Stepping slowly out of the flames, Zou Hyuga lowered his hand and looked toward the Root Squad ahead.
The village squad had coordinated remarkably well, but why hadn't they fled amid the chaos? Had he frightened them that badly?
At a loss for words, Zou Hyuga used the Body Flicker Technique to move outside, unsure what to say.
The four-man squad before him had clearly lost some of their fighting spirit. Orochimaru and Sasori were watching him as well.
The only good news was that none of the squad members were acquaintances from his time in the ANBU.
Picking up the short sword from the ground, Zou Hyuga gave it a few casual swings and slowly approached the Root Squad. With each step, the pressure weighing on its members grew.
They could accept that members of the Akatsuki were stronger than they were, but they had never expected the gap to be so vast.
Within half a breath, Zou Hyuga reached the Root Squad. Drawing his sword in one smooth motion, he sliced through the Root Squad Captain's drawing paper and broke their formation apart.
"Run! Hurry, run!" The Root Squad Captain signaled a retreat.
Just then, a dazzling light suddenly appeared on the distant horizon.
An earth-shaking tremor followed, as though the entire land were quaking. Countless stones and clods of earth surged with the shock wave, scattering in every direction.
The sudden upheaval immediately drew everyone's attention, and they all turned to look.
Zou Hyuga also turned to stare at the distant horizon. Only a Kage-level shinobi could cause such a disturbance, and there were very few ninja with that kind of strength in the Land of Earth.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye at the still-stunned Root Squad, Zou Hyuga used the Body Flicker Technique