"Dodge, Naruto!"
Watching Naruto still standing there blankly, Sasuke was unbearably anxious. Even Itachi and Fugaku beside him felt their hearts tighten without realizing it. They, too, were worried about Naruto's safety.
Itachi even wanted to act. He had already prepared himself to activate his Mangekyō Sharingan to save Naruto. After all, Naruto had just saved his younger brother, so he could not stand by and let him die.
But when Danzo's Ninjutsu slammed into Naruto, there was a bang, and Naruto burst apart. Yet there was no bloody scene, only clouds of mist.
"The Clone Technique? When?"
Danzo scanned his surroundings, searching for Naruto. He had not even seen Naruto forming hand seals before the Ninjutsu was already unleashed.
Seeing that Naruto was unharmed, Sasuke and the others breathed sighs of relief.
Fugaku's eyes lit up. Even he had not seen Naruto cast that Ninjutsu. Just how strong was Naruto now?
But this was clearly not the time to discuss it. Before he could tell his son to help Naruto, he heard Naruto's deeply mocking words.
"Yo, you old dog Danzo. Looking for me?"
Danzo whipped his head around and saw that Naruto had appeared behind him at some point.
Naruto had even planted both hands on the ground. Seeing this, Danzo knew things were about to go wrong.
"Oh no."
"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"
A massive current surged from Naruto's hands into the ground, heading straight toward Danzo. When people discovered an attack beneath their feet, their instinctive reaction was to jump up to dodge the attack on the ground.
"You fell for it."
Naruto sneered. I've been waiting for you to jump, Danzo. The hand seals changed rapidly in Naruto's hands.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"
Huge stone spikes erupted from underground, thrusting straight at Danzo's crotch. As for Danzo, he had nothing to push off against in midair and could only take Naruto's Ninjutsu head-on.
"Aaaah!!!"
His chrysanthemum was wounded, devastation everywhere.
A wretched scream reached everyone's ears, making everyone present feel their own chrysanthemums clench. Their expressions as they looked at Danzo took on sympathy, mockery, and surprise.
Seeing their leader injured, the Root ninja hurriedly rushed over to rescue him.
But how could Naruto let Danzo off?
"You're not getting away today."
Though the Root ninja were fast, Naruto was faster. He used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of Danzo, giving him no chance to resist. His hands formed seals even faster, and what followed shocked everyone present.
"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!"
The moment Naruto finished shouting, a mass of wooden spikes fell from the sky, piercing Danzo's buttocks and puncturing his bones, pinning him in place while he was still alive.
"What? Was that Wood Release just now?"
Danzo also stared at Naruto in disbelief. He had never expected Naruto to know Wood Release. He had secretly researched Wood Release with Orochimaru for so long, yet had never achieved such power. All they had produced was Kinoe's carpentry-level Wood Release.
But the powerful Wood Release before him left Danzo dumbfounded, and he no longer even paid attention to his injuries. Thinking of how all those years of research had made no progress, how could he not be envious? How could he not covet it?
Danzo endured the pain and spoke with difficulty.
"Jinchūriki brat, tell me. Why can you use such powerful Wood Release?"
"Hmph. No comment, you old dog Danzo."
Seeing Naruto refuse to show him any respect, Danzo could not bear the humiliation and could only attack Naruto with the most vicious words.
"How rude. Has no one ever taught you manners? Oh, right. You Jinchūriki don't even have parents."
It had to be admitted that Danzo's attack was very successful.
Once his words fell, everyone present except Root was dumbfounded. They stared fixedly at Danzo, disbelief covering their faces. Seriously, how did Danzo dare?
Naruto lowered his head, hiding his eyes from view, but everyone could feel the aura on the verge of erupting from him. Waves of evil, ominous chakra even seeped out of his body.
"Naruto..."
Sasuke also noticed something was wrong with Naruto, but he did not know how to comfort him. Without experiencing another's suffering, one should not urge them to be kind.
Naruto was considering how to kill Danzo. Just thinking about that utterly ridiculous Izanagi gave him a headache, but he would make Danzo pay today.
A dragon had a reverse scale. Whoever touched it had to die.
Having made up his mind, Naruto first suppressed the Nine-Tails chakra within him and stopped looking at Danzo's hateful old face. He had already thought of a way to deal with him.
"Sealing Jutsu: Demon Removal!"
"Sealing Jutsu: Four Limbs Heavy Seal!"
"Genjutsu: False Place Technique!"
After using three secret scroll abilities in succession, Naruto felt a huge amount of chakra suddenly drain from his body. Fortunately, he still had enough to maintain these three Ninjutsu.
Danzo, who had intended to use Izanagi to rid himself of the negative effects, no longer had any of his earlier composure. He could not sense his chakra, could not cast Ninjutsu, and could not even control his limbs.
Cold sweat flowed along with his blood. Danzo had never imagined that he would fall at this brat's hands. Unable to sense even a trace of chakra, he could not even use Izanagi.
Danzo panicked completely and began trembling as he begged for mercy.
"Naruto Uzumaki, let this old man go. I apologize for what happened just now."
"Heh. Too late."
There was a saying that put it well: you had not realized you were wrong; you had realized you were going to die.
"Bastards, hurry up and save me!"
The Root ninja all charged toward Naruto, but Fugaku led his men to intercept them.
"Stop them."
"Hahaha! Clan leader, I'd do that even without you telling me!"
"That's right! Let that young fellow beat that old dog Danzo good and hard. Let him vent our anger for us."
"Naruto, go ahead and do what you want. Leave the rest to us."
Itachi said nothing more. He simply grabbed his short sword and charged into the Root ninja, cutting several of them down with a few swift slashes.
Meanwhile, Naruto knew that these secret scroll Ninjutsu could not restrain Danzo for long. But what he wanted to do now was beat him hard to vent his anger. For a time, all that could be heard were fists striking flesh, skin splitting, and bones breaking.
Even if the Root ninja heard it, what could they do? They could not break through the Uchiha encirclement at all.
Danzo was practically dying of frustration. When he had attacked this brat earlier, he had clearly held back. Yet look how things had turned out. He had shown consideration for the brat's status as a Jinchūriki, but the brat showed him no respect as an elder whatsoever.
Slaps kept raining down on his face, until Danzo felt even his gums loosen. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and sure enough, several teeth came out with it.
But Naruto showed no intention of stopping. If he let this opportunity slip by, he would not get another.
"Sasuke, get over here! This guy was involved too!"
How could Sasuke keep standing there after hearing that? Watching from the sidelines could hardly feel as good as joining in himself.
Fists and feet flew, and Danzo howled nonstop.
Because Naruto had sealed him, Danzo was like a fish on a chopping board, helpless to do anything but submit to the slaughter. Even two fellows who were not yet Genin were enough to make him suffer.
"H-help... help... Monkey..."
Until a low yet penetrating voice rang out.
"What are you doing? All of you, stop!"