Chapter 42: Intelligence

Looking at the collapsed rocks in front of him, Huang Tu asked the perception ninja beside him, "Mitsui, did you find anything?"

Mitsui closed his eyes, maximizing his perception. After a moment of careful exploration, he replied, "I found him. Strange, it seems that there is really only one person, uh."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh no, the other party is coming out!"

Sensing the panic in Mitsui's tone, Huang Tu immediately shouted, "Everyone listen up, hide immediately!"

Upon hearing this, dozens of Rock Ninjas demonstrated exceptional skill. In the blink of an eye, they split into more than a dozen teams and concealed themselves behind various shelters.

At that moment, a giant dark green dragon erupted from the ground, pushing aside the soil and rocks, looking down at the people below like a god descending to the earth.

Huang Tu's pupils dilated as he gazed at the wooden dragon before him. He murmured, "Is this... Wood Release?"

In an instant, he recalled information that the village had obtained months ago: A child born in Konoha inherited the Wood Release ability of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. For some reason, he had left Konoha, prompting the Konoha Anbu to search for him across the world.

Inspired by the reputation of the "God of the Ninja World," Iwagakure had also invested substantial effort in locating him. However, the child seemed to have disappeared, with no news to be found.

Originally, Huang Tu had assumed the child was captured by Konoha's Anbu and hidden away, but he never expected to encounter him here.

As the son of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, Huang Tu was well-versed in the secrets of the ninja world and understood the immense power held by Hashirama Senju.

Although the same ability could produce vastly different effects in different hands, he dared not gamble on Bai Shi not becoming the next Senju Hashirama, nor would Iwagakure.

"In this case, we must not let this opportunity slip away. Even if we cannot capture him, we must eliminate him."

With that thought in mind, Huang Tu gestured with his right hand behind his back, signaling for everyone to prepare for action.

---

At the same time, Bai Shi crawled out of the wooden dragon's head, glanced at the people below, and frowned. The situation seemed different from what he had expected.

He had anticipated that even if the ones attacking him were not from the Root organization, they would at least be ninjas from the Hidden Mist Village. After all, these were the only two forces with a grudge against him.

"What's with these Iwagakure ninjas?" Bai Shi pondered.

Before he could contemplate further, the Iwa Ninjas launched their assault.

Dozens, if not hundreds of shurikens, flew through the air toward him, each laced with detonating tags that flashed with fire.

Seeing this, Bai Shi did not hold back. With a thought, he controlled the wooden dragon and swung its tail to counter the attack.

Thanks to his rapid physical development and six months of rigorous training, his chakra limit had more than doubled. It was now approximately fifteen times that of an ordinary jonin.

With ample chakra at his disposal, he no longer had reservations while performing ninjutsu.

Thus, the wooden dragon summoned by the **Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique** was nearly 50% larger than before, stretching an impressive 30 meters in length.

With a powerful sweep of its tail, the shurikens were easily deflected.

As explosions from the detonating talismans lit up the sky, shockwaves from the blasts pummeled everyone, leaving them momentarily disoriented.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Bai Shi directed the dragon's tail to crash toward the Iwa Ninjas below.

It was apparent that Huang Tu's support team consisted of elite ninjas. Rather than panicking, they calmly organized under experienced leaders and collectively executed B-level ninjutsu—**Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall**.

In an instant, sturdy earth walls erupted from the ground, forming a barrier. Bai Shi's dragon tail smashed through nearly ten walls in rapid succession but eventually found its assault halted.

Unfazed, Bai Shi controlled the wooden dragon to continue its barrage.

Despite the opposing force's numerical advantage, they could not possibly block his attacks forever. A single mistake on their part could lead to disaster.

Bai Shi knew he had time on his side.

However, just then, two massive hemispherical rocks rose from the ground, enclosing him and the wooden dragon.

Feeling the oppressive force containing him, Bai Shi frowned slightly and quickly searched his memory for the corresponding ninjutsu.

Soon, a name popped into his mind—a B-level ninjutsu: **Earth Style: Mountain Soil Technique**. It was not difficult to learn, but it consumed a significant amount of chakra.

"A ninja capable of executing this technique cannot be some unknown player," he thought to himself as he scanned the group of Rock Ninjas below. His gaze quickly landed on a middle-aged ninja with a bulbous nose.

"Loess?"

Bai Shi recognized the man. As the son of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, Loess was documented in the Root organization's records, and his appearance matched perfectly.

"Sure enough, this is no ordinary ninja. After all, this is a technique capable of suppressing tailed beasts. It couldn't have been taught so easily," Bai Shi reflected grimly.

Regardless of the opponent's identity, since he had attacked him, Bai Shi had no intention of holding back.

With that thought in mind, he instantaneously threw three kunai at Loess. Each kunai bore the mark of his **Flying Thunder God Technique**.

Unlike Konoha and the Hidden Mist Village, where the latter had limited intelligence about him, they knew of his Wood Release ability but were unaware of his mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

This piece of information was what most forces had known. The reason was that the source of their intelligence stemmed from Konoha.

Due to a bounty placed by the Hidden Mist Village, Bai Shi's existence had become difficult to conceal, especially given the distinctive mark that resembled a Konoha ninja. Consequently, all interested forces directed their investigations toward Konoha.

When Sarutobi Hiruzen realized that the matter could not be concealed, he deliberately leaked some information about Bai Shi while withholding the fact that he possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Hiruzen did this not for Bai Shi's benefit but to prevent him from falling into the hands of hostile forces.

If they did not have advanced knowledge of Bai Shi's ability to use the Flying Thunder God Technique, their chances of capturing him outright would be extremely slim.

Initially, Hiruzen did not expect that this information would remain hidden for long. He knew that the moment Bai Shi used it, his secret would essentially be exposed. He merely aimed to buy some more time for the Anbu.

However, after the clash with the Root organization, Bai Shi had concealed himself so well that not only could other forces not find him, but even Konoha itself was unable to locate him.

This oversight allowed the information to remain undiscovered until now.

Yet, instead of retreating with the technique, Bai Shi decided to employ it offensively.

As with escaping, using it for attack also had an element of surprise.

Just like now, Huang Tu had not considered for a moment that Bai Shi might be able to utilize the Flying Thunder God Technique, leading him to choose the most predictable method to evade.

Meanwhile, as he channeled his energy into suppressing the Wood Dragon, he had no spare capacity to defend against three kunai that posed little immediate threat.

This lack of awareness would undoubtedly incur a heavy price.

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