Capture Danzo

Within Root's secret base, Danzo listened to his subordinates' report.

Upon hearing that both operations had failed, Danzo roared at his subordinate, "Useless trash!"

It was understandable that the operation against Uchiha Shisui had failed. After hearing his subordinate's description,

Danzo guessed that Uchiha Shisui had awakened the legendary power of the Uchiha Clan—the Mangekyō Sharingan.

But the failure at the shop made him wonder whether Root's training was still not harsh enough.

It was merely one Uchiha Ryusuke, some nobody he had never even heard of before, accompanied by several members of the Konoha Military Police Force.

Yet at the cost of only one eye, he had inflicted devastating casualties on the Root agents sent to attack. Those had been some of the few elite forces under his command.

Uchiha Shisui. Danzo's mind once again settled on that name.

"If I obtain your eye, this old man's arm should be able to move freely, shouldn't it?"

Danzo had finally fully adapted to his newly attached arm today. He felt stronger than he had even at his peak.

Though he looked frail with age, his body was brimming with astonishing vitality.

An endless stream of life force flowed from his right arm into his entire body. If he could obtain Shisui's eye, he might even awaken Wood Release through it.

"Uchiha Shisui, for Konoha's sake, your eye belongs to this old man."

Danzo was filled with confidence. He had now gathered the powers of the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha Clan no longer mattered to him. His target was Hiruzen Sarutobi—the position of Hokage.

Thinking of that, Danzo's hatred for the Uchiha Clan deepened further. It was all because of those evil Uchiha that he could only cower inside this base now.

The moment Ren set out with a large group, they were spotted by the nearby Anbu.

At first, the Anbu ninja paid no attention to it. After all, over the past few days, this new Uchiha Clan head had always been running around with his subordinates.

Having monitored him several times, he knew perfectly well where the photos in the Konoha Daily had come from.

But gradually, he realized something was wrong. There were simply too many people this time.

"No, I need to report this to Lord Hokage immediately."

He vanished from the spot.

Ren's group was incredibly conspicuous, and quite a few people saw them as they passed through the streets.

However, the villagers now all knew that the Military Police Force had found another one of Root's secret hideouts.

Some bolder villagers even quietly followed the group.

I'm just going to take a look. It should be fine, right? The Military Police Force will protect me, right?

Ren did not care at all that people were following them, whether they were civilians, ninja, Anbu, or even Root.

Tonight, he had only one target—Danzo.

Ren led everyone to the location marked by Tongren Hyuga.

He immediately had his men start shouting.

"Danzo Shimura, your crimes have been exposed! You are surrounded! Surrender completely and accept judgment!"

The shouts of more than a hundred ninja were naturally deafening. Danzo's new base was unlike the old one that had taken so long to build.

It was only about ten meters underground, and the voices continuously traveled down into the base through every ventilation shaft.

"Danzo Shimura, your crimes have been exposed! You are surrounded! Surrender completely and accept judgment... judgment!!!"

Danzo could already faintly hear the voices coming from aboveground.

At that moment, a Root ninja stepped forward, dropped to one knee, and said, "Lord Danzo, the Military Police Force has surrounded us outside."

"Damn it! Do you think this old man is deaf? What other intelligence is there?"

"The one leading them is Uchiha Yushu. Aside from the four captains of the Military Police Force, Uchiha Shisui is also there."

Upon hearing Shisui's name, Danzo was instantly stirred. So long as his subordinates could buy him time,

he was confident he could seize Shisui's Sharingan. Then, he would surpass the First Hokage and become the strongest ninja in Konoha's history.

"Gather everyone. Follow this old man outside."

"Yes, Lord Danzo."

Just as Danzo was preparing to depart, Hiruzen Sarutobi, having received the Anbu report, immediately realized that this was no simple matter.

"Could the target be Danzo?"

"No, Danzo cannot die. Konoha's balance cannot be broken!"

With that thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi directly selected several Anbu agents.

"Lead the way."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said to the ninja from earlier.

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Kakashi was not on duty today. After getting off work, he was walking down the street.

Then, a little boy suddenly approached Kakashi, pulled a portrait from his clothes, and carefully compared it to him.

"You're Kakashi Hatake, right?"

"That's right. You are?"

From the boy's clothing and complexion, Kakashi could tell that he was likely an orphan. There was no chakra reaction from him either, so Kakashi did not know what he wanted.

"This is for you."

The little boy took a note from his pocket and handed it to Kakashi.

Kakashi saw that there was only one sentence on it: "If you want to know the truth behind your father's death, tonight will be a good opportunity."

After thinking for a moment, Kakashi felt that the only person who could have sent him this note was that Uchiha Clan head.

Kakashi had never been able to see through him. He had never known what the man was truly thinking.

After much consideration, Kakashi finally decided to go take a look. He made up his mind that he would only watch and would not take any action.

Ren's group's movements were far too obvious, making it easy to gather information on them.

After receiving the intelligence, Kakashi also hurried toward Root.

By then, Danzo had already emerged from Root, followed by a large group of Root ninja.

Having gained new power, Danzo no longer leaned on his cane. He strode forward with great vigor, leading his men straight to the front of Ren's group.

"So this is Danzo? He just looks like a vicious old man. Is he really as terrifying as the rumors say?"

"You know appearances can be deceiving, right? How do you know he isn't terrifying?"

"Look at the Uchiha Clan head. He's so young, younger than my own boy, yet he's already the clan head."

"So this is Danzo? He looks so scary. He's definitely a bad guy."

The people who had come to watch began chattering among themselves.

"Danzo Shimura! Will you obediently give up resisting and return to face judgment, or do you intend to betray Konoha?"

Ren looked at Danzo arrogantly and asked.

Seeing this detestable brat, Danzo's heart burned with fury.

It was this brat who had ruined this old man's reputation, making it far more difficult for him to obtain the position of Hokage.

"Judgment? This old man is Konoha's root. No one can judge this old man!"

"Looks like you intend to resist to the bitter end. Take them all away! Kill any who resist on the spot!" Ren ordered directly.

"Attack!" Danzo waved an arm as well.

"They're fighting. What do you think?"

"Of course I know they're fighting. I'm watching while standing."

"I mean, which side are you helping?"

"Hmph! Neither side is any good. I'm helping no one. I'm just watching."

Among the many spectators were quite a few ninja. Some hesitated over whether they should intervene.

Others were torn over which side to support.

Most ninja actually knew that much of what was written in the Konoha Daily was false.

After all, according to the paper's reports, the Military Police Force had already stormed eight hideouts and captured hundreds of Root ninja. Just thinking about it made it obvious that was impossible.

Still, for ninja who had lived through certain events, even if Danzo was not as evil as the newspaper claimed, he could not be completely unrelated to those matters.

As for the Uchiha Clan, what difference was there between them and Danzo? It was nothing more than dogs tearing at each other.

This was exactly the effect Ren wanted. In the past, with just one order from Danzo, the surrounding ninja would have already joined his side to fight the Uchiha Clan.

Danzo still clung to his authority. "This old man is a Konoha elder and the leader of Root. All Konoha ninja, follow this old man and kill these insolent Uchiha traitors!"

After hearing him, the many Konoha ninja did not move a muscle. Danzo awkwardly lowered the arm he had raised.

Sure enough, this bunch raised under Hiruzen's weak education did not deserve to be ninja.

Seeing this, Ren hurriedly began winning favor. "I, Uchiha Yushu, head of the Konoha Military Police Force, am now arresting the criminal and former Konoha elder, Danzo Shimura. Everyone, do not be afraid. The Military Police Force will protect you to the death!"

There were far more members of the Military Police Force than Root ninja. Some were fighting the Root ninja, while others protected the spectators around them.

After seeing members of the Military Police Force get injured, Ren decided not to hold back any longer.

He then looked at Shisui. "Do you remember when we fought Kirigakure?"

Shisui obviously knew what he meant, but this time, Shisui said, "Clan head, I can use Fire Release too."

"You know I'm the clan head, so obey the order."

Shisui said helplessly, "Yes!"

He immediately joined the battlefield. On the way there, he used the Clone Technique and his unique Body Flicker Technique, and dozens of Shisui figures appeared across the field.

He said to the Military Police Force comrades fighting Root, "Leave it to me."

Meanwhile, Ren fired a stream of flames from each hand, spinning them nimbly. They soon merged into a massive fireball in the air, while Ren continued pouring energy into it without pause.

The fireball rained down upon the Root ninja below. The Root ninja could only scramble around in panic to evade it.

Yet not a single fireball fell around Shisui. Every fireball seemed to have eyes, automatically veering away from his surroundings.

Shisui began his own slaughter, but what puzzled him was that whenever he gravely wounded an enemy or was about to strike one,

a ball of flame would always emerge from somewhere unknown and swallow the enemy. The flame was not particularly hot, yet it could still effortlessly turn its victims to ash.

Shisui looked at Ren in confusion, but Ren merely gave him an encouraging look.

It was not that Ren's ability could not kill Root ninja directly. It was simply that the few ultimate moves he had developed were all wide-area attacks that could not distinguish friend from foe. If he unleashed them, aside from a few lucky survivors, probably no one present would remain alive.

Thus, Ren had always acted as a qualified artillery platform, providing suppressive fire.

But things were different now. Having acquired the Ghost Rider template, he had no choice but to start stealing kills for Hellfire.

Seeing Shisui fighting the Root ninja alone, how could Danzo, who coveted his Sharingan, let such a perfect opportunity pass?

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Danzo officially joined the battle.