harleyscars Chapter 196 Super Beast Fake Painting
Chapter 196 Super Beast Fake Painting
After the farce that Konohamaru had just caused, Boruto's emotions were still rippled in his chest and had not yet completely subsided. He walked slowly across a stream in the Konoha training ground, stepping on the stones.
Suddenly, Boruto stopped in his tracks, sensing something was wrong. At the same time, a dark figure leaped out from the shadows of the forest, wielding a straight long sword, and silently attacked Boruto. Boruto immediately realized that he had been ambushed.
Boruto dodged the attack by turning his body to the side. As the blade grazed his body, Boruto used the momentum of the attack to grab the attacker's hand that was gripping the hilt of the sword.
Boruto looked at the ninja who had suddenly attacked him. He saw that the ninja was wearing a mask of a special assassination tactical unit. The attacker was obviously a member of the Anbu from within Konoha Village.
When the ninja was restrained by Boruto's hand, he did not surrender. Instead, he quickly reached for his waist with his other hand.
He pulled out a kunai and tried to retaliate against Boruto to break free of his restraints, but before he could finish his move, Boruto punched him in the abdomen.
Under Boruto's impact, the ninja's body suddenly turned into a pool of black ink, exploding and splattering onto the grass nearby. Clearly, this was just an ink clone of the opponent.
After dealing with the ink clone, Boruto calmly asked the direction of the forest, "Who are you? Why did you attack me? Did Danzo send you to assassinate me?"
The Assassination Tactics Special Forces are elite ninja teams directly commanded by the Hokage of Konoha Village, and their missions are usually highly classified.
However, this suddenly appearing member of the Anbu was clearly not part of the elite group represented by "Kage," "Antelope," and "Lantern" trained by Tsunade, and Tsunade had no reason to assassinate him.
If this ANBU member wasn't trained by Tsunade, then there's only one possibility left: he belongs to the Root ninja under Danzo.
As for Konoha's Root organization, after the Uchiha clan was wiped out by Itachi Uchiha, the Third Hokage ordered Danzo to be relieved of his position as "Hokage's assistant" and demanded that Danzo completely disband "Root" at that time.
However, Boruto learned from his intelligence gathering about this era that although "Root" was officially disbanded after the Uchiha massacre, its members did not completely disappear but remained.
Many former "Root" members still work in the shadows, remaining loyal to "Root's" ideals and goals; however, the organization no longer exists openly.
There was no response to Boruto's question. In the silence, Boruto vaguely heard the roar of a wild beast. The sound gradually became clearer as it approached.
In an instant, several enormous ink lions suddenly appeared from all directions of the forest. These black and white lions leaped up and pounced on Boruto together.
Boruto drew his sword from behind his back and faced the oncoming ink lions. Just as the ink lions were about to touch him, they seemed to freeze in time and suddenly stopped in mid-air.
Immediately afterwards, the ink-like bodies of the lions suddenly burst open, turning into countless ink droplets that scattered and splashed onto the surrounding grass.
Sai leaned against the shade of a large tree in the distance, his gaze peering through the gaps in the leaves to observe the movements of the battlefield in real time.
When Sai saw the dozen or so ink lions he had summoned through the Super Beast Imitation Painting instantly vanish in front of Boruto, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
Knowing that there is a huge gap between him and Boruto in terms of physical skills, it would be unwise to directly engage in close combat with Boruto.
Therefore, he can only choose to use his Super Beast Imitation Drawing from a distance to constantly wear down Boruto's stamina, and then try to find a chance to win in this way. However, judging from the current situation, finding a chance to reverse the situation has become very slim.
Sai's thoughts raced through his mind. He gripped the brush tightly, dipped the tip in enough ink, and began to paint quickly on the scroll between his legs. Before long, ten lifelike ink lions took shape again on his scroll.
Just as Sai was about to form a hand seal to activate the ink lion on the scroll and turn it into a physical object, Sai suddenly stopped and said with a faint smile, "It seems... I've lost this duel."
Sai slowly lowered the hand he was about to use to form a hand seal. At that moment, a sword was pressed against his neck, its sharp edge close to his skin.
Sai's gaze shifted slightly upwards as he looked at Boruto and continued, "I didn't expect you to find my location so quickly. You're so strong, it's almost inhuman. Or are you some kind of monster?"
Previously, when Sai was casting the Super Beast Imitation Painting, in order to prevent his position from being exposed, he made these ink lions make different noises in different places.
This was intended to create multiple distractions to divert Boruto's attention and thus conceal his true location, but it now appears to have been a futile effort.
In response to Sai's teasing, Boruto smiled and replied, "It's nothing. My sensory abilities are only slightly better than those of an average Konoha ninja."
"If what you say is true, then how come I didn't realize that the average person in our Konoha Village has such a strong sense of perception?"
Sai was unimpressed by Boruto's modesty and continued, "I'm really sorry about earlier. I didn't come to see you for any particular reason. I just wanted to test your strength since I'm about to become your new comrade. That's all."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sai took off the mask that was covering his face, revealing his true face. Then he squinted at Boruto and began to smile.
Boruto paused for a moment upon hearing this, then withdrew the sword he had been holding to Sai's neck and asked Sai, "Become our new comrade? How come I didn't know about this?"
Boruto recalled that when he met Granny Tsunade at the Konoha Hospital not long ago, she did not mention anything about Sai joining their team.
Sai smiled and continued, "I only received this news not long ago. I will be a member of your team from now on. Nice to meet you. My name is Sai."
"Hello, you can just call me Boruto."
Boruto nodded in response, saying that he would ask Granny Tsunade about Sai becoming their new comrade when he had the chance later.
Just then, Sai looked at Boruto and suddenly changed the subject, asking with curiosity, "Boruto, you should know me, right?"
"Oh? What do you mean by that?"
Boruto raised an eyebrow after hearing Sai's words, looking somewhat surprised, as he hadn't expected Sai to ask him such a question.
"Just intuition, intuition."
Sai responded, then explained, "Although I'm not very skilled at emotional control, I still believe in my sixth sense."
Sai looked at Boruto and continued, "Because at the beginning, when I used Ninjutsu: Super Beast Imitation Drawing to summon the Ink Lion, your hostility towards me obviously decreased a lot, and your attacks also slowed down."
“Just now, I took off the mask that was covering my face, and your hostility towards me completely disappeared, which further confirmed my thoughts. But I remember this is the first time I’ve seen you.”
"Your intuition is indeed quite accurate."
The moment Boruto witnessed Sai using Super Beast Imitation Drawing, he immediately recognized him, because in his memory, very few people had mastered this unique ninjutsu.
Inojin and his father Sai were among the best practitioners of this ninjutsu, which is why Boruto was so impressed by its characteristics.
......
After saying goodbye to Sai at the training ground, Boruto walked along the corridor of the Hokage Building toward the Hokage's Room. As he approached the door of the Hokage's Room, his steps involuntarily slowed down.
He unexpectedly discovered Danzo, who was standing quietly outside the door, attentively listening to the conversation taking place inside the Hokage's room.
Boruto stepped forward, his gaze falling on Danzo, and asked, "Isn't this Lord Danzo? Since you're here, it means Sai's statement about wanting to join our team is true?"
Danzo tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over Boruto, and replied indifferently, "It's you. It seems you've already met him." There wasn't much emotion in his voice.
However, a shadow crossed Danzo's eyes, but the expression quickly disappeared, and Danzo's face returned to its usual calm. As expected, Sai alone couldn't control this brat.
Just as Boruto was talking to Danzo, he suddenly heard a quarrel coming from the Hokage's room. The sound was muffled through the heavy door, but he could still feel the atmosphere inside.
......
Tsunade's gaze swept over the two senior advisors of Konoha sitting in front of her with a serious expression, and she asked, "What do you want to say to me? The fact that two elder advisors of Konoha are gathered here suggests that the problem is quite serious."
Koharu Utatane nodded slightly: "Actually, we already know the whole story from Shizune, it's about Naruto Uzumaki."
Upon hearing Koharu's words, Tsunade involuntarily turned her gaze to Shizune standing to the side, clearly not expecting Shizune to reveal Naruto's situation to the two elder advisors.
Shizune felt embarrassed by Tsunade's gaze, knowing that her actions might have betrayed Tsunade's trust in her.
Mitokado Homura picked up where Utatane Koharu left off, saying, "Well, from now on, don't assign him any missions that might involve contact with the Akatsuki. You know why, right?" Considering the danger of the Akatsuki, it's wise to avoid having the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki directly face this powerful enemy.
Mitokado Homura continued to explain the new arrangements for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki: "From now on, we will send even more skilled ninjas to accompany the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, forming new four-person teams to carry out missions, thereby strengthening our surveillance and protection of him. Furthermore, we will drastically reduce the number of missions entrusted to him and restrict his range of activities." This is to ensure the safety of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and prevent potential threats.
Tsunade tried her best to suppress her anger and slowly said, "I also agree with the mission of the four-person team, but we can't restrict Naruto like that. Besides, Naruto himself is talented and can become a key ninja of Konoha."
Upon hearing Tsunade's words, Mitokado Homura's expression turned displeased. He coldly said to Tsunade, "You're really spouting nonsense, Tsunade. Can you even be considered Hokage like this?"
Tsunade's patience finally reached its limit. Faced with Homura Mitokado's questioning, Tsunade could no longer suppress her anger. She retorted, "As the Fifth Hokage, I have already yielded! I am not as easy to talk to as an old man!"
Despite Tsunade's angry rebuttal, Homura Mitokado maintained his stance, relentlessly questioning her: "Then can you guarantee that Naruto won't be defeated by Akatsuki? Can you guarantee that the Akatsuki, which took the Nine-Tails from Naruto, won't bring even greater disaster to Konoha?"
Tsunade said in a deep voice, "Naruto and the others will never be defeated. I have always firmly believed that."
Following closely behind Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu put further pressure on Tsunade: "Tsunade-hime, what if your judgment is wrong? After all, this is no joke; it concerns not only our Konoha but also the safety of the Land of Fire."
Tsunade remained silent for a moment amidst the two advisors' questioning. She took a deep breath and said frankly, "If Konoha Village and the Land of Fire are plunged into crisis as a result, then... as the Fifth Hokage, I will protect them even at the cost of my life."
After hearing Tsunade's resolute reply, the two advisors exchanged a glance, reaching a silent consensus.
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado then expressed their understanding, their tone softening considerably: "We understand. Since you put it that way, then it's up to you."
However, Mitokado Homura changed the subject and put forward his conditions for this choice: "But, in exchange, we require that the additional members in this new four-person group be ninjas we have arranged."
After a brief silence, Tsunade weighed the situation and the pros and cons of the proposal, and finally made her decision, calmly replying, "Okay."
Tsunade agreed to the two advisors' proposal and accepted the addition of ninjas arranged by them to the newly formed four-person team.
After receiving Tsunade's affirmative reply, Koharu Utatane did not hesitate and called out directly towards the door of the Hokage's office. Her call pierced through the heavy door and reached Danzo, who was waiting outside: "Danzo, come in."
......