Haruma leaped lightly.
The next second, he appeared right before the wooden house.
"Who goes there?!"
Two squads of Anbu instantly surrounded Haruma.
Another eight hid in the shadows with weapons in hand, ready to attack at any moment.
"Sorry." Haruma lightly clasped his hands. "I'm in a bit of a hurry."
Seeing the newcomer form hand seals, the Anbu closed in.
Had Haruma's attire not immediately identified him as someone from Konoha,
they would have attacked at once.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several kunai flew in a feint, with three Anbu close behind!
A short sword, a katana, and a shuriken were about to reach him!
Haruma ducked slightly, effortlessly evading the kunai.
He pushed off with his toes and leaped into the air!
With one hand ahead of the other, he brushed past the blades by a hair's breadth and pressed his palms onto two of their arms!
"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!"
Crack, crack.
Countless irregular wooden spikes extended from the fingers of his slender hands!
Squelch!
In the blink of an eye, the two Anbu were drenched in blood, spikes piercing their entire bodies!
Dazzling blood sprayed out!
A short sword struck from behind, its fierce gust brushing past his ear!
Haruma turned in midair and pointed!
Dozens of sharp wooden spears pierced the last attacker to approach him!
Bang.
The impaled body burst apart, turning into a faint white mist.
"Oh~"
Haruma's eyes brightened slightly. "Nice reflexes."
The third close-range attacker was, according to Haruma's senses, one of the four Jonin.
Upon seeing his attack evaded, he had immediately formed the hand seals for the Substitution Technique.
"This is... Wood Release!!!"
Shock flashed through everyone's eyes.
"Kito, evacuate the people at the compound and seek help nearby!"
The Anbu leader watched Haruma, his voice grave. "Everyone else, attack together!"
The man called Kito nodded slightly, pushed off lightly, and withdrew.
The remaining thirteen Anbu all revealed themselves, surrounding Haruma tightly in their midst.
"Clone: Giant Shuriken!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
In an instant, the ground, surface, and air were all sealed off!
His vision filled with a dazzling combination of ninjutsu!
Haruma's lips curved upward, and he was about to counterattack when a sudden shout halted his steps!
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
The sudden loss of control over his body stunned Haruma.
The Yamanaka Clan's secret technique!
I let my guard down, Haruma thought.
Boom! Rumble!
The earth split apart, sending rubble flying!
Terrifying shock waves spread relentlessly, wrapped in gale-force winds!
"Gah! Pfft!"
A long-haired female Anbu wearing a fox mask staggered and fell, coughing up a mouthful of blood!
"Hanako, are you all right?!"
The Anbu Captain kept his gaze fixed on the bombarded area ahead. Flying dust obscured their vision for the moment, but everyone remained on full alert.
"I'm fine."
Hanako braced both hands against the ground and slowly climbed to her feet, forcing herself to speak. "His mental strength is incredible! The backlash came too fast!"
"I'm not sure whether I immobilized him just now! Be careful, Captain!"
Crack, crack.
A tall, slender wooden platform swept aside the dust, abruptly rising from the center of the encirclement!
Haruma stood atop the platform in midair, looking down at the Anbu below.
Though he was uninjured, the torn edges of his clothes proved that their combined ninjutsu assault had worked.
Haruma glanced at the thatched hut everyone was protecting behind them, his eyes icy.
"I still underestimated you."
Haruma murmured the words, then formed hand seals again!
"Wood Release: Hell Rebellion!"
Boundless chakra spread and rampaged!
Boom, boom, boom!
The earth shook for several kilometers around!
Beneath the Anbu's feet, hundreds of ancient trees covered in thorns spiraled upward, growing wildly!
"Watch out!!!"
The Anbu Captain shouted!
The instant the shaking began, he had already leaped up, pushing his movement skills to their limits! He darted and dodged in every direction, not daring to stop for even a moment.
The ancient trees swelled, their branches linking together and extending, rushing toward them like countless iron whips with whistling gusts.
Spikes filled their vision, blotting out the sky. Trapped within, the Anbu could only dodge desperately.
At this point, only the thatched hut remained relatively intact.
Whether Anbu or Haruma, everyone's attacks had avoided the place without prior agreement.
The branches of the massive trees cleared a straight path toward the wooden house as though conscious.
Looking perfectly at ease, Haruma walked briskly to the door.
As for the Anbu within the forest, Haruma did not care whether they lived or died.
After all, he had deliberately let Kito leave to report what had happened.
Having another survivor or two help spread word of Danzo's ambitions seemed rather nice, too.
Bang.
A purple curtain of light shot into the sky as Haruma pushed open the door!
"There's a barrier, too! That old fox really is cautious!"
"Too bad it's too late~"
Haruma raised his fingertip slightly, aiming at the center of the light curtain.
Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt!
Violent lightning spread, blue-green light coursing around his fingertip!
"Chidori Sharp Spear!"
Boom!
A terrifying electric current erupted from his fingertip! In the blink of an eye, it pierced the entire barrier!
Crack, crack!
Breached at a single point, the barrier shattered like glass, its fragments dissipating!
"Phew~"
Haruma made a show of blowing the faint smoke from his fingertip, then stepped through the doorway.
Before his eyes,
rows of bookshelves were piled with scrolls.
"Wow~"
Haruma's eyes lit up, and he hurried forward to look through them.
After checking the authenticity of several scrolls, Haruma murmured in a trembling voice, wild with joy, "I'm rich. I'm rich!"
Three minutes earlier,
Sarutobi, on his way to the Hokage Building, was still thinking grimly about everything that had happened after Itachi attended the banquet.
At the same time, he was considering what arrangements to make once Itachi woke up.
As he wrestled with the headache, Sarutobi's expression abruptly changed!
He hurriedly turned toward the Sarutobi compound.
The purple barrier light shooting into the sky had shone for only a few seconds before shattering!
"Damn it!!!"
Sarutobi, who usually kept his emotions hidden, now gritted his teeth, his face filled with fury!
He understood better than anyone what the barrier's destruction meant!
Boom!
Unleashing his full strength, Sarutobi stamped a crater beneath his feet, setting off explosive bursts of air!
The Anbu behind him exchanged glances and hurried after him.
By the time Sarutobi reached the compound, Kito had also arrived with over a dozen Inuzuka Clan ninja.
The thatched hut housing the scrolls was enveloped in dense forest.
His face dark, Sarutobi slammed a palm into the ground.
Bang.
Sarutobi summoned a giant ape with white hair covering his face and a Konoha forehead protector tied around his head.
"Wood Release ninjutsu?!"
Enma, who knew the history of Konoha's rise, looked astonished the moment he appeared.
"Enma, be careful. The enemy may still be here."
Hearing sounds from within the dense forest, Sarutobi prepared to attack with his full strength.
"Move!"
Sarutobi and Enma led the charge, with the ninja following close behind!
Even after discovering several Anbu corpses in the dense forest, Sarutobi did not stop.
His expression only grew darker.
In silence, he swept through the massive trees with Enma, clearing a path.