An Invitation to Orochimaru

Aburame Torune was slightly taken aback.

"Who is this person, to have the Hokage provide him with cover? Such airs!" An Uchiha clansman nearby scratched his cheek.

The contrast was truly a bit too stark.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Uchiha Fugaku said nothing, unleashing a fire technique directly toward Aburame Torune's face.

As a ninja of the Aburame Clan, his primary means of attack was merely the manipulation of Kikaichu.

These insects had almost no resistance against Fire Style techniques.

Aburame Torune knew that the insects he had brought could not withstand a Fire Style attack head-on, so he simply hid behind his companion, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

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

His Root Organization companion slammed a palm onto the ground.

"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

The violent fireball exploded against the wall created by the Earth Style, the flames instantly spreading and blasting a large hole through the barrier.

At the very least, however, it had blocked the strike.

"It's not over yet." Uchiha Fugaku let out a cold snort and continued to use Fire Style.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

A massive fire dragon coalesced and spiraled in mid-air, rapidly closing in on Aburame Torune.

"Damn Uchiha, they have so many Fire Style ninjutsu!" Just as Aburame Torune was contemplating tactics, he heard a strange noise from the ground.

The ground suddenly cracked open; Uzumaki Naruto had dug a large hole from underground at some point and burst through the surface.

He landed a fierce punch squarely on Aburame Torune's chin.

Caught off guard, Aburame Torune felt a sharp pain, then, fueled by shame and anger, he lunged at the Uzumaki Naruto before him.

"Brat! You must die here today!"

Uzumaki Naruto hurriedly retreated, "I don't want to get that close to you!"

Several Clay Spiders crawled from the hole onto Aburame Torune's legs, and with a shout of "Explode!", they detonated.

The violent explosion blew Aburame Torune's legs clean off!

"Hehe, behold my art." Deidara formed a seal with one hand, a smug smile on his face.

Looking at Aburame Torune, whose legs had been blown away, he seemed to be admiring a work of art!

The excruciating pain of his severed legs left Aburame Torune's mind blank, and he instinctively thrust out his hands, releasing a massive swarm of Kikaichu that drifted toward Uzumaki Naruto.

"No matter what, you must die here today!"

Seeing the massive swarm of insects before him, Uzumaki Naruto felt a wave of nausea.

Who uses bugs as weapons anyway? (Aburame Shino caught a stray.)

"I told you not to get close to me!" Uzumaki Naruto jumped back in a hurry.

At the same time, Uchiha Sasuke flipped over.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The enormous fireball completely engulfed the Kikaichu.

The flames soared into the sky!

Before the smoke could dissipate, Uchiha Yu charged through the fire, raising his Kusanagi Sword.

As Wind Release chakra poured into it, the Kusanagi Sword instantly flared with light.

In Aburame Torune's eyes, there was only a young man rushing toward him.

He hurriedly urged his Kikaichu, the countless insects coalescing into a near-solid black mist, attempting to devour Uchiha Yu before he could hack him to pieces.

But he had underestimated Uchiha Yu's methods.

"Great Luo Heaven!" To save time, Uchiha Yu simply activated Great Luo Heaven, the powerful repulsive force instantly blasting all the Kikaichu away!

"Oh no." Realizing the Kikaichu were beyond his control, Aburame Torune panicked for a moment. His mind raced, but he struggled to find a way to deal with Uchiha Yu.

"Aburame Torune!"

His companion nearby rushed toward him, desperate to save him.

Uchiha Yu glanced over, a faint smile playing on his lips.

If it were that easy to rescue someone from his hands, then he might as well just die.

Without deactivating Great Luo Heaven, Uchiha Yu directly manipulated the Kikaichu, slamming them into the man and sending him flying.

He hit the ground with a boom.

Terrified, the Kikaichu instantly broke free of control and swarmed over the Root Organization ninja's body.

As a layer of purple spread across his skin, the ninja collapsed, dead from the poison.

"What a bizarre ocular jutsu!" Aburame Torune's heart hammered against his ribs; he had truly never heard of a technique capable of manipulating everything so effortlessly.

What kind of ninjutsu could possibly achieve such a feat?

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

Uchiha Yu raised his Kusanagi Sword.

He slashed down fiercely.

A flash of blade-light streaked through the air, and Aburame Torune's head parted from his torso, sent flying into the distance!

Watching Aburame Torune perish at the hands of Uchiha Yu, the remaining ninjas were quickly surrounded and slaughtered by the rest of the Uchiha clansmen.

After a full ten minutes, not a single Root Organization ninja remained standing in the courtyard.

They lay scattered in every direction, drenched in blood.

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

"Three sustained minor injuries, all superficial." Clearly, the battle had been entirely under the control of the Uchiha clansmen.

Uchiha Fugaku nodded and said, "Not bad. With the remaining remnants of the Root Organization cleared out, we can say that everything in Konoha is now in our hands."

As he spoke, a look of immense satisfaction spread across Uchiha Fugaku's face.

He had originally thought the Uchiha Clan was beyond saving, but the emergence of Uchiha Yu had brought the Uchiha back from the brink, even propelling them to the pinnacle of history once more.

Uchiha Fugaku glanced at Uchiha Yu, who stood to the side with an indifferent expression, and smiled faintly.

"If not for him, perhaps the Uchiha Clan would not only have been forced to cower on the fringes of Konoha for a lifetime, living in constant fear, but would have ultimately faced total annihilation, slaughtered at the hands of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo."

Uchiha Fugaku sighed softly.

"Those who resist Uchiha rule call us ungrateful, but who among them knows the darkness that the Uchiha have had to endure?"

At this moment, watching the final traitors die by his own hand, a rare sense of relief washed over Uchiha Fugaku's face.

He had originally planned to fight a desperate battle against the Root remnants tomorrow, but he hadn't expected Uchiha Yu to suggest a plan that wiped them all out in one fell swoop.

However, there was not a hint of relief on Uchiha Yu's face.

He knew that compared to the Akatsuki, the Root Organization was little more than elementary schoolers.

Any random duo picked from their ranks would be enough to turn Konoha upside down.

But for now, Uchiha Yu couldn't think of any good way to deal with that group of misanthropes while he was still only seven years old.

He would just have to adapt when the time came.

In any case, the Akatsuki shouldn't be appearing for the next few years.

Moreover, he had already lured Deidara of the Akatsuki into joining Konoha ahead of schedule, which provided Konoha with a powerful weapon to use against them.

Uchiha Fugaku slowly turned his head to look at Orochimaru.

Despite Orochimaru having defected from Konoha in the past, Uchiha Fugaku still held a great deal of admiration for him.

After all, he was one of the Sannin.

Orochimaru noticed that Uchiha Fugaku seemed to have something to say to him; he narrowed his eyes, wearing a smile as if waiting for Uchiha Fugaku to speak.