Susanoo! Apprehension!

Danzo caught the scroll Hiruzen tossed over, and his face immediately darkened after reading it.

Damn it, that idiot Ryoma had never told him that Root's operation this time had been passed on to the Ninja Cat Clan by Uchiha Chikura!

He had actually ignored such vital intelligence! He had dared conceal it from him! He deserved to die!

"Senya, Root's attack on the Uchiha clan's ninja this time was likely carried out by Aburame Ryoma on his own initiative."

"I'll send Ryoma to prison as soon as I return and have Anbu ninja interrogate him for you."

"My Root will definitely give the Uchiha clan an explanation."

"I just wonder what should be done about you, Fugaku, and Itachi attacking my Root Base."

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Danzo decisively sold out his ally to save himself. He directly betrayed Aburame Ryoma, pinned all the blame on him, and washed his own hands, along with Root's, completely clean.

With that move, he could even conveniently slap them with the charge of attacking the Root Base!

After hearing Danzo speak beside him, Hiruzen immediately understood what Danzo was thinking and chose to abet his wrongdoing as well.

"Senya, Danzo is right. Aburame Ryoma betrayed the village and attacked his comrades. Once he is imprisoned, Konoha will naturally give your Uchiha clan justice."

"However, your attack on Root is also a fact. Considering that Danzo mismanaged Root first, we can appropriately reduce the Uchiha clan's punishment."

Danzo immediately panicked when he heard that!

You thick-browed bastard, you were selling out an ally to save yourself too?!

"Senya, as long as you willingly accept my planting a Cursed Seal on you, I'll let this matter slide."

Fuck! Danzo could not hold it together any longer after hearing that. Damn it, if Senya was controlled by him, how was his dream of putting Susanoo around the Great Buddha supposed to come true?!

Standing beside Senya, Fugaku's face instantly turned grave after hearing Hiruzen's terms. He looked toward Senya at his side.

"HAHAHAHA!"

Senya threw back his head and burst into wild laughter. That smile cemented the transformation of the original Four Mad Laughers of Uchiha into the Five Mad Laughers of Uchiha.

The laughter gradually subsided.

Senya glared furiously at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, out of respect for your position as Hokage, I've given you face and called you Hokage."

"Do you really think you're all that?"

His Mangekyō Sharingan spun rapidly, and his chakra grew increasingly cold and sinister.

A pitch-black skeletal frame began to form, enveloping Fugaku and Senya within.

The skeleton continued growing and spreading upward until its upper body was fully formed.

A skeletal giant dozens of meters tall stood before Danzo and Hiruzen. Pale golden pupils stared from its eye sockets, as though they contained boundless rage.

As his ocular power poured forth, Senya felt as if needles were stabbing through his body. Fortunately, he had replicated Hashirama Cells from Obito, and the pain was gradually easing. He did not even shed bloody tears.

"Sarutobi, you'd better think this through! The Uchiha clan and the Senju clan are the two great clans that founded Konoha. We are not something a mere Hokage can touch whenever he wishes!"

"Since the Uchiha Police Force was established, it has possessed law enforcement authority! We have the right to directly apprehend anyone who resists law enforcement!"

"As a Root member, Itachi Uchiha reported under his real name that suspicious individuals had entered Root!"

"Root Base ninja refused to cooperate with the personal enforcement of the Police Force's director and deputy director! Killing them on the spot without exception—what part of that violates the rules?!"

The pressure of Susanoo erupted even further. Senya continued increasing his ocular power output as veins and muscle striations began to appear across the skeleton.

In mere moments, the skeletal giant's upper body transformed into something else. A completely black upper body of a giant stood upon the ground, holding a nearly ten-meter-long ninja blade in its right hand.

Looking at the colossal thing before him, Hiruzen began to tremble inside.

He had never expected Senya to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan at only sixteen, much less already master Susanoo!

He and Danzo should be able to join forces and withstand the half-bodied giant Senya had displayed, but what if he could use an even stronger Susanoo?!

And Fugaku was standing beside him.

Still, there were so many Root operatives and Hokage-direct Anbu surrounding them. It was not as though they had no chance!

Hiruzen had just made up his mind and raised his hand to issue an order.

Then he saw the lower body of Senya's half-bodied giant suddenly materialize from the waist down.

Senya continued pouring out more ocular power!

The cells in his body began to cry out in agony as his chakra was relentlessly squeezed dry! Then, a Susanoo giant over thirty meters tall stood upon the ground.

Even the powerful restorative ability of Hashirama Cells could not alleviate the side effects brought by the third stage of Susanoo.

Yet strangely, bloody tears still did not appear. Instead, his chakra was being continuously drained by Susanoo.

This gave Senya his answer. He finally understood why Madara could activate Susanoo without eyes: Susanoo consumed chakra the most, while the Mangekyō's unique ocular techniques were what primarily consumed ocular power!

Enduring the agonizing pain in his body, Senya looked arrogantly at Danzo and Hiruzen.

Surging chakra continued to pour forth, causing his long hair to billow behind him!

"What? Does our Lord Hokage still want to forcibly take down me, the deputy director of the Police Force, and the director of the Police Force?"

"I know Root and the Hokage-direct Anbu have already laid an ambush all around us."

"I just wonder whether our Lord Hokage has the courage to try!"

With that, Senya controlled the Susanoo giant and swung the Spirit Blade in its right hand toward the Root ninja lurking to one side.

The massive blade came straight at them, leaving them nowhere to hide!

"Quick, use ninjutsu to defend!"

"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

"Earth Style: Earth Land Return!"

More than a dozen Earth Style defensive techniques were like toys before the enormous blade and were utterly destroyed.

More than a dozen Root ninja died on the spot.

Danzo's entire body shook with rage. He had lost more than a dozen subordinates again! These were not trash like Genin and Chunin! They were all Jonin-level Root members! Danzo's heart was bleeding.

Hiruzen silently lowered the arm he had just raised. His eyes remained fixed on Senya, filled with apprehension, as fear began spreading through his heart.

"Enough! Uchiha Senya! What exactly do you want?!"

Gathering his courage, Hiruzen roared directly at Senya.

Senya merely controlled Susanoo, flicking its blade and shaking the blood from it.

"Sarutobi, I don't want anything."

"I merely want you to understand that the Police Force's law enforcement authority is independent of your Hokage administration!"

"Those your Anbu dare not kill, my Police Force dares to kill! Execute first, report afterward—the police authority grants us that privilege!"

"Lord Hokage, do you understand? Just now, Root ninja tried to attack me, the deputy director of the Police Force, so I executed them on the spot. Do you have any objections, Lord Hokage?"

Hiruzen clenched his trembling fists tightly. Whether it was from apprehension and fear, fury at the Hokage's status being looked down upon and scorned, or both, even he did not know.

"Fine. Then this matter ends here. We called you two here to talk in the middle of the night and disturbed your rest. We'll take our leave first."

Hiruzen turned and ran without hesitation. Danzo followed right behind him when he saw this.

The Hokage-direct Anbu, who had yet to react, soon came to their senses and hurriedly followed Hiruzen as they left.

As for Root, everyone who had come was dead. The beasts of the Forest of Death would dispose of their corpses.