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Boom!
The ground shook violently as Hayato threw his final punch. When he moved his fist away, all that was left beneath it was blood-soaked earth. Flesh, bone—everything had been smashed to bits, not even a trace of the original body remained.
He moved his other hand aside, revealing a corpse with its head and upper chest completely gone. Danzo—the infamous leader of Konoha's Root division, probably the most hated guy in the whole village—was now lying dead, crushed under Hayato's iron fist.
There was a gleam of satisfaction in Hayato's eyes. His rage slowly faded, and his massive body began to shrink back down, returning to his original form—just over a meter tall. He looked small and frail, a stark contrast to the giant monster he had just been.
The now scrawny Hayato stared at the corpse by his feet and took a deep breath. The heavy stench of blood filled his nose, making him feel a little sick. But then he thought about how Danzo had led his men to massacre the villagers who had helped him, and even came after him personally.
Thinking of that, Hayato felt these people deserved to die—and that thought made him feel even better.
A cold gust of wind blew by, and Hayato shivered. He quickly looked around and found the bundle he had been carrying before. The food inside had been smashed, but luckily the clothes were still intact. He hurried to put them on.
They were someone else's old, tattered clothes, so they didn't fit well. He had to roll up the long pant legs. As he did, Hayato couldn't help but sigh. The person who gave him these clothes… was dead now. Killed by Danzo and his ninjas.
"Damn bastards… they even attacked ordinary people," he muttered through clenched teeth, anger flickering in his eyes.
Still, since he'd already taken care of Danzo and his men while in his giant form, Hayato didn't transform again.
He shook his head and quickly left the area. After all, even though he had killed those people, he had done it while out of control—and looking at the horrific mess he left behind, with not a single complete body in sight, even he felt uneasy.
Not long after Hayato left, two Root ninjas reappeared at the scene. Seeing the carnage around them, they looked visibly relieved—especially when they saw Danzo's mangled corpse. They even looked like a huge weight had been lifted.
These were the two that Hayato had missed earlier. He had been so focused on smashing Danzo that he forgot about them, and they had gone into hiding right away.
Hayato kept heading away from the Land of Fire. Meanwhile, the two surviving Root ninjas rushed back to Konoha.
Despite everything, they couldn't help feeling a bit happy. Even though they were part of Root, Danzo had never treated them like human beings. He had always been harsh, cold, and dismissive—never caring about their lives. With him gone, it felt like a twisted kind of freedom.
"Bang!"
"What did you just say?! Danzo… is dead?! That's impossible!! Who did it?! Don't tell me ninjas from another village infiltrated the Land of Fire?!" The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, still young at the time, jumped up in shock when he heard the news. In his panic, he even knocked his desk over.
"Hokage-sama…" the two Root members lowered their heads, faces pale with fear. Just the memory of that huge green monster-like figure made their hearts race. It was too strong.
Too violent. Danzo had been literally beaten to death—one punch at a time.
"Speak!" Hiruzen shouted sternly.
"Y-Yes, Hokage-sama! It was Hayato! He… he beat Danzo to death with his bare fists!"
"Punched him to death… with his fists…" the two Root ninjas muttered again. As they spoke, the image of Hayato smashing Danzo into pulp replayed in their minds. Their voices trembled without them even realizing it.
"What?! No way! Hayato is just some lucky kid who awakened a kekkei genkai—how could he possibly kill Danzo?! You're lying!!" Hiruzen glared at them, furious.
Even with his calm nature, he had the urge to execute these two on the spot. He was convinced they were lying—maybe even bought off by enemy villages.
"Just a lucky kekkei genkai user?"
"Just?! Hokage-sama… you're wrong! Hayato—he's a monster!!!"
The two Root ninjas shivered again. Even after all the brutal training they had undergone under Danzo, they couldn't stand up to something like Hayato.
"Monster…" Hiruzen frowned deeply. He could tell… these two weren't lying.
"....."