At the scene, everyone was utterly stunned by Tatsuya's audacious action. It was too sudden, too bold! As a high-ranking Konoha Council Elder, Utatane Koharu normally wielded the most direct and significant influence over the village's administration. When had she ever been treated with such blatant disrespect, such physical aggression?
Akimichi Choza opened his mouth, intending to speak, perhaps to persuade Tatsuya to be more restrained, but then his eyes flickered with a complex emotion, and in the end, he said nothing.
Tatsuya, still holding Utatane Koharu by the throat with one hand, turned his head to look at Danzo, his voice laced with cold fury. "It is precisely because of self-righteous, incompetent fools like you that Konoha has fallen from its former position as the head of the Five Great Shinobi Villages to its current pathetic state! It is because of your outdated, rotten ideologies that so many heroes who dedicated everything to Konoha have died in obscurity and sorrow. How laughable! How utterly… filthy!"
As he spoke, Tatsuya casually tossed Utatane Koharu with his right hand, sending her flying directly towards Danzo. Her body sailed through the air, an expression of undisguised shock and disbelief still etched on her face. She had never imagined, not even in her wildest nightmares, that she would one day be treated in such a humiliating manner by a junior.
Seeing Utatane Koharu hurtling towards him, a glint flashed in Danzo's eye, and he actually leaped aside, directly evading her.
"Protect Lord Danzo!" Several Root ninja behind Danzo shouted in alarm, also scrambling to get to his side, forming a protective cordon around him. Not a single one of them made any move to help or catch the flying Utatane Koharu.
CRASH!
With a heavy, sickening thud, Utatane Koharu's body slammed hard against the trunk of a large tree. Cough, cough~ The violent impact forced a mouthful of blood from the aged councilwoman's lips. She looked up, her eyes somewhat dazed and unfocused, towards Danzo, who had so readily dodged her, and towards the Root ninja now surrounding him.
Watching this unfold, the sarcastic sneer on Tatsuya's lips deepened. This was Danzo, through and through! A refined, quintessential egoist! For his own self-preservation, he would abandon anyone at a critical moment, without a second thought.
"Danzo, you're as afraid of death as ever," Tatsuya taunted, his voice dripping with contempt.
Danzo's face was grim, his expression thunderous. "I do this for Konoha!" he retorted.
Tatsuya let out a short, derisive laugh. "For Konoha? Don't you dare defile that noble word with your twisted ambitions. Right now, my strength surpasses yours, and I will be the one to thoroughly eradicate you… for Konoha!" As he spoke the last words, an icy, murderous intent flashed in Tatsuya's eyes. He had been holding this in, suppressing this urge, for far too long. If not for the Third Hokage's later change of heart and intervention, Tatsuya, whose strength had long since surpassed many in the village, probably wouldn't have waited until now to act.
With that declaration, Tatsuya flipped his right hand, and several kunai appeared in his grip. With a swift flick of his wrist, the kunai shot towards Danzo, fanning out to attack him from multiple directions simultaneously.
"Attack!" Seeing the incoming projectiles, Danzo quickly retreated, simultaneously waving his right hand and directly ordering his Root ninja to engage. He hadn't expected that Tatsuya, after appearing with the Uchiha contingent, would dispense with all pretense of negotiation and directly attack him without any warning. At this point, he could no longer afford to hold back or worry about appearances. Tatsuya Akimichi, this dangerous individual who threatened the very security and stability of the village, had to be eliminated.
Receiving Danzo's command, the Root ninja surged forward in unison, charging towards Tatsuya with murderous intent. Several of Danzo's personal bodyguards immediately moved to intercept, positioning themselves directly in front of him. They brandished their tantos and kunai, attempting to parry the kunai Tatsuya had thrown.
One of the Root ninja at the forefront of the charge was just about to deflect a flying kunai with his longsword when a figure blurred before him. Tatsuya's form appeared instantaneously at the location of the kunai, his right hand firmly grasping it. Then, with a downward slash, Tatsuya's kunai, arriving with impossible speed, slit the Root ninja's throat. With a powerful kick, the Root ninja's body was sent flying. This entire sequence of actions was completed in less than a second.
After dispatching this Root ninja, Tatsuya's figure flickered again, appearing instantaneously beside another of his thrown kunai. With the same deadly efficiency, another Root ninja was eliminated.
The retreating Danzo saw this, and his pupils constricted sharply. The Flying Thunder God Technique! Tatsuya Akimichi had actually mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique as well! Danzo wanted to shout a warning to the remaining Root ninja, but it was already too late.
Shink, shink, shink~
Accompanied by a series of sickening sounds as kunai pierced flesh, the few remaining Root ninja who had charged forward were all eliminated by Tatsuya within a few short, brutal seconds.
Having dealt with these troublesome Root ninja, Tatsuya extended his right hand towards the still-retreating Danzo. His right arm suddenly elongated and expanded, transforming into a massive, powerful limb, then shot out with a devastating punch towards Danzo.
Danzo's hands blurred through a rapid series of seals, and he exhaled a sharp, invisible blast of wind, similar to the Cutting Whirlwind technique. This formless, colorless blast of wind, like a razor-sharp sword aura, shot directly towards Tatsuya's outstretched right arm. This was Wind Style: Vacuum Wave, one of Danzo's most proficient and deadly Wind Release ninjutsu, possessing extreme cutting power.
Seeing this, Tatsuya's expression remained unchanged. His outstretched right arm, still rocketing through the air, rapidly shrank back to its normal size. After shrinking, his arm narrowly dodged the cutting force of the vacuum wave. The shrunken right hand, however, didn't stop its advance. To Danzo's utter shock, it continued forward with undiminished speed and slammed into his body with a powerful punch.
Unable to react in time to fully defend himself, Danzo could only cross his arms protectively in front of his chest.
BANG!
Another heavy, sickening impact sounded, and Danzo's body was sent flying backward at an even faster speed than before. In the distance, a heavy crash echoed as his body slammed into the trees lining the path, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris.
"Lord Danzo!" Seeing Danzo suffer such a heavy blow at Tatsuya's hands after just one exchange, more than ten Root ninja broke off from the main group and rushed towards Danzo's location. The remaining Root operatives, however, continued their relentless, fanatical charge towards Tatsuya.
Facing these Root ninja, who fought with a complete disregard for their own lives, a cold glint flashed in Tatsuya's eyes. His figure flickered continuously through the air, meeting the charging Root ninja head-on.
Behind him, Shisui and Misuke also sprang into action, leading the Uchiha clansmen into the fray.
"Kill them!" Soon, fierce battle cries and the clang of steel echoed throughout the forest as the Uchiha clashed violently with Root.
Among the swirling melee, Tatsuya's performance was the most terrifying. Wherever his figure passed, a Root ninja would inevitably fall, struck down by his deadly precision. Facing Tatsuya, a master of taijutsu who could also skillfully utilize the Flying Thunder God Technique, the Root ninja were simply no match, their numbers proving ineffective against his overwhelming individual power. Moreover, Tatsuya wasn't just fighting with his main body at full strength; he had also created two Shadow Clones, which were acting independently, wreaking havoc on separate fronts.
If Tatsuya's fighting style could be described as an "unreasonable one-shot kill" approach, then Uchiha Misuke's movements were like a beautiful and mesmerizing sword dance, full of grace and aesthetic appeal. However, within her elegant, flowing dance, there was a potent, deadly killing intent. With her three-tomoe Sharingan activated, Uchiha Misuke displayed combat prowess far exceeding that of an ordinary Jonin.
Among the three main Uchiha combatants, only Shisui's fighting style was relatively… gentle. He utilized his Sharingan's genjutsu to its fullest extent. Any Root ninja unfortunate enough to make direct eye contact with him would immediately fall under his powerful illusions, collapsing to the ground, incapacitated. Against these helpless Root ninja, Shisui didn't go in for the finishing blow. However, while Shisui was reluctant to kill, the Uchiha clansmen following behind him harbored a strong, deep-seated enmity towards Root. Some of them quickly moved in to deliver the final, decisive strikes to the incapacitated Root operatives. This was a battle of life and death, with no quarter asked and none given.
Watching the sudden, violent eruption of intense combat between Root and the Military Police Force, Nara Shikaku, the other clan elites, and all the surrounding onlookers were utterly aghast, their faces pale with shock. On one hand, they were horrified by Tatsuya's sheer, unbridled audacity and ruthlessness; on the other, they were completely astounded by the overwhelming combat strength displayed by Tatsuya, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Misuke.
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