"It's Zhou Cheng!"
The hidden sentries outside the entrance cried out in alarm.
They immediately used a special method to alert those inside the headquarters.
Soon, dozens of shinobi poured through the collapsed entrance.
Like the ANBU, they all wore masks.
They were dressed in matching uniforms.
Zhou Cheng swept his gaze over them and was slightly surprised.
Every one of them was at least chunin level.
There wasn't a single genin.
Together, these dozens of shinobi were a force that couldn't be underestimated.
"Zhou Cheng, this is Root. Leave immediately!"
A Root captain sternly challenged Zhou Cheng, though deep wariness filled his eyes.
Who in Konoha hadn't heard of Zhou Cheng's fearsome reputation?
He was the ruthless man who had fought a tailed beast alone and publicly declared that he would kill the Acting Hokage.
"Why?"
"You captured my friend, and you're asking me why?"
Furious, Zhou Cheng used the Body Flicker Technique to appear right in front of the Root captain.
He slashed down.
The Root captain panicked.
His Body Flicker Technique was that fast!
In his haste, he raised a kunai to block.
But how could an ordinary kunai withstand a Chakra Blade?
The kunai snapped with a sharp crack.
Blood spurted, and several fingers flew into the air with it.
"Ugh!"
The Root captain merely grunted.
He hurriedly leaped back into the crowd of Root shinobi.
Zhou Cheng nodded. Just what he would expect from Root.
An ordinary shinobi would already have collapsed, screaming in pain.
"You're tough. Hand over my friend, and I can heal your fingers!"
"You don't want to lose your future as a shinobi, do you?"
The Root captain said nothing.
It wasn't that he didn't want to speak. He couldn't.
Everyone who joined Root had a Cursed Seal placed on them.