EBE Chapter 501 Are you okay?
Chapter 501 Are you okay?
Minato precisely caught that moment of hesitation. Without hesitation, he pulled back his leg, turned his body, and delivered another powerful roundhouse kick that landed squarely on Zhang Hai's chest.
The immense impact sent Zhang Hai flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground and kicking up a cloud of choking dust.
He lay on the ground, feeling as if all the bones in his body were about to fall apart, with only the yellowish sky stained by dust in his vision.
Dust billowed, and the choking air filled his nostrils. Zhang Hai lay on the ground, feeling a tightness in his chest, as if he had been struck hard by an invisible hammer.
He coughed a few times before his vision refocused from the blurry, swaying light.
A figure rapidly approached, casting a shadow in front of him.
Minato Namikaze's azure eyes were filled with apology and worry. He knelt down, reached out his hand, but hesitated in mid-air, as if afraid of hurting him again.
A faint, rhythmic clanging of metal could be heard in the air, as if a blacksmith were working tirelessly in another world.
"Are you alright? I..." Minato's voice was somewhat anxious, "I sensed that you were very strong, so I didn't hold back, I didn't expect this..." He carefully helped Zhang Hai up and brushed the dust off his body.
Zhang Hai waved his hand, enduring the pain in his chest, and forced a fairly natural smile. "It's nothing, it's just that I'm not as skilled as others." The instructor strode over, his face showing not blame but rather appreciation.
He suddenly clapped his hands loudly, and the crisp sound drew everyone's attention.
A strong, astringent taste, like over-boiled bitter tea, rose on Zhang Hai's tongue.
"A spectacular duel!" the teacher announced loudly. "This is what a ninja should be like! Because an excellent ninja not only needs to know how to attack, but also how to protect himself, so you will soon become true genin." His words were somewhat illogical, but the students around him obviously didn't notice. They just cast glances at Zhang Hai and Minato with a mixture of envy and awe.
Genin.
Zhang Hai pondered the word in his mind, finding those envious glances both laughable and pathetic.
In this era of war, what is a genin?
They are the cannon fodder filling the front lines, the cold casualty figures on the mission reports.
Let alone genin, even powerful jonin cannot guarantee their survival on a battlefield as brutal as a meat grinder.
He could feel as if there was a smooth, cold pebble inside his shoe. The feeling was so real that he couldn't help but want to take off his shoe to see what it was, but he knew there was nothing inside.
What he wanted wasn't the status of a genin, but the power to survive, and even thrive, in this chaotic world.
“Uchiha Shokai,” the instructor’s voice rang out again, his eyes filled with expectation as he looked at Shokai, “You are quite good, a promising talent.” A faint caramel scent wafted through the air, cloyingly sweet with a hint of burnt bitterness.
The teacher reached out and patted Zhang Hai's shoulder rather roughly, with considerable force, making his chest feel tight again.
He paused for half a second, then said in an unquestionable tone, "Since you're injured, you don't need to stay and clean. After all, dust isn't good for a genius's lungs. Go back and rest." Zhang Hai nodded readily, dragging his slightly aching body as he turned and left.
He could feel a focused gaze fixed on his back until he left the training area.
Instead of going straight home, he circled the village several times to make sure no one was following him before entering an inconspicuous general store.
As he left the school, a strange feeling kept echoing in his mind, like someone tearing pages out of a book nearby, the sound clear and irritating.
He bought a very basic black bodysuit and mask; this was the first step in his plan.
The Book of Seals.
The forbidden techniques recorded there, especially Naruto's famous Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, are what he needs most at this stage.
That's not just a ninjutsu for creating clones, but a cheat-like method for chakra training.
The night was as dark as ink, enveloping the entire Hidden Leaf Village in tranquility. Zhang Hai changed into his night clothes, seemingly blending into the darkness.
He recalled how the reckless, blond-haired boy in the anime stole the Book of Seals.
If Naruto Uzumaki could do it, there was no reason why he, a master thief who had fought countless battles in his previous life, would fail.
A slippery sensation spread across my fingertips, as if a layer of invisible, cold oil had been applied.
The intelligence he received was clear: due to the escalating war, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, spent most of his time in his office in the Hokage Building dealing with a mountain of official business, making his residence the least guarded place.
This is an excellent window of opportunity.
Like a nimble cat, he moved silently between the eaves and the shadows of the trees, avoiding one patrol of ninja after another.
The third generation's residence wasn't large, and it had a rustic style, appearing exceptionally quiet under the moonlight.
Zhang Hai's figure approached like a ghost, circled around to the back of the mansion, easily pried open the latch of a window, and slid inside.
The landing was silent, and a dry smell mixed with the scent of asphalt after the rain wafted towards me, even though the sky was clear and no rain had fallen tonight.
The air in the study was so still it seemed to freeze, and Zhang Hai deliberately suppressed his breathing to the point of being barely audible.
He didn't touch the desk that seemed most likely to hide secrets, nor did he look through the neatly arranged ordinary scrolls.
His gaze, like the most precise vernier caliper, measured every detail of the room inch by inch.
The floorboards, the wall colors, even the texture of the wooden beams on the ceiling.
His ears caught a distant, muffled whistle, as if a giant ship was setting sail on a foggy sea, but the sound vanished in an instant, swallowed up again by the surrounding silence.
His gaze finally settled on a huge calligraphy scroll on the wall, on which the character "忍" (patience/endurance) was written in a vigorous and flowing style.
The scroll's hanging cord was clean, but on the wall below the scroll, there was a very slight wear mark that was almost invisible to the naked eye.
right here.
Zhang Hai's heart raced slightly, and he slid silently to the wall like a raccoon dog.
When my fingertips touched that wall, I felt a cold, damp sensation, as if the wall had just been soaked through by rain.
Instead of forcibly pulling at the scroll, he extended his finger and gently tapped next to the worn area.