Root's underground base.
It was cold and damp, and it never saw the light of day. The lights overhead flickered, stretching people's shadows long and twisting them out of shape.
Deep inside this godforsaken place, Shimura Danzō sat with piles of documents in front of him.
He rubbed his aching temples and tossed a document onto the desk.
"That old bastard Hiruzen..." he muttered, his eyes dark. "He gets all the good things and dumps all the dirty, backbreaking work on me."
He was plotting how to make trouble for Hiruzen when suddenly...
"Boom!"
A series of muffled crashes came from the direction of the base entrance, followed by screams and the sounds of fighting rising and falling.
Danzo's face darkened. Before the words had even faded, a Root ninja rushed in and dropped to one knee:
"Lord Danzo, an enemy has broken in!"
"Who is it?" Danzo asked, suppressing his anger.
"I couldn't see clearly! He's wearing a mask and a hooded robe, and he's been killing his way in!" The Root ninja's throat tightened, and his voice trembled at the end:
"He... he's barehanded, but his hands can turn black and hard, like iron! All three squads we sent to stop him were taken out by him alone."
Shimura Danzō sprang to his feet.
Three squads, twelve well-trained Root elites, taken out barehanded just like that?
"Outrageous!" He laughed, but there was no trace of amusement in his eyes:
"Someone actually dared to break into my Root Base at night! Gather our men and follow me. I want to see which fool is so tired of living that he'd throw his life away!"
Before he had finished speaking, he was already striding out.
Hatake Sakumo was discovered as soon as he entered Root Base.
There were too many people and too many eyes in the base; there was no hiding. He hadn't planned to sneak in quietly, either.
To avoid exposing his identity, he had no intention of drawing the short blade "White Fang" hidden in his sleeve...
White Fang was too conspicuous. Anyone with a discerning eye would only need one look at the blade to know the "Konoha White Fang" had come.
So he fought barehanded, using Armament Haki against his enemies.
One punch apiece, without holding back.
"Bang!"
He punched a Root ninja charging straight at him in the chest. The man grunted, flew backward, and struck the wall, falling silent.
Behind his mask, Hatake Sakumo's eyes were terrifyingly calm.
The original owner had already looked into it: the Tongue Root Eradication Seal simply couldn't be undone. Danzo held these people's lives in his hands, and every one of them was utterly loyal to him.
He had considered whether he could fight his way in using ordinary Taijutsu, knock these Root members unconscious, and deal with Danzo alone at the end.
But he dismissed the idea as soon as it occurred to him.
No White Fang, no Armament Haki, just Taijutsu?
That was nothing but a pipe dream.
Root Base was full of elites inside and out. One or two would be manageable, but with whole squads swarming him, ordinary Taijutsu alone wouldn't even get him to Danzo before he was worn down and killed here.
As for the short blade White Fang, he absolutely couldn't draw it.
If his identity was exposed first, how could he become the Fourth Hokage?
He might as well defect and become a rogue ninja.
So the only way was to force his way in with Armament Haki.
But why kill all these Root members instead of knocking them out, when he'd chosen to use Armament Haki and keep "White Fang" hidden?
Knocking them out would only leave trouble waiting for him.
He had already made up his mind to become the Fourth Hokage. Once he successfully took that seat, the surviving Root members would see...
Huh? How come Lord White Fang can use that pitch-black move too?
How come he can use it too?
Uh...
Wouldn't that expose him on the spot?
Dead men couldn't speak. So he couldn't leave a single one alive.
Root's organization was much like the ANBU's: four people to a combat squad, with unit leaders above them, each commanding four squads. It was practically cast from the same mold as the ANBU.
In this short time, Hatake Sakumo had already killed three squads. He hadn't spared a single one of the twelve Root members.
"Kill him!"
"Surround him!"
More Root members poured out of the various passages and surrounded him.
Hatake Sakumo didn't even raise an eyelid. One punch apiece, he continued killing his way in.
Just then, unhurried footsteps sounded from behind the crowd, and a figure slowly stepped out.
At last, someone with a bit of strength had arrived.
Hatake Sakumo took a second look at the man and recognized him.
Shimura Hayato, one of Root's unit leaders.
The two had met before when Root and the ANBU had carried out missions together. He was strong, a genuine elite jonin. To become a unit leader under Danzo and command four squads, he naturally had some real skills.
But that was all.
He was no match for the original owner, let alone the current Hatake Sakumo.
Shimura Hayato wore a Root mask, concealing his expression. He stared at the blood-soaked, hooded figure before him as though he wanted to peel the man's skin off.
He wasted no words, quickly forming Hand Seals.
"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"
A two-meter-long blade of wind materialized out of thin air. Like a massive slash, it swept toward Hatake Sakumo's head amid howling gusts.
Hatake Sakumo neither dodged nor evaded. He raised his fist, coated in pitch-black Armament Haki, and punched.
"Clang...!"
The Wind Blade struck his iron fist with a tremendous metallic clash. Then the seemingly lethal blade was blasted apart by the punch, turning into a swirl of turbulent wind that dissipated into nothing.
Shimura Hayato's hand froze for an instant around his Kunai.
He had seen that clearly. That was a B-rank Wind Release Ninjutsu; an ordinary ninja caught by it would have been cut open at the very least. Yet it hadn't left so much as a white mark on this man's fist!
Even so, he was a Root unit leader who had spent years in the shadows doing all kinds of dirty work for Danzo that couldn't see the light of day. He pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth, forced himself to swallow that breath, and waved a hand:
"All of you, attack!"
As soon as he spoke, another squad that had just arrived spread out, forming a ring around Hatake Sakumo and trapping him in the center.
Shimura Hayato joined the fight himself. He moved like an eagle, weaving through the crowd, his eyes fixed on Hatake Sakumo's every move.
He had figured it out... the black substance on the mysterious man's fists was like armor.
The mysterious man defended with one hand and attacked with the other, seemingly without an opening. But the more he fought this way, the more openings would be hidden in the places he couldn't cover.
Soon, Shimura Hayato found his chance. He silently drew a Kunai and circled behind Hatake Sakumo.
A sneak attack from behind, aimed straight at his heart!
Shimura Hayato's breathing grew a fraction quieter. The mysterious man was under attack from all sides, one hand busy punching and the other blocking. How could he have anything left to deal with this strike?
If he blocked it, the others' attacks would hit him. If he didn't, he would take this blow!
His opponent hadn't noticed the sneak attack from behind at all, concentrating entirely on taking out the Root members surrounding him, one punch at a time.
Shimura Hayato had even planned where to land his next strike.
When Hatake Sakumo punched another attacking Root ninja to death, Shimura Hayato drove his Kunai viciously toward his back, aiming for his heart.
"Clang...!"
A sharp ring sounded.
The Kunai struck Hatake Sakumo's back as though it had hit an iron plate, producing a piercing metallic clang.
Then the Kunai... broke.
"Clatter."
Half the Kunai flew off and bounced twice on the ground.
Shimura Hayato's voice rose, trembling at the end. "What? How could this happen?"
He was, after all, an excellent Root leader. Reacting quickly, he used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat at once and open up some distance.
Just as he moved back, Hatake Sakumo followed with a backward kick, and the distance between them opened to about half a meter.
Shimura Hayato's back was already drenched in cold sweat.
This mysterious man was strong, but ultimately not cautious enough. Though his sneak attack had failed, at least he had gotten away unscathed.
He was considering how to make his next move...
"Thud!"
Before the smug look could fully form on his face, it was as though an invisible foot had kicked him in the face. His face twisted, and he flew backward!
The kick sent his mask flying. It spun through the air and fell to the ground with a clatter.
Shimura Hayato spat out a large mouthful of blood and crashed heavily to the ground, his eyes wide. To his dying moment, he couldn't understand... how had he been attacked from half a meter away?
He was dead.
That was right: Hatake Sakumo had used another application of advanced Armament Haki in that kick. Besides "Internal Destruction," which could strike into the body, there was also "External Emission," which could strike across a distance.
From half a meter away, a punch or a kick could still land on you across the gap.
He withdrew his leg as though he had just brushed dust off his shoe. That kick had struck Shimura Hayato's face from a distance, caving it in completely.
Just then, Shimura Danzō arrived from the other end of the passage with two squads of Root ninja. He happened to see it.
Shimura Hayato, one of his most capable unit leaders, had suddenly been sent flying by "air" and then died, just like that?
Danzo stared intently at his enemy, the Masked Man, his thoughts in turmoil.
What kind of ability is this?
They were half a meter apart. How could he hit him like that? And with so much power?
This wasn't Ninjutsu at all. He was well-informed, but he couldn't make any sense of what he had just seen.
Hatake Sakumo killed the last of his attackers with a punch, and his eyes beneath the mask settled on Shimura Danzō.
An invisible pressure came bearing down, filling the air.
Shimura Danzō's back stiffened inch by inch, and he clenched his fists.
For the first time, he felt threatened by an unfamiliar enemy.
And the source of that threat was now walking toward him, step by step.