Slaying Danzo

Time returns to a few minutes ago.

Minato tracked the spores on the trio, arriving at the eastern forest after a few blinks.

He did not follow them immediately, however. Only after their positions ceased to change did he fire a laser, blasting open the underground entrance leading to the Root base.

BOOM!

The violent sound of the explosion echoed through the night sky.

Minato moved like a streak of light, passing through the long corridor until he reached a massive atrium.

Scanning the surrounding environment, he found it to be essentially identical to the Root base from the anime.

"Enemy attack!"

Swish, swish, swish—

Over a dozen figures emerged silently from the darkness. Like agile cats, they surrounded Minato with predatory gazes, their vigilance not lessened in the slightest by his young age.

Anyone capable of breaking into the Root base was no simple character.

"Intruder, eliminate!"

The Anbu leader's voice was cold and hard, like solid ice.

"Wait."

From the darkness at the end of the corridor, Danzo approached the group with a measured gait.

His gaze fell upon Minato, a flash of complex emotion crossing his eyes.

Awe, envy, appreciation, jealousy...

After several seconds of silence, Danzo spoke indifferently: "It seems you left a contingency on Shangui and the others."

Minato's expression was calm: "Are you the mastermind behind this?"

"Heh..."

Danzo did not answer, merely raising his hand slowly to signal the surrounding ninjas to step back.

He stared at Minato, a meaningful smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, his voice carrying a subtle, seductive tone.

"To dare to break into Root alone at such an age—reckless, yes, but I must say, your courage is truly admirable."

"Why target Kushina?"

Minato ignored the remark, asking coolly.

"Kushina Uzumaki... though you may not believe it, I am truly doing this to help you."

Danzo asked softly: "Do you know anything about that girl? Her origins, her mission, the purpose behind her appearing by your side..."

"This world contains creatures known as Tailed Beasts, beings with the power to move mountains and fill seas. In the past, the First Hokage captured all nine and distributed them among the five great ninja villages. Since then, the power of the Tailed Beasts has become the greatest strength of each village. The Tailed Beast of our Konoha is the Nine-Tails, known as the strongest of them all."

"But the power of the Tailed Beast is too immense and difficult to control. Thus, the wife of the First Hokage, Mito Uzumaki, used herself as a vessel to seal the Nine-Tails within her own body. Since then, other nations have followed suit. These existences who seal Tailed Beasts within them are known as Jinchuriki..."

"I believe you understand now. That is correct... Kushina Uzumaki is the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"

As Danzo spoke, he could not help but sigh: "Wood Release possesses the power to suppress Tailed Beasts; that is the reason the Third arranged for her to be by your side."

"The Third hopes to bind Kushina to you, using your power to restrain the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, while simultaneously using the Nine-Tails to restrain you."

"I imagine no one wishes for their life to be controlled by others. You surely do not wish to have your life bound to a monster that people fear."

"I have always felt that a genius like you should not be buried by the Third. He fears your power and attempts to use emotions to bind you and manipulate your life."

Danzo shook his head with a look of regret, then looked at Minato earnestly.

"Join Root, and I will give you a true stage! Here, you can display your talents to your heart's content, unconstrained by anything, and become an existence comparable to the First Hokage!"

"You should be able to see that my goal is not you, but merely to eradicate the shackles the Third uses to bind you."

"Nonō must be one of your people, right?"

Having confirmed his suspicions through Danzo, Minato said flatly: "Your methods don't seem any different from the Third's?"

Danzo shook his head: "Those were merely necessary measures under the Third's arbitrary policies."

"Using threats?"

"As long as it is for the sake of the village, any method is worth it. Root is that kind of place. This world is not black and white; someone must handle these things that cannot see the light of day."

Danzo did not deny it; such easily debunked lies were meaningless.

Moreover, the moment the other party deduced Nonō's identity, he had already decided to abandon her.

"I am being very sincere with you..."

Danzo said with a genuine tone: "Of course, you still have room to choose. Wood Release is extremely important to Konoha. Even if you do not agree, I will only seal your memories of tonight."

"What are you talking about?"

Minato laughed in spite of himself. He had come here today specifically to nail down the other party's Cloud Village affiliation.

"As a member of Konoha, how could I collude with someone from the Cloud Village? Damned Cloud Village, daring to disguise themselves as Konoha Anbu! And developing so many people in secret!"

"It seems we cannot reach an agreement... truly a pity. Even with two bloodline limits, you are only five years old."

Danzo sighed with regret and waved his hand: "Go, but do not take his life."

As the words fell, the surrounding ninjas suddenly rushed toward Minato with incredible speed.

However, Minato's movements were even faster!

Two lasers swept through the crowd in an instant, followed by a thunderous explosion that left more than half of the Root ninjas dead or wounded in the blink of an eye!

Kekkei Genkai...

What an enviable power!

Seeing this scene, a trace of obsession flashed in Danzo's eyes.

But before the look of obsession could fade from his eyes, a foot appeared right in front of him.

Bang!

Minato delivered a powerful kick, sending Danzo flying backward like a cannonball, slamming him hard into the wall.

"Oh no, protect Lord Danzo!" a ninja shouted.

"Protect?"

Minato chuckled softly, his figure suddenly appearing behind that ninja: "Have you... ever been kicked at the speed of light?"

Bang!

With another powerful kick, he snapped the man's cervical spine while raising his hand to fire a follow-up laser toward Danzo.

"This is bad, this guy is too fast!"

Whoosh—

Danzo crawled out of the crater in the wall, blood streaming down his face, and narrowly dodged the explosion caused by the laser, glaring viciously in Minato's direction.

"No need to hold back, kill him!"

As he spoke, he raised his hands to weave signs, but the next instant, Minato's foot appeared in front of him once again.

That terrifying speed was as if he had teleported out of thin air!

It was so fast that Danzo couldn't even blink before the opponent kicked him in the nose again!

"How can weaving signs be faster than no signs at all?"

Minato's figure flickered constantly, his flashing short blade reaping the lives of the Root ninjas one after another.

Suddenly, he paused as a ninja with a pineapple hairstyle formed the Hare seal, using his shadow extending along the ground to pin Minato in place.

"I've got him!"

"Well done, Shika!"

Danzo's voice rose; having taken two kicks to the face from Minato, he felt as if his head was about to explode.

What followed was a heart full of terror!

He had overestimated Minato's strength as much as possible, but he hadn't expected the boy to possess such terrifying speed!

Unless one could predict it in advance, that kind of speed was simply impossible for a human to react to!

This brat, he had been hiding his true strength all along!

At this age... how could he have restrained himself?

Fortunately, it was all over now...

No matter how fast the speed, it was meaningless if one couldn't move!

"Damn Cloud Village, they even stole the secret techniques of the Nara clan!"

Minato looked at the ninja with a strange expression, then a dazzling light suddenly bloomed beneath his feet...

Under the radiance of the light, the shadow instantly dissipated.

Seeing this, Danzo turned and ran without hesitation!

Minato smiled gently and appeared in front of Danzo once again, though he did not launch an attack.

Danzo stopped abruptly and hurriedly raised his hands: "I'm sorry, I was wrong! Can we reconcile?"

Minato was stunned by the words and replied instinctively: "At this very moment? Are you joking?"

Hearing this, Danzo suddenly drew a kunai and stabbed at Minato.

At the same time, Tsunade and her group finally arrived at the battlefield.

"No! Danzo! Stop!"

Seeing this scene, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widened as he roared, and Tsunade's heart tightened.

Pfft!

The next instant, Danzo's head soared into the sky! His eyes still held a trace of disbelief.