Boom...
The sounds of explosions continuously echoed throughout the dense forest. Against the backdrop of smoke and flashing lightning, Danzo streaked through the trees like a ghost, leaving a long trail of afterimages behind him.
Every time he darted and shifted, the screams of Kumogakure shinobi followed.
In the face of such absolute speed, aside from the Fourth Raikage, not a single Kumogakure shinobi could keep up with him.
"Damn it!"
Watching Danzo slaughter Kumogakure shinobi right before his eyes, the Fourth Raikage was absolutely furious.
Although he had already entered Lightning Release Chakra Mode and could barely keep pace with Danzo’s Swift Release, he was unable to stop Danzo from targeting the other Kumogakure shinobi.
In fact, the presence of all these Kumogakure shinobi had instead become a burden for the Fourth Raikage. Forced to worry about accidentally harming his own men, he was unable to unleash his peak speed without restraint.
Fortunately, Danzo’s taijutsu was unexpectedly terrible. It could even be said that there was absolutely no technique or structure to his movements.
Otherwise, Kumogakure’s casualties would probably have been ten times worse than they were now!
Whoosh—
With another lightning-fast assault, Danzo used Swift Release to flash behind a Kumogakure chunin and effortlessly slit the man’s throat with a shuriken.
As the other man’s blood sprayed through the air, a strange expression appeared on Danzo’s face.
It was a kind of delight mixed with excitement and smugness, as though succeeding so effortlessly again and again had filled him with immense surprise and exhilaration.
"Lateral Bolt of Pain!"
With a furious roar, the Fourth Raikage, who had finally found an opening, lunged fiercely at the momentarily careless Danzo.
At that instant, the Fourth Raikage unleashed the nintaijutsu ’Lateral Bolt of Pain.’ His entire arm was like a battle-axe wreathed in lightning, chopping down toward Danzo amid a dazzling burst of lightning!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Faced with the Fourth Raikage’s ultimate nintaijutsu, Danzo offered absolutely no resistance and was instantly sent flying.
His entire body shot through the air like a cannonball before smashing violently into a distant tree. After crashing through four or five massive trees in succession, he still couldn’t stop his momentum and finally slammed into the ground, blasting out a huge crater!
Having landed a clean hit, the Fourth Raikage panted lightly as he turned toward the Kumogakure shinobi around him and ordered,
"Take Danzo’s corpse. We’re returning to the village!"
In the Fourth Raikage’s eyes, anyone struck directly by a full-power Lateral Bolt of Pain while he was in Lightning Release Chakra Mode was certain to die.
Thus, he had already regarded Danzo in the distance as nothing more than a corpse.
"Yes!"
Two nearby Kumogakure shinobi immediately acknowledged the order and prepared to retrieve Danzo’s body.
No one could withstand a direct Lateral Bolt of Pain from their Raikage with nothing but flesh and blood.
Of that, they had absolutely no doubt!
Crack...
But just then, a sound came from within the cloud of dust.
Before long, under the astonished gazes of the Kumogakure shinobi, Danzo slowly walked out of the smoke.
The Hokage robe covering his chest had been torn apart by the Fourth Raikage’s Lateral Bolt of Pain, yet the exposed chest underneath appeared completely unharmed.
If not for the traces of bright-red blood still staining his torn Hokage robe, everyone present might not even have been able to tell that he had been injured at all.
"Th-This... How is that possible?!"
"Is he some kind of monster?"
"Don’t tell me this guy became a Perfect Shinobi just like Hiruko?!"
The bizarre scene before them immediately caused the surrounding Kumogakure shinobi to break into hushed discussion.
The Fourth Raikage’s expression also darkened.
He realized that he could no longer judge Danzo by his old impression of him. The Danzo before him was no longer some decrepit old man who had fallen from his prime, but a monster who might have become just like Hiruko.
After emerging from the cloud of dust, Danzo seemed to have become a completely different person yet again.
Although his expression carried a hint of solemnity, he was generally calm and composed. There was none of his previous nervousness or panic, nor did he possess Danzo’s usual sinister and ruthless demeanor!
He swept his gaze across the Kumogakure shinobi, then rapidly formed hand seals with both hands and shouted,
"Boil Style: Skilled Mist Technique!"
In an instant, a cloud of mist enveloped the surrounding area.
However, unlike the mist created by the Hiding in the Mist Technique, this was a deadly vapor possessing terrifying corrosive properties.
"My eyes! I can’t see anything...!"
"Ahhh! My face is melting!"
"This is Kiri’s Boil Release! Everyone, get out of the mist!"
The Kumogakure shinobi hesitated for only a brief moment inside the corrosive mist, yet that alone resulted in widespread casualties.
Only after an experienced elite jonin shouted a warning did everyone hurriedly retreat from the mist’s range.
But throughout the entire process, Danzo followed them like a shadow.
In the blink of an eye, he killed another seven or eight Kumogakure shinobi, among them even a Kumogakure jonin.
"How did his taijutsu suddenly become stronger?"
The Fourth Raikage, who had been closely observing Danzo the entire time, felt his heart jolt.
Because the Danzo before him and the Danzo from moments earlier were worlds apart in terms of taijutsu ability!
Although Danzo’s current taijutsu still couldn’t be considered particularly impressive, compared to the complete lack of technique he had displayed just moments ago, the improvement was enormous.
At the very least, his taijutsu had now reached the level expected of a competent shinobi.
And when combined with his incomparably swift and ferocious Swift Release, it had instantly transformed him into a killing machine.
Just then, Danzo suddenly appeared behind one of Kumogakure’s elite jonin.
As an elite jonin, the Kumogakure shinobi had not been completely caught off guard by Danzo’s surprise attack. However, it was already too late to dodge.
Gritting his teeth, he made up his mind to take Danzo down with him. And even if he couldn’t manage that, he would at least wound Danzo and create an opportunity for the Fourth Raikage to kill him!
In an instant, both sides swung their kunai at each other.
And both had chosen the exact same target—
The throat, one of the most vulnerable vital points on the human body!
But just as their kunai were about to slash through each other’s throats, Danzo abruptly stopped his attack and rapidly retreated.
As he backed away, he shouted,
"Stop! Everyone, stop!"
Danzo’s sudden change left all the Kumogakure shinobi completely bewildered.
At that moment, Danzo clutched his head with one hand, his face twisted in pain as he said,
"It’s me! I’m Hamui!"
"Hamui?!"
Everyone present, including the Fourth Raikage, was stunned upon hearing the name.
That was because Hamui was none other than the Kumogakure jonin possessing the Storm Release Kekkei Genkai whom Danzo had abducted!
The Fourth Raikage frowned deeply.
"Danzo, what kind of trick are you trying to pull now?"
Danzo dropped to one knee and said to the Fourth Raikage,
"Lord Raikage, it really is me! I’m Hamui! Something went wrong with Danzo’s ritual, and I’ve temporarily taken control of this body!"
The Fourth Raikage stared scrutinizingly at Danzo before testing him,
"How can you prove that you’re Hamui?"
Danzo shouted,
"Lord Raikage, we can talk about that later! We need to retreat as quickly as possible. This place isn’t safe!"
Before Danzo had even finished speaking, the sounds of shinobi rapidly racing through the forest came from the distance.
Without a doubt, after regrouping, the Root shinobi had followed the direction in which Danzo had fled and were now closing in.
For these Root shinobi, Danzo’s safety was their highest priority.
So no matter what, they had to confirm that Danzo was safe...