Root Comes to Make an Arrest

From the back streets to the Hokage Building, one had to pass through Konoha's busiest Central Street.

The evening stalls had not yet closed, charcoal fires glowed red at the entrance of the dango shop, a row of medicinal herbs dried outside the apothecary, and the ninja tool shop owner had just polished a kunai and hung it back on the rack.

Naruto walked in the middle of the street.

Behind him followed the Konoha Military Police Force, and at a distance to his side were the ANBU sent by the Third Hokage.

Further on the outer perimeter, there were more and more villagers.

No one dared to approach, nor was anyone willing to leave.

News of the account book had already spread within a mere quarter of an hour.

Some said the Demon Fox brat had gone berserk.

Some said the Hokage Office had embezzled his living expenses.

Some said that child might not be an ordinary orphan.

Every rumor was like a match, falling onto a pile of firewood that had been calm in Konoha for many years.

Naruto did not walk fast.

He was waiting.

At the end of Central Street was an open space, usually used to post mission announcements and wartime notices. There were not many residences around the open space, making it suitable for action, and also suitable for everyone to see clearly.

The moment he stepped into the open space, the ground gave a slight tremor.

It was not the footsteps of ordinary ninjas.

It was an underground passage.

Naruto stopped.

Uchiha Tekka immediately sensed something was wrong, raising a hand to signal the Konoha Military Police Force to scatter.

The Third Hokage also stopped.

His gaze swept across the open space, and his expression was even darker than before.

"Who sent them?"

This sentence was said in a very low voice, but Naruto heard it.

Naruto did not turn his head.

"Wasn't it you?"

The Third Hokage did not answer.

The next instant, the four corners of the open space exploded simultaneously.

Four ninjas wearing unpatterned masks rushed out from the ground, black chains in their hands lashing toward Naruto's limbs.

Sealing Chains.

The target was very clear; it was not to kill, but to capture alive.

The watching crowd screamed and retreated.

The Konoha Military Police Force drew their blades.

The ANBU also moved.

Yet Root was faster than them.

Twelve Root ninjas appeared simultaneously from roofs and underground, forming hand seals, throwing tools, and sealing routes all in one go.

A huge black sealing net opened above Naruto's head.

Tekka's expression changed abruptly.

"This is the Root Restraint Technique! They aren't the ANBU!"

The Third Hokage shouted angrily, "Stop!"

No one listened to him.

Root only listened to Danzo.

Naruto stood beneath the sealing net, not dodging.

The Nine-Tails chuckled softly inside him.

"These rats smell disgusting."

Naruto raised his right hand.

Chakra surged from his palm, no longer a scattered flame, but condensing into a huge fox paw.

The fox paw clawed upward.

The sealing net was forcibly ripped open.

The black threads of the shattered technique fell down like broken snakes, and before they even touched Naruto's hair, they were burned to ashes by the Nine-Tails Chakra.

Four chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles.

The Root ninja exerted force simultaneously.

Naruto lowered his head and took a glance.

"Just this?"

He stamped his foot down.

Chakra surged back along the chains.

The arms of the four Root ninja twisted instantly, the sound of breaking bones merging into a single piece.

They did not scream.

Root members had even their screams trained out of them.

Yet bodies would fall.

The four knelt on the ground simultaneously, blood seeping out from under their masks.

On the rooftop, the second batch of Root had already finished weaving hand signs.

"Earth Release, Yellow Spring Swamp!"

The flagstones of the open space softened, mud churning up from beneath Naruto's feet, attempting to drag him in.

Naruto raised his foot.

A chakra tail smashed into the ground.

Boom!

The mud swamp was directly shattered, the entire open space exploding, flagstones flying up, and two Root ninja hiding underground being shaken out onto the ground, slamming down before everyone's eyes.

They wore the clothes of Konoha Ninja on their bodies, yet their arms were carved all over with cursed seals.

Naruto walked over and stepped on the chest of one of them.

"Who sent you?"

The Root ninja closed his mouth and refused to answer.

Naruto did not ask a second time.

He squatted down, pressing his fingers onto the cursed seal at the man's throat.

Gold sealing jutsu patterns burrowed into the skin.

That Root ninja abruptly opened his eyes, his body convulsing violently.

A corner of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was pried open.

Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, yet he still spat out two words.

"Dan... zo..."

The surroundings went quiet instantly.

Danzo.

Many commoners were unfamiliar with this name, but ninja knew it.

The Hokage Advisor and leader of Root.

An old friend of the Third Hokage.

Naruto released his hand, and the Root ninja passed out cold.

He turned his head to look at the Third Hokage.

"Is this protection too?"

The Third Hokage's face was ashen.

He truly had not given the order for Root to make a move.

Yet the fact that Danzo could mobilize manpower on Konoha's Central Street and bypass the ANBU to directly seize people already demonstrated in itself that Root had long since broken free from surface rules.

And Naruto had placed this matter before the eyes of everyone.

The Root on the rooftop did not retreat.

The order they had received was to bring back the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Regardless of how many people were at the scene.

A third batch of Root rushed out from both sides of the street, holding long spears attached with Sealing Tags, the tips of the spears aimed at Naruto's joints.

Uchiha Tekka was just about to make a move when Naruto raised a hand to stop him.

"No need."

Tekka looked toward him.

Naruto loosened up his wrists.

"Just in time, let Konoha see what kind of things they've raised."

The Root ninja charged into the open space.

Naruto's figure vanished from the spot.

The mask of the first Root operative was shattered with a single punch, sending the man crashing into a notice board.

The second Root operative had just raised his weapon when the spear in his hand was snapped by a chakra arm, the tip plunging backward into his shoulder.

The third attempted to apply a Sealing Tag from behind.

Without looking back, Naruto swept his tail, directly smashing him into the exterior wall of a medicine shop.

The movements were clean, with no superfluous flashy techniques.

Every strike avoided vital points, yet was enough to cause the opponents to lose their mobility.

It wasn't that he couldn't kill them.

He was leaving witnesses.

In less than a minute, the open ground was littered with downed Root operatives.

The expressions of the onlookers shifted from sheer terror to a different kind of fear.

These people hidden in the underground of Konoha were more numerous than they had imagined, and far more unscrupulous.

Treading on the rubble, Naruto walked up to the last Root operative who was still able to move.

The man knelt half on the ground, his mask cracked to reveal an emotionless eye.

He suddenly bit down on a poison capsule hidden in his teeth.

Naruto raised a hand to press down on his jaw, a sealing technique blocking the poison.

"Want to die?"

Naruto stared at him.

"Not that easy."

He pressed his fingers against the man's forehead.

The system prompt sounded.

[Detected residual Root Cursed Seal and Underground Hideout positioning.]
[Initiate reverse tracking?]

A flash of golden light crossed the depths of Naruto's eyes.

"Track."

A black line visible only to him extended from the Root shinobi, weaving across the street, passing beneath Hokage Rock, and leading straight into the deep underground of Konoha.

Naruto stood up.

"Found it."

The Third Hokage's expression shifted drastically. "Naruto, don't be reckless!"

Naruto ignored him.

The Nine-Tails Chakra behind him began to compress.

The air grew scorching hot.

A chakra sphere, pitch-black with a tinge of orange-red light, slowly formed in front of his palm.

Uchiha Tekka's pupils contracted sharply.

"That is..."

Naruto looked in the direction beneath Hokage Rock.

"Tailed Beast Bomb."