People *had* broken into Root before, but never like this—walking in bold as day, not even trying to hide, with this kind of attitude? That was unheard of.
The mask was clearly for hiding his identity, but on this guy, it felt more like a way to mock them.
He walked in like he owned the place. It was obvious—he didn't take anyone in Root seriously at all.
"Hey—Danzo, not here?"
Before the words even finished echoing, kunai rained down from all directions, thrown from the hanging bridges above.
Some of the kunai even had explosive tags attached.
They clearly didn't care about blowing up their own bridge if it meant taking out Hatake Satoru.
"Huh? Didn't you already try this move before?"
"Doing it a few more times still won't work on me, you know."
Satoru let out a teasing laugh. A pale blue aura flared out, freezing all the kunai midair.
The entire space seemed to freeze with them.
"What the hell is going on with this guy?!"
One of the Root members gritted his teeth, stunned.
Even the sensor-type nin couldn't pick up any chakra flow from Satoru.
That pale blue energy had no traceable source.
They'd never seen a jutsu like this before, but it didn't take long for them to realize—long-range attacks were useless against him.
A few of the closer ones jumped down from the bridge, swords drawn, rushing straight at him.
With a snap of his fingers, the kunai floating around him suddenly vanished.
"Ah!"
Screams broke out all around.
The space between the kunai and the people was erased—most of them were pierced right where they stood.
Bodies rolled off the bridge.
Then the explosive tags that had been burning silently blew up at once, the blast shaking the whole structure.
Bits of wood and limbs flew through the air.
The broken bridge burned, and the smell of gunpowder and smoke filled the space, covering up the scent of blood and dirt.
"That's so unfair. I don't even *have* those kinds of weapons," Satoru muttered.
He bent backward smoothly, dodging a slash from a longsword, then kicked out hard with one leg, sending the attacker flying sideways.
The chest armor cracked under the pressure of the blow.
The guy hit the wall like a rock, and the entire wall shuddered from the impact.
Cracks spread out like a spiderweb from where he hit, and after pausing for a moment, the man slid straight down to the ground.
The two others holding swords nearby had started sweating. Their wrists were trembling slightly, out of their control.
This was a slaughter. Pure domination.
If they made a move, they'd be killed instantly.
One of them whispered under his breath, almost like a reflex.
"I... I can't move..."
Birds being stared down by a snake freeze in fear without even realizing it.
They were the birds, and this guy was the snake, flicking his tongue again and again.
"Move aside, move aside. Just standing here stiff like that is in the way, don't block the path."
As soon as Hatake Satoru's hand touched their shoulders, a strong wind suddenly whipped up from the misty end of the suspension bridge.
The smoke was quickly pulled together, and in the middle of the swirling wind, shuriken spun wildly, almost impossible to follow.
"Being loud has its upsides. Looks like I don't need to go in myself."
Hatake Satoru tilted his head slightly. A pale blue mist rose from his palms and quickly spread into the shoulders of the two next to him.
Without a pause, the two were slammed straight into the walls on either side.
The spinning shuriken carried sharp wind blades, and one was just about to slice through the mask on Hatake Satoru's face.
But with the sudden rise of dust, the spinning shuriken missed its mark completely.
Danzo, standing behind the smoke, waved his hand forcefully, his brows tightening.
The Sharingan embedded in his palm snapped open, scanning the figure in the smoke.
But it was like the person had vanished into thin air—there was no sign of him at all.
If he moved, there should've been some chakra flow.
Smoke wasn't a problem for the Sharingan.
Then where was this guy!?
"Looking for me?"
Hatake Satoru's voice echoed from above.
"When did you get up there—?!"
Danzo looked up fast and saw Hatake Satoru right above him. There had been no sign, no movement, nothing.
It was like the guy had just popped into existence above his head!
"Just now. Didn't you see me?!"
Hatake Satoru's figure flickered in the air, and then came a heavy punch from above.
But it only hit air. With a puff, the "Danzo" below his fist disappeared into a cloud of white smoke.
"Not bad, old man."
"Looks like you won't be getting dementia anytime soon."
Danzo had just dodged to the side, and before he could fully get his footing, Hatake Satoru's voice was already right next to his ear.
How could that be!?
This guy was still mid-air just a second ago!
No matter how fast someone reacted, they couldn't instantly appear beside you like that!
The white mask flashed in front of Danzo, followed by a heavy punch that landed right on his face.
"Ugh—!"
Danzo didn't have time to dodge and was sent flying by the hit. He twisted his body midair and landed on a broken section of the bridge.
"So fast!"
Danzo took a couple steps back on the bridge to steady himself, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He couldn't see the chakra flow, and there was no way to track his movements.
It didn't even feel like this guy was moving—more like he was skipping space altogether!
If that's the case, he needed to widen the attack range and increase the speed!
Danzo had been through plenty of real fights. Even if he didn't understand exactly what kind of technique Hatake Satoru was using—
He could still counter it with experience.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullet!"
Danzo raised his hand to his mouth, quickly building up chakra inside.
A pale green mist gathered into tiny, bullet-like projectiles and shot quickly toward Hatake Satoru.
As the dust in the air began to settle, Hatake Satoru's figure flashed briefly at the spot where he'd been. A few of the bullet-like wind attacks seemed to have hit him.
But even though they slowed him down a little, to Danzo, Hatake Satoru still looked like nothing more than a flickering afterimage.
When he got within a meter of Danzo, that afterimage vanished in an instant.
Even his presence disappeared completely.
Danzo cautiously looked around at the broken ground and the space above his head.
This guy loved using his speed to create a time gap.
"The air currents brush past me, sure, but they can't actually hit me."
Hatake Satoru's voice suddenly came from the suspension bridge below.
As Danzo looked down, he saw Hatake Satoru standing under the bridge, holding out two fingers—between them, a dark red glow was spinning fast inside a black sphere.
"Hah!"
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