Danzo: This Binding Curse Can't Stay

The Root ninja saw this and felt a jolt of alarm. A bad feeling welled up inside him.

"Retreat!"

He hurriedly shouted a warning to his companions.

"Isn't it a little too late for that?"

Uchiha Chonhua taunted them. The next moment, light burst from his body, filling the area around him.

Clone Great Explosion.

Even the Three-Tomoe Sharingan couldn't see through it without careful observation, and it could trigger an explosion without Hand Seals.

This was a Rank A jutsu that belonged to Uchiha Itachi. Now, it belonged to Uchiha Chonhua.

It was truly an essential jutsu for ambushes!

Boom!

A tremendous explosion rang out, blasting the Root ninja off their feet and sending them flying.

The deafening blast brought Passerby Face, who had been caught in a genjutsu, and the Root ninja carrying the Anbu equipment back to their senses. Confusion filled their faces as they tried to make sense of the situation.

When they saw the billowing smoke and their companions lying all around them, covered in blood and unconscious or worse, their faces changed. They hurried to check on their companions.

Thud!

The Root ninja stopped in his tracks and stared at Passerby Face in shock.

As if something had struck him, Passerby Face hadn't even had time to react before a powerful pulling force surged in front of him, churning his insides.

"Ugh!"

Unable to withstand it, Passerby Face spat out a mouthful of blood. His body staggered unsteadily, then spun through the air under the force's pull and crashed beneath a large tree. His head lolled to one side, and he passed out.

"W-what... what on earth happened?!"

The Root ninja swallowed hard, breaking into a cold sweat. He quickly created two Shadow Clones, then drew his short sword and warily scanned his surroundings.

He had no idea what had happened. His companions were lying on the ground, unconscious or worse. When he and Passerby Face had gone to investigate, they had suddenly been struck and sent spinning through the air...

It had to be Uchiha Chonhua's doing, but he had no idea how he'd pulled it off.

Only now did he finally realize that they didn't know enough about Uchiha Chonhua.

That deafening blast and the invisible attack weren't mentioned in the intelligence on him.

Uchiha Chonhua had been hiding a lot!

Ninja concealing their own information was standard practice, but in the eyes of Shimura Danzō's subordinates, Uchiha Chonhua's many secrets proved that he had ulterior motives and harbored great ambitions to act against Konoha!

As for the last Root ninja, Uchiha Chonhua didn't hide. He strode boldly out of the forest.

The Root ninja's Shadow Clones charged forward, trying to probe the enemy's hidden capabilities.

Uchiha Chonhua walked leisurely, calm and unhurried, one step at a time toward the Root ninja. He paid no heed to the two Shadow Clones, who were brimming with killing intent.

"You're the one here with the weakest resistance to genjutsu."

Uchiha Chonhua's lips curled into a smile as he tossed off the words. The next moment, the Root ninja stiffened and froze in place, staring blankly ahead.

Boom! Boom!

The two Shadow Clones burst into clouds of smoke.

Uchiha Chonhua walked up to the Root ninja and knocked him unconscious with a powerful knife-hand strike.

He dusted off his hands, brought them together, and created five Shadow Clones, sending them off to scout the surroundings.

Then he raised his right hand to shield his eyes. A flash of red flickered and vanished.

"Looks like that's everyone."

Uchiha Chonhua scanned the area with his Sharingan. After waiting a moment, he received word from his Shadow Clones that they hadn't found anything unusual.

Uchiha Chonhua counted them. There were six Root ninja in all, split into two squads of three. Shimura Danzō had sent two squads to deal with him.

Did that mean Danzō took him seriously, or not?

The six Root ninja hadn't put any pressure on Uchiha Chonhua. He'd dealt with them easily.

Uchiha Chonhua rubbed his chin. Perhaps he'd simply been too underhanded.

One Clone Great Explosion had taken out four Root ninja. He'd used more than half his chakra on it.

The sudden attack that had hit Passerby Face was another dirty trick: an invisible Lightning Style: Rasengan that left no trace and made no sound.

As for the last Root ninja... his resistance to genjutsu had been too weak. Chonhua's abilities came from a genjutsu master, after all. What could he say? He'd taken him out in an instant.

Uchiha Chonhua examined the six of them. Two were badly injured, barely clinging to life.

Out of kindness, Uchiha Chonhua treated them. Emerald-green chakra surged, pulling them back from the brink of death.

He couldn't let them die here. Otherwise, Shimura Danzō would definitely make trouble.

There had been a clash and a fight, but no one had died. That left room to maneuver and spared Sarutobi Hiruzen from a difficult situation.

If Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't in a difficult position, Chonhua would be safe and sound.

He wasn't the nobody he'd once been. He'd gathered a group around him. They didn't all trust him completely, but they could at least pass along a message.

He wasn't trying to make Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō fall out. That wasn't realistic. But he could show Shimura Danzō his strength and influence as a warning.

As for deepening his conflict with Shimura Danzō? Their conflict was already deep. How could it get any deeper?

There was plenty of time. He'd get Shimura Danzō one day!

Knock, knock.

The chunin Ono was frowning in thought when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in," he called.

Uchiha Chonhua walked in with a smile.

Ono was taken aback, then hurried over in delight. "Chonhua, you're safe!"

"After we got Mikoto's message, we went looking for you. But when we reached the place mentioned in the note, no one was there."

They'd had Hizashi Hyuga use his Byakugan to track Chonhua, but the results had been disappointing. They couldn't find any trace of him.

Uchiha Chonhua and Passerby Face had moved far from the coastal city, beyond the Byakugan's range.

After searching everywhere to no avail, they'd had no choice but to come back and wait.

They believed that someone as capable as Chonhua would be fine, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

Back at the inn, everyone had been distracted and frowning with worry.

Now that Uchiha Chonhua had appeared before them safe and sound, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. Their worries faded, and smiles returned to their faces.

Ono patted Uchiha Chonhua on the shoulder. "You should've come back and talked it over with us first. In a situation like this, we should've gone together. It was too dangerous for you to go alone."

Uchiha Mikoto looked downcast, still shaken. "I shouldn't have let you go by yourself."

She'd rushed back to deliver the message, then realized belatedly that she'd sent Uchiha Chonhua to face everything alone.

It had terrified her. How had she overlooked the danger? Was it because she'd trusted too much that nothing would happen to Chonhua?

They'd nearly been caught off guard in the Land of Whirlpools before...

Uchiha Chonhua shook his head with a smile. "All right, everyone. I'm standing here in one piece, aren't I? I didn't think things through this time. I forgot about teamwork."

"All right, enough about me. Come with me."

Uchiha Chonhua led them to the inn's lobby.

Ono and the others followed him in confusion. The moment they entered the lobby, Ono's expression changed.

His mouth fell slightly open, and he stammered, "Th-these people..."

He took a close look at the designs and patterns on their masks.

Ono's eye twitched.

Root... Root ninja?!

Chapter 43: Danzo: This Binding Curse Can't Stay

Ono naturally knew the Root ninja.

He'd even worked with them before. Their ruthless, cold-blooded nature had left a deep impression on him.

Ono abruptly turned to Uchiha Chonhua, staring at him in shock.

"...Are these... the people you wanted to meet?"

Uchiha Chonhua nodded. Ono covered his face with one hand, feeling a headache coming on.

Why did it have to be Root ninja? If only they'd been Anbu ninja.

The last people he wanted to deal with were Root ninja. Every one of them was like a machine: rigid, inflexible, and devoid of emotion.

Talking to Root was like talking to a stone in a latrine—stubborn and full of shit.

As he drew closer, Ono took a closer look and suddenly realized something was wrong.

Why weren't the Root ninja moving?

With his years of experience, Ono only needed a moment to figure it out. They'd fallen under a genjutsu.

He breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't have to deal with those latrine stones.

Then Ono felt a little surprised. Had Uchiha Chonhua done this?

These Root ninja were all elites, and they were no pushovers. How had Chonhua managed it?

Uchiha Chonhua replied, "I did."

"Let's get moving, sir. We should return to Konoha as soon as possible."

Ono understood the situation without needing Uchiha Chonhua to explain.

He asked in detail what had happened after Uchiha Chonhua met the Root ninja. As he listened, his brow furrowed.

He looked at the mission scroll issued by Lord Hokage and immediately concluded that it wasn't Lord Hokage's doing.

Drafting Uchiha Chonhua directly into the Anbu, then sending him to the northern battlefield?

No. That wasn't how Lord Hokage would handle it.

If Lord Hokage had done it, he would have gathered the people being drafted and given a speech, then offered each of them warm words of encouragement.

When Ono had once been forcibly drafted, Lord Hokage had done just that. His speech had left Ono fired up, eager to contribute to Konoha as soon as possible!

Even when Lord Hokage sent him a mission scroll while he was outside the village, the wording had been full of warmth, enough to warm his heart just by reading it.

Lord Hokage is watching over me!

But the mission scroll in front of him was brief and to the point.

That was how a mission scroll was supposed to be written... but Ono wasn't used to it.

Where was the little Hokage skit that came after the mission details? Where were the heartwarming words?

"This kind of approach..." Ono gripped the scroll and thought for a moment. "It's cold and impersonal."

There was no way this mission scroll had come from Sarutobi Hiruzen.

It didn't have the slightest touch of warmth.

In Ono's eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen was full of human warmth, and even his written orders were gentle and caring.

Besides, having Root ninja draft Uchiha Chonhua, a Genin...

That went against Lord Hokage's longstanding approach. Ono was sure of it.

There had to be something wrong with this mission scroll.

"Inform the members of the Uzumaki Clan. We're heading back to Konoha at once!"

He needed to report this to Lord Hokage!