In the deepest secret chamber of the Root Base.
Danzo sat alone on a stone chair, his eyes bloodshot.
The air was thick with the smell of medicine and the cold, sinister aura emanating from him.
Clutching his dully aching chest, he uncontrollably replayed the scenes from not long ago in his mind:
Lin Ze's demonic Half-Dragon Transformation Form, the Root elites cut down like grass with a wave of his hand, and that final, world-destroying Thunder Bagua that had made even his soul tremble...
Fear coiled around his heart like an icy venomous snake.
He had never imagined that, after decades of striding across the Shinobi World, he would suffer such a crushing, utterly complete defeat at the hands of a thirteen-year-old brat!
More than twenty painstakingly trained Root elites!
They were the blades he had forged with countless resources and tireless effort, crucial assets that allowed him to maintain his foothold in Konoha and contend with Hiruzen Sarutobi!
Now, almost all of them were gone!
Whenever he thought of it, Danzo felt his heart bleed. A savage urge to destroy nearly overwhelmed his reason, and he wished he could immediately mobilize all of Root's forces and tear Lin Ze to pieces at any cost!
But... he could not.
That lightning that devoured everything, those subordinates instantly reduced to ash, and the sight of Baku fleeing in panic doused his impulse like cold water.
A head-on clash was out of the question!
At least for now!
That brat's strength had already exceeded his previous estimates, reaching an inconceivable level.
Unless he used those forbidden methods he held in reserve, or openly broke with Hiruzen and mobilized the ANBU to surround and attack him, he had no chance of winning.
And whether he used forbidden methods or openly clashed with