"Come out!"
"Come out!"
"Come out!"
"..."
Araki muttered to himself, his tone growing increasingly heavy, veins bulging on his forehead. He could feel the connection between himself and the Hashirama Cells more clearly, as if those Hashirama Cells were part of his body, separated from him all along, and now they were about to break through the binding seal and return to his body.
Buzzing...
The tremors became increasingly exaggerated, and the soil on the ground was turned upside down, as if something was constantly striking the ground.
A few minutes later.
Bottles began to emerge from the ground.
These bottles are transparent, but it's unclear what material they're made of. They appear incredibly sturdy, having broken through the ground without a scratch. The green liquid inside is boiling, surging and churning violently.
The Anbu, the dormitory.
The people living here are all Anbu Ninja from Konoha, but they are not Anbu Directly Under the Hokage. They follow the Third, changing positions at any time, and waiting for orders day and night.
The ninjas here were all dressed and lying on their beds, some flat on their backs and some on their sides, each with a different posture. What they had in common was that they all wore ninja tools at their waists and had a mask next to their heads, each with a different pattern on their mask.
As Anbu Ninja, staying vigilant at all times is a fundamental principle. This allows them to receive missions immediately when problems arise and get straight to the scene of the incident.
Shaking...
However, at that moment, the Anbu dormitory began to shake violently, waking up all the Anbu Ninja who were not asleep to begin with.
"An earthquake?"
What happened?
What happened?
"Could it be an earthquake?"
"Earthquake?"
"..."
These Anbu Ninja rose with remarkable agility, sitting up one by one from their beds, their solemn faces showing a hint of tension.
In the ninja world, earthquakes are extremely serious events, the most destructive natural disasters, terrifying to behold and inspiring fear just to think about them.
Even the Anbu Ninja looked grim after feeling the ground shake.
"Wrong!"
At that moment, among these Anbu Ninja, one who looked like a squad leader had an extremely complicated expression on his face.
"This shaking isn't like the violent shaking of an earthquake; it's more like some kind of surging force, and judging from the ripples it's emanating, the source should be over there!"
The Anbu squad leader raised his right hand and pointed his index finger in the direction of the Hokage's office building. After he finished speaking, the expressions of all the ninjas in the Anbu dormitory changed drastically.
" The Hokage's office!"
The Anbu Ninja exclaimed in unison, and after saying that, they were all dumbfounded. After a brief pause, they quickly composed themselves, picked up the masks at hand, put them on, and then ran towards the Hokage's office at top speed.
"Go!"
These Anbu Ninja transformed into shadows in the night sky, darting swiftly towards the Hokage's office. The distance wasn't far to begin with, so it wouldn't take long at all.
A few breaths later, these Anbu Ninja arrived at the entrance of the Hokage's office building. They were all wearing masks, and their eyes were focused on the two guard ninjas lying at the entrance.
Seeing this scene immediately made everyone even more serious.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures flashed out quickly, squatted down to inspect the two guarding ninjas, then exchanged a glance, nodded, and turned to look at the Anbu Captain.
"He's not dead."
"I didn't die here either!"
The two reported back one after the other, and after they finished speaking, they looked directly toward the Hokage's office building without even glancing at it.
At this point in time, the gazes of these Anbu Ninja were all fixed on the entrance of the office building, and the eyes revealed through the eye sockets of their masks flashed with unprecedented shock and fear.
In their sight, the door to the Hokage's office building, which they had seen countless times, was now in ruins, riddled with cracks that looked as if it might shatter at any moment, yet it still retained its original appearance, as if the cracks on the door had been drawn on with a pen.
Of course, the door itself wasn't the main point; the main point was the Chakra constantly surging from behind it—a terrifying pressure that made their very souls tremble...
Chapter 16 I am the Hokage of Konoha!
Konoha: Nobody knew I could use Wood Release! Chapter 16: I am the true Hokage of Konoha!
"Captain, what's in here?"
"This Chakra is terrifying!"
"A monster?"
Are there any monsters inside the Hokage's office building?
What do we do?
"..."
These Anbu Ninja all wore masks, which effectively concealed their facial expressions, making them completely invisible.
Even under such circumstances, one could still sense their fear through their eyes.
Several ninjas even trembled uncontrollably from their instincts.
"I... I don't know..."
The Anbu Captain's breathing became rapid. He had never encountered such a situation before. If it were just carrying out a mission, he would not be afraid even if he faced the most powerful enemy. However, what they feared most was this kind of unknown fear.
They have no idea who the other person is?
Or rather...
Who knows if there's a person or a monster behind that door?
Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!
Just as these Anbu Ninja were in shock, the sound of shattering glassware rang out, followed by an unnatural aura spreading in the air. It was a powerful life force that seemed capable of bringing withered trees back to life, and even the surrounding air currents unconsciously began to swirl, making everyone feel a suffocating sense of oppression.
It was an extremely contradictory feeling; it was clearly a life force capable of nourishing all things, yet it conveyed an extremely terrifying and overwhelming pressure.
This made them feel as if they were standing in the middle of a vast ocean, incredibly small, unable to control their own destiny, as if even the slightest wave could drown them.
"Ah, that feels so good!"
Under the quiet night sky, an unfamiliar voice rang out from the doorway, clearly reaching the ears of these Anbu Ninja.
The person's voice wasn't loud, but it wasn't deliberately lowered either, giving it a natural feel.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The earth trembled again, and the tremors were even stronger than before, as if to awaken everyone sleeping in the entire Konoha.
only...
For these nearby Anbu Ninja, it was a completely different experience—the same vibration, but a different feeling.
Each of them could clearly feel that the current vibration was significantly different from the previous one. The vibration that had attracted them was more like something was about to burst out of the ground, but now it felt as if that thing was right behind the door.
Such tremors originated from the being inside the door.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of them, moving so fast that the Anbu Ninja couldn't react in time.
Only after they clearly saw the figure did they breathe a sigh of relief, their faces showing obvious ease, and the heavy burden on their shoulders was lifted.
" The Third Lord Hokage!"
The Anbu Ninja greeted him in unison, but under such pressure, they didn't have time to bow properly; everyone's gaze was focused on the background of the Hokage's robe.
The Lord Hokage has arrived!
Their leader has arrived!
This made them feel much more at ease in the face of this unprecedented situation, and their eyes even held a sense of hope.
The Third did not respond to these people's words. Instead, he stared at the door with a solemn expression. He stood still, not moving forward easily, and his deep eyes seemed to be thinking about something.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Immediately afterward, three more figures arrived. The Anbu Ninja recognized them immediately.
They are all high-ranking officials in Konoha.
Shimura Danzō.
Utatane Koharu.
Mitokado Homura.
With the arrival of the three, the atmosphere of helplessness and isolation instantly eased, as if the energy of the place had been stabilized.
"Call..."
The Anbu Captain, who had been at a loss just moments before, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With the appearance of these bigwigs, the pressure on his heart was completely relieved.
Even if the sky falls, these people will hold it up!
" Hiruzen, what's going on?" Danzo asked in a deep voice.
"This is the aura of the Hashirama Cells, but it's unclear what happened." The Third's tone was equally somber.
"Is someone conducting experiments here?" Danzo subconsciously pondered this place. After all, there was almost nothing in Konoha that he didn't know. He had been secretly planning the replication of the Wood Release ninja, and Orochimaru had been researching it. However, he hadn't seen Orochimaru for a while, and instinctively wondered if the person who did this was Orochimaru.
Whoosh!
Before the Third could finish speaking, another figure appeared—it was Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin, who had just returned.
Jiraiya first looked at the violently shaking Hokage office building and clearly sensed the terrifying Chakra inside. He was greatly shocked, but he also had a vague sense of familiarity, as if he had felt it somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where.
His gaze then fell on the Third, before turning to look at several Konoha High Command.
Seeing that all these people had arrived but none of them went inside, and that their expressions were not relaxed, one could roughly guess that something had happened, so one simply did not ask.