Facing the incoming Tsunade and the others, Kaito spread both arms wide. Instantly, Tsunade and several Anbu lost control of their bodies and were pulled toward him.
A streak of darkness flashed across Kaito's Mangekyō Sharingan. Several jagged dark spikes shot forth, skewering Tsunade and the others midair.
The whole thing happened in an instant. Before anyone could even react, the fight was already over.
Several Anbu were already unconscious, lying limp and pale. Only Tsunade, blessed with tremendous vitality, remained awake.
Sasuke, collapsed on the ground, was utterly dumbfounded. Though his training with Orochimaru had given him a frightening leap in strength, he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could handle that many Anbu at once—especially with Tsunade there, a shinobi on par with Orochimaru himself.
He couldn't help but think: if Itachi were here, could he do what Kaito just did?
The answer was obvious. No.
Even with Susanoo, in his current frail condition, Itachi would struggle against Tsunade alone. Add in support from several Anbu, and he'd be overwhelmed in no time.
Tsunade's crushing defeat completely reshaped Sasuke's view of Kaito's strength. Only now did he realize how laughable it had been, back then, to provoke him.
Gritting her teeth, Tsunade clutched the black spike impaling her abdomen. The diamond mark on her forehead flared with light. With a surge of raw strength, she tore her body free of the darkness and staggered back to the front lines.
Kaito hadn't expected those spikes to kill her. Watching her return, he said coolly,
"As expected of the First Hokage's granddaughter. Just as tough to put down."
As he spoke, the dark spikes dissolved, retracting into his body as pure darkness once again.
The Anbu who had been pierced fell heavily to the ground, some groaning in pain. Their wounds weren't fatal—unlike the Root shinobi earlier, these men had been struck with narrower spikes, sparing their lives for now.
Not because Kaito felt nostalgic about his days in the Anbu.
Rather, when he'd glimpsed that long-haired purple figure among them, and noticed her hesitation, he'd chosen to "hold back" just a little.
A few clan heads moved as if to intervene, but Tsunade raised her arm to stop them.
That was because the current Hokage was Tsunade. If it had been the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, they'd already have made excuses to step back, never daring to get involved.
Back when Orochimaru fought the Third, not a single clan head had been seen—they were all too busy "evacuating civilians."
Though Tsunade's abdominal wound was already healing thanks to the Strength of a Hundred Seal, her expression remained grim.
That strange suction force, those black spikes—they were both bizarre, and neither their destructive power nor their speed resembled any conventional ninjutsu.
She couldn't help but think to herself:
"Are those two powers… his Mangekyō abilities?"
Nara Shikaku, ever the strategist, had reached the same conclusion. Stepping closer, he said quietly,
"Tsunade-sama, what Uchiha Kaito just used is likely his Mangekyō dōjutsu. Both abilities seem extremely offensive in nature. We'd best test him further before committing."
Their voices were low, but for someone like Kaito, it was no different than whispering right into his ear.
Hearing them mistake his moves for Mangekyō powers made Kaito chuckle inwardly. What he had used just now was nothing more than the powers of the Gravity Fruit and the Darkness Fruit.
He ignored Tsunade and the others, instead sweeping the crowd with his gaze. No sign of Naruto. Most likely Tsunade had locked him away somewhere to keep him from interfering.
Understandable. She must've already realized Naruto's connection to him, and letting him come would only cause more chaos.
What's more, as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Naruto's emotions would surely spiral out of control in a scene like this. Against a Mangekyō Sharingan, he might well fall under direct control—something Konoha couldn't afford.
Kaito shook his head. If he'd wanted to control Naruto, he'd have done it long ago. To his Mangekyō Sharingan, the Nine-Tails was nothing more than a docile pet.
And if he were to unleash the Ten-Tails… the Nine-Tails would be utterly insignificant.
With the powers at his disposal now, any one of them alone could erase Konoha from the map.
While Tsunade and Shikaku whispered about countermeasures, Kaito had already grown impatient. He walked toward Root's base and threw a punch at empty air.
Cracks of bright blue lightning spread like veins through space around his fist. The air itself shattered like glass, and a devastating shockwave erupted, reducing the entire Root base to ruins in an instant.
Tsunade and the others were left frozen in disbelief. Just moments ago, they had been debating his abilities—yet now their conversation seemed like a joke.
This attack was even more terrifying than before, the sheer destructive force enough to make one's scalp go numb.
Kaito stood before the ruins, thoughtful.
Danzo was nowhere to be seen. Closing his eyes, he extended his senses—and finally located him underground.
That old rat could hide, Kaito admitted. But in the end, it was pointless.
...
Kaito's body began to levitate, rising steadily into the air. None of them had expected this. If Kaito unleashed even a few more attacks like that from above, raining destruction on Konoha, how could they possibly defend against it?
A suffocating sense of despair hung over the Leaf shinobi as Kaito looked down from the sky, raising a single hand.
Boom!
The underground portion of Root's base ripped free from the earth and rose into the air. Its massive bulk suited its name perfectly—"Root."
The Konoha forces were numb now. They simply couldn't comprehend what they were witnessing. Kaito's powers had already gone far beyond anything a shinobi was supposed to be capable of.
Sasuke gazed up, stunned, muttering under his breath,
"Is the Mangekyō Sharingan really that powerful?"
Kaito looked at the Root base floating before him, sneering.
"Danzo… how long do you plan to keep hiding?"
Suddenly, a cloud of black smoke drifted out from the floating mass, drifting toward Kaito.
At the sight of it, Aburame Shibi, the clan head, blanched and shouted,
"That's the Poison Cloud Technique—that's Torune!"
Kaito's face twisted in disgust as the swarm of insects approached.
"Filthy bugs."
He raised his hand, releasing a burst of dense violet lightning from his palm. The insect swarm sizzled and burned away under the intense heat, reduced to ash that scattered on the wind.
Then, with a sharp squint of his eyes, Kaito caused the Root base before him to explode violently apart. From the debris, three figures leapt free, landing on the ground.
Danzo. And at his side, his most trusted men—Aburame Torune and Yamanaka Fū.
Descending from the air, Kaito landed lightly before them, smiling as he said,
"Danzo… finally willing to show yourself?"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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