Chapter 48 : Escape 3

The battle continues.

Below.

The vines are still growing.

Veins throbbed at Bai Shi's temples, and his forehead was slick with sweat.

Originally, it was very difficult to control a vine to grow more than two hundred meters, especially while also taking into account the battle above.

In order not to reveal any flaws, he couldn't afford to be even slightly negligent in battle. You can imagine how taxing this was.

Additionally, he was still under the influence of the 'Four Beasts Spirit-Shocking Formation'.

Given all these factors, Bai Shi's spirit was on the verge of collapse.

Fortunately, it was almost over.

At some point, the third mark in his perception disappeared.

Then, a look of relief spread across Bai Shi's face.

"Call--"

With a long sigh, Bai Shi automatically canceled the Wood Release: Tree World Descent, leaving only a single vine deeply buried underground.

Without the need to concentrate on maintaining his ninjutsu, Bai Shi felt significantly more relaxed.

Ignoring the confused and puzzled Iwagakure forces, Bai Shi took a step forward, brought the third mark back into his perception range, and, with the white light above his head approaching, performed the Flying Thunder God Technique.

In an instant, Bai Shi appeared seventy meters away, somewhere underground, in a space supported by vines.

Bai Shi casually wiped the Flying Thunder God Technique from the vines in front of him, locked onto a mark farther away, and launched the Flying Thunder God Technique again.

Just like that, after three jumps, Bai Shi arrived outside the 'Four Beasts Spirit-Shouting Formation'.

At that moment, Bai Shi felt as if a giant boulder had been lifted from his heart, granting him unprecedented relief.

Simultaneously, several marks within a ten-kilometer radius clearly appeared in his mind.

Finally, after glancing at Ohnoki flying toward him in the sky, Bai Shi used the Flying Thunder God Technique once more.

Watching Bai Shi disappear without a trace, Ohnoki felt regret for the first time.

He regretted why he had worried about chakra consumption. In the previous battle, he should have set aside those concerns and obliterated the forest directly.

This could not fully be blamed on Ohnoki. Who would have thought that under the suppression of the 'Four Beasts Spirit-Shouting Formation,' Bai Shi could still find a path to break through?

Even with Wood Release and mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique, it is hard to say what the outcome would have been had he not been inspired to cleverly combine the two.

But at least Ohnoki still had the chance to act at that time, unlike now, when he could only watch Bai Shi escape.

After searching the area for a while and confirming that Bai Shi had indeed escaped, Ōnoki unleashed all his rage on Xiang and the others, resulting in none of the four Konoha Anbu surviving.

...

Time flowed like water.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

That morning, Bai Shi arrived in the Land of Iron as he had desired.

Unlike the Land of Water Trap, the climate in the Land of Iron was even colder. It was only late autumn and not yet winter, but snowflakes were already falling.

Walking through the wilderness, Bai Shi looked around to see everything draped in silver—a picturesque scene of ice and snow.

"Hiss~"

A snowflake got inside his collar, and even with a 50-point physique, Bai Shi couldn't help but shiver.

'Well, maybe I should evolve cold resistance!'

It was a thought that came to him spontaneously. Bai Shi summoned the "system," set a goal, and then divided his mind into two parts, guiding the evolution while pressing on along the road.

He anticipated it would take some time, but to his surprise, after only three days, he had gained [Cryogenic Resistance]. Although it was only at level I, the speed was astonishing. Based on past experience, it would typically take at least a week for him to evolve this ability.

Bai Shi began to ponder the reasons for this, and soon an idea struck him.

Glancing at his surroundings and feeling the biting cold wind, Bai Shi nodded to himself.

Indeed, he now believed that external conditions had significantly accelerated this evolution.

In fact, he should have grasped this a long time ago.

During his early days in this world, when he was still a child, the energy in his body was paltry compared to what it was now. Even if the evolution time was stretched to several months, he shouldn't have evolved to level III [Cellular Adaptability].

The reason he had evolved to level III [Cell Adaptability] was due to the constant influence of Hashirama's cells.

By similar reasoning, he could now evolve Level I [Cold Resistance] in three days thanks to the frigid external environment.

Reflecting on this realization, Bai Shi felt a wave of regret. "How much time have I wasted!"

He had no idea what kind of external environment he should have created to increase the speed of evolution regarding [Enhanced Spatial Perception].

Yet, for abilities like [Self-Healing], [Toxin Resistance], and [Five Senses Enhancement], he could easily devise an appropriate external environment.

"Hey! Why didn't I think of pushing myself harder earlier?"

With a sigh, Bai Shi reassured himself: "It's okay, I'm still young and have plenty of time. I just need to be more thoughtful in the future."

...

In the blink of another week, it was noon that day when Bai Shi finally arrived at the northernmost port city in the Land of Iron.

As he had anticipated, the cargo and passenger ships here were operating non-stop and had become busier because of the ongoing Ninja World War.

The principle that the sound of a gun is worth a ton of gold is the same in any world.

Bai Shi did not leave by boat immediately; nor did he even approach the port. He merely asked around and confirmed that the port was still operational, then turned away.

The reason for this was that he feared the people from Iwagakure would target him.

After all, it was tough to hide his destination at the northern dock of Takikuni, and with a little investigation, the other party could easily guess his plan.

In this context, it would be normal for them to come to the Iron Country to intercept him.

Although the major ninja villages had already agreed not to attack the Iron Country, it was plausible that they would turn a blind eye if they merely sent a few ninjas to follow him.

Of course, Bai Shi didn't take those few ninjas seriously; he simply wanted to avoid complications. He would rather wait for a while than get tangled with those dogged pursuers again.

Bai Shi truly didn't want any more trouble. He preferred to bide his time than attract the attention of the samurai of the Iron Country, which could jeopardize his plans to go to sea.

It just so happened that he had some items that needed time for customization, which was another reason he wasn't in a hurry to leave.

As for the customized items, they were quite straightforward; they were simply weight-bearing equipment.

Since abilities like [Cold Resistance] could be expedited through external environmental stimulation, it only stood to reason that [Basic Attributes] could evolve as well.

Particularly for [Strength] and [Agility], increasing the weight is the best way to foster development.

Thus, before heading out to sea, Bai Shi planned to create a batch of weight-bearing equipment of various levels to aid in his evolution.

If he were in another location, obtaining these items could be challenging. After all, ordinary blacksmiths couldn't necessarily fulfill his requirements. But in the Kingdom of Iron, it was much more manageable.

The warriors here were predominantly clad in armor and wielding swords, and the forging, repair, and maintenance of these items were vital functions that depended on skilled blacksmiths.

And where there is demand, a market naturally emerges.

Thus, the Kingdom of Iron boasted the highest concentration of blacksmiths in the ninja world, all with skills sufficient to meet Bai Shi's needs.
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