"Hey, did you hear that?"
"What did you hear?"
"It's the news of the Water Nation's defeat."
"Oh, you mean that? I already knew it a long time ago. Lady Pakura is really amazing. I heard that she single-handedly killed all those Mist Ninjas."
"Lord Pakura? The Scorch Release Hero! Come on, tell me what you know!"
"Yeah! Tell everyone about it!"
"Speaking of Lord Pakura, we have to start from the Ninja School."
In the corner of the tavern, Bai Shi's ears twitched slightly as he listened to the conversation and muttered to himself, "Has the news spread here? That was too fast!"
"No, the Sand Village must be spreading this news on purpose."
Bai Shi thought about it and quickly understood their ploy.
As for the reason behind this, there were likely two purposes: the first was to stabilize the morale of the army.
Those who frequented this tavern were mostly low-level ninjas who had been reassigned from the border troops. Spreading the news of the Water Country's defeat among them could significantly boost their morale.
The second purpose was most likely to build momentum for Pakura.
No matter how difficult it was for the Sand Village to accept, under the current circumstances, it was virtually certain that the Third Kazekage was dead; otherwise, he would have appeared by now, and there wouldn't be even the slightest piece of news.
As the saying goes, a country cannot be without a king for a day, and a village cannot be without a Kazekage forever, so the election of the Fourth Kazekage was placed on the agenda.
Currently, there were two individuals in the Sand Village qualified to ascend the throne of Kazekage: Rasa, the disciple of the Third Kazekage who inherited his "Magnetic Release" power, and Pakura, a female Jonin who developed the "Scorch Release."
Although Rasa performed brilliantly in the previous battle against the invasion of Kumogakure, Pakura was equally exceptional. Thus, both of them had a certain level of support from the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure.
However, overall, Rasa still had the advantage.
Yet, the people of the Hidden Mist Village were remarkably stubborn; even though they had been tormented by Bai Shi, they still insisted on executing their sneak attack plan. This left Bai Shi confused but also provided an opportunity for Pakura.
When Bai Shi was harassing those Mist Ninjas, he made no efforts to conceal his actions, so it was unsurprising that such a large commotion was detected by the Sand Village.
Things were very straightforward after that; the Sand Village was well-rested and defeated the Mist Village's surprise attack with relative ease.
In this way, Pakura had the capital to build her momentum.
"What a pity~"
Bai Shi sighed, thinking, "No matter how much you build momentum, it can't compete with 'legitimacy.' Not everyone wants to see the rise of grassroots."
"I've stayed here long enough; it's time to leave!"
Bai Shi downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, tossed a few copper coins onto the table, turned around, and walked out of the tavern.
---
More than an hour later.
At the border of the Kingdom of Wind.
Two World Mountains.
At the foot of the mountain.
Bai Shi gazed at the setting sun in the sky, halted abruptly, turned around, and yelled, "You two, aren't you coming out yet?"
"Hey, good boy, you're quite alert."
With that voice, two figures emerged. They stood not far away, eyeing Bai Shi with ill intentions.
Bai Shi looked at the two men—one fat and one thin. Although they bore no insignia of a ninja village, they were undoubtedly ninjas.
From their chakra levels, Bai Shi estimated their strength to be at most at the level of a Jonin, if not lower. After confirming the strength of the newcomers, Bai Shi relaxed a bit and asked casually, "You two have been following me since I left the tavern. Is there something I can help you with?"
Hearing this, the fat man chuckled and said, "Nothing, I just want to borrow something from you."
"Oh? Tell me," Bai Shi replied with interest. "What do you want to borrow?"
"Borrow what?"
As he spoke, the fat man suddenly kicked off the ground and charged at Bai Shi like a bear, brimming with power.
At the same time, he shouted, "Hey, of course, I'm borrowing your head! Secret Technique: Bear Pounce!"
Bai Shi's eyes lit up as he observed the fat man approaching, noting, "Is it similar to the Yang escape technique of the Akimichi clan's multiplication secret technique?"
However, he soon shook his head in disappointment.
It was nothing; the other party's transformations were far too minimal.
Not only was there no drastic increase in size like the Akimichi clan's technique, but even the basic bear transformation hadn't been completed. It was most likely an incomplete secret technique with little research value.
Thoughts raced through Bai Shi's mind as he watched the fat man rushing towards him, and with a hint of amusement, he shouted, "Konoha Leaf Whirlwind!"
As he shouted, he kicked out, sending the fat man flying backward. Faintly, one could hear the sound of several bones breaking.
At present, Bai Shi's [Strength] attribute was as high as 15 points. Given that, the power behind his physical skills was evident.
Unintentionally, he had incapacitated the fat man with just one strike.
The fat man clutched his chest and struggled to rise, coughing up blood as he managed to ask, "Are you really a Konoha ninja?"
Upon hearing his words, Bai Shi frowned slightly and inquired, "It seems you know me? Tell me, who are you, and why are you following me?"
With their target's strength far eclipsing their expectations, the fat man and the thin man exchanged glances, immediately changed their expressions, and began to answer Bai Shi's questions honestly.
From them, Bai Shi learned that the two were bounty ninjas who had been roaming the black market for years, getting by by taking on bounties.
"You are the latest target to appear on the black market, and the reward is 10 million!"
As he spoke, the thin man handed over a booklet.
Bai Shi flipped through it and saw a variety of bounties listed. The shadows of the five major ninja villages were represented, as well as some well-known ninjas.
Soon, he found his own page, which featured a portrait of him and a reward amount noted next to it.
There was also some information about him below, such as the suspicion that he was a Konoha ninja and that he was between eight and twelve years old, etc.
However, what surprised him was the absence of details about his abilities.
Bai Shi realized without a doubt that the one who placed a substantial bounty on him must be the Hidden Mist Village, yet the other party should not be unaware of his abilities.
After pondering for a long time, Bai Shi gradually formed a vague answer in his mind.
He suspected that the Hidden Mist Village intended to use these bounty ninjas to continuously test the limits of his abilities and potential weaknesses.
Once they felt confident enough, they would send out their own operatives.
This way, they could save a lot of effort.
To take it a step further, even if they couldn't capture Bai Shi in the end, they could still use this opportunity to publicize Bai Shi's unique qualities. Many would undoubtedly be intrigued by the legendary Wood Release.
Bai Shi truly did not expect that after he had just annoyed the Hidden Mist Village, the other party would retaliate with the same tactic.
It could be envisioned that in the future, wherever he appeared, he would be accompanied by bounty ninjas, and even ninjas from other villages would join in the fray.
In this way, even if they couldn't pose a real threat to him, they could at least annoy him to death.
---
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