On the other side, Danzō, accompanied by three Root test subjects, walked out of the laboratory. It was already one or two in the morning.
Danzō sat imposingly on his favorite high seat and said to his subordinates:
"Pass down my order. Assemble within ten minutes. Tonight, we're making a big move."
The Root shinobi, thoroughly brainwashed by Danzō, still carried out orders with great efficiency. Ten minutes later, fifty Root shinobi stood neatly in formation before him. This was Root's most core, most elite fighting force—an army of death soldiers under Danzō's absolute control.
Looking at them, all ready for battle, Danzō nodded in satisfaction and slowly revealed his plan for the night:
"From this night onward, Root will no longer toil in the shadows. From this night onward, Root will return to the sunlight, standing with me to protect the prosperity of Konoha."
His words were already very blunt. These death soldiers, long brainwashed by Danzō, instantly understood the rebellious meaning hidden in them.
Under his constant indoctrination, they already felt no loyalty to the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Now, hearing that Danzō was finally going to raise the banner of revolt, their faces flushed with excitement.
Seeing the fervor in their eyes, Danzō nodded again and continued:
"Our plan will proceed in three steps. Step one: seize the Scroll of Seals. Step two: assassinate Sarutobi Hiruzen. Step three: eliminate Gekko Hoshiyomi.
Tonight's goal is to complete the first two steps. You will be divided into two groups: the first, led by these three beside me, will quickly eliminate the night patrol squads. The second will follow me into the Hokage Building to seize the Scroll of Seals.
After accomplishing your tasks, Group One will guard the village gates to prevent Hoshiyomi's return, while Group Two will join me in storming the Sarutobi clan compound to assassinate Sarutobi Hiruzen. Do you all understand?"
"Yes!"
Hearing the Root members' unified response, Danzō gave a satisfied nod.
"Move out."
——
On Konoha's streets, several dark figures darted swiftly across alleys and rooftops. The patrol units, seeing the masks on their faces, mistook them for village Anbu and greeted them respectfully before moving on.
Little did they expect, in the very next instant, the figures attacked ruthlessly. The patrol squad, caught completely off guard, was silently taken down one after another without raising any alarm.
Scenes like this played out all across Konoha.
As the saying goes, you can guard against thieves outside, but not the ones inside your house. The night patrol never imagined they would die at the hands of their own people.
And because Danzō acted with such sudden precision, no warning ever spread.
Within less than an hour, Root had eliminated the entire night patrol force.
Silently, Konoha fell into Root's grasp.
Meanwhile, Danzō walked calmly, step by step, toward the Hokage Building.
"You've worked hard tonight. Hiruzen sent me to pick up some documents. Once I have them, I'll leave."
The Anbu guarding the entrance recognized Danzō and, hearing his words, let him through without suspicion.
But the moment Danzō stepped into the Hokage building, he suddenly formed hand seals. Two wooden spikes erupted from the ground, instantly impaling the two Anbu in place.
As their bodies fell, the Root ninja who had been lying in wait around the street corners surged in one after another, heading straight for the underground chamber where the Scroll of Seals was kept.
Danzō, being of high rank and a frequent visitor to the Hokage Building, was intimately familiar with its layout. He easily made his way to the underground chamber.
He easily made his way to the underground chamber.
It was only here that he finally met resistance. Two vigilant ANBU jōnin barred his entry.
But in this narrow underground space, no matter how alert they were, they could not withstand Danzō's twenty subordinates.
The Root shinobi swarmed in. The two ANBU barely had time to react, let alone launch large-scale ninjutsu alarms, before they collapsed in pools of blood.
The sealing technique at the entrance was easily undone by Danzō, and the Scroll of Seals—which recorded all kinds of Konoha's forbidden jutsu—fell into his hands without the slightest effort.
Staring at the enormous scroll before him, even Danzō's breathing grew rapid for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he opened the Scroll of Seals.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Impure World Reincarnation. Eight Inner Gates. Bringer-of-Darkness Technique…
As he looked at the list of forbidden jutsu recorded within, Danzō revealed a satisfied smile.
He didn't rush to study those forbidden jutsu. Instead, he focused intently on the Wood Release techniques left behind by Hashirama. As long as he mastered Wood Release and dealt with Hoshiyomi and Hiruzen, he could study those forbidden jutsu anytime he pleased.
After reading through Hashirama's Wood Release jutsu, Danzō felt he had gained immensely. In that moment, his feelings could be summed up in just two words:: invincible~!
"The jutsu I wanted is already in my hands. Next, we can proceed to the second step of the plan."
Brimming with confidence, Danzō reluctantly set aside the Scroll of Seals. Turning around, he left the Hokage Building under the lead of his Root subordinates.
Target: the Sarutobi clan compound!
——
Meanwhile, as Danzō was studying the Scroll of Seals in the Hokage building, two people and a wolf arrived at the gates of Konoha, covered in travel dust.
Helping Tsunade down from Lobo's back, Hoshiyomi patted the wolf's large head and said:
"You've worked hard, Lobo. Go back and rest well."
Lobo had been running almost nonstop for an entire day. Though exhausted, he still forced himself to ask, "Do you need my help?"
Hoshiyomi smiled confidently. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. It's just Danzō. He can't do anything to me."
After Lobo vanished with a puff of smoke, Hoshiyomi and Tsunade stepped into the village.
The moment they entered, blinding lights suddenly flared in the darkness, and several ninjutsu came roaring toward them with a whistling sound.
But in front of Tsunade and Hoshiyomi, such attacks were nothing more than child's play. Hoshiyomi drew the Mikazuki Munechika at his waist, and with a single sweep of sword energy, he shredded the incoming ninjutsu.
Before Hoshiyomi could even act further, Tsunade had already charged out. With a single blow of her monstrous strength, she sent the ambushers flying. The unlucky few among them were directly smashed into bloody pulp by her fists.
In that brief moment, Hoshiyomi had a clear look at the attackers' outfits: similar to Anbu attire, but their masks were decorated with all sorts of messy patterns.
In an instant, Hoshiyomi recognized them—these were Root shinobi.
For Root ninja to brazenly lie in ambush at Konoha's main gate… it seemed Danzō was truly making a big move this time.
With that thought, Hoshiyomi wasted no time. Activating shunpo, he too charged toward the Root shinobi.
Their strength was only at the level of chūnin or jōnin at best. Against Hoshiyomi and Tsunade together, they didn't last even a single exchange.
Within just a few breaths, most of the Root ninja were lying on the ground, leaving only three struggling to hold out.
These three were extraordinarily fast and powerful. Though they had not yet revealed any ninjutsu, Hoshiyomi's sensory abilities told him their chakra reserves were immense.
Judging by such vast chakra levels and their impressive physical prowess, these three could already be considered semi-Kage level.
But for some reason, whenever Hoshiyomi and Tsunade clashed with them, there was an odd, uncomfortable feeling they couldn't quite place.