Golden Light Divine Curse vs. Wood Release Ninjutsu!

The myriad of ninjutsu seemed utterly powerless before the Golden Light Divine Curse, possessing no deterrent whatsoever. Then, for the first time, the Old Celestial Master moved his feet.

A flash of lightning glinted in his eyes, and his body transformed into a brilliant bolt of silver thunder that shot forth like sparks of lightning, too fast for the eye to follow.

The bursting lightning streaked past at a speed beyond the naked eye's ability to discern, slamming viciously into the bodies of the many shinobi. Amid cries of agony, the remaining Root members collapsed to the ground, barely clinging to life.

In just a few breaths, more than a dozen elite shinobi had all fallen, either dead or crippled.

Seeing this, Chen Feng's eyes gleamed with admiration. The Five Thunder Righteous Method had truly been brought to its pinnacle in the Old Celestial Master's hands.

If the Golden Light Divine Curse was a divine technique that combined offense and defense, then the Thunder Technique was the perfect fusion of speed and power. Ordinary people would lose their lives before they could even react, let alone defend themselves.

After dealing with those small fry, the Old Celestial Master turned his gaze back to Danzo and slowly walked forward.

His expression remained calm, his eyes incomparably tranquil, as though nothing in the world could truly disturb him.

Shimura Danzo met his gaze, and his heart skipped a beat. He instinctively retreated several steps. There was no hatred, anger, or coldness in the other man's eyes.

There was only purity—a pure and unwavering will.

Glancing at the bodies scattered around him, Danzo clenched his fists. He had never expected such an unforeseen development today. When had such a powerful expert appeared in Konoha without anyone noticing?

Yet this seemingly ordinary old man had shattered his entire plan and even filled him with a deadly sense of crisis.

However, Danzo was not someone who liked to sit and wait for death. Gritting his teeth, he decided to take the initiative.

"Wind Release: Shuriken!"

With a wave of his hand, more than a dozen shuriken shot forth. At the same time, a dense stream of chakra poured into them, making them incomparably sharp and even more powerful.

Faced with such an attack, the Old Celestial Master merely flicked his sleeve and blocked them all. The Golden Light Divine Curse at the perfected level was not something such methods could break through.

Danzo's expression darkened slightly. He then formed a seal with one hand and violently expelled a sharp, fierce blast of air from his mouth.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

In an instant, a razor-sharp air blade swept out. Immediately afterward, he stomped the ground and lunged forward.

The Old Celestial Master continued walking unhurriedly. Watching the blast approach, he casually flicked the golden whip in his hand and dispersed it.

At the same time, Danzo's attack had arrived before him. Turning his body sideways, Danzo suddenly lashed out with a kick.

The Old Celestial Master merely raised an arm slightly and steadily blocked it.

Having failed to land a blow, Danzo shifted his feet and darted about at high speed, launching repeated attacks from every direction with lightning-like swiftness.

Yet the Old Celestial Master did not waver in the slightest. Whenever his fists or palms extended, they intercepted the other's attacks with perfect precision.

Enraged, Danzo drew another kunai and thrust it forward with all his strength.

The Old Celestial Master calmly raised his palm and actually caught the kunai directly. Then, with a forceful clench of his fingers, he snapped it in two.

Immediately afterward, the golden light whip in his hand lashed out swiftly, striking Danzo's body.

Danzo cried out in pain as his entire body was flung away, crashing into a large tree several zhang away with a bang.

"Pfft!"

Danzo spat out a mouthful of blood. Clutching his chest and feeling the tearing pain there, his face twisted as it turned pale.

The other party's strength had clearly surpassed his imagination. If he did not use his full power, he would likely leave his life here.

Then his eyes turned fierce. With a sudden exertion of strength, he shattered the white bandages tightly wrapped around his right arm.

Afterward, the secret he had kept hidden all this time was revealed.

His entire arm was an eerie white, even twisted and deformed in places. Most horrifying of all, blood-red eyeballs were embedded all over it.

They were all Sharingan, the pride of the Uchiha clan!

Several years ago, he had personally orchestrated the night of the Uchiha clan massacre. After the clan members died, their eyes had been dug out and transplanted onto Danzo's body.

With Orochimaru's assistance, he could use the power of the Sharingan to a certain extent.

Seeing this, the Old Celestial Master frowned. "What a crooked and heretical path. It does not belong to the righteous way."

Danzo sneered. "For Konoha, I can do anything. Now, I'll show you what true power is!"

As his words fell, he slammed his right arm into the ground and shouted, "Wood Release: Tree Root Burial Explosion!"

His arm then bizarrely transformed into thick, tangled roots. In an instant, they grew into a towering tree, its savage roots, trunk, and branches spreading outward and swallowing both himself and the Old Celestial Master in the blink of an eye!

Seeing this, Chen Feng could not help but feel startled. He knew this was the Wood Release technique renowned throughout the Shinobi World.

Over the years, Danzo had constantly sought ways to fuse Hashirama Senju's cells into his body. After countless experiments, he had achieved some degree of success.

Though the power of the Wood Release he wielded was worlds apart from that of the First Hokage, it still could not be underestimated.

Looking up at the figure swallowed by the massive tree, Chen Feng could not help but feel a little worried.

At that moment, Danzo's figure flickered, and he escaped the Wood Release's devouring grasp. At the same time, one of the Sharingan on his arm closed.

Because he did not possess a Sage Body, he could not freely control the Wood Release when using it, and he himself would be attacked as well.

However, he could use the Sharingan to perform Izanagi. When he was on the verge of death, Izanagi's protection would activate, allowing him to shift between reality and illusion and thereby escape death.

Of course, using this technique consumed a tremendous amount of power and required the price of one Sharingan. But if it allowed him to eliminate the formidable enemy before him, it was worth it.

With that thought, he raised his head toward the towering tree ahead and revealed a cold smile as he panted heavily.

But just then, the giant tree suddenly began to shake violently, as though it were trembling without end.

Immediately after, streams of golden light directly tore through the trunk and burst forth from within.

Under Danzo's horrified gaze, the giant tree created by the Wood Release exploded beneath the impact of the golden light, turning into fragments scattered across the ground.

A terrifying figure shrouded in dense golden light slowly stepped out...