The Beast's Roar Over the Village

Shinji didn't rush.

After waiting a little longer to make sure Danzo was gone, he used the Transformation Technique to make himself taller and change into an ANBU uniform, then sprinted toward the Root Base!

The Root Base was underground, so there were no other doors or windows. Its only entrance was hidden beneath a dilapidated building.

And so,

Root ninja guarded this sole entrance around the clock.

Shinji had naturally taken that into account. Before launching his surprise attack, he had activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

When the Root ninja guarding the entrance spotted him and called out to verify his identity, Shinji immediately cast a genjutsu and took control of him.

"Take me to Danzo's vault!"

He gave the order.

But the Root ninja under his genjutsu didn't move. His expression twisted with struggle.

"Huh!?"

Shinji was taken aback.

He had never trained in genjutsu specifically, nor had anyone taught him how to use it. But with the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan, he'd been brute-forcing his way through, and it had never failed him before.

He hadn't expected it to fail here.

He immediately realized his opponent was no pushover and might even have trained to resist genjutsu.

His heart tightened. He activated his Mangekyō Sharingan again. "Take me to the vault!"

As his Dojutsu's power increased, the Root ninja finally succumbed completely to Shinji's genjutsu and walked into the Root Base like a puppet.

Dressed as an ANBU, Shinji followed behind him like a comrade.

The interior of the Root Base was far larger than Shinji had imagined.

After following a long spiral staircase, the space before him suddenly opened up.

"This..."

Even though he had prepared himself, he was still taken aback.

Before him lay a vast, bottomless pit, like a building reaching deep underground. Each level had a ring of rooms carved into the rock.

Spiral staircases and suspension bridges connected the levels.

Even looking at it from a distance made him feel oppressed and afraid.

"Keep going!"

At Shinji's urging, the Root ninja under his genjutsu started walking again.

Following close behind, Shinji quietly planted Explosive Tags at key points along the way.

The deeper they went, the fewer lights there were. Looking at the dark walkway beneath his feet, it felt as if he were truly descending into hell.

Shinji forced down his unease and warily watched his surroundings.

At last, after they had passed through a maze of spiral staircases and suspension bridges, the Root ninja under the genjutsu led Shinji to a large door.

Shinji asked, "Is this Danzo's vault?"

The Root ninja nodded.

Once he had backed away to a safe distance, Shinji ordered, "Open it!"

The Root ninja stepped forward and pushed the door open.

In the faint light inside the vault, Shinji saw rows upon rows of display racks.

But at that distance, in such dim light, even with his Mangekyō Sharingan, he couldn't make out what was on them.

After a moment's thought, Shinji asked, "Are there traps inside?"

"I don't know."

The Root ninja shook his head.

Shinji ordered, "You go in first!"

The Root ninja didn't hesitate. He stepped into the vault.

Szzzt—

In an instant, a dazzling flash of electricity lit up the vault floor, enveloping the Root ninja who had entered.

"Argh!"

A pained scream rang through the passage.

At the same time, countless warning lights embedded in the walls throughout the base flashed red, followed immediately by a piercing alarm.

Shinji's heart jumped, and he hurriedly turned around.

Whoosh.

The Root ninja who had just been electrocuted, smoke still rising from his body and barely able to stand, hurled a Kunai at him.

Shinji didn't bother fighting. He dodged the incoming Kunai and immediately fled.

With a few quick leaps, he darted out of the passage and reached the spiral staircase outside.

With a single glance, he saw several figures rushing toward him from all directions through the shrill alarm.

He looked back.

The Root ninja who had been electrocuted had also chased him out of the passage.

Shinji breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, racing up the spiral staircase, he pulled out one Kunai after another from his ninja tool pouch, each already fitted with an Explosive Tag.

He hurled them one by one toward the traps he had set on the way in.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Before long, a series of explosions echoed through the Root Base.

"Has he lost his mind?"

"Damn it, stop him!"

"Bastard!"

The Root ninja surrounding Shinji were furious.

The Root Base's structure, which extended downward, was effective at keeping intruders out, but couldn't withstand the damage caused by powerful explosions inside.

One mistake could cause the entire base to collapse inward, burying everyone at the bottom of the pit.

So when they saw Shinji using Explosive Tags to attack the base's rock walls, several Root ninja didn't even bother pursuing him. They stopped at once, formed Hand Seals, and used Earth Release to reinforce the walls.

Shinji was actually terrified himself, but he had Susanoo to protect him. Even if he really brought the Root Base down, he could still break out.

So he became even more reckless, yanking all the Explosive Tags out of his ninja tool pouch at once.

"Stop!"

The Root ninja were horrified.

If he set off that many Explosive Tags at once, the base might really collapse.

Then not only would they lose the base, but no one there would make it out alive!

So even the Root ninja still pursuing Shinji stopped in their tracks, afraid of provoking him further and bringing about mutual destruction.

Shinji also stopped preparing to set off the Explosive Tags. Instead of provoking the Root ninja, he used his Breathing Technique with all his might and raced up the spiral staircase. Under the Root ninja's furious glares, he fled toward the exit.

When he reached the surface entrance, he also slapped Explosive Tags all over the walls on either side as he dashed out.

Boom, boom!

The flash of the explosions engulfed the entrance in an instant, completely demolishing the aboveground building over the Root Base.

Still running, Shinji glanced back.

Even though he was sure no one was following him, he didn't dare let his guard down. He immediately slipped into the grass.

Only after he had escaped to a relatively safe area did he release the Transformation Technique and remove the mask from his face.

"I'll have to count on Meiqiu."

Shinji looked toward the Root Base, his expression grave.

When he had turned and fled to draw the Root ninja away, Meiqiu, who had been hiding in his shadow, had quietly slipped away and concealed himself in the shadows outside the vault.

That was why Shinji had turned and fled without hesitation, even though Danzo's vault was right within reach.

"Please let it work!"

He prayed silently.

An opportunity like tonight, with Danzo away, the Root Base lightly guarded and unprepared, would be hard to come by again anytime soon.

If he failed this time, the Root Base would be on alert, and sneaking in would be even harder.

Roar.

Just as Shinji was growing more and more anxious, a rumble suddenly came from the distance. Then a beast's roar, powerful enough to shake the soul, echoed over the village.

Shinji looked toward the sound and gaped. "N-Nine-Tails!?"

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