The Forest of Death.
Members of Root concealed themselves near the laboratory, patiently waiting for the target to appear.
It wasn't until the moon rose high in the sky that a figure vaguely appeared in the distance.
The moment the Root members spotted the figure, they all tensed up.
Not because Gisei Shiraishi was incredibly strong, but because of his unique status. Born into a prestigious family, backed by over a dozen ninja clans—aside from the four high-ranking officials, he was already considered a major player in the village.
One could only imagine the magnitude of the shock arresting such a person would bring to Konoha.
However, Lord Danzo had issued a clear order: if he resists, kill him without mercy.
No one dared to question Danzo's orders, which meant that the person walking toward them had just stepped through the gates of hell.
The figure drew closer and closer. After carefully observing the newcomer's appearance to confirm his identity, a few Root members gently waved their hands.
In an instant, countless shuriken shot out from the surrounding dense forest.
The figure fell without any resistance.
Several Root members used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of the fallen body. They saw over a dozen shuriken stuck in him, blood still flowing freely from the wounds.
"...He died just like that?"
"There's blood. It's not a clone."
"Target confirmed. It is indeed Gisei Shiraishi. Confirmed dead."
The speaking Root member flipped the corpse over to face the sky, confirming the identity once again.
"What the hell? A few shuriken killed him? Was it really necessary to mobilize over a hundred people for this?"
"Enough. Go report to Lord Danzo."
The moment the few Root members turned around, the "corpse" on the ground suddenly opened its eyes. Lightning instantly exploded from its body.
"Watch out!" a vigilant Root member shouted.
"Lightning Release: Scorching Stream Kill!" (Raiton: Shakuryūsatsu!)
Gisei, his entire body wrapped in dense plasma, smashed his fist toward the Root member directly in front of him.
The Root member hurriedly drew his sword to block, but the moment the fist made contact with the blade, the steel immediately melted into molten iron.
The fist didn't stop there. After melting through the long sword, it punched directly through the man's chest.
Casually throwing the Root member's corpse to the ground, Gisei scratched his head.
Shuichi Takemoto's signature move was becoming sharper and sharper in his hands. Even though this was just a clone, the power unleashed by the Scorching Stream Kill was not to be underestimated.
Nodding with satisfaction, Gisei then showed a melancholy expression.
Listening to the conversation of those Root members just now, it seemed Danzo didn't come personally at all.
Hmm... does he look down on me that much?
I've been completely treated as a pig!
Thinking you can get rid of me by just sending a few more subordinates—Danzo, how can you be so naive!
After Gisei killed that first Root member, he made no further moves, allowing the hundred-plus Root members to surround him.
"Gisei Shiraishi, you are under arrest. Give up your resistance, because you have no chance of winning."
The speaking Root member had a nasty smell about him.
This smell... parasitic insects?
"Ryoma Aburame?"
Gisei asked casually, then reached out and started pulling the shuriken out of his body.
Clink. Clink.
The sound of metal hitting the ground rang out continuously. One by one, Gisei pulled the shuriken from his flesh and threw them down, his expression unchanging.
The Root members surrounding him felt a creeping sense of horror at the sight.
"Does this guy feel no pain?"
"No, when I checked earlier, he was clearly dead."
"Undying body?"
"Are you kidding? How could such a person exist?"
The Root member who spoke earlier was indeed Ryoma Aburame, but since he was on a mission, he couldn't remove his mask.
"I didn't expect our reunion to be in a scene like this. What exactly is going on with you?"
Gisei felt slightly bored after pulling out the last shuriken. Hearing Ryoma's words, he laughed. "This scene is quite nice, actually. As for me, well, look..."
The green light characteristic of medical ninjutsu lit up on Gisei's hand. He gently brushed it over his wounds, and they instantly stopped bleeding and healed completely, leaving the surrounding Root members dumbfounded.
Seeing this, Ryoma's mouth twitched behind his mask. "No matter how profound your medical ninjutsu is, you can't escape from here today. Surrender!"
Gisei shook his head. "How do you know if you don't try? As long as I return to Konoha, you should know what Danzo's fate will be."
"Do it!"
Since words wouldn't work, Ryoma chose to attack directly. He knew very well that he absolutely could not let Gisei return to Konoha. Otherwise, if he rallied the power of the ninja clans, even Lord Danzo wouldn't have it easy.
Shuriken tagged with explosive tags shot toward Gisei one by one. Gisei slapped both hands on the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" (Doton: Doryūheki!)
The sound of explosive tags detonating rang out continuously. Hiding behind the wall, Gisei sighed.
If Danzo doesn't come, what's the point of killing his subordinates?
I still have to find a way to draw him out.
Rolling his eyes, Gisei decided to feign a breakout toward Konoha. As long as he got closer and closer to the village, he didn't believe Danzo could sit still.
The sound of explosions gradually died down. Gisei threw a single shuriken directly toward the direction of Konoha.
Seeing Gisei throw a shuriken, Ryoma remembered the graduation exam back then. He didn't hesitate to throw one of his own, intending to knock down Gisei's shuriken in mid-air.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the Sharingan.
Lightning flashed on Gisei's body, and he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear right next to his own flying shuriken. The shuriken Ryoma threw just happened to stick into Gisei's body instead.
Gisei gave Ryoma an extremely nasty, mocking smile, then without looking back, broke out toward Konoha.
Over a hundred Root members chased right behind him. From time to time, they used ninjutsu or explosive tags to attack him.
The Forest of Death became lively.
Actually, with the speed of Gisei's Lightning Body Flicker, returning to Konoha would only take a few minutes. But since Danzo still hadn't shown up, he had to pretend to circle around and start killing people.
Lightning Release: Scorching Stream Kill became a nightmare for the Root members. Touch it and you die; no one dared to step forward and tangle with him.
Seeing Konoha getting closer and closer, Gisei still hadn't seen Danzo appear. So he stopped pretending and turned back to start the slaughter in earnest.
...
Danzo was waiting for good news from his subordinates at the Root headquarters.
He had never taken Gisei Shiraishi seriously; he was just a brat from a good background. But this brat, relying on his background, actually dared to bare his fangs at him and threaten Konoha.
Seeking death.
The hurried sound of footsteps suddenly rang out. The expression on Danzo's face relaxed; it must be his subordinates returning after completing the mission.
A moment later, a Root member covered in blood knelt before him.
"Lord Danzo, the target is too strong. He has already killed more than half of our members. If this continues, we will be completely wiped out."
Danzo stared at him viciously, looking like he wanted to eat him alive.
"A brat who isn't even an adult killed more than half of my Root forces?"
"Lord Danzo, the target's abilities are too weird. He is suspected to have an undying body. No matter what kind of damage we inflict on him, he recovers instantly."
Hearing "undying body," Danzo's face showed an expression of uncertainty and shock.
"Is there any other intelligence?"
"The target is skilled in Lightning Release and Earth Release."
Lightning Release and Earth Release?
Danzo hurriedly took out a document from his robe. It contained Gisei's Anbu file. It clearly stated that he was skilled in Lightning and Water dual attributes, medical ninjutsu, and secret techniques.
Danzo read it twice and tightly gripped the document.
This brat... had he been hiding his other abilities from start to finish?
Such scheming...
Danzo knew he couldn't hesitate anymore. Otherwise, if Gisei returned to Konoha, even the Hokage wouldn't be able to protect him.
...
So boring!
Gisei sighed as he looked at the Root ninjas who surrounded him from a distance but didn't dare to come forward.
Over a hundred Root ninjas. Probably only about ten were Jonin, and the rest were almost all Chunin.
If we're really talking about strength, they are a bit stronger than ordinary ninjas, but that strength lies mostly in combat experience. In other aspects, they are almost the same.
Meeting him, they had met their nemesis.
Taijutsu? The high-temperature nature transformation of Scorching Stream Kill meant death upon contact.
Ninjutsu wasn't much use either; even if it caused damage, Gisei could heal instantly.
Genjutsu... would insects hiding inside a human body fall for genjutsu?
To be honest, Gisei really didn't think his clone was that strong—barely at the level of an Elite Jonin—and that was mostly thanks to his weird abilities.
Over a hundred people being chased and killed by him—is this really Danzo's Root?
Now that only a dozen or so people were left, they still wanted to surround him like this. Is there something wrong with their brains?
However, there was one thing Gisei cared about: that guy Ryoma Aburame had disappeared after Gisei turned back to fight, taking several Jonin with him.
This was the real reason for the one-sided slaughter.
It was just a pity that after killing so many people, Danzo still hadn't come out. Gisei couldn't exactly run to Danzo's headquarters to find him.
Forget it, let's go home.
Just as Gisei was about to release the Summoning Technique, the rapid sound of something tearing through the air came from the distance.
An expert!
Just as this thought flashed through Gisei's mind, a white-haired Anbu wearing a mask appeared in front of him.
Gisei went quiet. Instead of Danzo, he had actually waited for the White Fang of the Leaf first.
To be honest, relying on this clone, he felt he couldn't withstand even a single strike from Sakumo Hatake.
As his Anbu captain, Sakumo knew his exposed abilities and personality like the back of his hand. Moreover, this clone's chakra was running low after the battle just now.
After Sakumo arrived, he first glanced at the surrounding Root ninjas, then scanned the corpses on the ground one by one, and finally fixed his gaze on Gisei.
The expression on his face was very complex.
Seeing this expression, Gisei laughed. "Captain, long time no see."
Sakumo took a deep breath. "I am no longer your captain. You've changed so much I can't even recognize you."
"I feel I haven't changed at all. Does Captain think I shouldn't have killed these people?"
"They were all comrades of the village."
Comrades...
Gisei felt a wave of disgust and didn't want to talk to Sakumo anymore.
Those who follow different paths cannot make plans together.