That sword technique, which incinerated people to nothing, stunned the Root ninja. Their bodies' lingering instincts filled them with an unfamiliar fear of that terrifying power, leaving them frozen for an instant. Under ordinary circumstances, such brief stiffness would have meant nothing; with the caliber of Root ninja, they could erase that fear again in the blink of an eye.
However, At this time, in this place, That brief moment of paralysis was already enough for Shisui, Hyuga Hiashi, and the others to do more than enough.
Even Shisui showed no mercy or hesitation now. His short sword traced streak after streak of gleaming light through the air, ruthlessly harvesting the lives of the Root ninja. Not even jonin could withstand Shisui's blade.
[Shunshin] Shisui's speed in reaping lives within a small area was perhaps not much slower than that of the late Fourth Hokage.
Together with Hyuga Hiashi and the jonin-level Hyuga expert who served as both his guard and attendant, all three keenly seized the perfect opportunity Sōken had created. In an instant, they killed more than half of the remaining five survivors.
Only two remained alive.
Unfortunately, by this point, having even lost their numerical advantage, the two were no match for Sōken, Shisui, Hyuga Hiashi, and their group. Their status as jonin could not alter their fate of defeat and death. As for the companions who had yet to make a move, they had never counted on them.
From the moment they began carrying out this mission with no chance of survival, they had never expected to live.
From beginning to end, the battle had lasted less than half a minute.
Root's three elite squads had been wiped out just like that.
The speed of it made Aburame Ryoma, who stood atop a tree gathering intelligence,