Menma's figure suddenly froze.
"Sect Elder? Could it be referring to…"
His thoughts were interrupted by a suddenly appearing shadow. A young man dressed in a dark blue, high-collared uniform silently slipped into the bushes beneath the rock wall, the Uchiha Clan fan crest on his back particularly striking in the twilight.
"Uchiha Shisui?"
Menma's pupils slightly contracted.
Who in Konoha didn't know the name of Shunshin Shisui?
But what concerned him even more was that the direction the other party was heading was clearlyRoot's secret entrance!
"Something's not right…"
Menma's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Transformation Jutsu!"
With a soft shout, the white smoke dispersed, and an Anbu wearing a cat-faced mask appeared in his place.
Menma carefully suppressed his Chakra, the Uzumaki Clan's unique sensory ability like invisible tendrils, silently tracking Shisui's movements.
The Root base's passage was cold and damp, the torches on the walls casting flickering shadows.
Every step Menma took was as light as a feather, yet he could clearly hear his own accelerating heartbeat. He bypassed several overt and covert sentries and arrived at Root's headquarters.
"This is Root's headquarters?"
He was secretly alarmed. Even his dad probably didn't know the full extent of this organization.
The lips beneath the mask tightened into a straight line.
Although he had the system's blessing, he still didn't know where his strength stood in this world.
Until he was truly invincible, caution was the way to survive.
In the dim Root hall, a bizarre statue with three heads and six arms cast distorted shadows.
Menma pressed tightly against the cold stone wall, clearly feeling the chilling Chakra emanating from Danzo, the malice like a venomous snake's flicking tongue, making him shiver.
"Even if you stop the Uchiha rebellion…"
Danzo's gloomy and calm voice echoed in the empty hall, "But if Konoha doesn't change its stance on the Uchiha Clan, what will you do?"
Shisui straightened his back, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan glowing faintly in the dim light: "The Fourth Hokage and the Third Hokage have already assured me…"
"Naive!"
Danzo suddenly roared, his exposed single eye bursting with terrifying light, "The villagers' attitude towards the Uchiha Clan won't change… My view of the Uchiha won't change either!"
He suddenly raised his hand and pointed directly at Shisui, "At that time, will you also use Kotoamatsukami on me?"
"Kotoamatsukami?"
Menma's breath hitched.
Although he didn't understand the specific meaning, anything that could make Danzo so wary must be a jutsu capable of overturning the situation.
In this flash of lightning, Danzo's withered fingers shot out like a venomous snake striking, aiming directly for Shisui's right eye!
Menma's muscles instantly tensed, but he saw Shisui's Sharingan spin rapidly, and Danzo's figure immediately froze in place.
"Genjutsu?"
Menma had just let out a sigh of relief when another Danzo ghost-like figure darted out from the shadows!
Shisui was caught off guard and sent flying by a palm strike, drawing a clumsy arc in the air. Danzo grinned menacingly and pounced, his fingertips just an inch away from that precious eyeball: "Such an ability can only be in my hands!"
"Whoosh"
A kunai shot through the air, precisely blocking Danzo's path of action.
The cold metallic gleam reflected Danzo's shocked and enraged face. He had no choice but to retreat, his sinister gaze locked onto the suddenly appearing cat-faced Anbu.
"Who are you?"
Danzo's voice carried a hint of anger.
Menma could feel that the other party seemed to be guessing his identitywas he the Fourth Hokage? Or an Anbu sent by the Third Hokage?
Menma didn't answer, merely adopting a defensive stance.
He could hear Shisui's difficult gasps behind him, and his own heart pounding like a drum.
The hall fell into a deathly silence, with only the crackling of burning torches reminding them of the passage of time.
Dozens of Root Ninja emerged from the shadows like ghosts.
They wore identical masks, and the kunai in their hands gleamed with a chilling light under the torchlight, completely surrounding the two of them.
Uchiha Shisui knelt on one knee, his right hand pressed tightly against his throbbing chest. His black hair on his forehead was soaked with cold sweat. Looking at the Anbu's back shielding him, complex emotions surged within him: [Hokage-sama actually sent someone to protect me in secret… ]
"Retreat first!"
The Anbu's hoarse voice brought Shisui back to his senses.
He endured the pain, his hands instantly forming a hand sign: "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A scorching fireball roared out, but it was intercepted midway by three water dragons.
"Sizzle"
Steaming white mist immediately enveloped the entire hall. Shisui felt his arm being violently yanked, and the two of them, using the mist as cover, rushed out of Root's base.
As they sped away, Menma's fingertips subtly brushed against a stone pillar, leaving behind a barely perceptible Flying Thunder God jutsu formula.
Danzo's chilling voice came from behind: "Pursue."
Deep in the dense forest, the moonlight was fragmented by the thick canopy of trees.
Shisui's breathing grew heavier and heavier. When they burst out of the forest, a sheer cliff loomed before them.
"Swish, swish, swish"
Twelve Root Ninja surrounded them in a fan shape, the glint of their kunai forming a silver net under the moonlight.
Menma's brow furrowed under his mask: Luckily Danzo didn't pursue… If he accidentally killed Danzo, not only would the higher-ups be furious, but it would also be difficult to deal with his dad.
He subtly glanced at the surging river below the cliff.
Shisui gasped and straightened his body, his Three-Tomoe slowly rotating in his eyes: "Your Excellency is…"
Menma raised a hand to interrupt his question, lowering his voice: "Prepare to break through."
His gaze swept over the approaching enemies, and he slowly straightened his posture.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
Menma's hand sign speed was so fast that afterimages almost appeared. A dazzling bolt of lightning shot out from his mouth. The blue-white electric light, like a divine sword, instantly pierced through the chests of three Root Ninja. The struck Ninja didn't even have time to scream before collapsing to the ground as charred corpses.
Uchiha Shisui's pupils suddenly contracted: "This mastery of Lightning Release…"
He recalled the silver-haired genius Ninja, Kakashi, but the power of this person's Lightning Release seemed even superior.
There was no time to think. Shisui's figure suddenly split into more than ten afterimages, each one accurately striking a Root Ninja.
The katana wove a net of death, but the dull thuds of the blunt side of the blade indicated he was still holding back.
"Shunshin Shisui truly lives up to his name."
Menma shook his head slightly, "Still having reservations?"
His figure flickered like a ghost beside the fallen Root Ninja.
The sound of the kunai slicing across a throat was almost inaudible, yet blood had already silently soaked the black uniform. He looked up at Shisui, finding the other party staring at him with shocked eyes.
"Senior, why did you kill them…"
Shisui's voice trembled slightly.
Menma didn't answer, his gaze suddenly locking onto a Root Ninja who was retreating.
He flicked his index finger, and a bolt of lightning shot out like an arrow from a bowstring.
The "Lightning Arrow" precisely pierced through the Ninja's back, and the corpse maintained its running posture as it fell forward.
"Senior!"
Shisui's fingers twitched unconsciously. He saw a few drops of blood splattered on the Anbu Ninja's mask, slowly sliding down the cold mask.
[Is this Hokage-sama's will?]
A complex emotion flashed in Shisui's Sharingan.
He suddenly realized that perhaps the Fourth Hokage had long been fed up with Danzo's influence.
He had underestimated Danzo's strength and ruthlessness and no longer held any illusions about Danzo. If Fourth Hokage-sama was determined to eradicate Root, then the Uchiha Clan must stand with the Hokage.
Menma didn't know Shisui's internal monologue, only leaving a sentence before flashing away: "Please go back and tell Fugaku Clan Head to restrain the Uchiha Clan members."
Shisui stared blankly at the empty spot, his pupils somewhat unfocused: "Is this a warning from Fourth Hokage-sama?"
He unconsciously clenched his sleeve, "Indeed, some clan members have gone a bit too far. But Fugaku Clan Head… seems unable to restrain them…"
"Shisui!"
Uchiha Itachi's hurried arrival broke the silence.
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