Chapter 60 – The Rat's Last Five Minutes
Outside the cave, Orochimaru cut straight to the chase with his trade offer.
Naruto and Sasuke hesitated.
If possible, they would've loved to beat the location out of him.
But they had both learned the hard way in the Forest of Death: when Orochimaru wants to disappear, he disappears.
After a few seconds of silent debate, they dropped the idea.
Then they remembered Aike's whole "merchant" persona and the deals he'd made with them.
Giving the snake a few harmless crumbs probably wouldn't even annoy Aike.
Might even bring him a new customer.
One shared glance later, they spilled what they knew.
They left out the exact goods traded, of course.
But Orochimaru was smart enough to fill in the blanks.
So that's how it is!
Everything clicked.
No wonder these two were so far beyond their age group.
The source was that man.
"A merchant, hm? Heh heh… now that's interesting."
"I might just pay him a visit myself."
Deal complete, Orochimaru happily sold out his longtime partner.
Every Root base location—handed over without a shred of loyalty.
Naruto and Sasuke didn't stick around to chat.
They vanished toward the coordinates.
"This old dog really knows how to hide."
Once they arrived, hidden sentries were spotted instantly.
"Nine guards," Naruto grinned under Kagura's Mind's Eye. "Wanna bet who gets more kills?"
"Bet's on."
"Blaze Style: Imperial Flame!"
Sasuke answered by attacking first—no honor among avengers.
He'd lost every childish bet for years.
Tonight he wanted a win.
A ten-meter-wide sphere of ultra-compressed flame formed in the blink of an eye.
"Hey! Sneak attack?!" Naruto yelled.
He spun up his own counter.
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
Alarms screamed the moment the two attacks launched.
"ENEMY ATTACK!"
"THE BASE IS UNDER ASSAULT!!"
Nine Root nin scattered in panic.
Too slow.
A flaming sun and a screaming wind disc later, the entire perimeter turned into a hellscape.
Nine elite guards—vaporized.
The explosion also conveniently erased every barrier, trap, and hidden door in a fifty-meter radius.
A naked tunnel entrance smoked invitingly.
Naruto's smile was bright, sunny, and utterly terrifying.
"Time to take out the last tumor."
Moments after the boys disappeared inside,
Aike's group strolled up.
"That was loud. Jiraiya's definitely on his way."
"Let's move. Otherwise the old fossil won't last long enough for us to say hi."
Aike led the four girls into the bunker like it was a tourist attraction.
Hokage Tower direction.
Exactly as Aike predicted.
The mushroom-cloud-sized blast snapped Jiraiya out of his paperwork coma.
"That direction… shit, Root!"
He shot to his feet.
"Shikaku! Emergency assembly—ANBU, Kakashi, everyone!"
"That attack had Naruto's signature."
Shikaku didn't need convincing.
Within minutes an elite strike team formed and tore toward the Root headquarters.
Back underground.
Root nin were dropping in waves.
It didn't take long for Naruto and Sasuke to reach the final chamber.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Uchiha Sasuke."
Danzo stood behind a wall of bodyguards, eye narrowed to a slit.
"I expected you two to run. Inst
ead you march straight into my home."
"Gutsy brats."
"Tch."
Sasuke gave a contemptuous laugh, staring Danzo down like trash.
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