Confronting the Root Ninja

"It's already too late!"

Watching several Root Ninja hold their breath and stop breathing, Naraku let out a soft sneer.

"Damn it, when did that scent appear? It seems... it came after his sword changed form..."

The Root Ninja began checking their own conditions.

"What is this scent? Poison? No, there's nothing wrong with my body, and my Chakra flow isn't hindered, so... what the hell is this?"

They secretly examined themselves and found no abnormalities.

Naraku stood to the side, not launching an attack, just watching them with a faint, mocking smile.

"Kid, I think you're just bluffing. Whatever you've done, it won't save you. Come quietly with us!"

"Oh? If you think I'm bluffing, then so be it. Now then, who should I start with?"

Naraku faced the Root Ninja calmly. Before his Zanpakuto's initial release, he wasn't worried—he was confident enough to handle them. After the release, there was no need to even mention it; to him, these Root Ninja were nothing but lambs to the slaughter!

His gaze locked onto a Root Ninja preparing to cast a jutsu. "I'll start with you."

The targeted Root Ninja's heart jolted. His hands flew through hand signs as he struck first, unleashing a Great Fireball Technique straight at Naraku.

Naraku dodged with a Flash Step, then burst toward that Root Ninja. The others were stunned by his speed, unable to react in time, only shouting warnings.

"Watch out, dodge!"

Seeing Naraku charging with his blade, the Root Ninja knew evasion was impossible. He quickly drew a Kunai to parry the incoming strike.

As Naraku's sword closed in, the Root Ninja swung his Kunai to meet it.

"I can block it!" That was his thought in that moment.

But the next instant, he felt a dizzying spin, then saw a headless body standing in place, blood spurting from its neck.

"This body... feels so familiar..." That was his final thought.

"How? He clearly blocked it—why did this happen?" The other Root Ninja stared in horror.

From their perspective, their fallen comrade's Kunai had clearly intercepted Naraku's longsword, yet the next moment, Naraku simply brushed past him, and their teammate's head was severed.

They couldn't make sense of it at all.

"First one. Next, who's coming?" Naraku turned to face the others.

"Gulp..." Under Naraku's gaze, the remaining Root Ninja swallowed involuntarily.

"No answer? Then I'll pick again myself."

Naraku pointed his longsword at the few Root Ninja.

"Careful—he's fast. Form a circle!"

The leading Root Ninja quickly devised a countermeasure, and the remaining three huddled into a ring.

"Useless." Naraku shook his head at their response.

A circle formation could provide quick support against a speed-focused ninja, but with Sakashima Yokoso active, Naraku wasn't just fast.

He angled his sword toward the ground and charged at the encircled trio again.

As Naraku approached, the Root Ninja facing him flung several Shuriken. They expected him to dodge as before, readying follow-up attacks.

But the Shuriken passed through Naraku's body like piercing a phantom.

The next moment, the teammate behind the thrower let out a scream. Naraku had appeared before him, his longsword slashing diagonally, cleaving the man in two.

"What? What's going on? Are we under a genjutsu?"

The last two were gripped by even greater terror.

Just like before—Naraku attacked from the front, they saw and countered, yet their teammate died inexplicably.

If an invisible attack breeds fear, then an attack you can see but can't touch drives you to madness.

The remaining Root Ninja, convinced they were trapped in a genjutsu, frantically disrupted their Chakra flow, trying to break free.

But it was useless. Naraku's initial release ability didn't affect Chakra—it directly targeted the visual sensory nerves.

To nullify it, they'd have to stop using their eyes. But that would only get them killed faster.

The last two, thinking they'd escaped the genjutsu, stood back-to-back in defense.

"Oh ho, switching to defense now? Earlier you said Jonin have different levels of strength, implying you're one of the stronger ones. So what's this? Facing a weaker Jonin like me, why are you cowering and refusing to fight?"

Seeing the fear on their faces, Naraku mocked them.

"Damn it, Hyuga Naraku, if you kill us, aren't you afraid Lord Danzō will come after you?"

Realizing they were outmatched, the Root Ninja squad leader invoked Shimura Danzō's name, hoping to intimidate Naraku.

"Tch, don't scare me with Shimura Danzō. That old schemer—if he stays hidden in his corner, we can coexist peacefully. But if he dares to provoke me, we'll see if my blade is sharper or his neck is tougher."

Naraku dismissed the mention of Danzō's name with contempt.

Yeah right, I'm overflowing with confidence now. One Shimura Danzō? No way I'm scared of him!

"Alright, you two better get moving. Your comrades are waiting for you on the road to the underworld."

"Damn it, we have to escape—Hyuga Naraku's abilities are too bizarre. We must report this to Lord Danzo. Since we can't subdue him, we need to kill him as soon as possible, or he'll surely become a major threat to Lord Danzo in the future!" The Root Ninja Captain made his decision.

"Earth Release—Swamp of the Underworld Jutsu."

Another Root Ninja performed the technique, turning the ground around them into a swamp, so Naraku couldn't launch close-range attacks against them.

"Oh, you think this can stop me? How naive."

The next moment, Naraku used Flash Step and stood in midair.

"What? How is that possible? How can you stand in midair with no support? What kind of jutsu is this?"

Clearly, the sight of Naraku standing in thin air deeply shook their worldview. After all, in the ninja world, aside from the Third Tsuchikage of the Land of Earth, whose Dust Release was known to allow flight without external aid, no other jutsu could let someone stand in midair.