Danzo's Death, Orochimaru's Laboratory

There was only one chance to attack. Once it was gone, Danzo would inevitably react. Then, the battle here would surely draw the attention of the Root members, so Mo could not afford to make a mistake.

Danzo sat with his eyes closed and head lowered on a stone chair, both hands resting on his cane. It was impossible to tell whether he was asleep or deep in thought.

Uchiha Mo stared intently at Danzo, tightened his grip on the Futsunomitama he had drawn in advance, and slowly approached Danzo's side.

He raised the long blade, slowly moving it above Danzo's neck, his dark eyes fixed tightly on Danzo's head.

He really wanted to chop off the bastard's head with a single swing, but without using chakra to enhance themselves, ordinary ninjas could not achieve superhuman strength. At least, Uchiha Mo did not yet possess such stats. And if the gap in their stats was too great, even a sneak attack offered no absolute certainty.

So, although the Futsunomitama was sharp enough, Mo decided to give Danzo a little time to react, just to be safe.

Mo slowly lowered the straight blade until it was at a distance Danzo would not notice, yet close enough for him to unleash his full power.

"..."

Holding his breath and focusing his mind, Mo gathered his attention before suddenly unleashing his chakra aura.

"Shriek—!"

In an instant, Uchiha Mo's figure appeared beside Danzo. He fiercely swung down the ninja blade that was mere inches from Danzo's neck!

As the blade descended, blinding lightning rapidly coiled around it. The three tomoe in Mo's eyes locked onto Danzo's head, killing intent flashing violently within their scarlet depths!

"!"

A sense of mortal danger instantly set off alarms in Danzo's mind. His heart seized as if a giant hand had gripped it tightly. His legs kicked out reflexively, and he abruptly opened his eyes, about to turn toward his side and thrust his cane forward!

But...

Swish!

Splurt—!

It was all too late. The Chidori Blade combined extreme speed with razor-sharpness, and with the terrifying edge of the Futsunomitama, cutting through flesh was easier than slicing tofu.

Danzo only felt his body suddenly grow light, then his vision began spinning rapidly. His body instantly lost all sensation. Rolling his eyes toward his side, he saw a black-robed youth holding a ninja blade with an expressionless face, his indifferent gaze meeting Danzo's own.

"Uchiha Mo..."

His head flew away as a massive column of blood sprayed from Danzo Shimura's smooth neck. The surging blood even splashed across the ceiling, staining it crimson.

A crescent-shaped blade arc gradually faded away, its end tracing back to 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 gaze toward the panel.

Wind Release Proficiency +9.87%

Yin Release Proficiency +7.64%

After confirming that Danzo was truly dead, Mo's figure slowly faded into the air once more...

He turned and left through the doorway, rapidly closing in on the second target he had chosen on the spot earlier.

Although the commotion in Danzo's office had not been very great, the sudden burst of chakra would definitely have drawn some people's attention. So, barring any surprises, news of Danzo's death would immediately spread through Root. Root would certainly be locked down then, and it would not be easy to act again.

Following the route in his memories, Uchiha Mo swiftly moved through the Root base and soon arrived at the training grounds in the center of Root.

His goal was clear. In two steps, he reached a floor tile in the upper-right corner of the training grounds. An unusual snake-shaped mark was etched into it, as though it feared people would fail to notice something suspicious.

Mo turned and swept his eyes over the ninjas sweating on the training grounds. After watching their movements for a while, he found that they were merely lower- and mid-ranked ninjas still in training. He paid them no further attention and brought his hands before him, rapidly forming seals.

"Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique!"

Uchiha Mo's body swiftly sank into the ground, arriving on a downward staircase.

He did not stop. No longer concealing himself, he strode forward at high speed.

Before entering the Root base, Mo had already used Clairvoyance to inspect the entire place. Orochimaru's laboratory lay directly ahead, and Orochimaru was not inside. Mo had even checked once more when he reached the stairs.

Not only was Orochimaru absent, there was not even a guard inside.

It seemed Orochimaru believed there was no need to station guards in a laboratory hidden within the Root base.

At the end of the staircase, a white iron door was firmly embedded in the wall. It seemed Orochimaru did not share Danzo's particular taste.

But an iron door naturally could not stop Uchiha Mo.

Mo raised his right hand toward the doorframe, chakra swiftly gathering in his palm.

"Chidori Sharp Spear."

"Shriek—!"

A blue lightning spear shot out from his palm, directly punching a hole through the iron door's frame. Mo then slowly moved his right hand, and the condensed lightning immediately produced a teeth-grating cutting sound against the frame.

Bang!

The iron door fell with a dull crash, and Mo stepped over the metal sheet into the laboratory.

Compared to the Root base, Orochimaru's laboratory was clearly much brighter. Even though no one was inside, the lights had not been turned off.

The laboratory was not small, but the rows of precision instruments and the enormous experimental table in the middle made it seem especially cramped.

Mo looked at the neatly arranged documents on the table as the three tomoe in his eyes slowly turned.

Danzo Shimura's laboratory.

The two Root members who had first noticed something was amiss quickly arrived at the door. They did not barge in recklessly, instead asking respectfully:

"Lord Danzo, Xu and I sensed an unfamiliar, powerful burst of chakra from inside your office. What happened? Do you require our assistance?"

"..."

The office was deathly silent. There was no response whatsoever.

After waiting for around 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 a glance with the other man and nodded. Together, they turned and stepped through the doorway.

"?!"

The two froze instantly. From the ceiling directly above Danzo's chair to the surrounding walls, the entire office was splattered with blood. Beside his stone chair, a headless male corpse lay sprawled limply on the floor. Several meters ahead and to the right lay the terrified head of a bandage-wrapped man, motionless, as though it had witnessed something unimaginably horrifying!

"..."

Their pupils contracted violently. Their breathing suddenly grew heavy and rapid, their chests heaving exaggeratedly.

"Lord Danzo... is dead?!"

He was dead—his head and body separated, dead beyond all doubt. Even the chakra within Danzo's body had nearly dissipated in their senses.

The Darkness of the Shinobi World, Danzo Shimura—the man who had terrified countless underworld figures and enemies of the Hidden Leaf—had actually been silently killed within his own stronghold!

Yet just as the words fell, thick smoke suddenly erupted from Danzo's corpse and head.

Bang!