After a round of exchanges, the two finally realized what the problem was — the strength of the three opponents did not match their movements at all.
Judging purely by ability, these three were already quasi-Kage level. But when Hoshiyomi and Tsunade fought them, the three's attack patterns felt no different from ordinary jōnin.
Although to others their moves might look fierce and ruthless, in Hoshiyomi's eyes they were full of flaws, almost as if their brains couldn't keep up with their bodies.
It must be some secret technique forcibly boosting their strength. After reaching this conclusion, Hoshiyomi no longer held back. With a horizontal slash of the Mikazuki Munechika, he cut through one opponent's kunai.
Originally, Hoshiyomi intended to follow with a vertical strike to split the man in two. But before his blade could fall, a long wooden spike suddenly sprouted from the enemy's hand.
The spike shot out, intercepting Hoshiyomi's sword. The Mikazuki Munechika got stuck in the rapidly growing wood, making it hard to pull free.
At that moment, the second opponent raised his hand and formed hand seals, shouting:
"Wood Release: Silent Binding!"
His right arm instantly transformed into several long vines, lashing toward Hoshiyomi in an attempt to bind him.
Fortunately, Hoshiyomi reacted quickly. He activated his shunpo, abandoned the attack, pulled his Mikazuki Munechika free, and withdrew, successfully dodging both Wood Release techniques.
While Hoshiyomi evaded, Tsunade finally managed to knock the third Root shinobi away with her monstrous strength.
Looking at the vine-covered arms that hadn't yet returned to normal, both Hoshiyomi and Tsunade froze in shock.
Wood Release?
Impossible. Had Danzō's experiments with Hashirama's cells already succeeded? That made no sense. Without Orochimaru's help, how could he have completed such research?
Just as Tsunade and Hoshiyomi exchanged bewildered looks, the Root shinobi knocked to the ground suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream.
All four turned toward the sound in shock.
They saw the man writhing in agony, clutching his face. In the next second, several budding branches burst out from under his skin. Meanwhile, his body rapidly withered, drained of life, and he was on the verge of death.
The other two Root shinobi, horrified, hastily tried to dispel their own Wood Release. But by then, Hoshiyomi had already charged forward.
Panicked, their defense fell into chaos. Against Hoshiyomi, they stood no chance. With two swift slashes, he cut them down.
And just like the first man, their bodies began sprouting branches as they fell — turning into human flowerpots.
At Hoshiyomi's signal, Tsunade rushed forward to examine them. After a moment, her expression darkened as she said:
"Their bodies are in complete chaos. Some unknown energy is rapidly draining their chakra and life force. They must have had some special method to withstand this energy at first.
But after taking enough damage — or consuming too much chakra — that method failed, causing the energy to rampage inside them… Danzō, that bastard!"
Although she called it "unknown energy," her face was grim. As the First Hokage's granddaughter, how could she not know what power fueled Wood Release?
And combined with Nawaki's disappearance, the nature of that "special method" was already obvious.
Hoshiyomi gently patted Tsunade's shoulder and said:
"Now's not the time to dwell on this. What matters is whether Nawaki is in danger. If Danzō dared to send men to ambush us at the village gates, it means he's already seized temporary control of Konoha."
"The old man should still be unaware of this. No matter how muddleheaded he gets, he would never allow Danzō to do something like this.
Here's what we'll do: you go to the Sarutobi compound and contact the old man. He knows where Root's base is. Go with him to rescue Nawaki from there. I'll head to the Hokage Building and take a look—I'd bet that bastard is most likely there."
Hearing Hoshiyomi's words, Tsunade felt his reasoning made sense. Without wasting another moment, she rubbed her reddened eyes and hurried toward the Sarutobi compound.
Watching her departing figure, Hoshiyomi clenched his fists tightly.
That old bastard really has given me quite the surprise. Let's hope you can take a few more cuts when the blades start coming down.
With that thought, Hoshiyomi activated Shunpo and rushed straight toward the Hokage building. Along the way, Root shinobi corpses lay scattered across the streets in every direction.
Halfway there, as he reached a street corner, he paused briefly. Hmph, the old bastard's moving faster than I thought.
On the other side of the corner, Danzō let out a cold snort.
"Hmph. Back so soon, are you? Good. I'll finish you and Hiruzen in one go and save myself the trouble of doing it twice."
As he spoke, Danzō raised his hand and unleashed a powerful Wind Release.
Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet!
A sphere of compressed wind roared out from his mouth. Hoshiyomi, of course, sensed it from behind the corner. With a swing of his sword, he released a slash of wind chakra.
The sword energy and the wind sphere collided, detonating instantly. The massive Wind Release energy tore a gaping hole into the corner wall.
"With this level, you think you can deal with me? How much have you had to drink today, old man?"
A mocking voice rang from around the corner. Under the nervous stares of the Root shinobi, Hoshiyomi strode out slowly.
Hearing the ridicule in his tone, an uncontrollable flash of killing intent passed through Danzō's eyes. This brat had humiliated him time and again—if he didn't kill him today, Danzō feared he'd never sleep soundly again.
With that thought, Danzō barked to the men behind him:
"What are you standing there for? Get him!"
At his command, the Root shinobi finally snapped to their senses, drawing kunai or forming hand seals as they rushed Hoshiyomi.
Seeing this, Hoshiyomi only sneered. Raising his left hand toward them, he intoned:
Soul-Devouring Demon-Sealing Slash!
A massive dark-red vortex spiraled into existence. Under Hoshiyomi's control, the surrounding Root shinobi were caught in its pull, dragged helplessly toward him. The suction was so overwhelming that they couldn't even complete their seals, let alone flee with Body Flicker.
To Danzō's stunned disbelief, his Root shinobi were dragged toward Hoshiyomi like leaves tossed in the wind.
At that moment, the Mikazuki Munechika in Hoshiyomi's right hand was already fully charged. In the next instant, two enormous arcs of blade light burst forth.
The terrifying blood-red sword energy cut through Danzō's prized death soldiers , shredding them into pieces.
Severed limbs and mangled bodies crashed to the ground, while blood poured from the sky like a storm, drenching Danzō's head and face.
"So these are the subordinates you've so carefully trained? No… to you, they were just tools, weren't they?
Well then, I suppose it's fitting you had those tools standing behind you just now. After all, if they all died in front of you, there'd be no one left to clean up your corpse."