Time rewinds a few minutes.
With a sudden blow, Naraku appeared before Shinnosuke in the blink of an eye.
"You—" Shinnosuke was frozen in terror. His mind couldn't react fast enough, and he didn't even have time to consider escape.
He managed just a single word before Naraku struck him down effortlessly, sending him crashing to the ground.
Naraku had only struck once—barely even touching him from the shadows—yet Shinnosuke suddenly realized he could no longer mobilize his chakra.
As he lay there, expecting death, Shinnosuke closed his eyes in despair. But to his surprise, Naraku didn't even glance at him. He simply rushed past, charging into a large group of shinobi ahead.
Shinnosuke screamed, trying to break the paralysis with sheer willpower—but it was useless.
He wasn't relieved to be alive.
He only felt the cold, dismissive scorn of Naraku's indifference.
The son of the Hokage... Commander of the Anbu... reduced to something unworthy of a second glance.
Naraku didn't bother finishing him. Instead, he shot into the crowd like a cannonball.
Every swing of his Kusanagi blade sent blood spraying like blossoming flowers in the air.
"Damn it! Is there no one who can stop him?" a shinobi shouted.
"This... this monster—no one here can match him!"
Naraku had begun fighting seriously—and no one was a challenge to him.
The formation of nearly a hundred ninjas was shattered in mere seconds.
In the center of the battlefield, he cut through like a blade through paper, throwing the entire line into chaos.
Some shinobi began to resent the Third Hokage. Why had he sent them to deal with a monster like this?
"You can't kill me! I'm from the Hokage clan!" a ninja cried out as Naraku closed in on him, abandoning all will to fight.
Naraku didn't care.
He grabbed the man by the neck, tossed him like a ragdoll into another charging shinobi, and kept moving.
Slaughtering one after another, Naraku barely felt a thing.
Among the shinobi, only a few—those from Root—showed any ability to resist. Their faces were cold and unreadable, shaped by Danzo's cult-like doctrine.
Only Root members managed to block even a single strike from Naraku.
"As expected..."
Root, under Danzo, had long rivaled the Anbu. In some areas, they even surpassed them. Danzo's influence as an elder gave him more freedom and authority than most.
His loyal followers gave him strength—and in the world of shinobi, that meant something.
Compared to them, Sarutobi, Mitokado, and many of the others had far less combat readiness.
Suddenly, Naraku's attention shifted.
Two shinobi rushed him from opposite sides.
They stopped ten meters in front of him and shouted in unison:
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Earthen barriers rose instantly, surrounding Naraku in layered stone.
"Finally," Naraku muttered with some interest, "someone came up with a strategy."
Until now, the battle had been completely one-sided.
When powerful taijutsu users charge disorganized troops, it's like trimming grass.
Aside from Genjutsu, Naraku had focused heavily on his physical skills and swordsmanship—placing even greater emphasis on them than elemental ninjutsu.
At his level—near the Six Paths—most ninjutsu became useless.
Even Amaterasu, one of the strongest techniques, was easily absorbed by Otsutsuki with the Rinnegan.
But taijutsu? That always worked.
Even against god-like beings.
Otsutsuki Momoshiki, for instance, had better physical prowess than even Naruto or Sasuke at times.
"Chidori!" Naraku stepped forward, and lightning surged through his hand. He pierced through the stone walls with ease.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
Dozens of shinobi, leveraging water from the Naka River, unleashed a massive wave that crashed toward Naraku like a tsunami.
"Is that all?" Naraku calmly performed a seal."Fire Release: Blazing Veil Field!"
Flames, far more intense than he had used against the three earlier opponents, engulfed the water wave—and instantly turned it to steam.
"Impossible!" someone cried. Despair overtook reason.
How could fire overpower such a vast water jutsu?
Within the dense mist, Naraku moved like a ghost, cutting down one enemy after another.
Suddenly, someone spotted his figure in the fog and charged forward, forming hand signs.
Whoosh!
Thousands upon thousands of exploding tags, fluttering like snowflakes, filled the air—more than a hundred thousand in total.
He's trying to block my Byakugan's range with a scroll-based explosion? These seals are nothing compared to Konan's.Naraku scoffed internally and raised a chakra barrier.
Boom!!
A massive explosion rocked the village of Konoha, echoing for miles.
Inside the Hokage's Office
"Danzo, is this your man?" the Third Hokage asked, stunned by Naraku's display.
"Yes," Danzo replied flatly.
Another Root ninja, from the Nara clan, had taken over temporary command.
As for the shinobi who triggered the detonations—he was from Root as well.
A disposable pawn. If he killed Naraku, it would be worth the loss.
"Why didn't you warn us?" Mitokado demanded, frowning.
The explosion had been far too sudden. Many of the shinobi caught in it hadn't survived.
Several were from their own clans.
"I didn't expect Shinnosuke to be so incompetent," Danzo said, unconcerned.
The Third Hokage winced at the remark.
They had already seen the scene—Shinnosuke lying unconscious, far from the fight.
"Forget it," Hiruzen said quietly. "Just get rid of Naraku."
The losses were staggering.
Fewer than twenty shinobi might survive.
Mitokado and Koharu exchanged grim nods.
But as the dust began to settle, the image in the crystal orb shifted—revealing Naraku, standing unharmed within a pale blue chakra barrier.