"This kind of combat intelligence and skill wasn't just petty cleverness."
Orochimaru coldly stared at Shimura Danzō's single eye.
Danzo's tone stalled. Seeing Orochimaru react so strongly, he could not help becoming suspicious as well.
"That brat was really that strong?"
"Hmph! Didn't Root send people to follow them? Why not ask them?"
With that, Orochimaru turned directly toward the door.
"Our Sharingan collaboration is suspended for now. I have more important matters to attend to."
As soon as he finished speaking, Orochimaru vanished through the doorway without another pause.
"Such a perfect body... It truly inspires envy! How could I make it mine? ...Perhaps I can connect this to the Immortality Technique..."
Elsewhere, Shimura Danzō stared viciously at the spot where Orochimaru had vanished. The cane in his hand creaked under his grip.
"That insatiable viper! If not for those experiments and the Hokage Plan still needing you..."
A long while later.
Danzo came back to himself. He murmured something under his breath, and four black-robed figures instantly appeared before him.
"Tell me everything about Uchiha Mo's battle with Orochimaru. You are not permitted to leave out a single detail!"
"Yes!"
The four answered in unison, then began recounting the battle scene to Danzo in detail.
About fifteen minutes later, the air had fallen silent once more.
Danzo waved his hand with an ugly expression, and the four figures swiftly dispersed, vanishing from the room.
Once no one remained nearby, Danzo's right hand suddenly clamped down on the armrest of his stone chair. He gripped it so hard that his fingertips turned white, yet he seemed entirely unaware as he frowned and muttered darkly.
"That innately evil Uchiha brat was actually this strong. Even Orochimaru nearly fell into his hands... Damn it!"
"Damn... At this rate, even if I act personally, I might not be able to kill him! Most importantly, that brat protected Shisui like a mother hen protecting her chicks. At this rate, when will I ever bring Shisui into Root...?"
"Should I just give up like this?"
Shimura Danzō slowly released his right hand. His single eye flickered in the darkness before him.
"Uchiha..."
"Tap..."
Above the Root Base, a figure in a high-collared black robe landed on a thick tree branch.
Uchiha Mo's eyes narrowed slightly, and the scene underground instantly entered his field of vision.
It was not yet time for the Uchiha Clan to completely fall out with Hidden Leaf, and the moment Mo had been waiting for was still far away. Though he had many concerns, that did not mean Mo had no way to deal with Danzo.
Root was structured similarly to ANBU. Although there were subtle differences, they meant nothing to Mo.
His gaze shifted rapidly, swiftly mapping the Root Base's defenses in his mind.
Shimura Danzō was currently resting in his office, located toward the lower right area of the base.
Around fifteen minutes later, Uchiha Mo quickly calculated a route to Danzo's office. Just as he was about to act, his gaze casually swept across the center of the Root Base.
Mo's eyes immediately stopped there, and his focus sharpened again as he frowned.
"Heh~"
The corner of Uchiha Mo's mouth lifted slightly, and his body vanished with a faint breeze...
Root squads were organized similarly to ANBU squads, usually with three people per team and one sensory ninja assigned to each.
However, sensory ninja were extremely rare. Even Hidden Leaf could not equip every team with one. After the various departments and ANBU squads had taken their share, Root naturally received very few. Thus, only a small number of elite and specialized Root squads had sensory ninja.
As a result, even fewer remained stationed in the base.
Mo used Invisibility to rapidly move through the Root Base. His planned route avoided every Root member from the Yamanaka Clan and anyone with obvious traits of a sensory ninja. If he still encountered a sensory-type ninja capable of spotting something suspicious without using their abilities, he could only kill them.
Most ordinary sensory ninja were only a little sharper than regular ninja when they were not actively using their sensory abilities. Ninjas with passive perception as astonishing as Hashirama's were rare.
Still, to be safe, Mo chose to avoid them.
With Invisibility's support, Uchiha Mo could not possibly be observed with the naked eye. He soon arrived outside Danzo's office without incident.
After passing through a long, gloomy corridor, Danzo's office was located around the corner.
For some unknown reason, none of the rooms in Root had doors, aside from the hidden iron hatch at the entrance leading underground.
Even the changing rooms and dormitories Root provided for its members had no doors!
Mo had noticed this while observing the Root Base. He did not know what Danzo was thinking, but it certainly made things much easier for Mo. Otherwise, he might have needed to use Earth Release to infiltrate here, greatly increasing the risk of exposure.
Danzo's Death, Snake Laboratory
He only had one chance to attack. After that, Danzo would certainly react, and the battle here would inevitably draw Root's attention. Mo could not afford a single mistake.
Danzo sat with his eyes closed and head lowered in his stone chair, both hands resting on his cane. It was unclear whether he was asleep or deep in thought.
Uchiha Mo stared fixedly at Danzo. He tightened his grip on the Futsunomitama he had drawn in advance and slowly stepped to Danzo's side.
He raised the long blade and slowly moved it above Danzo's neck, his black eyes locked tightly on Danzo's head.
He wanted to chop off the old bastard's head with one stroke, but an ordinary ninja's strength could not reach extraordinary levels without using chakra enhancement. At least, Uchiha Mo did not yet possess such stats. If the gap in stats was too large, even a sneak attack would not guarantee success.
Thus, although Futsunomitama was sharp enough, Mo still decided to give Danzo a little time to react, just to be safe.
Mo slowly lowered the straight blade to a distance Danzo would not notice, yet close enough for him to unleash his full burst.
"..."
Holding his breath, Mo focused his mind, then abruptly erupted with his chakra presence.
"Shriek—!"
In an instant, Uchiha Mo appeared at Danzo's side. He swung the ninja blade, which was only inches from Danzo's neck, straight down!
As the blade fell, dazzling lightning rapidly coiled around it. The Three Tomoe in Mo's eyes locked onto Danzo's head, murderous intent flashing within those scarlet irises!
"!"
A lethal sense of danger instantly sounded an alarm in Danzo's mind. His heart seized as though gripped by a giant hand. His legs kicked out reflexively as he abruptly opened his eye, about to look to his side and thrust out his cane!
But...
"Slash!"
"Splurt—!"
It was already too late. The Chidori Blade possessed both extreme speed and sharpness, and combined with Futsunomitama's terrifying edge, it cut through flesh as easily as tofu.
Danzo only felt his body suddenly grow light. Then his vision spun rapidly, and his body instantly lost all sensation. He rolled his eye toward his side and saw a black-robed youth expressionlessly holding a ninja blade, his indifferent gaze meeting Danzo's own.
"Uchiha Mo..."
His head flew through the air as blood erupted like a pillar from Shimura Danzō's smooth neck. The surging blood even stained the ceiling red.
A crescent-shaped blade flash gradually faded away, its tip ending at the gleaming straight blade in Uchiha Mo's hand.
Mo glanced once more at Danzo's terrified head on the floor, then swiftly turned his attention to the panel.
Wind Release Proficiency +9.87% Yin Release Proficiency +7.64%
After confirming that Danzo was truly dead, Mo's body slowly faded into the air once more...
He turned and left through the doorway, rapidly approaching the second target he had decided upon earlier.
Although the commotion in Danzo's office had not been great, that instantaneous chakra eruption would certainly have caught some people's attention. Unless something unexpected happened, news of Danzo's death would immediately spread through Root. Root would then be locked down, making further action difficult.
Uchiha Mo swiftly moved through the Root Base according to the route he remembered and soon reached the training ground at the center of Root.
With a clear objective, he took two steps to a floor tile at the upper right corner of the training ground. The tile bore a strange snake-shaped mark, as though it feared others would not notice something suspicious.
Mo turned and glanced at the ninja sweating on the training ground. After observing their movements for a while, he found they were merely Genin and Chūnin still in training. He stopped paying attention, brought his hands before him, and rapidly formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"
Uchiha Mo's body swiftly sank into the ground, arriving on a descending staircase.
He did not pause. No longer concealing himself, he began striding forward at high speed.
Before entering the Root Base, Mo had already used Clairvoyance to inspect the entire place. Ahead was Orochimaru's laboratory, and Orochimaru was not inside. Even when Mo reached the stairs, he checked again.
Forget Orochimaru—there was not even a guard inside.
Orochimaru likely believed that a laboratory hidden within the Root Base did not need guards.
At the end of the staircase, a white iron door was firmly embedded in the wall. It seemed Orochimaru did not share Danzo's peculiar obsession.
But an iron door could not possibly stop Uchiha Mo.
Mo raised his right hand toward the doorframe as chakra rapidly gathered in his palm.
"Chidori Sharp Spear."
"Shriek—!"
A blue lightning spear shot from his palm, directly punching a hole through the iron door's frame. Mo then slowly moved his right hand, and the condensed lightning emitted a teeth-grinding cutting sound against the frame.
"Bang!"
The iron door fell with a dull thud, and Mo stepped over the sheet metal into the laboratory.
Compared to the Root Base, Orochimaru's laboratory was clearly much brighter. Even though no one was inside, the lights remained on.
The laboratory was not small, but it still seemed especially cramped with its array of precision instruments and the enormous experimental table in the center.
Mo looked at the neatly arranged documents on the table, the three tomoe in his eyes slowly turning.
Shimura Danzō's laboratory.
The two Root members who first sensed something amiss quickly arrived at the entrance. They did not rashly enter, instead respectfully asking:
"Lord Danzo, Inu and I sensed an unfamiliar, powerful chakra erupt within your office. Has something happened? Do you require our assistance?"
"..."
A deathly silence filled the office. There was no response.
After waiting for roughly three minutes, the two Root members' expressions turned ugly. The one who had spoken first opened his mouth again.
"Lord Danzo, forgive us."
With that, he exchanged glances and nodded with the other man. Together, they turned and stepped inside.
"?!"
The two instantly froze. From the ceiling directly above Danzo's chair to the surrounding walls, the entire office was stained with blood. Beside his stone chair, a headless male corpse lay limply sprawled on the ground. Several meters to its front right, a bandage-wrapped man's head lay silently with terror on its face, as though it had seen something unimaginably horrifying!
"..."
Their pupils contracted violently. Their breathing suddenly grew heavy and hurried, their chests heaving dramatically.
"Lord Danzo... is dead?!"
Dead. His head and body had been separated. He could not have been more dead. Even the chakra within Danzo's body had nearly dissipated in their senses.
Shimura Danzō, the darkness of the Ninja World who had struck terror into countless underground figures and Hidden Leaf's enemies, had actually been silently killed in his own headquarters!
Yet just as the words fell, thick smoke suddenly exploded from Danzo's corpse and head.
"Bang!"
Izanagi, the Bold Madman Strikes Again
Before you continue