章 29: Terrifying Enemy

A few moments before the explosion, Yato's eyes widened as he realized the danger. The half-burned explosive tag was too close, leaving him with mere seconds to react. His mind raced, trying to calculate his options.

"Yato!" Riku's voice echoed in his head. "Use the Gravity Devil Fruit now! Push him away!"

Without any time to waste, Yato activated the power of the Gravity Devil Fruit, focusing all his energy on repelling the fox-masked ninja. A powerful force surged from his body, pushing the ninja backward with tremendous force.

"Gravity Push!"

The fox-masked ninja's eyes widened in horror as he was flung through the air, while the explosive tag burned closer to detonation. He crashed into another ninja, and both of them collided with the remnants of the earth wall.

The explosion erupted in a blinding flash of light and a deafening roar, sending shockwaves rippling through the battlefield.

Shielding his eyes from the blast, Yato felt the searing heat and force as debris rained down around him. The ground shook violently, and when the dust finally settled, a massive crater marked the spot where the fox-masked ninja had been.

In that moment, everyone paused their fight and fixed their gaze upon the black-robed ninja standing at the edge of the pit.

This unknown man had proven to be an exceedingly formidable enemy. In a matter of seconds, from the moment he appeared to the explosion, four elite Root ninjas had been eliminated.

As Danzo contemplated the situation, he narrowed his eye, recognizing the similarities between Yato's jutsu and the jutsu used by the Tsuchikage of the Hidden Rock Village.

"Was he sent by Onoki?" Danzo thought, but quickly dismissed the idea. The opponent was skilled in taijutsu and effortlessly countered the "Silent Three Moon Dance." Throughout his memories, whether in the past or present, he had never encountered a ninja like this from the Hidden Rock Village.

"Who are you, and why do you keep interfering with our Konoha Anbu?" Danzo's eyes narrowed as he glared at Yato. Despite the difference in attire, he immediately recognized the ninja before him as the one who had hindered him earlier and led him to use izanagi.

He was greatly impressed by Yato's unbelievable control over kunai. Not only were they powerful and fast, but they could also change position and angle mid-flight, killing without detection. It was even more remarkable than the Uchiha clan.

Hearing Danzo's words, everyone looked on, speechless.

Recognizing that the other party wasn't from their village, Danzo preemptively placed blame on the Anbu instead of the Root, since they were dressed like them before starting the operation.

Shisui, standing nearby, was at a loss for words upon hearing this. How could he have imagined that the second-in-command of Konoha would be so shameless as to directly blame his good friend Sarutobi for their own actions?

Even Yato was taken aback, causing him to pause for a moment. He took a deep breath before uttering, "I am from Konoha!"

This time, it was Danzo's turn to be speechless. He mused to himself that this was Konoha, one of the most highly skilled troops, with intelligence spread throughout. How could they not have known about such an individual if they truly existed?

There was no doubt in Danzo's mind that the person standing before him was thoroughly deceitful, speaking only lies.

"Since you refuse to talk, then you can just stay silent forever!" Danzo snorted coldly, waved his hand, and then the ninjas of the Root immediately attacked.

Yato said nothing, glancing at Shisui, and raised his sword to meet the enemy directly. He was ready to clean up the ninjas of the Root, leaving only Danzo and Shisui. The opponent's S-level forbidden technique Izanagi and Susanoo made him cautious.

When the two of them are almost exhausted, then it will be his time to reap the rewards!

'I was careless before and it almost cost me my life,' Yato thought as he dodged another barrage of Shurikens.

Because he used the fivefold Potential Explosion Card, he thought he was strong enough to fight these Root ninja without relying on his Kekkei Genkai, but he was greatly mistaken.

In his mind, he ignored that experience plays a great role in deciding the outcome of the battle.

Despite his hard training, he was a new ninja with close to zero experience, which caused him to let his guard down after piercing the heart of his enemy, thinking he's dead. However, unexpectedly, he stayed alive for a few more seconds, and without hesitation, he used an explosion talisman to take Yato with him.

"I won't repeat the same mistake," Yato said.

Just as Shurikens surrounded him from every direction, they suddenly halted mid-air, not getting any closer to him.

"I won't hold back anymore."

Since he already used Gravity Push, then his trump card was already exposed. Hiding it any longer would only bring him danger, just like earlier.

"What the…"

Everyone was stunned by the scene in front of them, but before they could react, Yato's eyes glowed with an intense focus. He raised his hand and clenched his fist, manipulating the gravity around the Shurikens.

"Gravity Crush!"

With a swift motion, he deflected the shurikens back towards the Root ninjas. The projectiles flew at incredible speed, catching many off guard and causing cries of pain as the deadly steel embedded itself in their bodies.

"The real battle starts now," Yato declared as he lunged towards the remaining ninjas.

***

At the usually deserted Naka River, an intense battle unfolded. Yato had entered this battlefield some time ago, effortlessly evading the elite Root ninjas' attacks. Despite their numbers and extraordinary skills, they were unable to land a single blow on him.

The Root ninjas were considered to be the backbone of Konoha, part of one of the village's most powerful departments. Today, however, they couldn't subdue a lone opponent.

"Don't get too close to him; his ninjutsu is very strange. Use shurikens and kunai to weaken him!" ordered the captain of the Root.

"Captain..." one of the ninjas hesitated.

"Speak up!"

"I've already thrown all my shurikens..."

"I don't have any kunai left. I threw them all and didn't even touch him!"

Upon hearing this, the captain of the Root became even more frustrated. He had faced many powerful opponents before, but the ninja before them was one of the most peculiar. His ninjutsu resembled the Tsuchikage's Jutsu, yet he hadn't performed a single hand seal. What was even more perplexing was the sheer power of his technique – the captain vividly remembered his companion being blown apart by four detonating talismans in a single strike.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Shimura Danzo was also observing. These ninjas were his trusted aides, crucial to his future bid for Hokage. Their strength and loyalty were invaluable. Even Shisui had been pushed to desperation by them. But now, they hesitated to face this new opponent.

Danzo couldn't blame his subordinates; the opponent's ninjutsu was too powerful. With just one wave of his hand, tens of Shurikens flew under his command. And he hadn't needed to make any hand seals from the beginning.

Danzo suspected this was more like a unique bloodline limit than ordinary ninjutsu. Most bloodline limits still required hand seals to activate chakra, but this was different.

"Capture him alive," Danzo ordered coldly. "We must keep him!"

He had other plans, intending to kill Yato and take his DNA and cells for study. For the position of Hokage, and in pursuit of greater power, Danzo had already dared to tamper with the bloodlines of the First Hokage Senju Hashirama and the Uchiha clan. To him, the fusion of bloodline cells was only a matter of their utility.

****

Shout-out to my patreons subscribers: Ghost, Bruno Oliveira, Chance C, Mohammed Alshamsi, PathSeeker, CATHERINE YANOVSKY, Dio098, Orion Chung, Insomniologist, HE, Ryan biggins, Bigbowser, terrence L mccall, and Drowz.

Thank you so much for your support!!

Read advance Chapters on Patreon.

patreon.com/Floki_Star