Attack

"Has Lord Danzo returned?"

Yakushi Nonou resigned herself to getting out of bed and asked.

The Root ninja outside hesitated for a second. Remembering Lord Ryoma's instructions, he still did not reveal that Lord Danzo was dead. He merely said, "You'll know once you get there."

Yakushi Nonou did not notice anything unusual either. She got up and headed out.

By the time she arrived, Aburame Ryoma, Aburame Torune, and Yamanaka Fu were already there.

Aburame Ryoma and Yamanaka Fu were trusted subordinates deeply favored by Danzo. They had access to many secrets, and confidential matters were often entrusted to them.

Aburame Torune, meanwhile, looked young and unfamiliar. He was probably a junior who had emerged after her retirement.

Yakushi Nonou silently speculated.

Before she even approached, she heard Yamanaka Fu urging impatiently, "Ryoma, what exactly is this about? The priestess is here too, so you can say it now, right? I'm still busy. The task Lord Danzo gave me hasn't been completed yet..."

Yakushi Nonou silently stood in a corner without making a sound, minimizing her presence.

She truly did not want anything more to do with Root. Given the choice, she probably would never return here for the rest of her life.

Once Aburame Ryoma saw that everyone had arrived, he stopped beating around the bush and dropped a bombshell. "Lord Danzo is dead."

"What?!"

Yamanaka Fu, Yakushi Nonou, and Aburame Torune all underwent drastic changes in expression.

Anger surged onto Yamanaka Fu's face as he demanded impatiently, "What happened? Didn't Lord Danzo go to the Hokage Building? How could he have died?"

Although Aburame Torune standing beside him did not speak, his eyes were also blazing with fury.

Yakushi Nonou, however, pulled out a mirror to inspect her tongue coating the moment her initial shock passed.

Aburame Ryoma watched the changes in the three's expressions. Yamanaka Fu and Aburame Torune's reactions were within his expectations. Seeing Yakushi Nonou immediately check the Tongue-Curse-Shadow Seal, he nodded inwardly. Just as expected.

After seeing that her tongue coating was clean and bore nothing in the mirror, Yakushi Nonou felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart. Relief flashed through her eyes.

Wait, Danzo was dead. Didn't that mean she no longer had to return to Root? And she did not have to repay the money either?

Delight flashed through Yakushi Nonou's eyes. Thinking of this, she decisively said, "I suddenly remembered that I have something to do. I'll be leaving first."

Without waiting for their replies, she drifted away.

She did not care who had killed Lord Danzo, had no interest in avenging him, and did not wish to get involved. She only wanted to return to that warm, cozy orphanage and care for the children.

Aburame Ryoma quietly watched Yakushi Nonou leave without stopping her. He even held back Yamanaka Fu, who was beside himself with rage and wanted to take action to keep Nonō behind.

Yamanaka Fu stomped in fury. "That damn bitch! Lord Danzo showed her immense kindness, yet she has no thought of repaying him. What an ungrateful wretch!"

Aburame Torune wore an angry expression as well.

Neither of them noticed the tiny black insects silently crawling onto their bodies.

"Let her go. She never belonged here to begin with."

An indescribable light flickered in Aburame Ryoma's eyes as he spoke.

Hokage Building.

After Takuya finished a round of talk-no-jutsu with Kakashi, he was just about to move a chair over and sit down when his gaze suddenly shifted.

Rustle!

The ground trembled. Takuya turned around and saw several arm-thick vines burst from the earth, coiling toward him like venomous snakes.

Takuya remained perfectly calm. Wood Release? He gave a soft chuckle, swept his gaze around, and found the caster hiding atop a rooftop.

By then, the vines had already reached him.

A crimson gleam flashed through Takuya's eyes. A massive mass of black flames appeared out of thin air and, like water thrown from a bucket, splashed head-on over the attacking vines. Almost instantly, the vines melted and burned into ash.

Tenzo's expression changed drastically. "What kind of flames are those? They actually broke my Wood Release: Thorny Killing Technique in an instant?"

"What kind of ninjutsu is that?"

Might Guy asked curiously from the side. It was his first time seeing black flames.

"Amaterasu—the flames that never go out until their target has been reduced to ashes."

Takuya glanced at him. Being in a fairly good mood, he smiled and offered a brief explanation.

After his eyes fused into the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, he was able to use the ocular techniques of Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan.

That meant he now had four ocular techniques at his disposal.

Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, Future Line, and Itachi's Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi.

Future Line was rather mediocre. It could foresee and develop possible futures to obtain intelligence, but its ocular power consumption was terrifying. From Fugaku's memories, he had seen Fugaku use this ocular technique several times, and the results had never been particularly good. Since he already knew the entire plot, he decisively shelved it and resolved never to use it again.

Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto and Tsukuyomi had overlapping abilities as well.

All things considered, he had only gained Amaterasu. Better than nothing, at least!

"Flames that never go out?"

Tenzo had also heard the man below, and his heart shook with alarm.

He gritted his teeth and rapidly formed hand seals.

He wanted to see whether those black flames truly never went out, just as the man claimed.

You could break the Thorny Killing Technique, but what about this move?

"Wood Release: Violent Spear Technique!"

Tenzo shouted lowly, his hands flashing through seals and ending on the Snake sign. His shoulders stirred, then suddenly bulged with two afterimages. Looking closely, they were actually two enormous trees shooting downward toward Takuya in front of the Hokage Building.

Takuya narrowed his eyes. This time, he did not use Amaterasu. Those two giant trees were connected to Tenzo's body; it would be troublesome if Amaterasu spread over and burned Yamato to death.

Though Yamato's Wood Release was not even one-thousandth as powerful as Senju Hashirama's, he was an exceptional house builder. Takuya had no desire to destroy such a master of infrastructure.

Since Amaterasu could not be used, then he would use that technique.

The thought flashed through his mind in an instant, and the two giant trees had already arrived before him.

"Did it work?"

Seeing Uchiha Fugaku standing in place without any sign of defending himself, Tenzo waited in anticipation.

Yet in the next moment, his expression changed drastically once more.

A gigantic arm appeared from nowhere before Uchiha Fugaku, firmly grasping the two massive trees in its hand.

"What is that?!"

Tenzo had never seen such a ninjutsu before. What was this enormous red arm?

It was also Takuya's first time using Susanoo, and he curiously examined Fugaku's Susanoo.

It was red, the same color as Uchiha Itachi's Susanoo.

He did not manifest the complete Susanoo, only creating a single arm.

This place was not very spacious. If he summoned the full Susanoo, he would inevitably collapse the surrounding buildings and terrain.

The coup to seize power had already succeeded, and he did not want to cause too much commotion and arouse the curiosity of the onlooking crowd nearby.

One arm was enough to block the attack.

With a slight movement of Takuya's will, the great hand of Susanoo gave a gentle tug and yanked Tenzo, the source of the giant trees, down.