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"Monster!"
"Seriously, a terrifying monster!"
Watching Hayato's reckless, headstrong, wild, and savage attack style, the Root members who managed to dodge his assault couldn't help but change their expressions.
Even those trained enough not to care about their own lives were shaken—just looking at Hayato, such a ridiculously strong and ruthless monster, made their hearts freeze.
It wasn't fear of death itself, but the dread that even if they sacrificed themselves, it wouldn't make the slightest difference.
But Hayato didn't care about what the Root members were thinking at all. All he knew was that these guys were really annoying, making his body hurt quite a bit, and that made him want to smash every single person he saw—every living thing—into pieces, into meat paste, just to feel some relief inside.
With a signature roar, he sprang up, and BANG!—it was like he detonated a landmine right under his feet. The next moment, his body shot forward like a missile.
He looked huge, even bulky compared to normal ninjas, but he was insanely strong and fast. Maybe not super agile, but his speed was so unbelievably quick that nobody could react in time.
BAM!
One of the squad leaders got hit square in the face by Hayato's punch. With a rumble, the ground around the ninja's original spot caved in within a three-meter radius. This ninja had just used a shadow clone technique, but before his real body could even get away, it was slammed down by that punch.
BAM!
Black insect-like dust flew up, and beside it was a twisted corpse. This Root member was from the Konoha Aburame clan—but just one punch was all it took. Done.
Hayato didn't care who his enemy was. All he knew was if he could kill them with one punch, that was enough. His massive body bounced up again and crashed down on another ninja.
But then, the ninjas realized that although Hayato was powerful and fast, his agility was lacking. They began small, random dodges. For a while, Hayato could only jump past them without landing a hit.
"Good, just like that!""Now, counterattack!"
The Root ninjas breathed a sigh of relief. The worst thing wasn't death—it was if there was no weakness. Now that they found Hayato's weak spot, they could take him down.
While doing these small, random dodges, the ninjas tried other attack methods. The previous attacks had looked fierce but didn't really harm Hayato. So if they wanted to subdue or kill him, they'd have to keep testing different moves.
Water Release, Fire Release, Wind Release, Lightning Release, and other ninja arts—they tried to restrain or even cause fatal damage to Hayato, but none of it worked. His power was just too strong, even binding jutsus couldn't hold him.
Instead, these attempts backfired—some ninjas failed to dodge quickly enough and were lightly brushed by Hayato's palm or arm. They went down like blown-up dolls and would never show up in front of him again.
"Damn it! Block his movement! Seal him!" Finally, one of the Root members shouted.
"Earth Release: Yellow Springs Swamp!" Several ninjas cast the jutsu at the same time. Boom! The ground beneath Hayato turned into quicksand.
The harder he pushed, the deeper he sank. In the blink of an eye, the swamp was up to his waist.
"Ah! Roar!" Hayato struggled and roared angrily, but the more he fought, the deeper he sank.
"....."