Root Ninja

Qingcheng hid beneath the ground, watching the ninjas lying in ambush in the forest. There were over twenty of them, including two Root ninjas with the strength of Elite Jonin.

Qingcheng thought to himself, They must be Root ninjas. Danzo wants to deal with me—capture Kurenai first, then force me to submit?

The Root ninjas all wore animal masks and hid among the forest trees. Their leader wore a yellow fox mask. Seeing Kurenai Yuhi and the others enter the encirclement, he spoke sternly. "Capture Kurenai Yuhi. Kill everyone else. Leave no survivors."

Kurenai Yuhi immediately clapped her hands and said gravely, "We're returning the way we came. This mission must be aborted."

Gekko Hayate said with a serious expression, "If we abandon the mission, our completion rate will drop. I'm about to become a Special Jonin. I really can't accept giving up like this."

Yugao immediately asked, "Is something wrong, Kurenai-senpai?"

At that moment, more than a dozen masked Root ninjas charged out of the forest and attacked Kurenai Yuhi and the others.

Gekko Hayate drew his katana and shouted solemnly, "I am Gekko Hayate of Konoha, the man who will become Hokage! What do you want with my client?"

The moment he finished speaking, Gekko Hayate activated the Hiding in Mist Technique and charged at the Root ninjas. He shouted again, "Konoha Style: Crescent Moon Dance!"

Uzuki Yugao immediately drew her longsword and stood beside the client. With a grave expression, she warned, "Hayate, be careful. There are too many of them."

Kurenai Yuhi immediately took out a Sealing Scroll and removed Explosive Tags from it. She shouted, "Yugao, I have two hundred thousand Explosive Tags! Help me throw them and blow them to pieces!"

Hearing Kurenai Yuhi's words, Yugao was utterly stunned. "Two hundred thousand Explosive Tags? Kurenai-senpai, you're ridiculously rich!"

Gekko Hayate used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to create two clones. The three of them swung their katanas and began performing the Crescent Moon Dance.

The two Shadow Clones and Gekko Hayate attacked the foremost Root ninja. A cold gleam flashed, and a sharp katana suddenly appeared. Gekko Hayate's Crescent Moon Dance instantly cut down one Root ninja.

The remaining two Shadow Clones swung their katanas as they charged toward the other Root ninjas.

The man in the fox mask shouted, "That brat has a Kekkei Genkai and can turn invisible. He uses the Hiding in Mist Technique. Sensory unit, move!"

Qingcheng watched the invisible Gekko Hayate dart and weave among the tree trunks. His swordsmanship was like a dance, and Qingcheng could not help praising him. "As expected of Gekko Hayate. His use of the Hiding in Mist Technique is impeccable, and this Crescent Moon Dance is beautiful as well. Worthy of praise."

Qingcheng added, "Gekko Hayate truly is the man who almost lived to the Shippuden era. His blade work is fierce—he's nearly a third as good as Uchiha Kenjutsu."

Just as Qingcheng was absorbed in watching, Gekko Hayate was discovered by a sensory ninja. The sensory ninja shouted, "He's over there!" Then he threw several hundred Shuriken and followed up with a Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

A large group of Root ninjas immediately launched ninjutsu at Gekko Hayate as well. Vast amounts of Fire Release and Wind Release attacks swept toward him.

The invisible Gekko Hayate failed to dodge in time and was instantly turned into a human pincushion. He let out several screams. "Ah! Ah!"

Covered in blood, he fell straight from the tree trunk.

As Gekko Hayate fell, several more Wind Release: Great Breakthrough attacks struck him. With several slicing sounds, his body was cut into multiple pieces and fell to the ground in a mangled, bloody mess.

Qingcheng was instantly dumbfounded. He said gravely, "He was supposed to die at the hands of Baki. How did the Root ninjas get him instead? Maybe it's the butterfly effect."

Seeing Hayate die so tragically, Yugao shouted in grief, "Hayate, I'll avenge you!" She immediately began throwing Explosive Tags.

Large numbers of Explosive Tags wrapped around kunai flew toward the Root ninjas.

Kurenai Yuhi used both hands at once, forcefully hurling kunai carrying Explosive Tags at the Root ninjas.

Seeing piles of Explosive Tags shooting toward them as densely as a locust swarm, the attacking Root ninjas immediately began dodging and leapt toward the tree trunks.

Two ninjas wearing dog masks formed hand seals and shouted, "Earth Release: Earth Wall!"

With a rumble, two earthen walls rose from the ground and shielded them.

A vast number of Explosive Tags began detonating throughout the forest. Thunderous booms erupted in an instant, red light flashed, smoke and dust filled the air, and even the ground began shaking.

Large numbers of trees were destroyed by the Explosive Tags, and plumes of black smoke rose into the sky.

Flocks of birds were startled into shrieking. They frantically flapped their wings and fled the forest.

Some Root ninjas were unable to dodge in time, or were caught in blasts that covered too wide an area, and were directly killed by the Explosive Tags.

There were too many Explosive Tags, so the Root ninjas who were blown apart were mostly left without even corpses.

The two Root ninjas who had used Earth Wall were directly buried beneath the earth and collapsed beneath the walls. Their Earth Wall had become an earthen tomb wall.

Kurenai Yuhi and Yugao did not stop throwing Explosive Tags. Like Gatling guns, they fired with both hands at the fleeing Root ninjas.

The horse pulling the client's carriage was frightened by the Explosive Tag bombardment and bolted straight into the forest.

The Land of Hot Water minister hiding inside the carriage was scared out of his wits. He shouted in panic, "You two, come save me! My horse has been frightened and won't stop!"

Kurenai's expression was also grave as she said, "Yugao, go save him. The mission can fail, but the client cannot die."

Yugao nodded at once and said seriously, "Understood, Kurenai-senpai."

After saying that, Yugao chased after the carriage, running in the ninja style with both hands held behind her back.

Kurenai Yuhi chased after the carriage while continuing to throw Explosive Tags.

Seeing that the Explosive Tags had dwindled, the Root ninjas pursued Kurenai Yuhi one after another. The leader in the fox mask said, "Dog, let's move. Otherwise, Lord Danzo's mission will fail."

The man in the black dog mask said angrily, "I didn't expect those two bitches to have so many Explosive Tags. They caused us to lose so many Root ninjas. Once we catch them, break their limbs first."

A large group of Root ninjas immediately used the Body Flicker Technique and rapidly flashed toward Kurenai Yuhi.

Beneath the ground, Qingcheng watched the two Root ninjas attack Kurenai Yuhi, intending to severely injure her in a single strike.

Qingcheng immediately activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and used Yomotsu Hirasaka, preparing to appear beside Kurenai Yuhi.

Kurenai Yuhi looked terrified. Seeing that the two Elite Jonin both possessed advanced Body Flicker Techniques, she knew they would soon catch up to her and Yugao.

She thought, This is bad. I can't go back now. I'll never see Qingcheng-kun again. Then Kurenai Yuhi seemed to think of something. She immediately took out a Three-pronged Kunai and shouted, "Father-in-law Yongcheng, come out and help!"

The two Root ninjas used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared directly in front of Kurenai Yuhi, reaching for her shoulder and neck.

Seeing the Root ninjas suddenly appear, Yugao warned, "Kurenai-senpai, watch out!"

Kurenai Yuhi's face went pale as she watched the large hands reaching for her. At that moment, a black spatial rift appeared, and a yellow Susanoo skeleton emerged, directly enveloping Kurenai Yuhi.

A massive yellow skeletal hand seized the two Root ninjas.

Kurenai Yuhi looked at the yellow skeleton surrounding her. A masked Uchiha Clan ninja, his entire body pitch-black, appeared beside her.