed its cold painted patterns with his fingertips.
In his previous life, he had worn this mask to hide his fear, to barely survive within this man-eating system.
But now—
He slowly fastened the mask over his face.
Click.
The snap of the clasp closing sounded especially crisp in the quiet logistics office. Beneath the mask, those eyes that had once feigned timidity were now as deep as a ten-thousand-foot frozen pool, carrying chilling ruthlessness and sharpness.
He put on the black trench coat and tied the Ninja Tool Pouch to the outside of his thigh.
The instant he donned the uniform, his entire aura underwent a complete transformation. He was no longer the cannon fodder who trembled in a corner, but a true hunter lurking in the darkness.
Eight in the morning.
ANBU Third Assembly Hall.
Under the dim lights, more than a dozen ANBU ninjas wearing masks of various designs stood in small groups, wiping down ninja tools or talking quietly.
The moment Baishi pushed open the heavy Iron Door and entered, the conversations in the hall abruptly stopped.
Several covert gazes immediately fixed on him. There was curiosity, scrutiny, but more than anything, pity for a dead man. Although the higher-ups had sealed off what happened in the underground interrogation room yesterday, news had long spread through the ANBU. A bottom-tier Genin who had offended the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and drawn Namikaze Minato's attention had already been sentenced to death in this circle, where strength and connections mattered most.
Baishi ignored those stares.
He walked straight to a supply crate in the corner, leaned against the cold wall, folded his arms, and closed his eyes to rest.
Just then, a set of heavy footsteps stopped before him.
Baishi slowly opened his eyes.
Standing before him was a burly ANBU Jonin wearing a Wild Boar mask. His codename was Venom Fang. He was the captain responsible for leading this purge mission and personally "eliminating" Baishi, just as stated in the top-secret Scroll!
"You're Owl?"
Venom Fang looked down at Baishi, his voice beneath the mask filled with undisguised contempt. He extended a thick finger clad in a tactical glove and jabbed Baishi hard in the shoulder.
"I heard you were banging your head pretty loudly in the interrogation room last night. Even the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki couldn't save you?"
A few stifled snickers rose from around them.
Baishi did not move. He let Venom Fang poke his shoulder, his gaze beneath the mask utterly calm.
"Reporting to Captain." Baishi bowed slightly, lowering his voice as though appropriately terrified. "This subordinate is only a crude man who knows how to obey orders. Being able to serve the village is this subordinate's honor."
"Not a bad attitude. I hope your life is worthy of that attitude."
Venom Fang sneered, then turned toward the others in the hall and abruptly raised his voice. "Listen up! Mission target: infiltrating Iwagakure spies at the Land of Fire border! Assemble at Konoha's main gate in half an hour!"
He turned back, the one eye beneath his mask staring fixedly at Baishi. His lips curled into a cruel arc. "For this mission, Owl, you'll be responsible for scouting ahead as the vanguard."
Venom Fang took two steps closer and lowered his voice, speaking in a tone only the two of them could hear. "Don't even think about running. Otherwise, I'll personally snap your neck."
With that, Venom Fang turned and strode away.
Baishi remained against the wall with his head lowered, like a coward who had accepted his fate. Yet beneath the wide cuff of his trench coat, the index and middle fingers of his right hand had silently come together.
A faint dark-blue arc, radiating terrifying heat, flashed across his fingertips and vanished.
"Scouting ahead, huh..."
Baishi slowly raised his head. His gaze beneath the mask passed over the crowd and locked onto the thick back of Venom Fang's neck. His fingers dug deeply into his palm as he forcibly suppressed the urge to drive lightning straight through the other man's heart.
Then let's see, once they reached the border forest, who the real prey would be!