The malicious sensation of being watched was like tangible ice water, instantly soaking Ling from head to toe!
It was not the familiar Root watcher outside the window! This presence was colder, stranger, carrying an inhuman wildness and greed, like a venomous snake lurking in the darkness with its prey in its sights!
The sharp stabbing pain from the mark at his heart was an even stronger warning!
Almost instinctively, Ling's body moved before his brain could issue a command-he rolled hard diagonally backward!
Riiip!
The instant he left his spot, several ink-black tendrils, seemingly formed from pure yin release energy, shot out of the shadows on the bed where he had just been sitting! The sturdy wooden bed was torn apart as easily as tofu! When their strike missed, the tendrils immediately writhed like living things, locked onto Ling again, and lashed out like lightning!
So fast! What a bizarre way to attack!
Ling's Sharingan activated instantly, its crimson pinwheel patterns spinning rapidly! Through these mutated eyes, the world became slow and clear, leaving the paths of flowing energy nowhere to hide!
He saw it clearly! What was attacking him was not a ninja in the conventional sense, but a constantly shifting mass of black shadow with no fixed physical form! It merged completely with the shadows, its presence extremely similar to the failed experiments beneath the Forest of Death, but more concentrated, more violent, and carrying explicit orders to kill!
Danzo sent it! He finally couldn't hold back any longer! And he actually sent an experimental monster like this, neither human nor ghost! This was madness!
The tendrils struck again, cutting off every angle of escape!
There was nowhere to dodge!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Without hesitation, Ling formed hand seals and spat out a blazing fireball! Yet the shadow monster did not dodge at all. The fireball passed through its body, causing only a ripple and barely affecting its speed! Physical attacks and conventional ninjutsu had very little effect!
[Jōgan analysis: Target is a high-concentration aggregate of yin release energy. Extremely high physical resistance, high conventional ninjutsu resistance. Weaknesses: Yang Release, intense light, mental interference, Sealing Jutsu!]
The information on its weaknesses flooded his mind instantly! But where was Ling supposed to find Yang Release or Sealing Jutsu right now? Intense light? His Fire Release clearly was not bright enough! Mental interference?
The Sharingan! Genjutsu!
The pinwheels in Ling's Sharingan abruptly stilled, locking onto the lunging shadow. "Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique!"
Powerful ocular power mingled with the Jōgan's perception and surged straight into the shadow's core consciousness!
Yet what came back was a barrage of even more chaotic, violent howls filled with endless agony! Not only did the genjutsu fail, it was like kicking a hornet's nest, thoroughly enraging the monster! Its body suddenly swelled, and more Yin Release tendrils erupted, filling the entire dorm room like wildly dancing venomous snakes!
Damn it! This thing had no reason whatsoever! It was nothing but a killing weapon!
Relying on his Sharingan's perception and his own agility, Ling twisted and dodged through the cramped space by the narrowest of margins. Every lash of the tendrils tore through the air with a piercing whistle, constantly destroying walls, floorboards, and furniture in a tremendous racket!
He had to get out of here immediately! Otherwise, the noise would soon draw others! Whoever came, it would be bad for him!
Just as Ling searched for an opening to break out, the shadow monster suddenly let out a piercing screech. Its entire body contracted sharply, becoming an exceedingly thin bolt of black lightning that shot straight toward Ling's heart at a speed far beyond anything before! It was so fast that even the Sharingan's prediction lagged for an instant!
The threat of death descended in an instant!
He couldn't dodge it!
At that critical moment, the glassy light deep in Ling's eyes suddenly flared, forcibly merging with the power of his crimson Sharingan!
In his vision, the world instantly became countless intersecting energy lines and fragments of possible futures!
[Overload projection initiated! Based on the current environment, enemy attack patterns, and own abilities... generating optimal response: Guide the enemy's attack into triggering a Dormitory Simple Soundproof Barrier node. Use the energy turbulence produced by the barrier's instantaneous overload to delay the attack by 0.1 seconds. Simultaneously, accept a minor injury to the left shoulder in exchange for turning sideways to avoid a vital hit, then counterattack its energy core with a Chakra Scalpel imbued with Jōgan properties (predicted position: two-thirds of the way along the front end of the attack trajectory)!]
The enormous flood of information nearly burst his brain! Once again, Ling's body acted before his conscious mind!
Instead of retreating, he took an extremely subtle half-step forward, deliberately "bumping" his left shoulder into the edge of that black lightning! At the same time, he pressed the fingers of his right hand together like a blade, gathering the last of his chakra and mixing it with the Jōgan's peculiar powers of purification and perception, then thrust with absolute precision at a particular point in the black lightning!
Schlk!
The black lightning easily pierced Ling's left shoulder, trailing a spray of blood! Agonizing pain followed!
But at that very instant, Ling's left foot happened to crush a hidden section of graphite circuitry in the floor-one of the energy nodes of the Dormitory Simple Soundproof Barrier!
Buzzz-!
The soundproof barrier around the entire dorm room gave an overburdened hum and instantly overloaded, producing a localized storm of chaotic energy!
Under this sudden energy interference, the lightning-like black attack faltered for an exceedingly brief, almost imperceptible instant!
That instant was all it took! Ling's blade-like hand, imbued with purifying power, struck later but arrived first, piercing the energy core he had "seen" with absolute precision!
"Hiss-yaaah!!!"
An inhuman shriek of extreme agony suddenly erupted from the shadow! As though seared by a red-hot iron, its entire body twisted and seethed violently, its attack disintegrating instantly! For a moment, it manifested an unstable physical form-a horrifying, distorted outline that seemed to combine human features with those of some reptile!
It shot a terrified glance at Ling's eyes, shimmering with glassy crimson light, then recoiled as if it had encountered its natural enemy. It instantly merged into the shadows in the corner and vanished without a trace!
Everything happened in the blink of an eye!
Barely a dozen seconds had passed from the beginning of the attack to its end!
The dorm room was already a wreck, as though a typhoon had torn through it. Ling knelt on one knee, his right hand pressed against the bleeding wound on his left shoulder, panting heavily. His Sharingan slowly faded, and his face was as pale as paper from blood loss and chakra depletion.
Hurried footsteps and knocking came from outside the door. "What happened in there?! Open the door!"
The tremendous commotion had drawn the dormitory staff and patrolling ninja!
Clenching his teeth, Ling quickly grabbed a scrap of bedsheet and roughly bandaged his wound, while forcibly suppressing his surging blood and intense pain.
He had to settle on his story immediately!
The door was violently forced open. At the sight of the devastated room and the injured Ling, those entering blanched in shock.
"An... an enemy infiltrated!" Ling raised his head, wearing expressions of "lingering shock" and "barely suppressed pain." His voice was weak but clear. "It was a monster that could merge into shadows! It suddenly attacked me! I barely blocked the first strike, then it seemed to trigger some kind of barrier backlash and suddenly fled..."
He attributed the monster's escape to "barrier backlash," deftly concealing his final counterattack. The wreckage strewn across the floor and the shattered barrier node perfectly corroborated his account.
Soon, more Anbu arrived, led by the female Anbu codenamed "Fox." She inspected the scene carefully, particularly the destroyed barrier node and the lingering traces of cold chakra. Behind her mask, her gaze grew exceptionally sharp. She gave Ling a long, searching look.
"Take him to the Medical Department for emergency treatment immediately! Seal off the scene! Report to Lord Hokage!" Fox ordered calmly, a barely perceptible chill in her voice. "Someone actually dared to make such a vicious attack on a trainee directly under the Hokage, right here inside Konoha!"
As Ling was lifted onto a stretcher, his heart was cold.
Danzo... had you finally lost your patience?
Though this clumsy, insane assassination attempt had failed, it had also torn away all pretense.
The storm was no longer a premonition. It had truly arrived.
And the wound on his shoulder was the first mark of this war's beginning.
Before you continue