Chapter 26: First Show of Strength

'Wood Release: Wood Wall!'

As Baishi's ninjutsu was successfully performed, a row of wooden pillars rose from the ground, bent together, and protected him inside.

In the darkness, listening to the "bang bang" sound of gravel hitting the wooden logs above his head and feeling the ground shaking under his feet, Baishi felt calm inside.

After the initial confusion, he realized that he was being targeted.

As for who it was?

He had some guesses in his mind.

"Uh, is this someone performing Earth Escape ninjutsu?"

Suddenly, Baishi felt his body sink, as if someone was lifting him up and moving rapidly upwards.

Once everything calmed down, Baishi released the ninjutsu.

Suddenly, dazzling sunlight flooded his vision, making him squint.

Glancing at the leaning trees around him, Baishi's gaze finally fell on a group of ninjas wearing black robes and masks not far away.

'This familiar dress and aura, as expected.'

Looking at this group of uninvited guests, Baishi took the initiative to ask, "Root?"

Hearing his question, no one on the other side answered. In Baishi's perception, the man with the aura of Aburame Ryoma took out a scarlet talisman, examined it, and seemed to confirm something. He immediately said, "This is the real body! Open the barrier!"

The first time he saw the talisman, a feeling of spiritual connection surged into Baishi's heart, but before he could think about it, the other party's words shocked him greatly.

Hearing the word "barrier," Baishi immediately planned to escape; however, as soon as he moved his feet, four yellow light curtains rose from the surroundings and connected overhead.

It wasn't just above his head. Baishi sensed it a little and found that the underground was also covered by the barrier.

In other words, it was no longer possible to escape using Earth Escape.

Seeing that the barrier was successfully deployed, Aburame Ryoma spoke up: "This place has been covered by the 'Four Directions Sealing Array.' You can't escape. Give up resistance immediately and come back with us."

Hearing what the other party said, Baishi responded without any hesitation: "Go back? What for? To be a dog for Danzo?"

Hearing this, Aburame Ryoma did not show much emotion. He just waved his hand and said calmly: "Go ahead and take him down!"

After receiving the order, the eight Root Ninjas immediately stepped forward, armed with their ninja tools, and surrounded Baishi.

Seeing this, Baishi did not show any weakness. He gathered chakra at the soles of his feet, pushed off the ground, and shot out like a cannonball. In the blink of an eye, he arrived next to the person in front.

As he passed by the other party, Baishi could clearly see a trace of surprise in his eyes through the mask, as if he were wondering why he was so fast.

In fact, it was not that Baishi's speed had increased, but he had been deliberately hiding his strength while performing tasks at the Root.

As a result, a small mistake in intelligence cost the other party his life.

However, these Root Ninjas reacted quickly. Before Baishi could attack again, dozens of shurikens flew toward him from all directions.

Looking at the shuriken that was obviously poisoned, Baishi did not dare to be careless at all.

Although he had Level II [Toxin Resistance] and was confident that the opponent could not use a deadly toxin, he still did not dare to take it head-on.

What if the opponent used some neurotoxin that his [Toxin Resistance] couldn't defend against? That would be trouble.

So he dodged quickly.

At this time, the advantage of 17 points in [Agility] was reflected. His super strong nerve reaction allowed him to easily capture the trajectory of each shuriken and dodge them flexibly.

Baishi dodged all the shuriken attacks in the small area. Logically speaking, he should have been happy, but there was no relief on his face.

This was nothing; the Root Ninjas took advantage of the opportunity to surround him again, and this time the encirclement was tighter.

This also meant that he had less room to maneuver.

In fact, the eight who took action first were not very strong—at most, they were at the level of special jōnin—but they excelled at assassination.

Therefore, when they worked together, the threat to Baishi was no less than that of a real group of jōnin joining forces.

If the other party didn't want to capture him alive and didn't dare to kill him, he wouldn't have been so relaxed just now.

More importantly, the four jōnin led by Aburame Ryoma had not yet taken action. Once they joined in, with the blockade of the 'Four Directions Seal Formation,' he estimated that he wouldn't even be able to escape, and the situation would become extremely dire.

"We can't afford to waste our time like this. We have to make a quick decision. That seems to be the only way."

All kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind; Baishi no longer hesitated. He casually threw out a kunai and began forming hand seals while mobilizing his chakra.

Immediately, a strong chakra wave emanated from Baishi, and the enormous pressure caused the seven people around him to pause involuntarily.

Feeling the increasingly dangerous aura from Baishi, Aburame Ryoma could no longer maintain his composure and quickly shouted, "Quick, stop him!"

Upon hearing this, the seven closest Root Ninjas immediately threw kunai in their hands, but still did not aim at Baishi's vital points.

Seeing this, Baishi smiled with relief.

He did not dodge; no, it should be said that he was unable to dodge because the ninjutsu he was about to perform consumed a massive amount of chakra, and he had to concentrate. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to mobilize so much chakra.

Puff~ Puff~

The sounds of several sharp blades entering flesh echoed, and seven kunai instantly penetrated Baishi's body. The intense pain made his body shake, but he did not fall down in the end.

"Hahaha!"

Baishi laughed as he coughed up blood. "It's my turn! Wood Style: Wood Dragon Technique!"

As he injected chakra into the earth, a vine quietly emerged and transformed into a dragon's head in the blink of an eye.

Then, the dragon's head carried Baishi and flew into the sky, with vines crisscrossing and entwining behind it to form a huge dragon body.

At this moment, the power of Wood Release returned to the ninja world.

On top of the wooden dragon, Baishi pulled out the kunai from his body, and his Level II [Self-Healing] ability began to take effect. The bleeding quickly stopped, and the wound gradually healed.

After realizing this, Baishi no longer cared about the injuries on his body.

Feeling the remaining chakra in his body, he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Almost 90% of the chakra was consumed in one go. Wood Release is indeed not something that ordinary people can afford."

Even so, the size of the wooden dragon he had condensed was estimated to be less than one-tenth of Hashirama Senju's, and as for its power, it was even less.

But that was enough.

Looking at the panicked Root ninjas below, Baishi suddenly felt heroic in his heart. With a thought, the wooden dragon's tail swept out. Although the speed was not fast, the damage caused was considerable.

As mentioned before, being a ninja is a profession with high offense and low defense. Given the size of the wood dragon, even if it didn't hit them directly, the splash damage caused by it hitting the ground and surrounding trees was enough to create significant problems for them.

Therefore, with just one strike, several Root ninjas were injured.

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