"Number 36, Lord Danzo requests your presence!"
Suddenly, a cold voice echoed in Baishi's ear.
Baishi furrowed his brow, stood up, and replied softly, "Understood."
After saying that, he turned around and looked up at the person who delivered the message and added, "Also..."
"What?"
The Root ninja who delivered the message was confused and let out a puzzled sound.
At that moment, two sharp wooden spikes suddenly protruded from behind him, pointing directly at his temples.
Seeing those spikes so close, he almost retaliated, but ultimately held back.
Noticing the lack of resistance from the other, Baishi slightly curled his finger, retracting the vines formed by Wood Release, and said, "Also, do not appear behind me in the future."
In truth, he had sensed the presence of the other even before they approached, but he refrained from acting right away to conceal his sensory capabilities.
However, he wouldn't indulge the other, which prompted his earlier action.
He believed that after this, the ninja would not dare to appear behind him again.
This way, it would also provide him with a little more sense of security; being in a den of wolves, he needed to stay vigilant, as he could be ambushed at any moment.
Once the Wood Release was dissolved, Baishi did not linger and said directly, "Lead the way."
"This way."
The Root ninja responded and proceeded toward a direction, seemingly unfazed by Baishi's earlier action.
This was entirely understandable; most Root ninjas were cultivated by Danzo from a young age to be tools, lacking their own thoughts and feelings.
Their only guiding principle was to obey Danzo's orders; everything else was secondary.
Thus, Baishi wasn't afraid of offending them.
"I wonder what Danzo suddenly wants with me?"
Watching the retreating back ahead, Baishi stopped overthinking and used Body Flicker Technique to catch up.
...
About half an hour later, the two arrived at an underground base.
It was clear that several personnel had already gathered here, fully armed, indicating that they were preparing for some mission.
"Is Danzo planning to make me carry out a mission?"
With this thought, Baishi remained expressionless on the surface, quickly approaching and respectfully saying, "Lord Danzo, you summoned me?"
Upon hearing this, Danzo nodded slightly and gestured for someone behind him to pass over a set of equipment.
From the style, it was the same as the standard equipment worn by the others in the vicinity, just slightly smaller in size—clearly meant for him.
Seeing this, Baishi wasted no time and immediately took the equipment to put it on.
After he dressed completely, Danzo finally spoke to him: "Number 36, from today onwards, your codename will be 'A.' Remember, my orders are paramount—understand?"
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
Baishi didn't hesitate at all and promptly replied.
After saying this, he placed the mask on his face.
Seeing him this way, Danzo nodded satisfactorily and motioned for him to go below.
Then, he continued, "We just received intel that a team of ninjas from the Hidden Cloud Village has crossed the border, with a number around 10 to 20. Your mission is simple: capture all of them."
As he spoke, he scanned the entire scene with a sinister gaze, and once everyone bowed their heads in submission, he went on, "Now, follow me!"
With that, he used Body Flicker Technique and vanished from the spot.
Immediately after, the Root ninjas began to disappear one by one.
Seeing this, Baishi didn't dare to hesitate and quickly followed suit.
...
As the sun rose and set, it was now the afternoon of the following day.
After a day of searching, they had roughly determined the enemy's activity range and were now waiting for the final confirmation.
During a rest, Danzo pointed to several red dot markers on a map and asked, "Looking at these traces, can you guess their objective?"
Upon hearing this, Baishi feigned contemplation, inwardly scoffing, "Do I even need to guess? The Third Great Ninja War is about to break out in full swing; with the enemy arriving now, it has to be for reconnaissance before the war."
Of course, he couldn't say this outright.
Although any discerning person in the ninja world might realize war was imminent, he, having never been in contact with such information, couldn't possibly have that concept.
This was not something that could be explained with just a simple guess.
After a moment of thought, he pointed to the positions of the red dots on the map and said, "From the map, it seems these locations are strategic routes that are easy to defend but difficult to attack. The appearance of the enemy near these areas is likely for terrain reconnaissance, right?"
At this, Danzo looked at him with slight surprise.
Despite knowing Baishi had strong learning abilities and performed well in theoretical classes, his insight at merely seven years old was indeed somewhat extraordinary.
However, this only strengthened Danzo's resolve to keep Baishi under his control.
Thinking this, Danzo didn't hold back his praise: "Not bad, you're quite impressive!"
Just then, a Root ninja appeared on the scene.
Baishi knew who he was; he was another of Danzo's trusted subordinates, known as Aburame Ryoma, who excelled in infiltration and reconnaissance. Most of this search mission had been accomplished by him alone.
Seeing him appear, Danzo immediately asked, "What's the situation?"
Without wasting any time, Ryoma answered, "The positions have been confirmed."
"And the number and strength?" Danzo asked again.
"Four Jonin and sixteen Chunin," Ryoma replied.
"Four squads then?"
Danzo murmured, then rose and called to the others, "Assemble! Move out!"
Upon receiving the order, the surrounding Root ninjas immediately adjusted their formations, protecting Danzo and Baishi as they followed closely behind Aburame Ryoma, heading forward.
...
About an hour later.
In a certain area of the forest.
The Cloud ninjas were on the run.
Suddenly, one of them seemed to catch sight of something. His face changed drastically, and he quickly stopped, shouting, "Be careful, there's an ambush!"
However, his warning came too late.
Accompanied by a deafening explosion, dozens of explosive tags detonated simultaneously, engulfing the area within a hundred meters in crimson flames. The powerful shockwave knocked them off their feet.
After a few moments, the shockwave from the explosion gradually subsided.
However, before the Cloud ninjas could catch their breath, the sound of whizzing projectiles echoed around them.
At that moment, the smoke and dust from the explosion had yet to clear, obstructing their vision, and four injured Cloud ninjas fell to the ground.
Just then, a powerful gust of wind surged in, instantly blowing away the surrounding smoke, revealing a chaotic battlefield.
In the center, the sixteen Cloud ninjas stood back to back, forming a faint circle.
Surrounding them were over twenty masked ninjas.
"Anbu from Konoha!"
Seeing these ninjas, Yamamoto heart sank, realizing that he and his companions probably wouldn't be able to escape.
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{please give this novel 5 Star review and power stone}
*Thank you*