Saiki landed in the soft grass of a clearing outside the base.
A heartbeat later, the Anbu swarmed the perimeter, surrounding him in a perfect tactical circle.
Saiki's brow furrowed, but not because of the assassins.
He sensed two other groups approaching his position at high speed.
"Saiki Shiroya. Surrender now, and you might live to see a trial. Resist, and you die where you stand," one of the Anbu commanders barked.
Saiki ignored the warning.
He focused his mind, projecting his consciousness to the edge of his sensory range.
A flurry of petals drifted through the trees several kilometers away, coalescing into a Flower Clone to intercept Nono'u.
Seeing that Saiki had no intention of yielding, the Anbu drew their blades.
The tension in the clearing reached a breaking point.
"Saiki Shiroya! Enough of this madness!"
Hiruzen's voice boomed from the treeline. He strode into the clearing, the Adamantine Staff gripped in both hands.
His eyes were stone, his resolve absolute.
Saiki turned to face him, his voice flat. "Old Man, do you really think you and these puppets are stronger than Danzo was?"
At the mention of his dead friend, Hiruzen's remaining control evaporated.
"Kill or capture! ENGAGE!"
The Anbu initiated with a massive, coordinated volley of projectiles.
Ninja are vastly superior to civilians, but for the average Chunin, their chakra only permits a few high-level jutsu.
Most shinobi still rely on weapon proficiency. Against Saiki, this was a joke.
"Boring."
Lightning erupted from Saiki's skin.
He flickered, appearing directly in front of an Anbu operative.
Before the man could even register the movement, Saiki's blade bisected his torso.
"CAREFUL!"
Only Hiruzen's eyes could track Saiki's velocity.
Out of a sense of pride, the Hokage hadn't intended to join the fray immediately, preferring to let the Anbu exhaust the boy.
He assumed Saiki's massacre of Root and the mountain-cleaving strike had drained his reserves.
He believed Saiki had relied on a trick or a poison to kill Danzo.
He was wrong.
As another Anbu fell to a single slash, Hiruzen abandoned his dignity and lunged.
He swung the Adamantine Staff, the weapon producing a deafening roar as it tore through the air.
Saiki didn't try to tank a strike from Enma.
He pivoted on his heel, the staff missing his chest by a fraction of an inch.
The staff slammed into the earth, creating a crater and sending a shockwave through the clearing.
Without missing a beat, Hiruzen swung again.
Saiki met the second strike with 'Thunderstorm'.
Lightning sparked as the steel collided with the unbreakable staff.
The screeching sound of the impact set the Anbu's teeth on edge.
As they locked weapons, Hiruzen's expression shifted from rage to grim realization.
The boy wasn't just fast; his raw physical power was comparable to a Tailed Beast's.
Saiki was matching him blow-for-blow, and he wasn't even breathing hard.
Before this moment, Hiruzen had dismissed the reports from the front as hyperbole.
It was human nature to doubt anything that surpassed one's own sense of self-importance.
If a kid is this strong, then what have I been doing for fifty years?
Saiki, meanwhile, was genuinely impressed.
The Adamantine Staff was a legendary weapon; Saiki's soul-shredding slashes failed to leave even a scratch on the wood-metal hybrid.
Saiki's Lightning Armor flared brighter.
His blade became a blur of afterimages as he launched a high-speed assassination sequence at the Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was a master for a reason.
Despite his age, he moved with the fluid agility of a monkey.
He used the length and weight of his staff to parry every one of Saiki's strikes with surgical precision.
The clearing became a vortex of blade-qi and blunt-force shockwaves.
Every collision produced a shower of sparks and a roar of displaced air.
The surrounding Anbu found themselves unable to even approach the duo, forced back by the sheer pressure of their auras.
They tried to find an opening for a sneak attack, but Saiki's Auspicious Cloud was active.
The misty rain formed an impenetrable curtain around him.
Kunai, senbon, and long-range Genjutsu all dissolved the moment they touched the mist.
Saiki was having the time of his life.
He was a "salted fish," yes, but the thrill of a life-or-death duel against a legend was an addictive rush.
The dream of being a lone swordsman, carving a path through the world, was finally being realized.
Hiruzen, however, was starting to feel the weight of his years.
His experience and chakra depth were keeping him in the fight, but he couldn't maintain this pace forever.
He realized with a jolt of terror that Saiki was actually enjoying himself.
Meanwhile, several kilometers away, Saiki's Flower Clone intercepted Nono'u.
"Saiki! Where have you been?!"
Seeing the boy standing in her path, Nono'u let out a massive sob of relief.
She assumed he had just wandered off during the commotion.
The clone maintained its facade, speaking with a calm that didn't match the carnage happening nearby.
"Oh, I just saw the fire and got curious. I came to check it out."
"Is that so? What's happening over there?" Nono'u asked, her eyes searching his.
"Uh..." The clone hesitated for a second.
Saiki had already formulated the lie, but his brain was busy calculating Hiruzen's next swing.
"Some foreign ninjas attacked the Root base. It's a mess. Sister Director, you need to go back to the orphanage. It's too dangerous here."
He had hoped the lie would be enough to send her home.
But Nono'u didn't move.
She stared at the boy, her gaze turning sharp and analytical.
She saw the slight tremor in the clone's form and the lack of bloodstains on his perfectly clean clothes despite the massive explosions in the distance.
"Saiki," Nono'u said, her voice dropping to a low, authoritative register. "You're lying. What really happened?"
Faced with the "Walking Priestess," the clone realized its mistake.
Nono'u was a veteran Root spy. She knew the layout of the village better than anyone.
And she knew Saiki.
"Director, I'm not lying! Why would I—"
"SAIKI!" Nono'u shouted, cutting him off.
"I have known you since you were a toddler. Do not treat me like a fool. Tell me the truth. Now."
The clone looked at her, its eyes filling with a complex mix of guilt and sorrow.
Before it could answer, the link between the clone and the main body buckled.
A massive explosion from the mountain clearing sent a psychic shockwave through the network.
The Flower Clone began to dissolve into a swirl of pink petals.
Nono'u reached out to catch him, but her hand passed through the flowers.
She stared at the empty space, her face pale as the distant roar of battle intensified.
She knew the truth now. Saiki was the one at the center of the storm.