Seeing Captain Terai's panic, the Root members who had come to support him hurriedly reminded him in hushed voices:
"Captain Terai! Stop asking pointless questions. We should act quickly and kill Xia Yu before anyone else gets here!"
"No matter how strong he really is, we outnumber him. As long as we attack together, we'll definitely find a chance to kill him!"
Terai came to his senses. "You're right!"
They made their decision on the spot and attacked.
They might as well throw caution to the wind. They had already caused such a commotion that there was no need to hold back anymore.
Whatever happened, they had to kill Xia Yu, and the sooner the better.
The next instant, kunai filled the sky, shooting toward Xia Yu like a torrential downpour.
Xia Yu brought his hands together and rapidly formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Beneath his feet, an enormous stone wall, without any dog heads on it, rose from the ground.
It was truly enormous, comparable to a high-rise apartment building with elevators!
Compared to it, the incoming kunai were like tiny grains of sand.
"Shit, I lost control again. This chakra really is hard to control!"
Xia Yu really did not have much talent. His chakra control was an absolute mess.
But that did not matter. The amount of chakra in his body was now absurd, so he could just go for it!
"Hey! Who the hell are you people? In broad daylight... no, under the moon at night, out in the open, you actually dared to attack me right in Konoha Hospital and on the street!"
"Say something! Why are you all just standing there? Have you gone mute?"
The thirty-odd Root ninja stood stiffly in place without a word.
They were already too shocked to speak...
How was this anything like the Earth-Style Walls they usually saw?!
It was even a size larger than the advanced Summoning Technique: Rashomon!
If the Great Fireball earlier had still left them thinking they had a sliver of hope of fighting Xia Yu by combining their strength,
then the absurd Earth-Style Wall towering before them had completely shattered that thought.
"Wh-what the hell? This doesn't make any fucking sense!"
"Run! This job is impossible! That brat Xia Yu must have called down a god!"
For the first time in their careers, they felt despair. Their eyes were filled with disbelief, and their bodies involuntarily backed away as they tried to flee.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Such a huge commotion inside the village had already alerted all the clans and factions.
Their first thought was that outsiders had invaded, and they quickly threw off their covers and reached the scene.
The first to arrive was the night patrol led by the Inuzuka Clan.
Next came the temporary police unit led by Ibiki Morino, who appeared with his subordinates.
The police unit had originally always been the Uchiha Clan's responsibility. Because of the clan's extermination, Ibiki Morino of the interrogation unit had temporarily taken on the role alongside his existing duties.
Meanwhile, the other ninja clans and some Jonin also arrived one after another.
In just one minute, almost every high-level combatant in the village had appeared, naturally including Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo.
Ibiki Morino swept his gaze around and shouted sternly, "What's going on?! Who dares act so outrageously in Konoha?! Hm? Uchiha Xia Yu? What are you doing here?! And what's with this wall?!"
Before Xia Yu could answer, a member of the police unit hurriedly informed Ibiki Morino, "Captain! We found a ninja unit of unknown origin down below. Our people and the other Jonin who came to help have surrounded them!"
Ibiki Morino's brow furrowed. "Be careful. They very likely made this enormous stone wall and the huge fireball that appeared in the sky earlier. These people must be terrifyingly strong!"
Xia Yu jumped over to Ibiki Morino's side and said, "They're trying to kill me!"
Ibiki Morino froze at that. He knew Xia Yu's strength very well. A unit of over thirty ninja had brazenly appeared in Konoha just to kill Xia Yu, who was not even a Genin? How could Ibiki believe that explanation?
"Kill you? Stop joking. Are you serious?"
Looking utterly innocent, Xia Yu spread his hands. "Why would I lie to you? Aren't you really good at interrogation? Just arrest them and interrogate them one by one, and you'll know."
Holding his twin chakra blades, Asuma Sarutobi demanded loudly, "Who sent you unidentified invaders?! What is your purpose in coming to our Konoha?!"
Might Guy said, "Tell us the truth, or we won't go easy on you!"
Kakashi Hatake said, "Stop struggling. You won't escape after making trouble in Konoha!"
Hyuga Hiashi said, "Could you be those bastards from Kumogakure, here to steal our clan's Byakugan again? If that's the case, I absolutely won't hold back this time!"
Surrounded by a large number of Jonin and police officers, Terai and the other Root members were filled with frustration.
"Damn it, now we can't even escape!"
"Captain Terai, what do we do? Fight our way out?"
"Idiot, what good would that do?! The mission failed. Don't you know Lord Danzo's methods? We'll die even if we go back. Just kill yourselves and spare yourselves the suffering after we're captured!"
Seeing their unusual actions, Hana Inuzuka cried out urgently, "Oh no, they're going to kill themselves!"
Shikaku Nara knelt on one knee and brought his hands together in his distinctive hand sign. "Don't worry! I anticipated this. I won't give them the chance!"
"Secret Technique: Shadow Imitation Technique!"
Shikaku's shadow rapidly split and stretched, merging with the shadows of those "invaders."
"Hurry and grab them! With my chakra reserves, I can only control over thirty people at once for half a minute!"
Choza Akimichi said, "Well done, Shikaku! Half a minute is plenty!"
"Secret Technique: Partial Multi-Size Technique!"
Choza's arms rapidly expanded and lengthened, securely enclosing the "invaders" in his hands to prevent their escape.
The other ninja and the Military Police Force also stepped forward, quickly tying everyone up one by one with practiced ease.
That was how efficient Konoha was.
In less than five minutes, the "crisis" was over.
The nearby villagers watching the commotion cheered in unison, voicing all kinds of praise.
This should have been a happy occasion, yet two people at the scene looked thoroughly grim.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō.
As the two towering figures of authority in Konoha, they should have immediately issued orders and resolved the crisis. Yet from beginning to end, both had remained glum and silent.
Hiruzen turned his head slightly and shot Danzo a sideways glare, his expression seeming to say:
Danzo, you've caused trouble! Didn't you say leaving it to your Root was the safest option? Just great. Not only is the target still alive, but everyone in the village has seen this!
As though sensing Hiruzen's gaze, the corner of Danzo's mouth twitched.
With his subordinates captured, Danzo was not afraid of the Konoha Interrogation Department torturing confessions out of them. After all, he had placed the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on every Root member. Anyone bearing this seal would immediately become paralyzed and unable to move the moment they so much as thought of saying anything about Danzo.
His only concern was the head of the Yamanaka Clan present there, Inoichi Yamanaka.
Inoichi Yamanaka was the captain of the Konoha Analysis Team. He possessed the Secret Technique: Mind Transmission Technique, which could directly read another person's thoughts by sending his consciousness straight into their brain to probe it.
If Inoichi Yamanaka took part in the subsequent interrogation, the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal would be meaningless before him.
"Hiruzen, you have to cover for me. If anyone else discovers our secrets, it'll all be over..."
Before you continue