Arrived

The two masked men wore respectful expressions. If not for the man before them, they might already have been blasted to nothing but scraps by these people.

Ye Lan quietly watched the man.

Ye Lan narrowed his eyes at him, then spoke softly.

"As expected of the head of the Anbu. You actually came personally for two minor underlings."

"Hehe. After all, they are elite ninja of my Anbu. If they were to die at your hands like this, I would feel somewhat reluctant. Besides, neither of them committed any heinous crime. They merely came at my behest to invite you to sit down at my place. And, young friend, even if they truly made some mistake, their crimes should not warrant death. Why did you strike with such lethal intent? You could have merely seriously injured them; Xuanwu might not even have blamed you. But you clearly intended to kill them. That would be far too disrespectful to me, Danzo. If you truly intend to make an enemy of me, then there is nothing I can do. After all, today I once again saw you together with Kakashi. You should know that Kakashi belongs to Hiruzen's side."

Ye Lan said, "I only arrived this afternoon. How did you know I had any connection with Lord Hokage? Besides, wasn't Kakashi once under your command as well?"

Danzo narrowed his eyes, then said, "You really are clever."

Ye Lan smiled. "When it comes to cleverness, I am no match for you, Lord Danzo. As the leader of Root..."

"Your strength is beyond question. But how did you know that the Ninjutsu I just released would suddenly kill those two? How did you know I could not control those Ninjutsu?"

Danzo's eyes narrowed. "What? Are you saying you can control those Ninjutsu?"

Ye Lan merely smiled without answering. Seeing that expression, Danzo's heart grew heavier. Then Danzo smiled and said, "Hehe, young friend Ye Lan, it seems I truly underestimated you."

To be honest, there were very few people in all of Konoha Village who could make Danzo speak this way. Yet today, Ye Lan had done exactly that. Danzo felt that if what Ye Lan said was true—if he could control those Ninjutsu—then Ye Lan was truly somewhat terrifying.

Simply releasing all those Ninjutsu in an instant already demonstrated immense power. Even Danzo might not necessarily have been able to accomplish it perfectly. Yet Ye Lan had done it. That alone gave Danzo reason to take him seriously. Moreover, Ye Lan claimed he could freely release and withdraw those Ninjutsu. How could such a thing be possible? Ninjutsu were generally formed directly by transforming the Chakra within one's body. The more powerful the Ninjutsu, the greater its scale and power upon release.

Its energy would grow stronger and stronger along with the surrounding air. Yet conversely, once such Ninjutsu took shape, they became even harder to control. Later on—or rather, once they had been released—no one could withstand them at all. Yet Ye Lan dared to say such things. Danzo could not help but take this young man before him seriously, because if Ye Lan truly could freely release and withdraw those Ninjutsu, that would be genuinely terrifying.

To freely control the release of Ninjutsu—and even retain complete control over Ninjutsu after they had been released—what kind of heaven-defying ability would that require?

Did that not prove that Ye Lan's strength surpassed even his own?