CHAPTER 194 - 194: CLEAN UP THE ROOTS!

"How is it?"

"Have you completed the investigation?"

Danzo Shimura narrowed his one visible eye, staring coldly at the Root ninja kneeling before him.

"The investigation is complete," the Root ninja reported grimly. "The Third Hokage died in battle."

"The entire Hidden Leaf Village has been reduced to ruins."

"But Orochimaru and the Akatsuki have also retreated!"

Danzo's exposed eye narrowed, a glint of calculation flickering in its depths. He was caught in a vortex of conflicting emotions.

The good news: Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, was dead.

At long last, the seat he had coveted for years—Hokage—was finally vacant. This was the best opportunity he had seen in decades. No more shadows, no more secrets. It was time to stand in the light.

But his joy was tempered by the bleak reality: the current state of Konoha was abysmal. The village was battered, gutted, and teetering on the edge of collapse. It resembled a dying flame in the wind, liable to be snuffed out at any moment.

He had stood behind Sarutobi for years and knew well the village's internal weaknesses. The top ranks lacked powerful Kage-level shinobi. Meanwhile, enemies like the Hidden Cloud Village were licking their lips from the outside, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Now, with Konoha in ruins, its enemies would see blood in the water.

Still, none of that mattered—so long as he could seize the Hokage's seat. Power first. Solutions later.

So Danzo made his decision. He would return to Konoha at once with the Root to solidify his claim.

But just as he turned to issue the order, a presence made the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

A figure emerged from the shadows behind him, clad in a black cloak that seemed to swallow all surrounding light. Only a pair of blood-red eyes pierced the darkness, glowing like coals in a dying fire.

Sharingan.

"D-Danzo-sama..."

One of the Root shinobi stammered, pointing at the silhouette. His voice trembled, something unheard of for one of Danzo's operatives. "Behind you!"

Danzo's face twisted in annoyance.

"What are you panicking about?!" he barked. "Such disgraceful behavior over nothing!"

But the fear in his subordinates' eyes didn't fade. Instead, they grew more intense, their fingers still raised.

"Danzo-sama... There's someone behind you!"

Danzo's expression hardened. This time, he sensed it too—a faint shift in the air. A presence.

He turned on instinct, vanishing with a burst of the Body Flicker Technique, reappearing several meters away. He immediately fixed his gaze on the spot he'd just occupied.

And there he saw them: blood-red Sharingan spinning in the darkness.

The face remained shadowed, but Danzo already knew who it was.

Uchiha Haru.

"You..."

Danzo squinted, his tone low and dangerous, filled with grudging recognition.

He remembered the humiliation vividly—the loss he'd suffered on the night of the Uchiha Clan's extermination. If it weren't for the power of Izanagi, he would have died then and there.

And now this same man, stronger than before, stood silently before him.

He had heard rumors of Haru's performance during Orochimaru and the Akatsuki's assault on Konoha. Terrifying power. Unmatched control. The whispers did not do him justice.

Danzo's fingers twitched.

Haru stepped calmly from the shadows, black cloak brushing the ground, Sharingan burning in the dim light. He had made no effort to attack—because he didn't need to.

To Haru, Danzo was already dead.

More Root shinobi began arriving in waves, alerted by the commotion. In moments, over a hundred of them had surrounded the clearing, their movements precise, emotionless.

Danzo had clearly rebuilt Root after the Uchiha incident, and now his forces were here in full.

Danzo lifted a hand, voice sharp. "Attack."

His order cut through the air like a blade.

Every Root ninja present had been personally selected from elite families and academies. Each had undergone harsh training and brainwashing until they followed his every command without hesitation.

Even when standing before Uchiha Haru, even with dread gnawing at their nerves, they moved.

More than a hundred Root operatives surged forward—each one at least elite jonin level, each possessing unique skills honed through brutal training and years of Danzo Shimura's indoctrination.

The force they formed when united was nothing to scoff at. Even a Kage-level shinobi would be wise to avoid facing them all head-on.

But Uchiha Haru's lips curled slightly upward, showing no concern at all.

Back in the days when he simulated the Uchiha Clan massacre within his mental training system, he had often been overwhelmed and defeated by these very Root shinobi. Surrounded and outnumbered, he had failed repeatedly in those virtual battles.

Looking back on it now, it was almost nostalgic.

But sentiment was a luxury he had no time for now.

These people—these tools molded by Danzo—were no longer a threat to him.

He didn't even need hand seals anymore. Ninjutsu flowed from him like breath—instant, seamless.

Without warning, thick wooden spikes erupted violently from the earth beneath the charging Root operatives.

Many of them didn't have time to react. Skewered on the sharpened wood, several died instantly, while others screamed in agony.

The ones impaled didn't even get a chance to free themselves. The wooden thorns pierced through flesh, then sprouted again and again, growing uncontrollably—spreading like a parasitic infection. Their bodies were quickly riddled with sharp, jagged bark, crimson with blood. Their deaths were brutal and grotesque.

Still, despite the horror before them, the Root ninjas didn't hesitate.

Even surrounded by death, they charged forward as commanded.

They were tools now—brainwashed to the point of absolute loyalty. Danzo's words were law. Even if he ordered them to kill their families or slit their own throats, they would not hesitate.

So Uchiha Haru didn't hold back. There was no point in mercy for tools forged for obedience.

"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"

With a thunderous rumble, trees burst forth from the earth like titans rising from slumber. In mere moments, a sprawling, dense forest covered nearly a kilometer of terrain.

Each tree, each branch, each root and vine within the forest was an extension of Haru's will.

Here, he was a god.

The vines twisted to life, writhing like venomous serpents in the undergrowth. Their movements were too fast, too intelligent. They weren't just plants—they were predators.

Even though the Root members were highly trained, under the influence of Haru's Wood Release, they didn't stand a chance.

One after another, they were ensnared by vines and branches. The wood coiled tightly around their limbs, then constricted.

Bones snapped like twigs.

Blood sprayed.

In seconds, bodies were torn apart—limbs separated from torsos, heads crushed like fruit. Gore and fragments of bone painted the trees red.

The scene was unspeakably violent. The forest echoed with screams and the sickening sound of bodies being ripped apart.

A few Root shinobi with stronger chakra reserves managed to hold out. They unleashed taijutsu, ninjutsu, and team coordination to fend off the onslaught of vines and living wood.

But it was a losing battle.

The number of branches seemed endless. For every one they cut, three more took its place. Unless someone could destroy the entire forest at once, there was no escape.

At best, they could delay the inevitable. Their combined power was far below Kage level—formidable individually, but weak in the grand scale of shinobi warfare.

A few held out momentarily. Then their stamina waned. Their bodies slowed. They were overtaken—pierced, bound, ripped apart.

The trees showed no mercy. The blood flowed like rivers.

And it had barely been half a minute since Danzo ordered the assault.

Already, over a hundred Root operatives had died.

Danzo stood frozen, his single visible eye wide with disbelief.

He had hoped the Root operatives could at least buy him time to escape. His own life had always been his highest priority. He had once betrayed Konoha's ideals for survival—he would abandon these loyal shinobi just as easily.

He felt no guilt.

But he had underestimated Uchiha Haru—again.

The power Haru displayed was devastating. It couldn't even be called a battle.

It was an execution.

Complete, overwhelming, absolute.

Danzo had been so stunned, he forgot to flee.

By the time he finally snapped back to reality, it was too late.

A vine lashed out like a striking serpent—swift, silent, and deadly.

Danzo's eye shrank in alarm. He moved to the side, avoiding it by inches.

But the vine followed.

It bent unnaturally mid-air, twisting with his dodge, still aiming for him.

He knew what would happen if it caught him. He had seen it with his own eyes, had even felt it once before. He couldn't allow himself to be ensnared again.

His muscles tensed.

But his body was already too slow.

The vine coiled tightly around him before he could complete his counter.

His arms and legs were pinned. He couldn't form seals, couldn't reach his hidden weapons. He couldn't move.

The vines squeezed tighter.

Crack.

The familiar, sickening sound of his bones snapping filled the air.

Blood sprayed from his mouth.

Then the vines tore.

Limbs were ripped from their sockets. Flesh shredded like cloth. Bone snapped like bamboo. Danzo Shimura was torn apart, his remains splattering across the forest.p

---------

🎇🎇 Check out new Fanfiction 🎇🎇

🎊 Naruto : Tsunade You're Really Drunk 🎊

------------------

This Week Bonus Chapter - 200 Power stones

2nd Bonus Chapter - 400 Power Stones

3rd Bonus Chapter - 600 Power Stones

-------------

📢 Support the Novel & Read Ahead!

Love the story and can't wait to see what happens next?

Join my Patreon and get access to 50+ early Chapters before anyone else! 🔥

https://www.patreon.com/UK21

Thank you for reading, and I truly appreciate your support! 💖

---------