vstars Chapter 625 Delay
Chapter 625 Delay
Without any delay, he went straight to a training ground deep in the Leaf Forest. The terrain here was open, and the surrounding trees were tall and dense, making it an excellent place for high-intensity training.
In the center of the arena, Zhang Hai sat cross-legged, eyes closed. He quickly entered a state of perfect tranquility, his mind focused, his breathing long and steady. He began to carefully adjust every cell in his body, allowing his chakra to flow evenly through his meridians, bringing himself to his optimal state. He knew that since this "Shadow" was so powerful, even his teacher, Hatake Sakumo, had consulted him, he naturally had to give it his all and meet this legendary swordsmanship master in the most perfect form.
Sunlight gradually poured down from the treetops, slowly being cut into dappled shadows by the leaves. The afternoon cicada chirping gradually faded, replaced by the evening insect chirping. Finally, night fell, and a bright, full moon rose high in the sky, its cool light filtering through the leaves and falling on Zhang Hai.
Time ticked by, but Zhang Hai remained motionless. He waited from morning till night, until the moon was high in the sky, but no one else came to the training ground except for himself.
The moonlight, like water, bathed the entire training ground, yet this cool light did nothing to dispel the doubts in Zhang Hai's heart. His cross-legged figure stood motionless in the night, like a sculpture. However, time passed second by second, from sunrise to sunset, and then to the moon high in the sky, the training ground remained deserted.
"Is he not coming today?" A sense of helplessness welled up in Zhang Hai's heart. He had thought that since the Third Hokage had agreed and notified him, this "Shadow" senior would definitely show up today. But the silence before him left him disappointed. He took a deep breath, stood up, and stretched his stiff body. Since he couldn't wait any longer, he could only try again tomorrow.
He lifted one foot, gently stepping onto a thick branch beside him, while his other foot dangled slightly in the air, preparing to leap forward. In that instant, Zhang Hai's sixth sense—a sixth sense honed through years of walking the line between life and death, possessing an almost instinctive sensitivity to danger—suddenly sounded its loudest alarm!
An overwhelming sense of crisis swept in from all directions, without any warning, as if it appeared out of thin air.
"Not good!" Zhang Hai's heart sank. Years of battlefield experience made him all too familiar with this feeling. This was no ordinary chakra fluctuation; it was an attack locked onto him, carrying a chilling killing intent!
Almost at the same time the alarm sounded, three extremely sharp blade beams, like three phantoms streaking across the night sky, attacked Zhang Hai, who was distracted, from three different directions with lightning speed and a piercing sound! At this moment, he was using one foot to brace against a tree branch and the other foot was dangling in the air. His body was at a critical moment before taking off, and he had nowhere to use as leverage to dodge.
The blade's speed was outrageous; it struck Zhang Hai almost instantly before he even realized it.
"boom!"
The tree branch he had just used for leverage was instantly pulverized by the three blades of light, sending wood chips flying and turning into a cloud of dust. However, after the dust settled, Zhang Hai's figure vanished like a ghost.
In the darkness, a soft "Eh?" rang out, tinged with surprise and disbelief. Though faint, the sound clearly indicated the source of the three blades of light—it was the "Shadow" who had been elusive for so long.
Zhang Hai twisted his body abruptly in mid-air, using the explosive force of the tree branch that had just been severed by the blade's edge to forcibly change direction. His body glided through the air in an arc as lightly as a feather, then landed silently behind another thick tree. He held his breath, his chakra receding as if he had completely merged into the night.
As soon as he uttered the soft exclamation of "Shadow," he let out a cold snort, twirling his longsword, the blade gleaming eerily in the moonlight.
"Is it here?"
As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of blade beams, like dense raindrops, accompanied by a sharp gust of wind, slashed down at the tree where Zhang Hai had just hidden!
"Oh!"
With a deafening roar, the tree, unable to withstand such a dense barrage of blades, was instantly cleaved into countless fragments, splinters flying everywhere, its crown collapsing with a thunderous crash. Just as the tree crumbled, a figure shot out like an arrow from behind the fallen tree, landing steadily on the ground nearby.
It was Zhang Hai.
His eyes, hidden behind the ANBU mask, had turned cold and indifferent. Without the slightest hesitation, he stomped his feet on the ground, his entire body tensing instantly, his chakra circulating rapidly within him, entering a state of full alert.
Without a doubt, "Shadow" had arrived long ago. He had been lurking in the shadows, patiently and cunningly waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Only when Zhang Hai lowered his guard and prepared to leave did he strike, and with that single move, he delivered a fatal blow, leaving no room for retreat. If Zhang Hai hadn't honed his sense of danger to an terrifying degree during the Second Shinobi World War, that split-second reaction wouldn't have been enough for him to dodge those three deadly blades; he would have at least been severely injured.
As night fell, the figure of "Shadow" slowly emerged. In his hand he held a sword slightly longer than an ordinary ninja sword, its blade gleaming with a cold, eerie light under the moonlight. He was shrouded in a swirling black mist, which seemed to be more than just simple chakra; it appeared to be some kind of special ability that made his form indistinct, even obscuring whether he possessed a physical form.
A strong, pungent stench of blood, mixed with a hint of decay, emanated from him, permeating the entire space. This aura was cold and deadly, like the Grim Reaper emerging from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. As the stench spread, a chilling aura of blade energy silently filled the surrounding forest. The chirping of insects and the rustling of leaves in the night wind seemed to fall silent instantly under the oppressive force of this aura, leaving the entire forest deathly still, with only the tense atmosphere of the two figures facing off.
Zhang Hai's expression was extremely grave, his eyes narrowed slightly, and those eyes hidden behind the mask now radiated an unprecedented level of vigilance. He was finally beginning to understand the Third Hokage's concerns back then. The person before him was no ordinary swordsmanship master; he was a terrifying person, or more accurately, a terrifying assassin!
Judging from "Shadow's" decisive and ruthless sneak attack and those three merciless blade strikes, it's clear that he, like Zhang Hai, is pursuing efficiency in delivering a fatal blow.