The Last Seed of the Senju

(Brain storage area)

(Everyone, please store your brains here before you start consuming this; thank you.)

"Lord Danzo requests your presence. Come with us, and don't make us use force."

A cold voice rang out in the dilapidated courtyard, scraping against the eardrums of Senju Chiba.

Three Root ninjas wearing blank masks surrounded him in a triangular formation.

Under the moonlight, their figures blended into the shadows of the surrounding ruined buildings, radiating malice.

Chiba's body was only seven or eight years old, dressed in thin, tattered clothes that made him look exceptionally frail in the night wind.

He raised his head, and in those clear eyes that should have belonged to a child, there was not a hint of fear, only a profound calm.

He had been in this world for three days.

Three days ago, he was still a corporate slave eating instant noodles while cursing mobile game developers in his rented apartment; in the blink of an eye, he was lying in this ruined wooden shack.

Strange memories flooded his mind, and he had become the last bloodline of the Senju clan, Senju Chiba.

This legendary clan, which once stood alongside the Uchiha and personally founded Konoha Village, was now left with only him as an orphan, guarding these ruins forgotten by the world.

Even the once-glorious ancestral home had become a paradise for stray cats, with graffiti painted on the front gate.

"Danzo?"

Chiba whispered the name, a curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

Shimura Danzo, the darkness of Konoha, that ambitious man who would stop at nothing for the sake of the so-called "big picture."

During the day, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had just "kindly" met with him.

That seemingly kind and benevolent old man had asked about his background in a gentle tone, promised to take good care of him as the "last hope of the Senju," and arranged for him to enter the Ninja Academy.

But Chiba's adult soul saw it clearly: the scrutiny and calculation deep within those turbid eyes were exactly the same as those bosses who made empty promises back in his previous life.

The Senju bloodline, in today's Konoha, was both a sweet treat used to demonstrate the legitimacy of the Hokage lineage and an eyesore that invited countless prying eyes.

Sure enough, just as the Third Hokage finished playing the "good cop" during the day, Danzo's "bad cop" arrived at night.

"It seems you don't intend to come quietly."

The voice of the lead Root ninja betrayed his impatience. He tilted his head slightly, and the two men beside him immediately closed in from the left and right.

Chiba ignored them; his consciousness was submerged in the vast starry sky within his mind.

In the center of the stars, the phantom of a giant tree that pierced the heavens flickered in and out of existence—it was the [Infinite Evolution Template] that had awakened along with him three days ago.

[Detected that the host possesses the Senju Sage Body bloodline; Wood Release genes have been activated.]

[Current level: Lv0 (Seed Stage).]

[Evolution condition: Defeat the first enemy or complete the first high-intensity battle.]

"Evolution..."

Chiba murmured under his breath.

He had tried; even after exhausting all his chakra, his palm could only squeeze out a crooked little sapling no thicker than a chopstick.

The system's cold prompt made him want to laugh and cry: "Seed stage, please irrigate first."

What he lacked wasn't water; it was blood.

The blood of battle!

"Do it!"

The lead Root ninja lost his patience. At his command, his two subordinates turned their hands into blades, aiming straight for Chiba's neck and heart.

They clearly didn't intend to leave him alive; the so-called "request" was nothing but a facade.

A cold light flashed in Chiba's eyes.

This was exactly what he had been waiting for!

The moment the Root ninjas moved, he ducked low and charged straight toward the leader!

He was exploiting a blind spot in their thinking.

Everyone assumed he would try to run or be frozen in fear.

The lead Root ninja was clearly stunned for a moment; he hadn't expected a child to dare to charge at him.

It was this split-second of hesitation!

Chiba's physical fitness, bolstered by the Sage Body, was far beyond that of an ordinary person, and his speed was astonishing.

He rushed in front of his opponent, performed a clumsy roll, and dove right between the man's legs.

At the same time, the attacks from the two Root ninjas behind him missed, nearly colliding with each other.

"Brat!"

The lead Root ninja was humiliated and furious, turning around to sweep his leg.

Chiba rolled on the ground, barely dodging, and grabbed a roof tile from the floor, throwing it at the man's ankle.

The tile couldn't possibly cause any damage, but the distraction caused the Root ninja's movement to falter.

"Catch him!"

The three spread out, launching a manhunt through the desolate clan grounds.

Chiba scrambled desperately through the ruins.

He knew the Konoha ninjutsu system by heart and understood that the combat style of Root members was concise and efficient, but lacked flexibility.

He used collapsed walls, overgrown weeds, and scattered stones as cover, narrowly avoiding their attacks time and time again.

The chakra in his body was depleting rapidly, and his lungs burned with pain.

"Thwack!"

One Root ninja predicted his path and struck his shoulder with a hand blade. Chiba let out a pained cry as he lunged forward and fell.

Agony surged through him, but he didn't stop; using the momentum of his fall, he rolled into a shack that only had half a wall left.

"It's over."

A cold voice sounded from behind him; the three Root ninjas had blocked all exits.

Chiba leaned against the wall, gasping for air, sweat and blood mixing together, making him look utterly wretched.

"Is this the limit?"

He licked his cracked lips, yet a smile appeared on his face.

"Come."

He looked at the approaching ninjas and calmly spat out the word.

"You're courting death!"

One Root ninja, provoked by his near-death defiance, flashed forward and appeared instantly before him, throwing a punch at his face.

Chiba did not dodge or evade.

Just as the fist was about to make contact, the chakra he had been secretly accumulating in his feet erupted!

"Wood Release: Sapling Technique!"

A vine burst from the ground, precisely wrapping around the Root ninja's ankle.

The vine was too weak and was snapped instantly.

But that one-tenth of a second of resistance was enough!

The Root ninja stumbled, creating a fatal opening in his forward momentum.

A fierce light exploded in Chiba's eyes; using his very last ounce of strength, he slammed his head into the man's exposed abdomen!

"Bang!"

A dull thud echoed.

The Root ninja had never expected him to use such a purely physical, savage method of attack. Taking a heavy blow to the stomach, he flew backward, slammed into the wall, and passed out.

Almost at the same time, a heavenly sound rang out in Chiba's mind!

[First battle completed! Defeated a Genin-level target! Evolution points +1!]

[Detected that the host's vital signs are critical; combat will has reached its peak. Hidden conditions met!]

[Do you wish to begin the first evolution immediately?]

"Evolve!"

Chiba roared with all his might in his heart.

The next second, a golden-green light erupted from his heart, instantly enveloping his entire body!

The intense pain faded, replaced by a massive, warm current!

The other two Root ninjas stepped back, shocked by the sudden turn of events, staring in horror at the boy in the light who should have been at death's door.

Within the radiance, a pair of eyes opened. In them, there was no longer a shred of childhood innocence, only the cold, hungry gaze of a predator.