Hearing what Yuto said, Kisame couldn't help being stunned for a moment.
Was there really any difference between one Mokuton (Wood Style) and another?
Even from this distance, Kisame could still feel that the power of that Mokuton (Wood Style) ninjutsu was quite decent.
However, when he thought about how Yuto-sama had been able to deal with Itachi so easily, that level of Mokuton (Wood Style) probably wouldn't have much effect on Yuto-sama.
Kisame couldn't help sneaking a glance at Yuto. Just what level had the strength of the legendary "Three Prodigies" reached?
"Curious about the real Mokuton (Wood Style), are you? Relax, you'll get to see it."
Sensing Kisame's gaze, a faint smile hung on Yuto's face.
"Their movements are a lot faster than I expected. Looks like we'll have to change places if we want to keep watching the show."
After looking down at Konoha beneath him, Yuto stood up from the top of the Hokage Rock and stretched lazily.
Ranmaru's face showed a puzzled expression, but he didn't ask anything. In Ranmaru's view, as long as he followed Yuto-sama, everything would be fine.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just then, three sharp sounds of something tearing through the air came from ahead.
Three Leaf shinobi appeared in front of Yuto and the others.
One was from the Hyuga Clan, another from the Inuzuka Clan. As for the last one, Yuto couldn't tell which family he came from—most likely one of the smaller clans in Konoha.
"So you really were here, a Hidden Mist squad hiding out."
The Inuzuka ninja smirked coldly at the three of them, reaching down to stroke the big dog at his feet.
"No wonder we couldn't find them. Is it the enemy's special kekkei genkai (bloodline limit)? Even the Byakugan (White Eye) can't see them."
The Hyuga ninja standing in the middle glanced at Ranmaru's eyes, which were giving off a faint red glow, and his expression grew ugly.
"Since we've found them, let's just take them out!"
The other Leaf ninja spoke in a cold voice as well, and the moment the words left his mouth, he charged straight at Yuto's group.
Seeing the man rush forward, Kisame's mouth curled into a wide grin.
He grabbed Samehada (Sharkskin) off his back in one hand and stepped out.
The instant Kisame moved, the other two Leaf ninja moved as well.
The three of them each picked a target and rushed at Yuto's team.
However, before they could get close, Kisame and Ranmaru were already standing in front of Yuto.
Ranmaru held his explosive sword, Shibuki (Blastsword), in his right hand, arm stretched out as he barred the space in front of Yuto.
Kisame likewise raised Samehada (Sharkskin), holding it horizontally in front of Yuto.
"With just the three of you, you're not worth making Yuto-sama take action himself."
Kisame stared coldly at the three who were charging over, his tone icy.
"I won't let you get anywhere near him!" Ranmaru said unhappily, his small face scrunched up in displeasure.
Seeing how Kisame and Ranmaru were acting, Yuto couldn't help the twitch at the corner of his mouth.
With the two of them behaving like this, weren't they basically shouting to the enemy, "I'm very important"?
Sure enough, after hearing Kisame and Ranmaru's words—especially seeing how the two of them were shielding Yuto—the three Leaf ninja who had been charging forward exchanged quick looks.
They immediately abandoned their original tactic of picking them off one by one and instead threw themselves toward Yuto with everything they had.
Just from Kisame and Ranmaru's reactions alone, the three Leaf ninja could tell that Yuto's status was extremely important—he might even be a high-ranking figure from the Hidden Mist.
In the blink of an eye, the five of them were clashing together.
Yet after deciding that Yuto's status was very high, the three from Konoha actually stopped trying to attack him directly and instead focused on taking down Ranmaru and Kisame first.
Seeing that no one was targeting him, Yuto was more than happy to relax.
Unfortunately for them, the three Leaf ninja had badly underestimated Ranmaru and Kisame's strength.
Up against Ranmaru's overwhelming power and speed, the Hyuga ninja was driven back step by step.
As for the Leaf ninja from the small clan, he was practically being crushed by Kisame.
If not for the Inuzuka's assistance, the two of them would probably have gone down long ago.
However, that situation didn't last for very long. With one final miserable howl—
The Inuzuka's ninken was hewn cleanly in two by a single slash from Kisame, blood splattering across the ground.
For Kisame and Ranmaru, a battle like this could hardly be called intense—it was, at most, a bit of a nuisance.
Expressionless, Yuto stepped over the two corpses in front of him and walked up to the Hyuga ninja.
He gave the man's eyes a brief look; the eyeballs had already been destroyed.
"So this is the so-called 'Caged Bird,' huh? The name really is fitting. From the looks of it, the ones being sent out to fight are all from the Hyuga branch family."
Yuto spoke in a calm tone, as if this was all within his expectations.
Compared to the numerous members of the branch family, the Hyuga main house had so few people it was almost pitiful.
Since only the direct bloodline counted as the main house, their numbers could never grow very large.
"I hope Neji can give me a pleasant surprise."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Yuto's mouth as he turned and headed off in a certain direction.
Kisame and Ranmaru hurriedly followed after him.
Although all those who had attacked Yuto were now dead, the overall situation hadn't changed much.
Under the full-scale search by Konoha's many ninja, the enemy village units that kept creating chaos and harassment were almost completely wiped out.
Even the ones that managed to hang on were quickly retreating toward the outskirts.
Yuto had never planned on helping those small squads from the very beginning.
For one thing, there were pitifully few teams from the Hidden Mist among the forces sowing chaos—most of them were Sand-nin and Sound-nin.
More importantly, the word "war" itself was soaked in blood.
As those small units were steadily cleared out, the scattered forces throughout Konoha were gradually being pulled together.
At the same time, Danzo, along with Homura and Koharu, stepped forward as well, leading both Root and the Konoha Military Police Force.
They gathered all the scattered ninja and unified them under their command, directly taking over Shikaku's job.
Though Shikaku felt somewhat helpless, he had no choice but to hand over his authority.
With the backing of the two advisors, Homura and Koharu, Danzo was able to stand openly at the forefront.
Many Leaf shinobi who didn't know the full story even believed that the swift evacuation of Konoha's civilians and the cleanup of enemy village ninja in the village center were all thanks to Danzo's efforts.
For a time, Danzo's reputation rose to a small peak.
"Damn it, Danzo actually has the nerve to brazenly snatch all the credit for himself!"
Looking at Danzo in the distance, surrounded by crowds of ninja, Choza's face was full of anger.
"Don't be impulsive, Choza. So what if we let Danzo have a bit of the credit? At a time like this, Konoha absolutely can't afford any internal upheaval."
Shikaku pressed firmly down on Choza's shoulder as he spoke, a helpless expression on his face.