Deep Forest Emergence
Danzo 'Danzo pupils contracted to their limit as he watched the massive, dark blue wheel hurtling towards him at a speed capable of tearing through the air!
The Mangekyo pattern on the edge of the giant ship trailed dark blue arcs of light as it spun at high speed. Even before the ship arrived, the terrifying air pressure had already rushed towards him!
"At that speed, with that coverage area... there's no way to avoid it!"
A heavy look flashed Danzo's eyes, and he unhesitatingly abandoned any thought of trying to dodge.
A near-mad determination flashed in his eyes as he mobilized all the Chakra within his body!
The veins that were already bulging on Danzo twisted to an almost ferocious degree at this moment, writhing wildly under his skin.
Excruciating pain exploded from every bone and every meridian simultaneously, as if to tear him to pieces from the inside.
But Danzo's hand Hand Seals were not slower at all; in fact, they were faster than ever before!
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
With a hoarse growl from Danzo, the entire underground base trembled violently.
Countless thick tree trunks simultaneously and wildly surged forth from the stone walls, the ground, and even the ceiling!
That's the legendary Wood Release technique used by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, to quell the chaos of the world!
Danzo unleashed his full power at the cost of completely abandoning the suppression of Hashirama Cells his body!
Thick tree trunks, as if alive, burst forth from every crevice of the soil. The thinnest of them were as thick as a person could hug, while the thickest ones directly crushed the surrounding walls into pieces!
Countless branches shot out simultaneously from the trunks of these giant trees, wrapping around the rapidly spinning dark blue blade wheel at incredible speed!
At the same time, the thickest tree trunk suddenly rose from the ground and steadily supported Danzo, who was falling rapidly into the air.
Danzo knelt atop the towering tree, one hand pressed firmly against it, his chest heaving violently.
His face, now covered in bulging veins, was completely devoid of color.
Although the forced execution of the Deep Forest Emergence managed to barely block the attack, his internal condition had already reached a point of no return.
Forcibly activating this level of Wood Release had already depleted almost all of his remaining Chakra.
The Hashirama Cells that he had given up suppressing seized this opportunity to frantically retaliate against his body at an unprecedented speed!
Originally, it was expected that it could barely hold on for nearly an hour, but now it probably won't even last ten minutes.
"We can't delay any longer... We must finish this quickly!"
Danzo made his final decision in his heart.
He shakily raised his numb hand and slowly pressed it against his abdomen.
That was his last trump card!
However, just as Danzo was preparing to release the final technique sealed within him,
The Susanoo Blade Wheel, which had been bound tightly by the Deep Forest Emergence and seemed completely immobile... moved!
Kowtowing, residing within Susanoo, calmly gazed at the dark blue giant wheel enveloped by countless colossal trees, a playful smile slowly curving his lips.
He looked at Danzo's deathly pale face, which had changed drastically in just a few breaths, and softly uttered a single word:
"Change."
As the sound of knocking faded, the inner surface of the Susanoo Blade, covered with Mangekyo patterns, began to slowly rotate on its own.
The sound of the rotation was not loud, just a faint "click" like a mechanism being triggered.
But the instant after that soft sound ended, a dazzling blue light suddenly appeared on the outer, arc-shaped blade!
The giant trees that had been firmly binding it were all snapped in two the instant they came into contact with the blue light!
The blade wheel broke free from the giant tree's entanglement, slashing fiercely towards Danzo with even greater speed and momentum than before!
Danzo's already pale face completely lost its last trace of color at this moment!
Almost instinctively, he gave the order to the Root ninjas still standing on the battlefield:
"Stop this attack! Buy me some time!"
Upon hearing this order, which was tantamount to suicide, not a single Root ninja showed even a moment's hesitation.
They ignored Orochimaru, who was still standing calmly in the same spot, and all rushed towards Danzo at top speed!
Kou coldly watched the Root ninjas Danzo towards Danzo, and calmly gave Orochimaru his order:
"Kill them."
Upon receiving the order to knock, a cold light suddenly flashed in Orochimaru's previously empty golden snake eyes.
Several venomous snakes shot out from his sleeves, biting through the throats of the two Root ninjas at the very back.
At almost the same time, he silently appeared behind the three Root ninjas and delivered a precise chop to their necks.
These elite members of Root, who once struck fear into the hearts of their enemies on the battlefield, were slaughtered in an instant before Orochimaru could even put up a fight.
The difference in strength between Kage Level ninja and Jonin was laid bare at this moment!
However, a small number of Root ninjas, relying on their battlefield instincts honed over years of life-or-death experiences, and with the brief window of opportunity bought by their comrades with their lives, successfully bypassed Orochimaru's ambush and arrived in front of Danzo.
They completed the Hand Seals while running:
"Earth Release -- Earth Condensation Wall!"
As their shouts subsided, several thick earthen walls suddenly rose up at the same moment, erecting a seemingly sturdy barrier between Danzo and the approaching dark blue giant wheel.
However, the earthen wall that contained all their Chakra couldn't even withstand the Susanoo for a moment.
The giant wheel didn't even slow down before smoothly cutting through the earthen wall, severing the Root ninjas who were still in hand Hand Seals!
There were no screams, no struggles. The moment their bodies touched the blades, they were torn to pieces by that terrifying force, scattered in the pool of blood in the dueling arena along with the ruins of the collapsed earthen walls.
At this point, all the Root ninjas present were dead!
Danzo watched this scene with a calm expression.
Those subordinates who followed him for most of their lives, those elite members of the Root who faithfully carried out his every command until the very last moment,
Their bodies lay scattered in the ruins at his feet, blending into the remains of the discarded children and the blood-soaked ground.
But Danzo did not look down at them.
He used the few seconds that the Root ninjas had bought for him with their lives to overdraw all the remaining Chakra in his body and unleashed the Deep Forest Emergence for the second time!
Countless giant trees surged forth from the ground and walls once more, even more densely than before, and coiled around the unstoppable blade wheel!
The giant tree coiled around the blade wheel with incredible speed, almost instantly engulfing it once again amidst the layers of tree trunks!
Danzo, struggling to maintain his collapsing body, calmly calculated in his mind.
If he could stop this attack even for just a few seconds, he could use that time to close the distance with Kou.
That brat would never have expected that he would dare to charge towards Susanoo at this moment!
Once you get close enough, the Reverse Four Symbols Seal can capture Susanoo, along with the little devil inside!
However, what happened next shattered all of Danzo's calculations.
The blade wheel that was just moments ago barely Deep Forest Emergence could not even withstand a moment's resistance!
The rapidly spinning bladed wheel sliced the first giant log in two smoothly the instant it touched it!
Then came the second one, the third one, the tenth one...
Those tree trunks, thick enough to support the entire underground base, were as fragile as paper in front of the wheel blades.
The rotation speed of the blade did not slow down even slightly due to the cutting.
The way he was temporarily imprisoned by the Deep Forest Emergence just now seemed to be nothing more than a carefully designed illusion from beginning to end!
"How... how is this possible?!"
Danzo in shock at the dark blue wheel blade rapidly approaching him, and almost lost control as he roared.
This is the First Hokage's Wood Release technique, a legendary power capable of suppressing Tailed Beast!!
Even though his own Deep Forest Emergence was vastly different from the Lord First's, stopping that blade wheel shouldn't be a problem for a short time!
What just happened is enough to explain everything!
"Where exactly did things go wrong? What... what's going on?!"
Danzo stared grimly at the blue blade wheel that suddenly attacked him, muttering to himself.
But he clearly had no time to think; the giant blue ship was already upon him!
A resolute glint flashed in Danzo's eyes.
He no longer cared how long this body could last, or even whether his will could continue to control this body and completely release the Hashirama Cells within him!
The entire pale arm and half of the body instantly transformed into a large, inhuman forest, fiercely attacking the blade wheel!
However... it didn't work!
His all-out Deep Forest Emergence that had just descended before, in the face of that blade wheel.
The giant tree was easily severed, and his ever-expanding shoulder was completely sliced off the moment the blade swept past!
Danzo Danzo's wide-eyed, horrified gaze, the dark blue blade slashed across his waist!
A muffled thud suddenly echoed within the base!
Danzo's lower body was shredded into mincemeat the instant the blade wheel swept past!
His upper body was thrown high into the air by the enormous impact, tumbling several times before crashing heavily to the edge of the dueling arena, onto the blood-soaked ground.
The massive, dark blue blade wheel, after completing its strike, traced an elegant arc in the air and returned steadily to Susanoo's hand.
Kou didn't look at Danzo who had fallen to the ground; instead, he calmly calculated in his mind the total amount of eye power consumed in the battle just now.
After confirming that his Mangekyō Sharingan vision was indeed unaffected, he finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
As the Mangekyou Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes receded into deep black pupils, the Susanoo surrounding him also transformed into countless tiny blue light spots, silently dissipating into the air.
After dispelling Susanoo, Koko turned his gaze downwards to Danzo, who was now only his upper Danzo.
The next instant, Koko appeared in front of Danzo's Danzo upper body, coldly looking down at the old man who was barely clinging to life but whose eyes were still open.