An Easy Battle

Looking at Shisui Uchiha, who was surrounded at the edge of the cliff with blood continuously streaming from his tightly shut right eye, Shimura Danzō stood at the forefront and spoke, "Shisui Uchiha, give up your resistance. Give me your left eye and let me place a curse upon you, and I can spare your life, allowing you to continue living as a ninja of Root."

When Shimura Danzō trained the members of Root, he demanded they have no names, no emotions, no past, and no future, with their hearts containing only their missions.

To prevent the leakage of information, Shimura Danzō placed a cursed seal on every member of Root; the moment any member attempted to speak of matters concerning Shimura Danzō, they would become paralyzed, unable to speak or move.

Perhaps due to the shift in mindset between life and death, Shisui Uchiha—a rare, honest soul within the Uchiha Clan who yearned for peace—was awakened. He did not speak, but instead rapidly activated his Sharingan. The three tomoe of his Sharingan connected and rotated, transforming into a shape resembling a Fuma Shuriken.

Seeing this, Shimura Danzō stopped wasting words. As long as he could obtain the eyes, he did not care if the man remained alive. He waved his hand, signaling the Root ninjas to swarm Shisui Uchiha.

Suddenly, two figures appeared between Shisui Uchiha and the Root ninjas; they were none other than Jiraiya and Naruto Uzumaki, transformed into Kakuzu and Hidan.

Watching the two who had suddenly intruded upon the scene, both sides ceased their movements.

At this moment, Shimura Danzō spoke in a stern voice, "Such audacity! Rogue ninjas from Takigakure and Yugakure, what are you doing in Konoha!"

Upon hearing this, Naruto Uzumaki let out a cackling laugh and replied, "Our Akatsuki organization recruits rogue ninjas from every village. We heard that the Body Flicker Technique of Konoha's Shisui Uchiha is unrivaled, so we came to Konoha to see for ourselves. As for now, well, naturally, we are here to save him."

"Mere rogue ninjas, daring to speak so boastfully! Attack!!" Shimura Danzō roared.

Following his command, the Root ninjas began to charge toward Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraiya.

Signaling Jiraiya to stand down, Naruto Uzumaki walked toward the incoming ninjas. He did not intend to use Spirit Energy or martial arts; he wanted to test the limits of his physical body and see what level his strength had reached.

After Naruto Uzumaki walked past, Jiraiya retreated to the side of Shisui Uchiha.

Seeing Shisui Uchiha watching him with a guarded expression, Jiraiya said, "Don't be nervous. We are only here to invite you to join our organization. Rest for a moment; you can ask any questions later."

Seeing Naruto Uzumaki walking slowly toward them without any defenses, and not appearing to be preparing any ninjutsu, Shimura Danzō was enraged. This was a clear act of contempt. "Kill him!"

The Root ninjas then drew their Kunai and threw them at Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto Uzumaki did not dodge; he simply closed his eyes and let the attacks land on him. Just like a Shadow Clone, a Transformation Technique maintained by Spirit Energy would not dissipate upon being struck, so Naruto Uzumaki remained in the guise of Hidan.

The Kunai struck Naruto Uzumaki with a series of clinking sounds before falling to the ground.

Seeing that the Kunai attacks were ineffective, the Root ninjas quickly formed hand seals to unleash ninjutsu.

There was Earth Release: Earthquake, Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet, Fire Release: Great Fireball, Wind Release: Pressure Damage, and so on.

Naruto Uzumaki did not dodge. He had long wanted to see if he could withstand ninjutsu head-on. Jiraiya was right behind him, and the seal on Kurama had been lifted; even if he couldn't hold out, Kurama would quickly use Spirit Energy to help him block the damage. At most, he would suffer some superficial wounds.

Because these ninjutsu were cast by different people, they did not form a combined technique.

As the ninjutsu were about to strike, Naruto Uzumaki closed his eyes and channeled a tiny bit of Spirit Energy to form a protective film over his eyeballs.

As he closed his eyes, Naruto Uzumaki felt his body receive a slight impact, and before he could even open them, he felt as if he had been stabbed.

Opening his eyes, Naruto Uzumaki saw Shimura Danzō standing before him, holding a Kunai in a stabbing motion, the blade pressed against his chest.

Because his perception had been focused on the ninjutsu, he hadn't paid much attention to when Shimura Danzō had approached. However, Naruto Uzumaki didn't dwell on this; what puzzled him was that there was no nature transformation attached to Shimura Danzō's Kunai—it was just a standard attack.

Logically, this shouldn't be the case. As a contemporary of Hiruzen Sarutobi and a fellow disciple of the Second Hokage, even if Shimura Danzō's strength didn't match Hiruzen Sarutobi's, it shouldn't be this weak.

Ignoring the confusion in his heart, Naruto Uzumaki quickly raised his right leg and kicked out with force. It was just a normal kick, not the Mad Demon Leg; Naruto Uzumaki was afraid of killing Shimura Danzō, as it was not yet time for him to die.

As his foot connected with Shimura Danzō's stomach, a loud bang echoed, and the man went flying.

Shimura Danzō was kicked about five meters away. He clutched his stomach, stood up shakily, and after ordering the other Root ninjas to continue attacking Naruto Uzumaki, he turned and fled.

Naruto Uzumaki did not pursue him; he decided to finish off the Anbu ninjas here first.

The Anbu ninjas present were mostly at the level of Special Jōnin, and Naruto Uzumaki no longer wished to waste time; they wouldn't be able to test anything further.

After activating Spirit Energy Body Infusion, Naruto Uzumaki rushed toward them, using only basic punches and kicks without any martial arts.

Although they were just ordinary strikes, they were not something these ninjas could withstand. Ninjas were inherently high-offense and low-defense; unless they used special ninjutsu, their durability was no different from an ordinary person's.

Soon, all the Root ninjas were killed by Naruto Uzumaki, leaving behind corpses with gaping holes. After the Spirit Energy Body Infusion, the layer of Spirit Energy formed on his skin repelled the blood, so Naruto Uzumaki remained unstained.

Seeing that all the Root ninjas present were dead, Naruto Uzumaki walked over to Jiraiya and Shisui Uchiha. "Pervy Sage, accompany me to the Root headquarters. Shisui Uchiha, wait here for us; it will be quick."

By this time, Shimura Danzō had returned to the headquarters. After gathering all the ninjas currently present, he intended to lead them to surround Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraiya.

But before he could depart, he heard the ninja responsible for monitoring the Sensory Barrier of Root approach and report that two people had broken into the base.

Danzō did not waste words and ordered all the gathered ninjas to rush toward the passage where Naruto Uzumaki and the others had entered.

At this moment, Naruto Uzumaki, using his sensory abilities, saw a large group of Root ninjas charging toward them in a grand formation. He turned his head and said to Jiraiya, "Pervy Sage, it's your turn."

Jiraiya stopped in his tracks, nodded, and stood in place with his arms crossed, waiting.

When the sound of rapid footsteps approached, Jiraiya quickly activated Spirit Energy Body Infusion. Once he saw the ninjas rushing toward them, he rapidly formed hand seals for Fire Release: Flame Bullet Technique. A stream of fire erupted from Jiraiya's mouth, but instead of forming a ball, it took the shape of a concentrated beam directed at the Root ninjas.

Since the chakra within Jiraiya had been replaced by Spirit Energy, his Flame Bullet could not only attack in its original spherical form but could also be modified into a beam of fire. As long as he maintained the output of Spirit Energy, the beam would continue to spray from his mouth.

In the narrow passage, the beam of fire sprayed by Jiraiya occupied almost the entire space. The Root ninjas were charging too fast to react, and because the passage was so narrow, there was nowhere to dodge.

The ninjas at the very front were ignited the moment the fire beam touched their bodies, while those behind, unaware of the situation, continued to run forward.

Jiraiya increased his output of Spirit Energy, and the length of the fire beam extended further, engulfing almost all the Root ninjas. Only a few who were running slowly at the back managed to retreat quickly upon seeing the flames.

By now, the Root ninjas engulfed by Jiraiya's fire beam had all been reduced to ashes. Jiraiya ceased his Spirit Energy output, the fire beam vanished, and a pungent smell of burning filled the air.

Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraiya did not continue further inside; their goal had been achieved, and it was time to take Shisui Uchiha and retreat.

Why did Naruto Uzumaki have Jiraiya kill so many Root ninjas? First, the Root ninjas had undergone long-term training under Shimura Danzō and had lost their humanity, becoming mere machines; even if Shimura Danzō were killed later, they would never return to normal.

Second, it would let Konoha know that the Akatsuki organization possessed formidable strength, which would facilitate the plan for Jiraiya's return to the village.

Upon sensing the scorching heat emanating from the corridor, Shimura Danzō knew that the ninjas he had dispatched were likely doomed.

Sure enough, less than ten people emerged from the passage shortly after; as for the others, there was no need to wonder where they had gone. Just as Shimura Danzō was contemplating how to respond, he suddenly heard the ninja responsible for the Sensory Barrier report that the two individuals had already retreated and were not continuing deeper.

Hearing this, Shimura Danzō had no time to think; he immediately turned and headed toward another passage. There were few ninjas left in the Root, and he had to find Hiruzen Sarutobi; those two damned rogue ninjas had to be kept in Konoha at all costs.

Soon, Shimura Danzō arrived at the Sarutobi Clan compound, where he stood at the entrance and waited after explaining his purpose to the guards.

Seeing Shimura Danzō's disheveled appearance, the guards dared not delay and quickly went inside to report to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had already gone to bed, but upon hearing from the guard that Shimura Danzō had an urgent matter and looked in a sorry state, he quickly rose and followed the guard to the entrance.

The moment Shimura Danzō saw Hiruzen Sarutobi emerge, he stepped forward and said, "Hiruzen, quickly mobilize the ninjas! Two rogue ninjas have arrived, kidnapped Shisui Uchiha, and killed many of my Root ninjas."

Hearing that Shisui Uchiha had been abducted, Hiruzen Sarutobi assumed their plan had been exposed. After asking for the location, he hurriedly ordered the Anbu ninjas stationed near his home to gather reinforcements, while he himself followed Shimura Danzō to the scene.

Naruto: Starting with Asura Chakra by Ti Ta