Inviting Orochimaru

Aburame Torune froze.

"What kind of person is he, to make the Hokage cover for him? He's got quite the nerve!" one of the Uchiha beside him said, scratching his cheek.

The contrast was truly striking.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Uchiha Fugaku said nothing. He simply unleashed a Fire Release attack, blasting it straight at Aburame Torune's face.

As a ninja of the Aburame Clan, his main means of attack was controlling Kikaichū.

Those insects had almost no resistance to Fire Release.

Aburame Torune knew that the insects he had brought with him couldn't withstand a direct attack, so he simply hid behind his comrade, waiting for an opening.

"No matter what, as long as I can kill Uchiha Fugaku, it'll be worth it!" Aburame Torune's expression was grim.

His Root Organization comrade slapped a hand against the ground.

"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

The blazing fireball exploded against the wall raised by Earth Style. Flames spread in an instant, blasting a huge hole right through it.

But at least it had stopped the attack.

"It's not over yet." Uchiha Fugaku snorted and continued using Fire Release.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

A massive fire dragon took shape, coiling in midair before hurtling toward Aburame Torune.

"Damn Uchiha! They know so many Fire Release techniques!" Aburame Torune was still thinking through his next move when he suddenly heard a strange rumbling from beneath his feet.

The ground split open. At some point, Uzumaki Naruto had dug a large tunnel underground and burst out of it.

He slammed a punch into Aburame Torune's chin.

Caught off guard, Aburame Torune felt a stab of pain. Enraged, he reached for Uzumaki Naruto.

"Brat! You're going to die here today!"

Uzumaki Naruto hurriedly backed away. "I don't want to get too close to you!"

A few Clay Spiders crawled out of the tunnel and onto Aburame Torune's legs. Then came a sharp shout!

A violent explosion blasted both of Aburame Torune's legs off!

"Heh heh. Feast your eyes on my art." Deidara formed a Hand Seal with one hand, a smug smile spreading across his face.

As he watched Aburame Torune with his legs blown off, it was as if he were admiring a work of art!

The pain of losing his legs left Aburame Torune's mind blank. He thrust out a hand, releasing a huge swarm of Kikaichū that drifted toward Uzumaki Naruto.

"No matter what, you're going to die here today!"

Uzumaki Naruto felt sick at the sight of the mass of insects in front of him.

What kind of person used bugs as a weapon? (Shino Aburame caught a stray shot.)

"I told you not to come near me!" Uzumaki Naruto hurriedly leaped backward.

At the same time, Uchiha Sasuke flipped over.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The enormous fireball engulfed all the Kikaichū.

Flames soared into the sky!

Before the smoke had even cleared, Uchiha Yu dashed through the flames and raised the Kusanagi Sword.

Wind Release chakra flooded into it, and the sword instantly lit up.

In Aburame Torune's eyes, all he saw was a boy rushing toward him.

He hurriedly sent the Kikaichū after Uchiha Yu. Countless insects gathered into a nearly solid black cloud, trying to devour him before he could cut Aburame Torune to pieces.

But he had still underestimated Uchiha Yu.

"Great Luo Heaven!" To save himself the trouble, Uchiha Yu activated Great Luo Heaven. Its powerful repulsive force sent every last Kikaichū flying!

"This is bad." When Aburame Torune realized the insects had slipped out of his control, he panicked. His mind raced, but he still couldn't find a way to deal with Uchiha Yu.

"Aburame Torune!"

His comrade rushed toward him, trying to save him.

Uchiha Yu glanced over and smiled faintly.

If someone could rescue a person right under his nose that easily,

he might as well just die.

Great Luo Heaven was still active. Uchiha Yu directly controlled the Kikaichū to slam into the man, sending him flying.

He crashed to the ground with a thud.

Startled, the Kikaichū instantly slipped out of control and covered the Root Organization ninja's body.

As his skin turned purple, the ninja succumbed to the poison.

"What a bizarre dōjutsu!" Aburame Torune's heart pounded. He had never even heard of a dōjutsu that could control anything at will.

What kind of jutsu could do something like that?

"Aburame Torune, you and the remnants of Root Organization, along with these Konoha traitors, can die here today."

Uchiha Yu raised the Kusanagi Sword.

He swung it down hard.

A flash of sword light streaked past, and Aburame Torune's head separated from his body and flew through the air!

After Aburame Torune died at Uchiha Yu's hands, the remaining ninja were surrounded and killed by the Uchiha.

More than ten minutes passed before not a single Root Organization ninja remained standing in the courtyard.

They all lay scattered across the ground, covered in blood.

"Did we suffer any casualties?" Uchiha Fugaku asked the clansman beside him.

"Three suffered minor injuries, all superficial." Clearly, the Uchiha had been in complete control of the battle.

Uchiha Fugaku nodded. "Good. We've more or less finished clearing out the remaining Root Organization forces. From here on, you could say Konoha is entirely in our hands."

As he said this, a satisfied smile appeared on Uchiha Fugaku's face.

He had once thought the Uchiha Clan was beyond saving. But Uchiha Yu's arrival had brought the clan back from the brink, even allowing it to stand once more at the peak of history.

Uchiha Fugaku glanced at Uchiha Yu, who stood nearby with an unconcerned expression, and smiled faintly.

"Without him, the Uchiha Clan would have had only two possible fates: spend their entire lives huddled on the outskirts of Konoha, living in constant fear, or be wiped out, with the whole clan dying at the hands of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō."

Uchiha Fugaku sighed softly.

"Those who oppose Uchiha rule say we're ungrateful. But who knows the darkness our clan has borne?"

Now that he had watched the last of the traitors die by his own hand, a rare sense of relief appeared on Uchiha Fugaku's face.

He had planned to fight the remnants of Root Organization to the death the next day. He hadn't expected Uchiha Yu to come up with a plan to wipe them all out at once.

But Uchiha Yu showed no sign of relief.

He knew that compared with the Akatsuki, Root Organization was practically a bunch of elementary schoolers.

Any two-man team from the Akatsuki would be enough to throw Konoha into chaos.

But Uchiha Yu couldn't think of any good way to deal with that band of inhuman monsters while he was still only seven.

He could only adapt when the time came.

At any rate, the Akatsuki probably wouldn't appear for the next few years.

And he had already lured Deidara, a member of the Akatsuki, into joining Konoha. That would give Konoha a powerful weapon against the Akatsuki.

Uchiha Fugaku slowly turned to look at Orochimaru.

He still admired Orochimaru, who had once defected from Konoha.

After all, Orochimaru was one of the Sannin.

Orochimaru could tell that Uchiha Fugaku wanted to say something to him. He narrowed his eyes and smiled, seemingly waiting for Uchiha Fugaku to speak.