The chakra of the five elemental styles clashed with one another, exceeding the critical energy threshold amidst the turbulence and abruptly exploding!
The blast was not that of a Fire Style explosion, but a non-elemental explosion caused by the elemental conflict.
Following the detonation, the flames, water waves, lightning spears, flying stones, and hurricanes within the five-element ninjutsu were blown apart by the blast, forming explosive shockwaves of varying natures.
Yagami was stunned; he had greatly underestimated the power of the Five-Element Combo Jutsu.
This technique, regarded as a trump card by Sarutobi Hiruzen, actually possessed such unique destructive capability.
Truly worthy of being an S-rank ninjutsu; this explosion was practically equivalent to a small Tailed Beast Bomb.
The Root ninjas swallowed by the explosion had no power to resist.
Even those who occasionally used a Clone Jutsu or Substitution Jutsu found the blast radius too vast; even if the original body changed positions, it was still annihilated.
The unique terrain of the canyon caused the explosion to erupt as if inside a jar, amplifying its destructive force.
A long while later, the explosions ceased.
The mountain walls on both sides of the canyon collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Danzo stood on the water's surface, panting heavily, looking up at Spiral White Zetsu at the top of the waterfall.
Mutilated corpses were washed downstream by the waterfall's current, drifting past Danzo's feet.
Yagami thought to himself: a darkness of leaf is still a Kage-level, after all. Even an S-rank Forbidden Jutsu failed to kill Danzo.
However, Danzo's Root was finished.
Including C, all five codenamed members and over a dozen Root recruits in training were dead.
Such was the nature of Leaf's internal strife.
Who didn't know how to be ruthless?
Danzo's bandages fell away, revealing a ruined Sharingan underneath.
Yagami thought: 'Izanagi again. Just how many did Danzo have in his collection? If the Uchiha didn't go extinct soon, it felt like Danzo's collection wouldn't be enough.'
"Danzo, if Lord Madara were here, you would already be a dead man. Anyone who wishes to destroy Lord Madara's statue—I, Sarutobi Konosuke, will never show you mercy!"
Danzo was struck dumb, standing there frozen to the point where his mouth quickly went dry; he swallowed with great difficulty.
Sarutobi... Sarutobi Konosuke?
A rogue ninja had emerged from the Sarutobi clan and defected to Uchiha Madara?
The four Shadow Clones burst into white smoke, drifting sideways as the wind blew through them.
Yagami's figure slowly sank, merging into the water.
Danzo was so shocked that his reaction was half a beat slow.
"Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Over a dozen vacuum bullets spat from Danzo's mouth, flying toward the top of the waterfall like bullets.
However, Sarutobi Konosuke had long since vanished.
Ten minutes later, Yagami appeared in the basement of the Tavern.
After sealing away the spiral mask, Yagami went to the shop out front.
"Yuki, bring me a bottle of sake!"
Yagami was in a very good mood.
Appearing here now served as a perfect alibi.
No one could possibly travel from the Final Valley to the Hidden Leaf Village in ten minutes, pass through the village barrier, and be drinking here in front of the sensory ninjas at the wall watchtowers.
Yagami lifted a corner of his mask and quickly downed the entire bottle.
It wasn't until an hour later that Yagami heard a specific bird call.
Yagami stepped outside the Tavern and found it was the unique long and short cries of a Ninja Hawk.
That was the Anbu emergency mobilization order!
The Jonin looked up at the Anbu Ninja Hawk one after another, wondering what major event had occurred in the Anbu to require a full-force assembly.
Yagami left using the Body Flicker Jutsu, donning his Anbu mask along the way.
By the time he reached the entrance of the Anbu base, he saw that Yellow Dog had already assembled most of the Anbu.
Except for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki monitoring squad, all Anbu within the village were present.
Purple Cat handed over the white hooded cloak of a squad leader, and Yagami threw it on.
He looked toward the Yak squad and saw White Crane.
White Crane was currently shrinking behind Yak, a terrified look in his eyes behind the mask.
Yellow Dog beckoned to Fox, and Yagami hurried over.
"Didn't you suspect there was an Uchiha Madara base in the Final Valley? For some reason, Consultant Danzo learned of this intel first. I didn't report this matter to him. He took Root and the recruits currently in training to the Final Valley and encountered Uchiha Madara's subordinate. The result..."
Yellow Dog thought of the Uchiha Madara subordinate's Five-Element Combo Jutsu, and felt it was completely absurd.
Even he hadn't learned the Five-Element Combo Jutsu; why would a subordinate of Uchiha Madara know the signature ninjutsu of the Third Hokage?
That was an S-rank Forbidden Jutsu created by the Third Hokage himself.
"Is the result bad?"
Yellow Dog said, "The result is very bad. Root was almost completely wiped out. Only Consultant Danzo and A, who didn't go, are still alive."
"How tragic..."
Yagami thought to himself: this is indeed tragic.
The Jonin Commander, Nara Shikaku, suddenly appeared using the Body Flicker Jutsu.
"Yellow Dog, the Hokage has already headed to the village gate. The Anbu will set out now."
"Understood, Shikaku-sama."
At the village gate, Yagami saw Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, and Orochimaru.
Following the higher-ups, the group quickly left the village.
Ninjas near the gate who had just entered the village looked in astonishment at the backs of the many high-ranking officials and Anbu, wondering what on earth had happened.
On the road outside the village, leaf ninjas were startled to see so many elites and Anbu chasing from behind.
They were only performing a C-rank mission—could there be some secret hidden within it? Did they possess some talent they hadn't even discovered themselves, such that the Leaf higher-ups and the entire Anbu force were mobilizing to save them?
The higher-ups and Anbu flew overhead, leaving the squad very disappointed.
So it had nothing to do with them.
When they reached the Final Valley, Yagami saw Danzo standing alone by the waterfall from a distance.
The wind blew through his tattered clothes, giving him a somewhat tragic, desolate air.
Yagami went to the edge of the canyon and saw the terrifying explosion marks down below.
An explosion of this scale was indeed no different from a small Tailed Beast Bomb.
The Five-Element Combo Jutsu was quite powerful.
By the banks of the canyon river lay several mutilated corpses.
Yagami thought Danzo was quite decent; although he always sent his subordinates to their deaths, once they were actually dead, he at least knew to collect the bodies.
Including C, all five official Root members and over a dozen recruits in training were dead.
Danzo had become a commander without an army.
Mitokado Homura looked at the various residual traces of Fire Style, Lightning Style, and Wind Style on the canyon walls, then glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen in confusion.
He thought: 'Hiruzen, what exactly are you trying to do?'
After examining the scene closely, Orochimaru said, "It is indeed the Five-Element Combo Jutsu. Five impact-type ninjutsu, culminating in a massive secondary explosion caused by elemental conflict..."
Orochimaru turned to stare at Sarutobi Hiruzen, disappointment in his eyes. "Hiruzen-sensei... this is a technique even I have yet to learn. Whom did you teach it to?"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Sarutobi Hiruzen said.
"The requirements for the Five-Element Combo Jutsu are extremely high. Just preparing the five impact-type ninjutsu takes several years. Then, training for the elemental restraint takes another several years. Even for me, it was only at the age of 25 that I mastered this technique. How could I possibly teach it to someone else? And let them use this technique against our own people?"