Uchiha Ling was incredibly fast. Nourished by the vast chakra granted by the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, he was like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night. In just one night and half a day, Konoha's familiar gates were already in sight.
Uchiha Ling didn't bother with the usual announcement. As he neared the barrier, he shot upward, transforming into a streak of light that flew straight over the village. Like a meteor, he plunged precisely toward the shadowy area near the Shimura Clan compound, shrouded in seals—the Root Base!
"BOOM!!!"
"Shimura Danzō! Get out here and die!"
Uchiha Ling's voice wasn't particularly loud, yet it seemed to possess a strange power that carried it far. Cold and brimming with bloodlust, it rang through the entire Root Base and even traveled through the cracks in the ground to reach the air above Konoha.
The earth-shaking crash shattered the tranquility of Konoha's afternoon.
Like a divine weapon descending from the heavens, Uchiha Ling smashed through the Root Base's upper-level camouflage structure and landed in the cold, damp underground space. Dust billowed into the air.
Deep within the base, in a sealed chamber covered in Sealing Jutsu formulae, Shimura Danzō's one visible eye snapped open. Fury and a trace of disbelief filled it.
"How could he be back so soon?! Could the 'Owl' squad have..." Shimura Danzō had a bad feeling.
But there was no time to think it through. A chakra as terrifying as some primordial beast was spreading rapidly through the base. Wherever it went, the Root's elite, whom he had painstakingly cultivated, crumpled and fell like paper dolls.
"Stop him! At any cost!"
Danzō growled into the air. His figure instantly melted into the shadows and fled deeper into the base's winding corridors. He needed time—to activate certain contingencies,