Chapter 99: Return to Konoha
"Let's leave it for now," Baishi muttered after a long silence. "Once the Nine-Tails incident is resolved, I'll reevaluate everything."
Rising to his feet, he stretched his body, eliciting a series of crisp cracking sounds from his joints. It was evident that his injuries had fully healed.
At Level VII Regeneration, he couldn't yet regrow limbs, but healing fractures and other similar injuries posed no issue.
*"Still, getting injured this often isn't sustainable. While my regenerative ability can restore my wounds quickly, injuries significantly impact my immediate combat strength.
"If I ever get immobilized because of an injury, no amount of regeneration will save me from death."*
After some thought, Baishi concluded, "I need to bolster my physical defenses. Let's start by enhancing my skin's resilience."
With that decision, Baishi summoned the system, set the evolution direction and parameters, and delegated control to it. For simpler enhancements like this, he didn't need to guide the process in real-time—periodic checks would suffice.
As the system began draining chakra from his body to fuel the enhancement, Baishi nodded in satisfaction before activating Flying Thunder God.
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One Week Later
Outside the Hidden Leaf Village, Baishi stood atop a large tree, gazing at the village walls and watchtowers. "Loose on the surface, but tight within," he murmured.
Outwardly, the village defenses appeared unchanged. However, Baishi's perception told him otherwise: Konoha's sensory barrier was operating at full capacity.
Under such circumstances, any unregistered chakra entering the barrier would be immediately detected—unless the intruder used a space-time ninjutsu.
"Too bad I don't have any Flying Thunder God markers inside the village," Baishi said with a tinge of regret.
After observing for a while and confirming there was no immediate opportunity to act, he withdrew his gaze and activated Flying Thunder God to leave the area.
This time, he planned to act as a "fisherman." As a fisherman, he needed to avoid alarming the "sandpiper" and the "clam." With ample time ahead, there was no rush to make a move.
Additionally, he needed to observe the situation carefully. While his memories of his past life provided useful insights, they were no substitute for accurate intelligence, especially given how much had changed.
For instance, in his memories, Uchiha Obito only had one Mangekyō Sharingan. But now, he possessed both—an unpredictable variable.
With that in mind, Baishi resolved to proceed cautiously.
---
Several kilometers away, in an underground chamber, Baishi's figure appeared silently.
After scanning the surroundings and confirming his safety, he sat cross-legged and activated Spirit Transformation Jutsu.
The moment his soul left his body, his perception expanded exponentially.
Within a hundred-kilometer radius, everything with a soul—whether human or beast—was laid bare before his senses.
In an instant, he pinpointed familiar individuals like Orochimaru, Danzo, and several members of the Root division, whose chakra signatures he had encountered before. He also located others with extraordinary chakra reserves, such as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze.
Unfortunately, he couldn't sense the Nine-Tails due to its sealed state.
"No matter," Baishi muttered. "As long as I know Kushina Uzumaki's location, the Nine-Tails won't escape me."
"Let's see..."
Murmuring to himself, Baishi began scanning Konoha for Kushina Uzumaki.
"This one isn't her... nor this one... Ah, there she is."
After identifying Kushina's location, Baishi prepared to withdraw his senses. Suddenly, another soul appeared near her, seemingly out of nowhere.
Baishi's eyes narrowed. He immediately guessed the intruder's identity—Uchiha Obito.
The mysterious arrival using space-time ninjutsu was a dead giveaway. At this moment, there were only two people capable of such an ability in Konoha: Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Obito.
Since Minato was already accounted for within Baishi's sensory range, the newcomer could only be Obito.
"Well, what a coincidence," Baishi remarked with a faint smile.
Obito's appearance confirmed that the Nine-Tails incident was likely to unfold as he remembered. His trip would not be in vain.
---
Meanwhile, in Konoha
In the village, a figure cloaked in shadow and wearing a mask moved like a phantom, tailing Kushina Uzumaki from the shadows. This was none other than Uchiha Obito.
Obito occasionally glanced toward another figure stationed discreetly nearby—a Konoha Anbu operative.
Though the Anbu operative wore a mask, Obito instantly recognized him: Kakashi Hatake, his former teammate and now a competitor in a game he no longer played.
Every time Obito saw Kakashi, rage flickered in his heart.
Perhaps sensing something, Kakashi turned his gaze toward Obito's position. But by then, Obito had already vanished.
"A false alarm?" Kakashi muttered to himself.
---
"Left already?"
Noticing that Obito's soul had vanished, Baishi concluded that the masked man had retreated. This also meant that Kushina's due date had yet to arrive.
"To act as a fisherman, I can't remain passive. I'll need to seize the initiative somehow."
As Baishi pondered his options, his senses detected movement. A group of ninja was leaving the village—but not through the main gate.
"Not using the main gate? Anbu or Root?"
"Doesn't matter. Either way works."
With that, Baishi ended his Spirit Transformation Jutsu, his soul returning to his body. He then activated Flying Thunder God.
In an instant, his figure disappeared from the underground chamber and reappeared in a forest near Konoha.
To ensure a clean getaway after the Nine-Tails incident, Baishi had marked multiple locations around Konoha with his space-time markers, allowing him to maneuver freely and intercept anyone leaving the village.
His current targets were the suspicious individuals he had detected earlier.
Baishi didn't care whether they were Anbu or Root; he was after information. Knowing Konoha's internal dynamics would be crucial to his plans.
While waiting for them to approach, Baishi opened his system interface.
Over the past week, he had successfully enhanced his body's defenses. A new skill had appeared in his "Special Enhancements" section: Skin Reinforcement.
At Level I, the reinforcement improved his skin's durability by roughly 30%. Though the effect was minor, it was a promising start.
Baishi was confident that, before long, his skin would become impervious to most blades and weapons. Combined with Absorptive Skin and Regeneration, his survivability would increase exponentially.
(End of Chapter)
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