UTBW: Ch. 55

Fugaku looked over at Hiruzen and the others, and said, "Especially you, Junichi instructed me to make sure to invite you both there. There are many good things we'd like everyone to see."

He cast a meaningful glance at Danzō, who was silent.

"..."

He knew better than anyone what was hidden at his Root base. He cast a pleading glance at Hiruzen, hoping for help. But to his dismay, Hiruzen's face was dark and gloomy. Not only did he not speak up for him, he even shot him an angry glare.

Danzō was stunned, and even more panicked. Why wasn't Hiruzen, who had always covered for him, standing up for him now?

"Please follow me," Fugaku said with a smile, then turned around and strode toward the deep red barrier.

The jonin exchanged looks with each other.

If they went over there, would that acting clan leader cut them all down?

"We're going," said Hiruzen, face as dark as ink, stepping forward.

At this point, he had no choice but to go.

He understood what kind of things Danzō had been up to — but by going there himself, he might still have a chance to control the situation.

If he didn't go, the whole situation would be dictated by the Uchiha!

"Uchiha Junichi, huh..." Hiruzen thought silently as he walked.

He was unfamiliar with that name.

After thinking for a moment, Hiruzen beckoned to an Anbu guard beside him. The guard came closer, listening to a few whispered words.

Afterward, the guard seemed shocked, staring at Hiruzen in astonishment.

"I'm counting on you, Kakashi," said Hiruzen, patting the guard on the shoulder.

The guard stayed silent for a moment, then bowed and quietly slipped away from the group.

Seeing this, the others followed suit, quietly sending a few men back to the village to deliver messages.

After all, given the uncertainty of this mission, they had to prepare for the worst.

"Let's go," the jonin said after making their arrangements, and they followed after Hiruzen.

---

Inside the Root base, the squad leader ordered.

"Supply chakra at full power! The formation has extremely strong defensive power. As long as the chakra flow doesn't stop, it can withstand anything!"

"You all—"

Screech!

Before he could finish his sentence, a sharp, high-pitched sound tore through the air. A thin crimson line slashed by.

The Four Red Yang Formation, which was supposed to be impenetrable, was torn apart like paper, splitting cleanly into two halves.

"!?!" The captain's eyes bulged wide in disbelief.

"Captain, what do we do now?" With the barrier destroyed, the squad members had no choice but to retreat back inside. They looked toward their leader for orders.

They were brainwashed death soldiers, tools trained to be used and discarded, even if commanded to march to their deaths, they would not hesitate.

The captain knew this well and quickly thought through their options. After a few seconds, he composed himself and spoke, "The base itself has very strong defenses too, and it's packed with mechanisms and traps. We hold our ground. Even if we die, we must not let the enemy break through!"

The squad members nodded without hesitation. Then, they quickly dispersed, heading to guard the key points in each passageway, preparing to repel the incoming enemy.

With such a commotion, Danzō-sama must have realized something is happening, the squad captain thought to himself, trying to encourage himself: Reinforcements must already be on the way. I just have to hold out a little longer.

He wasn't one of the brainwashed ones. In a massive organization like Root, it wasn't possible for everyone to be a brainwashed death soldier, they still needed people with functioning minds to maintain operations. Thus, he still had a basic instinct for survival and fear of death.

---

Outside the Root base, one by one, the clansmen stared with mouths agape at the sliced-open barrier.

They were looking at Junichi with even more admiration in their eyes.

Junichi's expression remained calm, completely unfazed.

This level of power might shock the ninjas of this era, but if it were during the Shippuden era or in the One Piece world, it would be nothing impressive.

"Let's go in," he said, heading straight for the small mountain above the Root base.

"There are traps inside!" a clansman hurriedly warned.

"No problem," Junichi replied without even turning his head, speaking lightly: "Just keep your distance and follow behind me."

As he spoke, a thick wave of ocular power mixed with chakra and formed an intangible, massive entity.

Whoosh!

A semi-giant over ten meters tall erupted from the ground.

"Su... Susanoo!!" The clansmen exclaimed in amazement, their eyes widening in joy. To not only witness the clan leader's terrifying swordsmanship but also to see the legendary Susanoo... This trip was worth everything!

Crack!

Junichi's chakra continued surging, and the Susanoo evolved into its third form. The semi-giant's surface was now covered by a layer of solid armor.

The giant and its armor were entirely black, but fine golden patterns were etched across the armor, sharp and elegant, giving the figure a divine, majestic aura.

"Just as I thought, my chakra drain is very minimal," he murmured from within the giant.

Normally, for someone who had just awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, it would be impossible to use a third-stage Susanoo. Even activating a first-stage Susanoo would usually cause the eyes to bleed. The Mangekyō techniques themselves were supposed to cause extreme pain after each use.

However, even after he had used Tenjimei several times, his eyes merely felt a little dry. When using Susanoo and immediately reaching the third form, only some blood veins appeared at the corners of his eyes.

Is it due to a stronger body? Or the natural energy of the One Piece world that strengthened my eyes?

He lightly touched his eyes, keeping this anomaly in mind. If his guess was correct, perhaps he could evolve into the Eternal Mangekyō without needing an eye transplant.

For now, let's take care of these guys first. He lowered his hand and looking forward.

He swept his gaze across the area, sensing the enemy positions with his Observation Haki. Then he moved his will, the Susanoo suddenly punched forward, the massive black fist like a freight train, smashing directly into the mountainside.

Boom!!

The mountain shook violently. Buried beneath the earth, a solid alloy gate was smashed straight through.

---

Inside the Root base, a deafening explosion rocked the base.

Boom!!

The main gate was ripped off and shot inward like a fired cannonball.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!

Along the way, countless traps were triggered, releasing hundreds or thousands of ninja tools, but all of them hit nothing. The flying gate barreled through three passageways and crushed one Root ninja stationed at a checkpoint into a bloody pulp.

The resulting shockwave violently shook the entire interior of the base. Wiring snapped, the ground cracked, and chunks of ceiling came crashing down.

The carefully arranged layout of the base was reduced to utter chaos in a single blow.