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"Damn it! Hurry..."
No one expected Hayato to break free under these circumstances. Especially when staring at this six-meter-tall giant right in front of them, their hearts were pounding with fear.
It took a moment for them to fully react. But by the time they did, Hayato's massive figure was already charging toward them with a fierce gust of wind.
Boom!
A fist roughly the size of a washbasin slammed down hard. Whatever it touched would be smashed to pieces—whether it was a head, a body, or anything else.
With a deafening crash, a small pond formed right where the impact landed. The only thing missing was water, but it looked like a lake after heavy rain.
Rage. Savage. Power so overwhelming, he looked like a giant green demon god.
"Damn it, run! We can't fight him now! Get this intel back to Lord Danzo—fast!"
Before the words were even finished, Hayato dropped from the sky again. Pfft! Another small crater appeared on the ground, like another little pond.
At this point, the Root operatives completely lost confidence and hope. There was no way they could bring Hayato back alive, or even retrieve his corpse.
"Scatter and run..."
The Root ninjas knew that if they ran together, with Hayato's insane jumping power and speed, they'd never get away. So the best chance was to split up and flee in different directions.
With a whoosh, several Root agents scattered left and right, sprinting away.
But Hayato roared in anger. His huge feet slammed down with force, the ground trembling beneath him. Then whoosh—he leapt into the air.
Ahead of him, a ninja was just jumping off a branch, trying to escape fast when a massive fist suddenly appeared behind him. Bam! The punch smashed into the ninja like a speeding train, instantly shattering his body into pieces.
Hayato punched one ninja to death and let out a satisfying roar. Using his huge legs, he pushed off hard and jumped again—this time soaring over 100 meters.
Boom!
He landed on a ninja who had just started to dig underground, trying to escape with earth style. The ground exploded with blood.
Though the ninjas scattered to run, Hayato's speed only increased after transforming into the six-meter giant. The farthest fleeing ninja was caught after just four giant leaps. A single slap from Hayato shattered his body so badly only the head and bits of his legs remained intact.
All the Root ninjas were wiped out in one brutal sweep.
Hayato let out a triumphant howl to the sky. His anger slowly calmed, and his towering form gradually shrank back to his original, skinny teenage self. Then he collapsed to the ground, drifting into a deep sleep.
After all, Hayato was originally just a normal guy. Even though his Hulk form was powered by rage, it was still a huge mental drain. When the transformation ended, he passed out right there.
"Achoo!"
A sneeze brought Hayato back to consciousness. Looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings, he shook his head.
Memories of his Hulk rampage flooded back—not under his control, but still unforgettable. That wild, furious state was addictive.
Sigh. "If only I could keep my mind clear and still go into that berserk mode..." he muttered. But when he remembered how close he came to being sealed by those Root ninjas, he broke into a cold sweat.
"I knew it—escaping Konoha was the right call. Sure, when I go Hulk I'm basically unstoppable, but if I got sealed, it'd be game over. And this time, it was just a simple seal. If they'd used something like Shiki Fuujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal), I might really be done for."
Feeling relieved, Hayato planned to leave the Land of Fire as soon as possible.
Just then, a breeze blew by. The chilly wind hit his... well, you know—and he groaned in pain:
"Ahhh, why didn't I keep at least one piece of clothing before?
Damn it!"
"....."