At the deepest part of the Death Forest, beneath the Root's headquarters, a series of footsteps disrupted the quietness of the vast underground base.
Danzo, standing in the middle of an open space, furrowed his brow upon hearing the sound behind him and turned around.
In his line of sight stood the Root shinobi whose arms had been severed earlier, accompanied by a torso being dragged behind him.
"You're still alive?" Danzo's voice was cold and devoid of emotion.
"The mission failed. The target is still alive. That Kazekyo, has reappeared and can now controls three-tails," the armless Root shinobi reported, his forehead dripping with sweat, a sign of his inner turmoil.
"I'm asking why you're still alive," Danzo interrupted his report, his eyes filled with chilling coldness.
"Kazekyo asked me to deliver a message to you," the armless shinobi's voice trembled.
Although he had undergone rigorous training in the Root, he didn't want to die. "He said... He told me to clean up your ass so that his feet doesn't get dirty when he kicks it."
After uttering those words, the armless shinobi knew that he had no chance of survival. He stood up abruptly, turned his head, and slammed it against the nearby wall.
"For the sake of Danzo-sama, for the sake of Root!" he shouted with unwavering loyalty as he crashed into the wall.
Witnessing the loyal subordinate's sacrifice, Danzo's expression softened somewhat.
"Ninjas must be willing to sacrifice themselves. If they all die, how can you continue to live alone?" he muttered. "Rest assured, my good child. I will avenge you."
With a wave of his hand towards the darkness, Danzo turned around to contemplate his next move.
However, as soon as he turned, he noticed a thin, blood-red thread emanating from the corpse of the armless shinobi and extending from behind.
In an instant, the blood-red thread floated in front of the corpse, transforming into the three-tailed chakra mode of Kazekyo.
After scanning the surroundings, Kazekyo charged directly towards the unsuspecting Danzo from behind.
"He's the Jinchuriki!"
"Watch out behind you, Danzo-sama!"
The Root shinobi who had just emerged from the darkness to deal with the corpse turned around in an attempt to protect Danzo. But his speed was no match for the speed of Kazekyo in his three-tailed chakra mode. In the blink of an eye, Kazekyo appeared behind Danzo.
Upon hearing the shout, Danzo turned his head with a look of shock and anger, only to see a face right in front of him.
"Naruto, no, it's Kazekyo!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, have you cleaned your ass?"
Danzo didn't answer, but instead quickly distanced himself from Kazekyo.
He swiftly formed hand seals, intending to eliminate this shadow clone. Although it was just a chakra-formed clone, its speed was not much different from the original.
As Danzo lifted his foot, he felt a powerful kick to his rear end.
"You bastard!"
Danzo stumbled from the kick, his cheeks bulging with anger. In the next moment, he expelled a series of high-pressure wind bullets from his mouth, which shot through the air towards Kazekyo.
Facing the attack, Kazekyo had no intention of defending or dodging. With a mocking grin on his face, he said, "Old dog, you better not leave your house this week, or others might see your menstrual blood!"
As the words fell, the high-pressure wind bullets pierced through Kazekyo!
Puff!
The sound of a bursting balloon echoed, and Kazekyo vanished into a burst of smoke.
"Damn it, what the hell is this chaos about?"
Seeing Kazekyo disappear decisively, Danzo's face darkened to the extreme.
Did he send a clone all the way here just to kick him?
Before Danzo could understand, he heard the voice of the subordinate again.
"Sir, behind you, there's a blood-red footprint!"
Upon hearing this, Danzo immediately took off his outer robe.
But when he looked, there was no blood-red footprint on the robe at all.
"Sir, the footprint is still there; it didn't come off with your clothes!"
Feeling that he couldn't explain it clearly, the ninja subordinate formed hand seals and created a water screen in the air.
Through the reflection on the water screen, Danzo clearly saw the blood-red footprint on his buttocks.
Without hesitation, he took off another piece of clothing.
As expected, the footprint didn't come off as stated; it appeared on the next layer of clothing.
"Uzumaki Kazekyo!!!"
"You're good!"
Danzo, with a face as black as coal, didn't continue undressing.
This was clearly the Nine-Tails' chakra attached to his body.
No wonder the clone became ethereal before even coming into contact with the high-pressure wind bullet.
It could be said that it was not very damaging but highly insulting.
After instructing the subordinate to continue with the mission, he quickly left the open space.
On the other side,
In Gato's cabin in the woods,
The missing Kirigakure ninja was now respectfully reporting to Zabuza.
"Jonin from Konoha, white hair, wearing a mask, revealing only one eye, and three Genin brats?"
Based on the received information, Zabuza frowned.
If he guessed correctly, this white-haired person should be the legendary Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake.
"The enemy is somewhat unexpected."
Zabuza felt that enemies of this level should be paid more!
Before he could go find Gato, the door was forcefully pushed open.
"You idiot, your men screwed up!"
Accompanied by two bodyguards, Gato angrily pointed at Zabuza.
"I paid a hefty price, so you better send stronger ninjas!"
After hearing Gato's words, Zabuza instantly swung his large sword, tightly gripping it.
A head spattered with blood soared high into the air.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
Gato was terrified by Zabuza's swift action.
"Us Kirigakure ninja either succeed in our mission or die!"
"Even if it's due to receiving incorrect information, the failed person must die!"
Zabuza retrieved his sword, and glanced sideways at the stunned Gato.
"I won't hold you responsible for the incorrect information, and I will personally take care of it later."
"But now, we need to renegotiate the price."
"What!" Upon hearing about the price, Gato instantly snapped out of his daze and became furious.
Angry, he rushed towards Zabuza, pointing his finger at his nose and cursing.
"You bastard! I've given you enough money, what else do you want to negotiate!"
Zabuza didn't say a word. Haku, standing behind him, swiftly moved and grabbed Gato's arm.
Snap!
"Ah!"
The sound of bones breaking accompanied Gato's screams.
"I agree to increase the payment, I agree!"
*******
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