Underground,
Sarutobi led the others forward.
The Anbu accompanying him held burning candles, lighting their way.
"Sarutobi, what brings you here?" Danzo's low voice came from the depths.
Sarutobi stopped, watching Danzo emerge step by step from the darkness, an exceedingly complicated expression on his face.
After a moment's deliberation, Sarutobi looked Danzo straight in the eye. "The Sarutobi compound was attacked today. Fourteen Anbu guards died!"
Danzo frowned. He knew this was serious, but what did Sarutobi mean by barging straight into Root?
Because of the human experimentation incident these past few days, Anbu were still watching Root's entrance.
Danzo had not received today's latest reports, so he had only just learned of this.
Watching the expressionless Danzo, Sarutobi continued, "There was only one attacker. He wore Root combat gear, and he even used Wood Release."
Having said that, Sarutobi watched Danzo's every move intently.
At those words, Danzo's pupils abruptly contracted!
Wood Release! Could it be Tenzo?
Impossible! I clearly sent Tenzo out to assist Orochimaru. How could he have appeared in Konoha and attacked the Sarutobi Clan?
Besides, he shouldn't possibly be that strong.
As he considered this, Danzo's expression remained unchanged. "So, Sarutobi, what have you come here to tell me?"
"Don't tell me you can't see through such an obvious frame-up."
Sarutobi pointed at Kuromaru. "The attacker left a scent. We tracked it all the way here."
"Impossible!" Danzo said coldly. "There is absolutely no way a Root ninja did this, nor could the attacker possibly have infiltrated this place."
Having never issued such an absurd order, Danzo naturally refused to believe anyone in Root had betrayed him.
"Impossible?" Sarutobi's face was resolute. "If you think it's impossible, then let the ninja dog search!"
With that, Sarutobi strode forward with his people!
"Wait!" Danzo reached out, blocking Sarutobi's path. "Are you planning to take all these people through Root and search the entire place?!"
Sarutobi halted. He understood Danzo's hint.
As Konoha's dark side, this base might contain plenty of other things comparable to human experimentation.
But the Scroll of Seals passed down to them was undoubtedly more important!
"I'm not discussing this with you! This is an order!"
Without faltering, Sarutobi pushed Danzo aside and continued leading his people after Kuromaru.
His face livid, Danzo stared fixedly at Sarutobi's back.
The anger buried deep in his heart kept rising.
Perhaps I really should consider that person's proposal.
After winding their way through the underground passages, they finally stopped before a sealed hidden door at Kuromaru's signal.
"Danzo, open it," Sarutobi said coldly.
Danzo stepped forward with narrowed eyes, glancing at the Anbu behind Sarutobi. "Everything in here is a precious treasure you instructed me to collect. Are you sure you want me to open it here?"
Precious treasures I instructed him to collect?
Sarutobi frowned, unable to understand what Danzo meant. But, anxious to discover the truth, he still said gravely, "Open it!"
Danzo nodded behind him, and Aburame Ryoma, who had been following him all along, immediately handed him a key.
With a cold laugh, Danzo stepped forward, removed the seal, and pushed the door open.
The cramped hidden chamber held only three rows of wooden shelves. Yet their contents made the Anbu behind Sarutobi, along with Tsume Inuzuka, gasp.
One row was the most ordinary: several sets of Root combat gear and Konoha forehead protectors.
The remaining two rows of shelves...
More than a dozen two-tomoe Sharingan floated in medicinal solution, alongside a Byakugan from the Hyuga Clan already showing signs of decay, and several clumps of mutated flesh packed into narrow, flexible tubes.
The last row of shelves held scrolls, with clearly engraved labels beneath them.
Yamanaka Clan secret techniques, Aburame Clan secret techniques, Hyuga taijutsu, Hatake sword techniques...
The inherited ninjutsu of nearly all of Konoha's clans were actually here!
"Danzo!!!"
Sarutobi roared, his chakra surging!
Well, well!
So that's why you said I ordered you to do it!
What a fine job of dumping the blame on me! Sarutobi was nearly crying with rage!
At that moment, Sarutobi truly regretted bringing people inside.
The Anbu behind him were members of the various clans.
Unlike Root, they had not been branded with seals. That damned schemer Danzo had really screwed him over this time!
Saddled with the blame, Sarutobi instantly went berserk!
As for Danzo at that moment,
His face was bewildered, his pupils darting around like spinning tops!
How could this happen?!!
This was utterly absurd!
Danzo had indeed intended to dump the blame on Sarutobi at first.
There should only have been Root uniforms and a few pairs of two-tomoe Sharingan in here!
Just a few pairs of Uchiha Clan eyes would not have provoked much of a reaction from the Anbu or Tsume Inuzuka.
Even if they reported it to their clans, it would not have much impact.
But these dozen-plus pairs of Sharingan that had suddenly appeared, along with the Byakugan and even secret technique scrolls...
If these things came to light, all hell really would break loose!
Though they were all things Danzo had contemplated obtaining,
I clearly haven't even started yet, so how did the spoils appear on their own?
And the clear inscriptions beneath the scrolls were obvious proof that someone had broken in!
Who on earth was it?!!
Who had not only located the Root Base hidden deep within Konoha, but staged all this without triggering the barrier?!
Along with his shock, Danzo felt a faint trace of fear!
"You really are courting death!"
"Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction!!"
Rumble! Rumble!
The underground rock walls exploded like cannon shells!
Layer upon layer of heavy rock kept crashing down from overhead!
The Anbu, nearly caught in the attack, hastily scattered.
A battle erupted without warning!
Root ninja rushed toward the noise and faced off against the Anbu!
Danzo kept dodging through the dust. "Sarutobi, calm down!"
"I didn't arrange this! Someone tampered with this place!"
His face cold, Sarutobi gave no reply. His hands simply never stopped forming hand seals!
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
"Water Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Feast!"
He truly lived up to his reputation as the Professor of Ninjutsu, with a full repertoire of techniques and abundant chakra!
An unending bombardment of ninjutsu!
One man rivaled an army!
Though the onslaught was tremendous, even shaking the Hokage Building above,
Danzo, who kept dodging, still suffered little injury and continued trying to explain something.
The only thing damaged was the entire Root Base, especially the hidden chamber Danzo had just opened.
Under Sarutobi's deliberate control, it was destroyed completely.
More and more Anbu and Root members were drawn over by the tremendous noise.
With two of their highest-ranking leaders fighting, they dared not intervene rashly without orders.
If they truly wanted an all-out battle, Sarutobi and Danzo still had opportunities to give the word.
So, with remarkable mutual understanding, both groups kept their distance to avoid the battle's aftershocks, then gazed deeply into each other's eyes, settling into a strange standoff.
At the Naka River,
The place where Shisui had jumped into the river to end his life back then.
Haruma soaked comfortably in the clear river water, still humming softly.
"Today is a good day~"
"Everything you wish for comes true~"