After my laughter, a laugh filled with mockery toward Danzo's fantasy of controlling me, anger toward his threats, and a clear declaration of my stance, I slowly sat down on the ground. My hand remained resting on the hilt of my sword. Looking Danzo directly in the eye without the slightest intention of backing down, I said, "I have already informed Lord Third about you kidnapping my parents, so I will give you a chance to let them go. I'll wait five minutes for him to arrive."
My voice was calm, dangerously calm. "You try to kill my parents, and I'll just start slaughtering all of you."
There was no fear in my heart or on my face. My expression was completely calm, but beneath that calmness was a rage so deep that even I could feel it simmering quietly inside me, waiting for an excuse to erupt. The moment Danzo did anything to my parents, that rage would explode. I knew that if some people saw me acting like this, they would probably doubt my love for my parents, saying things like, You can't even do this much for your parents.
But those people were not me. I had my own principles that I lived by, and I would not abandon them, even if it meant letting my parents, relatives, or people close to me die. Some people would call that ruthless, heartless, or pure madness. I didn't care; that was simply who I was.
Taking someone close to me hostage was not going to work. I would rather take revenge and kill the person responsible than spend the rest of my life living under their control. I would rather die fighting than become someone's obedient dog because they held a knife to the throat of someone I loved. That was why I did not believe in hostages, and I certainly did not believe that my family was my weakness.
Danzo stared directly into my eyes, clearly searching for fear, hesitation, or doubt. He wanted anything that would indicate I was bluffing or prove I would eventually bend, but he found none of it. Instead, I looked back at him coldly, like a ferocious tiger staring at its prey while waiting for the moment to pounce.
Seeing this, Danzo's expression became completely cold, though it was not much different from his usual face. Then he spoke, his voice carrying a trace of anger. "Do you think I am afraid of you? And you really think you will be able to kill every one of my ninjas? You think that because I am afraid of you, I won't do anything to your parents? You are terribly wrong."
The pressure of his chakra increased slightly. "If you have your resolve, then I will show you my resolve." After saying that, he turned his head toward his left and looked at one of the Root ninjas standing beside him. "Bring them."
The Root ninja immediately understood who Danzo was referring to and disappeared from the room without wasting a second. I simply watched in silence, my grip tightening slightly on my sword.
A few minutes later, the same Root ninja returned with two others, escorting my father and mother. The moment they entered my field of vision, the atmosphere around me subtly changed. Both of them were restrained and guided forward like mechanical puppets. Their eyes lacked focus and their expressions were vacant, trapped in some kind of trance as they followed instructions without any awareness of their surroundings.
Seeing them like that caused a surge of anger to rise inside me. My jaws tightened, the muscles in my face stiffened, and my grip on my sword's hilt grew so strong that my knuckles nearly turned white. For a brief moment, all I wanted was to kill every person in this room. Even though I tried my best to keep my killing intent restrained, it still leaked out, sharp, violent, and unstable.
Each wave of killing intent was directed toward Danzo and the Root ninjas positioned on both sides of the room. Several Root ninjas instinctively stiffened, some subtly shifted their footing, and others moved their hands closer to their weapons. Meanwhile, I kept my eyes fixed on my parents before slowly moving my gaze back toward Danzo. The calm expression on my face remained, but anyone looking closely could tell it was becoming increasingly fragile, like a volcano moments away from erupting.
…
Danzo looked at Ryuma's cold expression, the killing intent simmering beneath the surface, and the unwavering gaze fixed on him. He had been hoping for something else, waiting for Ryuma's confident facade to crack and his posture of I don't care even if my parents die to break apart. He wanted the boy to abandon his talk of revenge as desperation took over, hoping Ryuma would panic, beg, plead, and throw away his pride to ask for mercy.
But none of that happened. Ryuma's expression remained unchanged, his posture firm, and his eyes completely free of fear or hesitation. Everything about him made it clear that his mind was already made up: he was not going to submit or bow his head before Danzo. That realization greatly annoyed Danzo, and his expression grew even colder.
Looking Ryuma directly in the eye as if challenging him, Danzo spoke a single word. "Execute."
Although Danzo's gaze never left Ryuma, the order was directed at the two Root ninjas holding Ryuma's parents, Raito and Kazumi. Without the slightest hesitation, the two Root ninjas unsheathed their short swords. The metallic sound of blades leaving their sheaths echoed through the underground chamber. At the same moment, every Root ninja present grew tense, their stances shifting as hands moved toward weapons and eyes locked onto Ryuma. Nobody doubted that the moment the execution began, Ryuma would make his move.
They were right. Seeing the blades drawn and positioned beside the necks of his father and mother, Ryuma's entire body tensed. Every muscle tightened, his breathing became heavier, and his grip on his sword grew stronger. He was not going to sit there and watch his parents get slaughtered helplessly before his eyes. That was never going to happen, and he would do everything within his power to save them.
The two Root ninjas raised their swords and swung downward. The moment they moved, Ryuma exploded.
"You dare!"
His roar shook the entire underground chamber, reverberating through the walls like thunder. Several nearby Root ninjas felt their eardrums ring as dust trembled from the ceiling. The sheer fury contained within that shout sent a chill through everyone present.
Ryuma was already on his feet, half-crouched like a tiger preparing to tear apart its prey. His eyes turned blood-red as rage flooded his mind, driving away every other thought until only one remained: Stop them. Stop those two Root ninjas, no matter what.
The muscles in his legs coiled, his sword began to leave its sheath, and his killing intent surged violently outward.
The Root ninjas around Ryuma reacted immediately, some preparing to intercept while others readied defensive techniques or prepared to throw themselves in front of Danzo. The entire room stood on the brink of exploding into violence.
Just at that moment, a vast pressure descended upon the underground Root base.
Boom!
The air itself seemed to become heavier as the pathway trembled slightly, forcing an overwhelming pressure down on everyone present. Several Root ninjas widened their eyes while others instinctively froze, and even the movements of the two executioners faltered for a split second. Then black lightning began dancing around Ryuma's body.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Dark arcs of lightning flickered through the air, wrapping around him like furious serpents. The black lightning illuminated his blood-red eyes, his clothes fluttered despite the absence of wind, and the pressure pouring from him surged to an entirely different level. For the first time since entering this room, the Root ninjas felt genuine danger—not the danger of a talented civilian or a promising swordsman, but the danger of a monster about to be unleashed.
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