allendalepharm Chapter 345 The Art of the Mayfly
Chapter 345 The Art of the Mayfly
Chapter 345 The Art of the Mayfly
Leaf.
In the ward, under the soft light, Lin lay quietly on the hospital bed.
Her face was as pale as paper, her eyes were closed, and she was connected to various tubes that monitor her vital signs.
The data displayed on the instruments beside the hospital bed was significantly higher than before.
The nurse slowly pushed the cart closer to the bed. She first checked the data on the various instruments in a seemingly professional manner, then picked up a disinfectant swab from the cart, dipped it in alcohol, and appeared to be wiping the instrument interfaces.
However, the moment the nurse lowered her head, the cotton swab in her hand suddenly transformed into a sharp kunai, which plunged viciously into Lin's heart.
The speed was so fast that it exceeded the reaction speed of the monitoring team in the shadows, and even the surrounding barriers did not have time to respond.
Just as the tip of the kunai was about to touch the nurse's clothes, a hand precisely grabbed both of her hands.
"I've been waiting for you for ages, you rat in the gutter!"
A burst of white smoke flashed by with a "bang".
Lin on the bed transformed into Taiyi's appearance. The nurse obviously didn't expect that the Lin on the hospital bed was actually a fake.
He tried to back away, but it was too late. Taiyi held his hand firmly, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move.
"Let me see who you really are."
Taiyi swung his fist directly at the nurse's abdomen. With a loud "thud," the solid punch sent the nurse flying, crashing into a corner of the ward.
This punch also directly shattered White Zetsu's disguise. The nurse's appearance writhed and transformed into a half-black, half-white humanoid monster.
The commotion in the ward immediately attracted the attention of the ANBU outside. Just as Black Zetsu got up, two teams of ANBU broke into the room and surrounded him.
Only then did everyone truly see what the enemy looked like.
His face was half black and half white, or more accurately, his entire being was a half-black and half-white androgynous person.
His body was completely naked, and his exposed body didn't look like that of a normal human being.
His chest was flat, he wasn't a woman, but everyone's gaze naturally slid down to his crotch, which was also unremarkable.
Now everyone can confirm that this guy is definitely not human.
The two teams of ANBU ninja gripped their weapons tightly, their eyes fixed on the strange man before them. Some of the ANBU even unconsciously swallowed a few times.
Each of them has several lives on their hands; they are no longer those greenhorn ninjas.
But when faced with such humanoid monsters, it's inevitable to feel some disgust and tension; this is probably the uncanny valley effect.
Taiyi stepped forward and stood at the forefront of the Anbu, looking Hei Zetsu up and down.
This was also the first time he had seen Black Zetsu in person, and to be honest, it was quite unsettling.
I wonder what Madara Uchiha felt every day when he faced Black Zetsu's face.
However, the play must continue.
"Aren't you going to introduce yourself, you uninvited thief?"
Taiyi asked the question knowingly, hoping that Black Zetsu would say more and reveal more information.
Unfortunately, Blackie, being a thousand-year-old monster, was very wary of this and was unwilling to waste any words with Taiichi.
"Matsushita Taichi, do you think you can catch me like this?"
After saying that, without waiting for Taiyi's reply, his body sank downwards, about to disappear into the floor.
Taiyi was not about to give him such an opportunity. He leaped forward, activated his Instant Transmission, and appeared in front of Black Zetsu in the blink of an eye.
He gathered chakra in his right fist and, instead of aiming at Black Zetsu's main body, smashed it directly at the floor beneath his feet.
"Boom!"
Earth and stones flew everywhere, and wood chips scattered in all directions.
The entire floor was blasted through by Taiyi's powerful punch.
Black Zetsu, who had only just submerged halfway into his body, was also interrupted by Taiichi's violent punch, forcibly pulling him out of his Earth Release state.
"Damn it, who's the monster?"
A curse came from where the dust was flying, followed by several sounds of flesh colliding.
The two teams of secret agents surrounding them dared not make any rash moves and could only keep their eyes glued to the fast-paced fighting in the arena.
Taiyi was quite relaxed at this moment. Despite his fierce fighting, with every punch landing hard and his seemingly unstoppable momentum, he was actually holding back.
Black Zetsu is currently only a bit ugly in appearance, and his methods are still within the scope of ordinary ninjas. Such performance is not enough to arouse the vigilance of the Konoha higher-ups.
Taiyi wanted him to reveal more.
Black Zetsu could also sense that as time went on, Taiichi's speed was getting faster and his power was getting greater.
They were initially able to fight back and forth, but now they've fallen into a disadvantageous position.
His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. Although the two teams of ANBU had not joined the battle, they had a close watch on the surroundings, and in the distance, the footsteps of ninjas were constantly approaching.
Considering that Matsushita Taichi also possessed superb sealing techniques, the consequences of him capturing this person would be unimaginable.
"Oh, you dare to get distracted while fighting me? You really look down on me that much?"
Taiyi sidestepped and dodged Black Zetsu's kick, then twisted his body and turned his right hand into a long whip, lashing towards Black Zetsu's head.
The sharp sound of fingertips slicing through the air sent chills down Hei Jue's spine.
We can't delay any longer; we must evacuate immediately.
Black Zetsu made up his mind and stopped hiding his true abilities.
He barely managed to dodge Taiyi's whip by leaning back, but his chest was still scratched by the air currents generated by the fingertips.
Black Zetsu didn't dare to delay. With a flick of his hands, dozens of tiny wooden spikes shot out in all directions.
Wood Release: Cutting Technique.
Taiichi narrowed his eyes, thinking, "This is exactly what I've been waiting for."
He stepped back, using the momentum to retreat, and at the same time, he clasped his hands together, forming the Yin Seal.
Water Escape·Water Formation Wall.
A wall of water rose rapidly from the spot where Taiyi had just stepped, reaching a height of more than a person in an instant. Then, the water wall quickly spread outwards, forming a semi-encirclement that surrounded Hei Jue in the middle.
The wooden spikes struck the water wall, creating ripples. At first, no one paid much attention, thinking they were some kind of special hidden weapon.
But when a few wooden spikes crossed the water barrier and dodged the ANBU ninja's parry, they took root on an unlucky guy.
The splinters that erupted in that instant branched, expanded, and pierced through the unfortunate man's body, leaving him riddled with sores from the inside.
This scene was incredibly bloody and cruel. The previously relaxed ANBU ninjas couldn't help but take two steps back, and cries of alarm rose and fell.
"Wood Release, this is Wood Release."
"How come the enemy knows Wood Release? Isn't that a Konoha ninjutsu?"
This hesitation created a gap in the encirclement, and Black Zetsu immediately seized the opportunity, leaping out from behind the dead ANBU ninja, smashing through a window in the wall, and jumping out to escape.
Taiyi knew he was doomed when he saw someone fall victim to the cutting technique.
He had already expanded the protective area of the water array wall, and only a few wooden spikes had slipped through. Even so, some people were still hit by wooden spikes. The quality of this group of secret agents is truly questionable.
As expected, Black Zetsu decisively escaped the encirclement.
Taiyi stomped his foot on the ground, halting his retreat, and instantly reappeared by the broken window, simultaneously unleashing his full chakra perception.
Just then, Black Zetsu landed, but his body sank straight into the ground like a fish entering water.
This is an attempt to escape using the mayfly technique.
"You guys stay here and clean up the mess, I'm going after him."
With that one sentence, Taiichi's chakra perception quickly gathered and enveloped Black Zetsu, who had already sunk into the ground.
It was only because of the recent exchange that Black Zetsu still retained some of Taiichi's chakra aura, which is why it was detected by such a concentrated chakra perception.
Taiyi spread his wings and pushed off with his feet, creating a whirlwind around him. He used his wind escape technique to accelerate rapidly and chase after the direction where Hei Zetsu had fled.
The two teams of secret agents left behind looked at each other, staring at Taiyi who had disappeared into the horizon, and then at the mangled corpse on the ground, riddled with wooden spikes. They remained silent for a long time.
Wood Release: Wood Release has reappeared in the ninja world. What's terrifying is that this Wood Release user is an enemy of Konoha.
The approaching footsteps finally alerted the two secret service captains.
"Seal off the scene; the matter of Wood Release must not be revealed." One of the captains immediately made the decision.
"clear!"
The other captain nodded at the same time, and flashed to the door of the ward, blocking the ninjas who came to provide reinforcements.
Regardless of how troubled the two Anbu teams were by the appearance of Wood Release, Taiichi was currently focused on tracking Black Zetsu's aura.
The speed that had already increased was like a streak of light, quickly passing over the rooftops, and the extremely high speed brought up a gust of wind, causing pedestrians on the road to stagger.
Everyone was baffled as they watched the afterimage disappear into the distance in the blink of an eye, having no idea what had caused it.
Fortunately, ninjas from the security department arrived quickly to maintain order, thus preventing chaos in the village.
At this point, Taiichi had already moved far away from Konoha Village, but the distance between him and Black Zetsu was not only not getting closer, but was actually getting further away.
Every time Taiyi picked up speed, Black Zetsu in the ground would suddenly make a 90-degree turn, forcing Taiyi to take a big detour to catch up again.
If Taiyi hadn't already planned ahead, he would have been jumping up and down cursing right now.
This Mayfly Technique is truly an excellent ninjutsu that combines reconnaissance, infiltration, ambush, and retreat. Most importantly, it is flexible, convenient, and fast.
Seeing Taiyi makes one want to learn from him.
Seeing the distance between them growing ever wider, Taiichi stopped just chasing and quickly went through all the ninjutsu he knew in his mind.
However, in this situation, there really isn't much ninjutsu that can be used.
Left with no other choice, they could only resort to some lightning techniques to make do.
In an instant, a series of long-range attack ninjutsu, such as lightning balls and lightning pillars, were released from Taiichi's hands.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Taiichi's Lightning Release is the worst among the five elemental ninjutsu; it's only compared to the other ninjutsu he has mastered.
Compared to other ninjas, he is definitely at the level of Kage (Lv11).
The soil above where Black Zetsu had burrowed exploded with a "crackling" sound. The intense electric current not only sent soil flying everywhere, but the dissipated current also traveled along the land and trees, electrifying Black Zetsu's entire body.
Taiichi, who was in mid-air, clearly sensed that Black Zetsu in the ground was slightly sluggish. He immediately became more energetic and used his ninjutsu even more frequently.
At this moment, Black Zetsu was also suffering in silence. The tingling sensation from the dissipating lightning made it extremely difficult for him to even maintain the Mayfly Technique.
He truly hadn't expected the mayfly technique to have such a weakness—the mayfly technique, which relies on plant roots for movement, is destined to be unable to penetrate deeper into the earth.
This gave Taiichi room to unleash his Lightning Release technique. Although the violent lightning couldn't directly hit Black Zetsu underground, it still severely affected him.
Black Zetsu could only change positions more frequently and use more agile movement to shake off Taiyi in the air.
Gradually, as Taiichi caught up with Black Zetsu to the border of the Land of Fire, he finally lost track of him.
After flying around twice more in the sky, looking in the direction where his aura finally disappeared, Taiyi revealed a strange smile and his figure abruptly vanished from the spot.
Black Zetsu, who had been fleeing, finally slowed down after sensing that there had been no more roaring sounds overhead for quite some time.
He carefully crawled out of the ground and looked back at the sky he had come from.
The sky was a clear blue, without a single person or cloud in sight.
He let out a long breath, feeling a lingering fear in his heart.
"That damned Matsushita Taichi, he's a real monster! I've never heard of him possessing such a level of lightning release. I'll really have to avoid him from now on!"
With that, Black Zetsu sank back into the ground and sped off towards the Land of Earth's lair.
The mission wasn't completed, and Rin is still alive and well. Konoha was already on guard, and Madara needs to know about these things as soon as possible.
Leaf.
The special care ward was now heavily surrounded by the secret agents.
Inside the room, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Yatomon were all gathered.
They stared at the gruesome corpse of the ANBU member on the ground, speechless for a long time.
Compared to the Third Hokage, who had anticipated this, the two advisors were even more distraught.
Wood Release, especially Wood Release that can be used in actual combat, is practically digging up the roots of Konoha.
"Hiruzen, what's going on? Who used Wood Release?"
Yatomon Homura was the first to break the silence, as he knew that Hiruzen had a Wood Release ninja named Yamato under his command.
But he was just a child, the only successful case of the Wood Release experiment. Danzo died and was discovered by Hiruzen Sarutobi, who took him into the Anbu secret files for training.
But that Wood Release technique, which can only plant a small sapling, is nothing compared to the Wood Release technique that can instantly kill ANBU members.
"Taiichi discovered that during the last mission where Yamon ambushed Kannabi Bridge, a third-party force secretly intervened, ambushed Kakashi's team, and even kidnapped Uchiha Obito. Among them was a ninja who could use Wood Release."
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Taichi's advice and the two advisors a general explanation. As elders of Konoha, they naturally understood the meaning behind it.
"He has a pair of Sharingan and Wood Release techniques. What kind of organization is this?"
Yahumen Yan murmured softly, and Tsurugi Koharu chimed in at the same time.
"Besides Konoha, who else in the ninja world is so familiar with these two bloodlines? This is a carefully orchestrated scheme to force the awakening of the Flower Sharingan!"
"Could it be the Uchiha clan? Besides themselves, who else could understand each Uchiha clan member so accurately, and know who has the potential to awaken their Sharingan?
As was his custom, Yatomon Homura suspected the Uchiha clan. After Danzo's death, he became the second "Danzo," blaming the Uchiha clan for any unusual occurrences.
"Yan, don't make wild accusations. Besides, the Uchiha don't have that kind of ability."
Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted Homura Yatomon's words. He had considered this possibility, but if the Uchiha clan truly mastered Wood Release to this extent, how could they be as low-key as the current demon?
"Is it Taiichi who chased after the demon? I hope he can gain something. With such a hostile organization of demons in Konoha, its threat is no less than that of one of the Five Great Ninja Archers."
Koharu Utatane looked at the shattered window as she spoke. Outside the window was the prosperous street scene of Konoha, but this scene was now tinged with gloom.