Countless kunai shot violently toward Ryosuke.
Ryosuke raised his hand and pointed forward, "Star Platinum!"
Star Platinum's tall and majestic body appeared from thin air. With a sweep of its starry eyes, the countless kunai in the sky seemed like they were in slow motion; every single flight trajectory was incomparably clear.
"Ora ora ora ora!"
It instantly threw out countless punches, knocking away all the approaching kunai.
Among them, there were also several hidden chains trying to entangle Ryosuke, but ended up getting grabbed by Star Platinum instead.
With a fierce yank, over ten Root organization ninjas were flung out, swung in a wide arc mid-air, then slammed to the ground, life or death uncertain.
This companion injury happened right before their eyes, yet the other Root organization ninjas turned a blind eye. Another dozen pounced forward, launching attacks toward Ryosuke, Konan, and Sasuke.
Without a doubt, they were like moths flying into flames, once they got close, they were completely blown apart.
Loyal subordinates were being injured one after another, yet Danzo's face remained expressionless, only silently calculating time in his heart.
Everything was proceeding according to his plan.
For this day's battle, Danzo had gathered all of Ryosuke's known combat records, extremely strong close-combat ability.
Limb regeneration even scarier than Orochimaru's.
Unparalleled genjutsu prowess, no less than Uchiha Itachi.
He could even fly and achieve super high-speed movement.
When he got this intel, Danzo stayed silent for a long time. He had never seen such a perfect warrior.
Yes, not a ninja, but a true warrior who could fight head-on on the battlefield and crush a nation.
Danzo longed to grasp Ryosuke's power. That's why he extended the olive branch, let Ryosuke become the ruler of all great nations, and Danzo would become the "shadow" behind him, that was Danzo's true goal.
But Danzo was a cautious man.
Even with such tempting chips, even with the power of Kotoamatsukami, he still prepared for the possibility of failure, to fight Ryosuke head-on.
After all, once Ryosuke refused, he must be killed.
Danzo could not accept other ninja villages obtaining Ripple, Stand powers, or Uchiha bloodline.
That would be a huge blow to Konoha.
"So, how should Ryosuke be killed?"
From the moment Jiraiya brought Sasuke to Konoha for protection, Danzo had constantly been devising tactics.
Once action was taken, Danzo's enemies wouldn't only be Ryosuke, it could also be brain-faulted Jiraiya, or the indecisive Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"And this…"
Danzo stared at Ryosuke tens of meters away and said in a low voice, "...is my answer."
Buzz~
A ring of semi-transparent barrier rose from the edge of the Uchiha ruins, isolating the chakra fluctuations inside from the outside. With the night rain as cover, the people in the village wouldn't discover the battle within the ruins for the time being.
"Danzo! What are you trying to do?!" Kakashi shouted.
He knew Danzo was a gloomy old madman, but he never expected he'd be mad to this extent.
When Danzo was negotiating with Ryosuke, Kakashi tried to step forward to stop it, but was blocked by a few Root ninjas.
Seeing both sides maintained basic restraint, Kakashi had stayed watching from the courtyard, ready to step in anytime.
But the battle broke out faster and more decisively than he expected, now even barrier techniques were being used.
Kakashi looked at the Root ninjas fighting Ryosuke.
He couldn't go up to help.
On one hand, there was the target assigned by the Third Hokage to protect; on the other, were ninjas from Konoha itself.
Even if they were from Root, ultimately, they were still comrades.
Kakashi's only option was to leave and report the news, call the Third Lord and Lord Jiraiya to stop Danzo's reckless actions.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Seven or eight Root ninjas appeared, surrounding Kakashi in the center.
One Root ninja said, "Kakashi-senpai, please stay here and do not move at will. This is better for you and for us."
Kakashi frowned deeply, "Protecting Ryosuke's group's safety in Konoha is the Third Lord's order."
Root ninja replied coldly, "Not letting you leave is Lord Danzo's order."
"Danzo is a lunatic!"
Might Guy's youthful shout came from another direction. Before he finished speaking, Root ninjas rushed up in a swarm.
"Looks like we have to fight."
Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector, revealing a slowly rotating Sharingan. His expression gradually turned calm and cold, "Everyone, blades have no eyes. If you're injured, don't blame me."
Kakashi, Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, and Asuma, four top-tier ninjas, were surrounded by Root ninjas several times their number.
In terms of direct combat strength, although the Root ninjas had superior numbers, it would still be hard to stop the four of them. The key was in two words, "Soft-heartedness."
Unlike Kirigakure, which had gone through the Bloody Mist era and showed no mercy to comrades, Kakashi's group was still soft-hearted.
Without using deadly force, trying to break through the Root encirclement and breach the barrier, none of the four could accomplish it in a short time.
Danzo's gaze swept past the four battling ninjas.
That, too, was part of his plan. Next up, "Ninjutsu Squad, move!"
At Danzo's command, in the darkness, pairs of hands completed seals.
"Earth Release, Yomi Marsh!"
"Wind Release, Tornado Hurricane!"
"Water Release, Water Severing Wave!"
"Fire Release, Great Flame Bullet!"
Four-elemental jutsu blasted out from the dark.
Kakashi turned his head and exclaimed, "Combined Ninjutsu?!"
So-called "Combined Ninjutsu" meant dozens of ninjas casting the same technique simultaneously, greatly enhancing the jutsu's power and range.
Not only that, single-element combined jutsu, under the refined coordination of Root ninjas, allowed wind, fire, earth, and water elements to interweave.
Beneath Ryosuke's feet appeared a vast swamp, with a slick of floating oil, clearly "oil" was added, binding their legs.
Tornado and fireball merged, forming a flame tornado. The Water Severing Wave's stream whipped up the oil slick, further feeding the flame tornado.
In the next moment, a fire tornado nearly 100 meters tall and 30 meters wide formed, "Ninjutsu, Super Flame Dragon Storm!"
This was the killer move Danzo painstakingly devised.
"You are indeed very strong, but you have one fatal weakness."
Danzo stared at Ryosuke, "You lack means to counter wide-range ninjutsu, or rather, as long as you're still human, you can't possibly defeat this kind of super-large-scale ninjutsu."
Facing this massive flame tornado like a black hole, sweeping with violent winds, Ryosuke couldn't fly away, nor could he use a Stand to smash it apart.
Once he entered the storm's attack range, the flames, gales, and water blades within would act like a meat grinder, within less than half a second, Ryosuke would be turned into a puddle of meat.
This was power only Tailed Beasts could handle.
Danzo stood atop a roof, "What a pity, you're still just a mortal."
"Madmen! All of them are madmen!"
Konan felt that ever since she followed Ryosuke, every person she met was insane.
She picked up Sasuke and performed Dance of the Shikigami.
"Ryosuke! Run! What are you doing?!"
She knew escaping Super Flame Dragon Storm's attack range was nearly impossible, but they had to try. They couldn't just sit and wait for death, could they?
"Ryosuke!" Kakashi shouted, hands forming seals.
"Raikiri!"
He turned into a flash of lightning and charged toward Ryosuke, intending to use lightning chakra's enhanced speed to pull Ryosuke out of the storm's strike zone.
But...
Konan spread her paper wings. Before she could flap, countless papers were scorched by high temperatures and fell to the ground.
Kakashi, halfway through his charge, stumbled in the roaring wind, his speed suddenly dropping.
They couldn't escape.
Danzo softly said, "Sorry, Ryosuke. You and I have no personal grudges. But for Konoha's future, please die."
Konan blankly stared at the approaching flame dragon storm, "This kind of power… Danzo, just how many ninjas did you gather?!"
Despair engulfed Konan.
Just then, Konan felt a small warm hand grip hers. Sasuke's voice rang by her ear, "It's okay, Sister Konan. As long as Brother Ryosuke is here, he..."
Sasuke looked at Ryosuke's back and said, "Is invincible."
"Inv...incible?"
Konan froze. How could anyone in the world be "invincible"?
But at the same time that thought appeared, she saw Ryosuke raise a hand.
The rain... stopped.
And what stopped along with it, was the flame dragon storm, like an apocalyptic calamity, closing in.
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