Evolution Tree Quietly Locks onto New Prey

"Lord Hokage only wants to see Chiba?"

Naruto chased after the secretary outside the iron gate, his gaze fixed on the notice in the secretary's hand.

"I'm also a member of the first group. Why wasn't I called?"

"The notice only named Senju Chiba."

The secretary put away the scroll and turned toward Konoha.

"The meeting will be arranged separately. There is no need to go to the Hokage Tower today."

Naruto still wanted to ask more questions, but Chiba had already walked past him.

"If you want to see the Third Hokage, just go paint the Hokage Rock."

"That was before. Now I'll rely on my strength and make that old man, the Third Hokage, invite me in!"

"Finish making up your control records first."

"We came in first today. Can't the assignment be waived?"

Iruka raised a hand from behind and pressed it onto Naruto's shoulder.

"No. And since you used the Clone Technique without classroom permission, you'll need to write an extra training report."

Naruto's face immediately fell.

"Chiba used poison too. Why doesn't he have to write an extra one?"

"His poison formula and antidote have already been registered."

Iruka looked at the handprint on Chiba's clothes.

"Check your chakra pathways after you get back. If the Gentle Fist residue hasn't dispersed, go to the medical department tomorrow."

"It's already dispersed."

"Don't force yourself just because your body is tough."

"I know."

After leaving the training ground, Yakushi Yeyue had stayed behind the group the entire time.

Once they entered the village streets, he quickened his pace and stuffed a lunchbox into Chiba's hands.

"You didn't finish lunch. Heat it up tonight."

"Aren't you going back to the orphanage?"

"I need to buy more bandages at the pharmacy."

Yeyue looked at the notice the secretary had put away.

"Why does the Third Hokage want to see you?"

"You can go ask him."

"I can't get into the Hokage Tower."

"Root's passage should be able to get you in."

Yeyue's stride did not falter. He merely switched his old textbook to his other hand.

"You suspect me, but you don't have to bring up Root every time."

"Are you afraid someone will hear?"

"I'm afraid that when they drag you in for interrogation, you'll give them my name too."

"Don't worry. You'll go in first."

Yeyue snatched back the lunchbox.

"Don't eat tonight."

"Make it something sweet tomorrow."

"You actually remembered."

The two separated at the street corner, but Chiba did not immediately return to the clan grounds.

The Hokage's direct Anbu agents remained up high, while the observation post Root had once left behind was still empty.

Yakushi Yeyue did not head toward the pharmacy.

That chakra signature passed through the crowd, circled behind the school, then vanished into an empty alley.

"The contact point changed."

Chiba did not follow. He turned into a ninja tool shop and bought several chunks of ordinary iron ore, then returned to the clan grounds with the handprint left by training still on his body.

The roots beside the abandoned well remained connected to the underground water veins.

After he pressed his right hand into the soil, fine roots spread outward. Water and minerals entered the vines, and a Hardening Vine tip quickly grew beside his palm.

"Neji's Gentle Fist proved that chakra pathway attacks can't completely suppress a Sage Body."

[A Sage Body can bypass low-intensity seals by creating additional chakra branches.]

"Poison spores can invade along the enemy's chakra in reverse, but their spread is too slow."

[Current toxins rely on skin contact and are limited against isolation-type ninjutsu.]

"Solution?"

[Increase spore activity, or allow Wood Release to gain a structure capable of actively invading the target's body.]

Chiba controlled the Hardening Vine and stabbed it toward a stone pillar.

The vine tip entered a crack, and venom was sent through its internal woody ducts, but the purple patterns stopped the moment they touched the stone.

"Hard enough, but the framework isn't strong enough."

The vine bent when it was pulled free. The minerals had only strengthened its outer layer; its interior remained ordinary wood.

If he encountered a Lightning Release user or a ninja skilled with slashing attacks, the Hardening Vine could block the first blow, but subsequent impacts would travel through its interior and snap the main stem directly.

"It needs a complete supporting structure."

[No corresponding sample currently available.]

"Can animal skeletons be extracted?"

[Ordinary skeletons lack chakra traits and cannot form evolution nodes.]

Chiba released his hand and let the Hardening Vine retract into the soil on its own.

An unfamiliar chakra signature skimmed the edge of the roots' sensory range.

Its source was far beyond the clan grounds, and its direction did not follow Konoha's commonly used roads.

[An abnormal chakra fluctuation has been detected within this region.]

[Direction: deep within the forest northeast of Konoha.]

[The target's chakra continues to weaken. It is presumed to be an injured lifeform of chunin rank or above.]

Chiba raised his head as the fine roots simultaneously turned northeast.

The distance exceeded his current stable sensing range, allowing him to catch only intermittent pulses through the underground water veins.

That chakra carried an intense life signature, but its structure differed from that of ordinary ninja.

Every time it flowed, hard material scraping against the soil sent back feedback.

"Where does the northeast lead?"

[The system has not loaded geographical information regarding Konoha's surroundings.]

"Hidden Sound Village hasn't been established yet, but someone is already traveling the route to the Land of Rice Fields."

In the memories of his previous life, Orochimaru was still searching everywhere for experimental subjects at this time.

Children with special Kekkei Genkai were more valuable to him than chunin corpses.

Chiba reconnected to his sensory roots.

That fluctuation had already moved deeper into the forest. It was not moving quickly, and it had left several fragments of chakra along the way.

It did not resemble an ambush.

It was more like an injured beast searching for a place to hide.

"Display the evolution tree."

The World Tree skill map appeared in his mind.

The branches of Poison Vine Sprout and Root System Water Absorption drew close to one another, while the composite node that had yet to connect remained gray.

On the other side, an entirely new branch lit up with a dim white sheen.

[Evolution direction preview.]

[Defeat a special-physique target of chunin rank or above.]

[Estimated evolution result: Wood Release: Skeletal Reinforcement.]

[Can strengthen Wood Release's internal support and increase resistance to impact and piercing power.]

Chiba stared at the dim white branch as the Hardening Vine by his palm pierced the stone pillar once again.

With surface mineralization paired with an internal skeleton, the Poison Vine would no longer need to rely on entanglement and surprise attacks.

In direct combat, it could pierce through ninjutsu and withstand greater force.

"Tomorrow night."

[The target's chakra is weakening and may not survive until tomorrow night.]

"The Anbu are still watching tonight."

Chiba withdrew his roots, deliberately slowing his chakra flow. Then he raised a hand and pressed against the ribs Neji had struck.

The Anbu hidden on the roof indeed shifted positions.

One of them made a hand signal to his companion before leaving the clan grounds, likely to report back to the Hokage Tower that the Gentle Fist residue had not yet dissipated.

"Tomorrow afternoon, I'll act weak at school. At night, I'll leave through the western cave."

[If the target dies early, the sample may lose its activity.]

"A special-physique chunin won't die that easily."

The sound of leaves brushing together came from outside the courtyard wall.

Yakushi Yeyue stood by the roadside holding the lunchbox. He did not climb over the wall, merely glanced through a gap between the wooden boards into the courtyard.

Chiba still had his back to the wall as he controlled the Hardening Vine to strike the stone pillar.

Cracks had appeared at the end of the vine, and after several growth cycles, its chakra had dropped to a level that was easy to observe.

Yeyue lingered briefly, placed the lunchbox at the gate, and turned to leave.

Chiba did not call after him.

A thin root grew along the bottom of the lunchbox, following the dirt that had clung to Yeyue's shoes.

The route first passed around the school, then entered an underground drainage channel.

Yeyue stopped at the channel entrance.

"Chiba used Wood Release for training today. The Hardening Vine lasted less time than it did yesterday."

Someone in the darkness accepted his record.

"How much did the wilderness training consume?"

"No visible injuries. His chakra pathways on the right side were struck by Gentle Fist, and he kept pressing his ribs after returning to the village."

"What about the poison?"

"It can spread through chakra pathways. He controls the antidote himself."

"How has the Hokage's summons affected him?"

Yeyue leaned against the damp stone wall, lightly grinding his shoe tip against the ground.

The fine root hidden in the mud was pinned beneath his foot, yet he did not sever it.

"He knows the Third Hokage is watching him, and he knows Root will hear."

"What else?"

"He deliberately let me watch him train tonight."

The person in the darkness did not respond.

Yeyue lifted his foot, and the fine root remained where it lay.

"Deliver those words to Lord Danzo exactly as they are."

Only after he left the drainage channel did Chiba withdraw that strand of root.

The dim white branch on the system panel brightened further, while that distant chakra signature also stopped deep in the forest.

This time, the prey did not continue fleeing.