The tattered Hokage hat lay silently in the scorched dust.
A gentle breeze stirred up ashes, blowing past the forlorn figure of the Third Hokage.
However, before the surrounding civilians and Anbu could recover from this shocking scene...
"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!"
A dense, whistling sound, like a torrential downpour, tore through the surrounding ruins!
Dozens, even hundreds, of figures clad in gray-black tactical trench coats and wearing pale animal masks shot out from the ground and behind the ruins without warning!
In the blink of an eye.
Three hundred fully armed Root soldiers from the Roots, like a cold iron wall, tightly surrounded the center of the ruins!
The chilling glint of blades merged into one, exuding a bone-chilling killing intent!
These Root Ninja had no human emotions in their eyes, only mechanical coldness and cruelty.
They didn't even show their faces when Orochimaru was wreaking havoc, when the Konoha building collapsed, and when civilians were being slaughtered.
At this moment, with the great enemy defeated and the situation initially stabilized, they swarmed out like vultures that had smelled blood!
The leader, a Special Jōnin Root, drew Chakra dagger from his back.
The cold blade bypassed the Third Hokage and pointed directly at the composed Senju Kenya!
" Senju Kenya!"
The Root leader's voice, hoarse and sinister, came through the mask, directly declaring a crime worthy of annihilation:
"You infiltrated Konoha without authorization and destroyed the Hokage Building, completely paralyzing the village's central command!"
"Furthermore, there is strong suspicion of treason, including collusion with Sunagakure and Orochimaru, which led to this catastrophe!"
The Root leader abruptly raised his short sword and barked an order at the surrounding Konoha Anbu and Jonin:
"All Anbu, listen up!"
"This man is the most heinous criminal who has endangered the village!"
"Immediately surround them with my Root, form a defensive formation, and capture them completely! Anyone who resists will be killed on the spot!"
This sudden turn of events instantly threw the entire ruins of the training ground into chaos!
"What nonsense are you spouting?!"
The Konoha who had just arrived at the edge of the ruins were the first to lose their temper, their angry roars rising and falling:
"Where were you Root when Orochimaru was killing people?!"
"It was Lord Kenya who saved us! He drove the monster away with a single punch!"
"You bunch of Nezumi hiding in the sewers, now you're out here catching heroes? Have you no shame?!"
Countless angry civilians even picked up stones from the ground and hurled them at the Root Ninja.
The Konoha Anbu who were maintaining order looked at each other, holding their Ninja Blade, but none of them stepped forward to obey the order.
The Anbu are the Hokage's direct subordinate units, not Danzo's private army!
Who are the heroes and who are the villains? Everyone can see it!
The civilians were outraged when they saw that the Anbu remained inactive.
A cold, embarrassed laugh came from beneath the mask of the Root leader.
He suddenly pulled a scroll bearing a dark red top-secret seal from his robes and held it high!
"Insolence! What do you ignorant fools know?!"
The leader of the Root tribe roared at the top of his lungs, his voice filled with arrogant arrogance:
"This is a wartime emergency security order personally signed by Hokage Shimura, the Shimura Danzō's assistant and the highest commander of Root!"
" The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, is old and senile, and has voluntarily stepped down!"
" Konoha has suffered heavy losses and is leaderless; the village has entered its highest state of emergency!"
The Root leader brandished the scroll, his tone chillingly menacing:
"From this moment forward, all security and military defense in Konoha will be under the complete military control of Root!"
"Anyone who dares to incite a riot or disobey orders will be punished for treason and rebellion!"
"Any Anbu who dares to disobey orders will be held accountable as a member of the organization!"
Accompanied by his roar.
Three hundred Root assassins stepped forward in unison!
"Buzz--!"
A violent wave of Chakra erupted simultaneously, and a chilling killing intent pressed down on the unarmed civilians and wounded as if it were a tangible force.
Several Root Ninja who were nearby even pointed their Kunai at the direction where Naruto and Sasuke were!
This is blatant coercion!
Taking advantage of the power vacuum created by the abdication of Third and the initial pacification of the chaos.
Shimura Danzō to use this well-preserved private army to forcibly seize supreme power in Konoha!
" Shimura Danzō... how dare he..."
The Third Hokage, slumped on the ground, trembled violently, his eyes filled with disbelief and sorrow.
He abdicated to peacefully transfer power to the Senju.
Danzo, however, intends to drag Konoha into a state of utter white terror!
"You damned old dog!"
Standing beside Kenya, Tsunade furrowed, and a murderous intent surged in her beautiful eyes!
A terrifying, monstrous Chakra instantly coalesced on her right fist, and even the surrounding rubble levitated under the force of her fury!
With one step, she was about to blast these ignorant Root into a bloody pulp!
However.
A large, warm, calloused hand gently rested on Tsunade's shoulder.
"Auntie, you don't need to get your hands dirty swatting flies that crawled out of this stinky ditch."
Kenya remained calm, not even bothering to glance at the so-called emergency decree.
He held the white jade pipe in his mouth and slowly exhaled a puff of white smoke.
Then, Kenya slightly turned his head, his eyelids drooping, and his gaze pierced through the green smoke, landing on the arrogant Root leader.
He didn't even take his hands out of the large pockets of his beach shorts.
He couldn't even be bothered to fully open his eyelids.
An ant is just an ant.
Do these brainwashed assassins underground really think they can swagger in front of a true dragon with just a few poisoned daggers and a piece of tattered paper?
Facing these three hundred fierce and self-important elites from the Root.
Kenya spoke from deep within his nasal cavity, with utter contempt and utter casualness.
He let out a faint, cold snort:
"Snort."
That invisible, dark red shockwave exploded once again on the ruins.