The evening before Lin Ze's transaction with Orochimaru.
Root's underground base.
Danzo stood silently before the enormous "Root" emblem, his eyes closed, like a cold stone statue.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps shattered the deathly silence.
Danzo slowly opened his eyes and looked toward the entrance.
A short figure staggered inside, supporting himself against the wall.
It was Yamato.
"Kinoe?" Danzo's voice was low and hoarse, betraying neither pleasure nor anger. "Is the mission complete? Where are the others?"
Yamato stopped before Danzo, his body swaying. Forcing himself down onto one knee, he spoke with uncontrollable fear and trembling in his voice:
"L-Lord Danzo... the mission... the mission is complete... but the captain... the captain and the two senior members... they..."
Danzo's brows instantly furrowed, and an invisible pressure spread around him:
"Speak clearly! What happened!"
Under that pressure, Yamato trembled even harder and haltingly recounted the attack.
From the ambush in the valley, to the captain being killed in an instant, to the two senior Chunin being cut down like weeds, and finally to his desperate use of Wood Release, only to be gravely wounded with ease, and the enemy's inexplicable departure...
He described the enemy's features as best he could, particularly the arm covered in blue-green scales that had transformed into a hideous dragon claw, and that utterly terrifying speed and strength.
"...He... he was too strong... the captain couldn't... withstand even a single move from him... my Wood Release... was completely useless too..."
Yamato's voice was filled with lingering fear and helplessness.
"Dragon claw... blue-green scales..."
Danzo repeated those two key details under his breath, a cold glint flickering in his eyes.
One carefully trained Root Jōnin and two veteran Chunin had been all but wiped out in the heart of the Land of Fire by an unknown enemy