It seems I was thinking a bit too far ahead.
The path still needs to be walked step by step. The Danzo in front of me is currently dead set on killing me.
Under Danzo's pressure, Sakumo Hatake did not yield in the slightest.
"Lord Danzo, regardless of whether Gisei Shiraishi did such a thing, moving to kill someone without interrogation is against the rules."
Danzo stared fixedly at Sakumo, and Sakumo did not back down.
Gisei watched the two of them having a staring contest and yawned out of boredom.
After a while, Danzo's expression gradually returned to calm. "Fine."
After saying this one word, Danzo slowly turned around and signaled to his subordinates with his eyes.
Someone understood his intention, and a hand quietly reached for a ninja tool pouch.
Danzo took a step away, and several smoke bombs were thrown onto the ground.
With a bang, the smoke bombs exploded instantly.
All Root members quickly rushed towards Gisei.
Gisei sighed in the smoke and began to feign a breakout towards Konoha.
He did this to confuse Danzo; he knew Danzo would absolutely not let him return to the village. As long as he created the illusion of being forced to flee outwards, Danzo would definitely chase after him.
As long as he lured Danzo into his Flash Lightning Formation, no matter how many people he brought, Gisei could kill them all.
The moment the smoke bombs were thrown, Sakumo's expression changed drastically.
He didn't expect Danzo to be so willful. In the smoke, he only heard a few rapid sounds of weapons clashing, and then all sounds disappeared without a trace.
When the smoke cleared, Danzo and his Root members had completely vanished, and Gisei was nowhere to be seen.
Sakumo's expression fluctuated uncertainly. He wanted to chase after them but was stopped by his own subordinates.
"Captain, for something like this, we should report to the Hokage first."
Sakumo remembered the ANBU member who had gone back to report earlier and nodded silently.
"You go report the situation to the Hokage. I'll follow them alone to take a look."
After speaking, Sakumo leaped toward the direction where the two sides had engaged.
...
Gisei could almost see the gates of Konoha, but his path was blocked by a squad of Root ninjas that suddenly appeared.
Ryoma Aburame...
So he had been waiting here for him all along.
Gisei looked at Konoha, which was so close at hand, sighed, and turned to flee outwards.
Danzo, leading nearly fifty Root ninjas, chased relentlessly from behind.
After fleeing for nearly an hour, Gisei stopped moving.
Danzo followed closely behind. He waved his hand, and the Root ninjas surrounded Gisei.
"You have nowhere to run."
Gisei laughed. "Indeed, and I also have no chakra left."
Danzo drew the long sword from his back, slowly walked up to Gisei, and a smile appeared on his face.
"This is the end for all who endanger Konoha. You are not the first, and you will not be the last. Goodbye."
The long sword swung abruptly. A silver-white light flashed, and a short blade blocked the strike.
Danzo looked at Sakumo holding the short blade, and the anger on his face exploded almost instantly.
"Do it!"
With a furious shout, all Root ninjas began to attack.
Gisei also hadn't expected Sakumo to actually chase after them—and even try to save his life. Although this wasn't his main body, Gisei was still very moved.
Sakumo began to fight with the Root ninjas. Danzo kept staring at Gisei. Seeing the boy standing motionless in place, a flash of murderous intent passed through his eyes.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!" (Futon: Shinkuha!)
Blades of wind emitting an aura of death attacked Gisei. Gisei didn't even dodge, because this clone's chakra was already used up, and its mission was complete.
This was the trap he had set.
Almost instantly, Gisei's body was torn apart. Even if Sakumo wanted to rescue him, it was too late.
After Gisei died, Sakumo stopped fighting. Danzo didn't want to kill Sakumo either, so he had the Root ninjas stop as well.
Danzo stepped forward to collect Gisei's corpse; he was also very interested in the Butterfly User's secret technique.
Sakumo wanted to step forward to stop him but was blocked by Root ninjas. He could only stop in his tracks, silently glance at the corpse on the ground, and turn to leave.
He had a strange feeling in his heart; something just felt wrong.
Gisei died too simply. It wasn't like the Gisei in his impression at all.
He hadn't walked very far when his expression turned ugly.
Unnoticed, a purple barrier had appeared, surrounding everyone.
"This is..."
Sakumo drew the short sword on his back, looking at Danzo with vigilance. He thought Danzo wanted to kill him along with the others.
Danzo also noticed the barrier. He looked at his subordinates, issuing a silent inquiry.
Seeing his subordinates shake their heads, Danzo's face darkened.
Could it be...
The bad premonition in his heart was instantly verified. A hand suddenly appeared from the ground beneath his feet and grabbed his ankle tightly.
Danzo's expression changed drastically. Ignoring the corpse, he drew his sword and slashed at the hand that had suddenly appeared.
Another hand shot out from the ground, lightning crackling around it. Danzo's long sword was caught by this hand.
In just a second, the blade turned into molten iron and dripped to the ground.
Seeing this, Danzo's pupils contracted instantly, and he began to form hand seals without thinking.
The person underground began to slowly rise. Gisei appeared in front of Danzo again.
The two were almost face to face.
"Yo, Lord Danzo. Good evening."
Danzo's eyelid twitched wildly. He suddenly spat out needle-like bullets from his mouth, hitting Gisei's body.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Spheres!" (Futon: Shinkugyoku!)
Gisei didn't dodge at all, allowing Danzo to punch bloody holes in his body with ninjutsu.
Because this was also a clone.
Fighting Danzo, approaching rashly was extremely dangerous. He wasn't stupid, so naturally, he wouldn't use his main body to approach the man.
After using the ninjutsu, Danzo jumped back, looking at the Gisei in front of him with suspicion and fear.
Gisei shrugged at him, then brushed his hand over the bloody holes on his body. All wounds healed instantly.
Even though Danzo had seen all kinds of ninjas, he was still numb with shock at this scene.
Remembering the situation reported by his subordinates, he asked, "Immortal body? No... regeneration ninjutsu?"
Gisei didn't answer. He clapped his hands lightly, and three more Giseis emerged from the ground at the other three corners of the barrier.
Seeing this scene, a bitter smile appeared on Sakumo's face.
Cunning and sinister as always!
No wonder he had a strange feeling all along. It turned out everyone had fallen into Gisei's trap.
Sakumo crouched down and carefully observed the grass beneath his feet.
Steel wires shimmered faintly with cold light under the moonlight. Sakumo's heart sank.
The Flash Lightning Formation was already set up. Was he planning to kill everyone?
He recalled the scene just now where Danzo struck without hesitation and sighed silently.
The old fox and the little fox. Only he was like a pure little lamb...