Four kilometers away, next to the lake, Bai Shi's figure quietly appeared in front of a huge rock marked with a tree-shaped sign.
In the past two months, he had been imprinting the Flying Thunder God technique in various locations nearby during his free time, just in case. With these marks, no matter what danger he encountered, as long as he was given time to react, he was confident he could escape safely.
Just like now, he had easily evaded the Root Organization's tracking, but he didn't intend to leave things as they were. He had been hunted by the Root Organization time and again, and it fueled his anger. Thus, he planned to take this opportunity to launch a counterattack against them, aiming to weaken Danzo's strength and pave the way for completely resolving this issue later.
Originally, he was thinking about how to lure the enemy over, but he soon sensed a hidden aura not far away. It dawned on him that the Root Organization had fully monitored the surrounding area, meaning his whereabouts had been exposed.
"In that case, I'll just wait patiently!" he muttered.
After speaking, Bai Shi opened the status panel in his mind:
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[Host: Bai Shi
Age: 8/66
–––Basic Attributes–––
Strength: 14.2 → 17.5↑
Agility: 17.1 → 19.2↑
Physical Fitness: 21.9 → 26.1↑
Intelligence: 22.5 → 25.3↑
– Special Enhancement –
Chakra Affinity: Water: VI (7.8%) Earth: VI (8.5%)
Wood Release: V (50.5%)
Mental Resistance: V (11.2%)
Spatial Perception Enhancement: IV (92.5%)↑
Five Senses Enhancement: III (16.8%)
Cell Adaptability: III (0.1%)
Self-Healing: II (56.2%)↑
Toxin Resistance: II (25.5%)
– Abnormal State –
Warning: The 'Seal of the Tongue' is binding!
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His **Spatial Perception Enhancement** had reached Level IV and was only one step away from Level V. As his level increased, his Flying Thunder God Technique was also strengthened to some extent.
The first improvement was in the range of perception markers, expanding from one kilometer to five kilometers. The number of marks he could lock onto simultaneously had doubled from five to ten. Although there was some increase in proficiency, as he had not yet tested it in intense battle, no conclusive results could be drawn.
One of the reasons he chose to counterattack this time was to test the actual effectiveness of the Flying Thunder God Technique. Unfortunately, for the past two months, most of his energy had been focused on enhancing his spatial perception, resulting in minimal improvement to his basic attributes.
Despite a decent growth in chakra due to his rapidly developing body, its upper limit had only increased from five times that of an ordinary Jonin to seven times. Although this amount could support him in battles using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he still felt it was lacking.
"After this, I'll have to focus on evolving my basic attributes; otherwise, I always feel like my chakra is insufficient."
While contemplating this, Bai Shi suddenly frowned and leaped to evade a series of shuriken attacks. Glancing at the sparsely packed trees surrounding him, he called out, "Since you're here, come out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of figures emerged around him—not only from the woods but also from the lake behind.
Feeling the auras of these individuals, Bai Shi could clearly sense that their strength was significantly greater than last time; almost half were genuine Jonin. The rest, while not as strong, were likely Special Jonin with formidable abilities.
'Even Danzo would find it difficult to gather so many Jonin. If they were all killed, he'd be furious.'
Pondering this, he looked up at a familiar figure and said sarcastically, "Haha, old dog Danzo really went to great lengths to catch me!"
Upon hearing his words, Aburame Ryoma remained unruffled and replied coldly, "Enough, you've caused enough trouble. Danzo-sama's patience is limited.
If you surrender now, you might survive. If you resist, you will die. Don't forget, you're not the only one with Wood Release."
At this, Bai Shi's expression became serious. From the look on the other party's face, it seemed this was a genuine confrontation. He knew he had escaped last time because the ninjas of the Root organization were cautious and did not kill him.
Clearly, an order had been given this time for a fight to the death.
However, he was no longer the person he was three months ago; his basic attributes and chakra capacity had both seen significant improvement. If a fight did break out, he would not be at a disadvantage.
With this thought, Bai Shi took the initiative to attack. Without hesitation, he began his ultimate move right away. He raised his hands and quickly formed hand seals. In an instant, he cast the ninjutsu—Wood Release: Tree World Descent.
Countless branches and leaves erupted from the ground, transforming the area into a living forest.
The Root Ninjas reacted with extreme speed, launching an attack without hesitation. Kunai and shuriken flew in every direction—some blocking Bai Shi's retreat, others aiming for his critical points.
Unfortunately for them, Bai Shi's speed in performing ninjutsu was too swift. Before the kunai and shuriken could close in, they were intercepted and blocked by the trees he summoned.
The next moment, Bai Shi counterattacked. Vines, controlled by him, emerged from the forest, twisting and stabbing toward the Root Ninjas from all directions.
Yet, before the vines could achieve their goal, a series of explosions echoed through the woods. Dazzling fireballs erupted, and the intense flames scorched the surrounding trees, causing them to crackle and groan.
Though Bai Shi could repair and grow more trees and vines with chakra, he knew he couldn't afford to do so while witnessing the enemy hurl detonating tags recklessly to destroy his creations.
It was clear that they aimed to wear him down by sacrificing their own personnel. While ordinary ninjas might struggle with this strategy, the professionals of the Root Organization could execute it flawlessly.
There was no doubt they had come well-prepared, as evidenced by their reckless use of explosive tags.
"No, I can't continue like this; my chakra won't hold out," Bai Shi thought hurriedly.
With urgency in his mind, Bai Shi released his ninjutsu—Wood Release: Birth of a World of Trees.
Then, he drew out six kunai, holding them between his fingers. As the Root Ninjas broke free from the vines and began to regain their footing, he threw the kunai.
If one were to look closely, they'd see that all six kunai carried a tree-shaped mark, representing Bai Shi's Flying Thunder God technique.
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