Most shinobi didn't even know Root existed, let alone where its headquarters lay.
But Kushina did.
As the Fourth Hokage's wife and the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, there wasn't much in Konoha's shadows that escaped her.
She moved swiftly through the dense forest, her steps light but purposeful. When she reached the cliffs above Root's underground base, her chakra surged violently.
Crimson energy exploded outward, cloaking her body as five massive tails whipped into existence.
The chakra tails coiled high into the air before merging, condensing into a colossal, glowing fist.
BOOM!
The fist hammered into the ground. Rock shattered like brittle glass, soil heaving as fractures spider-webbed outward. The ground collapsed in a thunderous chain reaction, boulders tearing loose from the ceiling of Root's underground halls.
One massive slab of rock crashed down, smashing through a raised walkway before finally lodging in another.
The noise was impossible to ignore. Masked figures in Root's gray armor appeared instantly along the walkways, shadows flitting like blades drawn from their sheaths.
"Trouble outside!" one barked. "First Squad, investigate immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
The gate ground open, and three Root shinobi sprinted out into the forest. Their animal masks gleamed faintly in the sun as they spotted the lone figure standing defiantly amidst the destruction.
"...The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki?"
"What are you doing here?"
Kushina turned slowly, her crimson cloak rippling, five tails snapping back into place. Her voice was ice.
"Go tell Danzo to crawl out here and face me. If he doesn't, I'll tear Root apart stone by stone."
"How dare you!" their captain snarled. "Disrespecting Danzo-sama? Capture her!"
The order was given, and they moved as one. Their teamwork was sharp, ninjutsu flowing seamlessly from one to the next. But...
It was useless.
Kushina's tails lashed out like living whips, sweeping aside their jutsu as if it were nothing. One tail shot forward, wrapping around all three shinobi before they could retreat.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
She slammed them into the earth in unison, the impact shaking the ground. They coughed blood, bones rattling, their bodies limp but alive. Kushina's fury burned, but her reason held, she wasn't here to kill nameless subordinates.
More rubble thundered down inside Root.
At last, Danzo himself emerged. He stepped onto a walkway, cane tapping against the stone, his expression stormy. Twelve Root operatives flanked him, weapons at the ready.
"What is the meaning of this?" Danzo's voice cracked like a whip.
One kneeling ninja quickly reported, "Danzo-sama, the disturbance outside—it's Kushina. First Squad engaged but failed."
Danzo's single visible eye narrowed. He stepped into the open forest, his followers fanning behind him.
"Kushina," he growled. "Why are you making a scene at Root? And to injure my men on top of it? This is outrageous!"
His cane slammed into the ground for emphasis.
Kushina stood tall, her chakra cloak still blazing, eyes sharp with contempt.
"Don't play the victim, Danzo. You know exactly what you've done."
"You have no right to lecture me," he snapped.
"And you," she shot back, her voice rising, "are the last person who gets to act self-righteous! I've always despised your schemes. How dare you lay hands on what little remains of my clan? Without the Hokage's approval, who gave you that right?"
Danzo's jaw clenched. His thoughts flicked immediately to Uchiha Gen.
That brat… he must have gone crying to Kushina!
"I sought only to recruit them for Root," Danzo said coldly, raising his voice for his operatives to hear. "To make Root stronger, to better protect Konoha. Everything I do is for the village."
"I've done nothing wrong. Even if mistakes were made, I answer only to Hiruzen, not to you. Out of respect for the Fourth's memory, leave now, and I'll overlook this disgrace. But if you insist on madness then don't blame me for what happens."
At his signal, the twelve Root shinobi drew steel, the sound of blades ringing through the forest.
Kushina's eyes narrowed.
"Let's see how you plan to be 'impolite.'"
Her chakra surged violently. The crimson cloak collapsed inward, compressing into golden brilliance. In an instant, her entire form gleamed with blinding radiance, black markings etching across her body.
A storm of killing intent swept outward. The forest floor trembled, leaves ripping free and whirling into the air as a gale howled across the clearing. Root shinobi staggered, gripping their weapons tighter, their bodies screaming at them to run.
Above Kushina's head, a golden fox manifested, its fanged snarl frozen in light. From its jaws, yin and yang chakra spiraled together, condensing into a pulsating sphere—
A Tailed Beast Ball. Two meters wide. Its surface seethed with terrifying density.
Danzo's face blanched. Even behind his sleeve, shielding from the gale, his teeth ground audibly. The oppressive power was suffocating, crushing down like the sky itself.
If that sphere detonated, there would be no survivors.
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat with his crystal ball. The faint outline of the women's bathhouse rippled across its surface before his head snapped up, gaze locking toward the back mountain.
His pipe clattered to the desk. The old man vanished in a blur, racing toward the scene at full speed.
"Kushina!" His voice thundered across the clearing as he appeared. "What are you doing?! Do you mean to betray the village?"
Kushina tilted her head slightly, not dropping the sphere.
"I haven't even fired yet, and that already counts as betrayal?"
Danzo opened his mouth, but she cut him off, voice like steel.
"Desertion isn't for you to decide. Only Hokage-sama can make that judgment. Even if I killed every last one of you here, do you really think the Hokage would execute me, knowing what I've done for this village?"
She let the implication hang heavy in the air, the Tailed Beast Ball humming with lethal promise.
In truth, Kushina hadn't said the rest aloud: With this power, unless I choose to die, no one in Konoha can kill me. And I can't die not while Naruto still needs me.
She locked her glare on Danzo.
"So I'll ask one last time, are you going to give me an explanation, or do I show everyone what happens when you push me too far?"