Chapter 63: Silencing
The moment Baishi activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, he vanished from the spot. Witnessing this, Tenshi and the others were stunned.
Before they could react, Baishi reappeared unexpectedly in front of a 'half-fishman'.
Without hesitation, as soon as he teleported, Baishi thrust his kunai forward, piercing the heart of the bewildered 'half-fishman' right in front of him.
There was no chance of escape. These people knew his identity, and if he wanted a peaceful life in the future, he had to silence them. Otherwise, if the news leaked, endless troubles would follow. He was quite settled on Moon Island and wasn't ready to move just yet.
A spurt of fresh blood sprayed from the 'half-fishman's' mouth directly towards Baishi.
However, his rapid reflexes made it seem as though everything was happening in slow motion.
Pulling the kunai from the opponent's heart, Baishi immediately locked onto another marker and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, disappearing and reappearing beside another person.
Just like before, he attacked the moment he appeared, but this time, instead of aiming for the heart, he slashed through the carotid artery of his target.
In an instant, blood dyed a large swath of the surrounding sea water red, but none reached Baishi, as his figure had vanished once again.
When he reappeared, he was behind a third 'half-fishman', his kunai piercing through the back of the target's heart.
Thus, Baishi's figure flickered continuously, appearing and disappearing, with his kunai acting like the grim reaper's scythe, mercilessly reaping the lives of his targets.
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen 'half-fishmen' had fallen by his hand.
A closer look would reveal that those who died had been previously injured by Baishi during the melee.
Clearly, Baishi had marked these individuals with the Flying Thunder God Technique during the earlier fight, allowing him to kill so many in such a short time.
Only then did Tenshi and the others begin to react, launching an attack against him.
One of the 'fishmen' quickly completed a series of hand seals and then opened his mouth to emit a beam of electricity that struck Baishi through the water.
Baishi could have dodged, but upon realizing that the attack was a Lightning Release, he decided to suppress the impulse to evade.
Months of tempering his body with Lightning Release had made him immune to such levels of electricity.
However, while he was immune to the electrical attack, the surrounding 'half-fishmen' were not, and thus, they quickly moved aside.
Seizing this opportunity, Baishi performed hand seals at breakneck speed and executed the Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu.
As a result, the sea water around Baishi began to swirl. Initially, the rotation was slow, but as time passed, the speed increased, and the affected area expanded.
Eventually, it turned into a tornado-like force, sweeping through a wide area around him.
At this moment, not even Tenshi or the other advanced 'fishmen' could escape.
Caught in the rapidly spinning water, they felt dizzy and disoriented, losing all ability to resist.
The effectiveness of a jutsu often depends on its user. Although the Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu is a C-rank technique, in Baishi's hands, it performed as well as an A-rank technique.
Indeed, the level of a jutsu represents its learning difficulty, not necessarily its effectiveness. However, the more difficult a jutsu is to learn, generally, the more powerful it is.
'It should be enough now.'
Sensing that the life force of Tenshi and the others had weakened within the water tornado, Baishi finally canceled the jutsu.
Before the surrounding sea calmed, he used the Wood Release: Wood Clone Jutsu. His back writhed as four figures burst forth.
Baishi glanced back at them, and without a word, the four clones understood his intent.
Simultaneously, they placed their hands on their shoulders where a tree-shaped mark appeared, clearly the Flying Thunder God Technique mark.
Though these were just clones, the marks allowed Baishi to maintain sensory perception, enabling mutual support among him and his clones.
This arrangement ensured they couldn't be easily defeated individually and would end the battle more swiftly.
After the preparations, Baishi nodded to the four clones, signaling them to proceed.
The next moment, each clone picked a direction and attacked the badly shaken 'half-fishmen' and 'fishmen'.
As for Baishi himself, he stayed at the center of the battlefield, keeping an eye on the entire situation to prevent any escapes.
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As time ticked by, the number of surviving 'half-fishmen' and 'fishmen' dwindled. Suddenly, Baishi turned his attention towards Tenshi's location.
There, a giant slime-like aquatic creature appeared on the scene.
Recognizing this form, Baishi quickly recalled that this was Tenshi's summoning creature, known as the Sea King.
Its body, formed entirely of sea water, had no vital points except for a 'core' deep inside.
Thus, there were only two ways to deal with it: One was to use a massive Fire Release technique to evaporate its body, preventing recovery; the other was to disrupt its core with Lightning Release.
Knowing this, the wood clone allowed itself to be swallowed by the Sea King, but at that moment, it unleashed a blinding burst of electricity.
While Baishi wasn't skilled in Lightning Release techniques, his months of physical conditioning with Lightning Release allowed him to control the chakra adeptly.
A bolt of lightning struck directly at the Sea King's core.
Severely damaged, the Sea King's body quickly disintegrated, but due to being underwater, it seemed less dramatic, only the outermost transparent layer, resembling a skin-like water membrane, vanished.
Freed from the Sea King's grip, the wood clone immediately pursued Tenshi.
Indeed, Tenshi, realizing the dire situation, had already started to flee.
Baishi calculated their relative speeds and, confident that the wood clone could catch Tenshi, shifted his focus back to the rest of the battlefield.
As expected, even with assistance from the remaining 'half-fishmen,' the other three 'fishmen' were no match for the wood clones.
Without their underwater combat advantage, these 'half-fishmen' and 'fishmen' were no stronger than regular ninjas—perhaps even weaker in some respects.
Fifteen minutes later, the battle was over. Except for Tenshi, no one else survived.
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