Naruto evolution system

Chapter 173: Speculation

Time flowed like water, quietly slipping by.

Unknowingly, two months passed.

---

One afternoon, Baishi arrived in the Land of Birds.

Hovering above the daimyo's palace, he gazed at the shimmering lake nearby, its surface dotted with countless vibrant waterfowl. A long sigh escaped his lips.

"Ah…"

Seven years had passed, yet this place remained as tranquil as ever. However, he was no longer the youth he once was.

After a long pause, Baishi withdrew his gaze and looked toward the city below, murmuring, "I think I rented a courtyard nearby back then."

"Hmm… there it is!"

Baishi's eyes lit up as he spotted the courtyard he had once called home.

"Hm?"

He suddenly noticed something unusual. With a faint flutter of his wind chakra wings, he vanished from his position and reappeared inside the courtyard.

---

"Who's there?"

His abrupt appearance startled the people in the courtyard.

Immediately, they drew kunai and surrounded Baishi.

It wasn't just their weapons that drew his attention—Baishi could sense chakra emanating from them. These individuals were clearly shinobi.

However, they bore no insignia of any village or organization.

This left only two possibilities: they were either bounty hunters or rogue ninja.

Seeing their fierce expressions, Baishi didn't hesitate. He let out a cold snort infused with infrasound waves, which reverberated through their minds.

In an instant, the group collapsed to the ground, blood seeping from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths—a gruesome sight.

Taking a step forward, Baishi approached a man dressed as a monk. Ignoring his feeble resistance, Baishi pressed a hand against the man's head and activated the Yamanaka clan's secret technique—Mind Reading Jutsu.

"Ahhh!"

The monk let out a scream, but it quickly died away, leaving only the sight of his eyes rolling back.

Moments later, Baishi released his grip and murmured, "So, they're rogue ninja after all…"

As he suspected, these individuals were indeed rogue ninja.

He also learned the name—or rather, the alias—of the man beneath him: Hui, the leader of this group.

The name triggered memories from another timeline.

In that tale, a group of rogue ninja sought to seize power in the Land of Birds. They orchestrated the deaths of the daimyo and his eldest son, then posed as the revered monk Mugon to install the daimyo's daughter as their puppet, securing their control of the country.

The so-called "Mugon" was none other than Hui.

Looking at the monk's attire, Baishi mused, "No wonder he looked familiar."

Shaking his head, he raised a hand and unleashed a barrage of wooden spikes, piercing the foreheads of every rogue ninja.

With a stomp, earth-style chakra softened the ground beneath their bodies, swallowing them entirely.

Satisfied with the now pristine courtyard, Baishi nodded and stepped into the house.

---

He planned to reside here for a while, using the time to explore the Land of Birds and study the natural energy in the surrounding regions.

Ever since gaining the Heart's Eye ability, Baishi had been investigating natural energy.

Over time, questions began to arise in his mind. Why was natural energy in the outside world so sparse while the Three Great Sage Regions were brimming with it?

Natural energy, he had confirmed, originated from the life activities of living organisms. Logically, the denser the population of life, the richer the natural energy should be.

Sure, the Sage Regions had smaller territories with higher biological densities, whereas the outside world was vast with lower population density. But the disparity in natural energy was far too great to be explained by this alone.

This led Baishi to a startling hypothesis: the Three Great Sage Regions were actively siphoning natural energy from the shinobi world.

Only this could explain the peculiar distribution of natural energy.

He needed to test his theory.

---

In recent days, his Heart's Eye ability had reached 50% progress, allowing him to faintly sense the flow of natural energy.

If he could confirm that this flow wasn't a natural phenomenon but rather artificially guided, it would validate his suspicion.

However, if proven true, he'd have no choice but to seek out Orochimaru.

The natural energy in the shinobi world was simply too sparse to support his training in Sage Mode.

Even if he could forcefully complete his training, the time required would be unimaginably long—a prospect Baishi found unacceptable.

---

To clarify, seeking out Orochimaru didn't mean he intended to train in the Ryuchi Cave. He wasn't ready to confront the White Snake Sage.

Moreover, the example of Mount Myoboku's Sage Mode showed that the teachings of the Sage Regions often came with strings attached. Baishi didn't want to risk being influenced or controlled by such powers.

He needed to develop Sage Mode on his own terms.

Furthermore, he had no connection to the Ryuchi Cave. Even if he wanted to learn their techniques, it wasn't guaranteed they'd agree.

His reason for finding Orochimaru was to locate Jugo's clan village.

That place, capable of triggering spontaneous Sage Transformations in ordinary people, undoubtedly had an extraordinary concentration of natural energy.

If he could find it, it would be the ideal location for studying natural energy and training in Sage Mode.

Of course, this depended on whether his hypothesis was correct.

If he was wrong, it would suggest that natural energy in the shinobi world was unevenly distributed, with certain regions acting as focal points.

In that case, he could simply search for such hotspots without involving Orochimaru.

It wasn't that he feared Orochimaru—he simply wanted to avoid the potential risks associated with Jugo's village, which he suspected was a connection point between the Ryuchi Cave and the shinobi world.

Given the choice, Baishi preferred to steer clear of it.

---

For the next month, Baishi stayed in the courtyard, exploring the Land of Birds by day and studying the natural energy across various regions.

His investigation even extended beyond the Land of Birds into neighboring areas.

Finally, after weeks of careful observation, Baishi confirmed his hypothesis.

The natural energy of the shinobi world was indeed exhibiting unnatural flow patterns.

While he couldn't determine its exact destination, the direction of its movement was clear.

He had attempted to follow the flow to its source, but his limited sensory range and the sparse energy distribution made it difficult to track for long. External disturbances often caused him to lose the trail.

Still, the evidence strongly pointed to the Three Great Sage Regions as the culprits. No other entity seemed capable of orchestrating such a phenomenon.

And considering the immense natural energy within the Sage Regions, it was almost undeniable.

(Chapter End)

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