Chapter 331 - Anbu vs Root

In the heart of the Root base, the scent of blood filled the air. The aftermath of the attack on Danzo left the base in disarray. The once formidable leader now stood with his right Sharingan arm stolen and a makeshift replacement hastily attached in its place.

"Danzo, this madness has to end. Your actions have gone too far," Hiruzen stated. His voice carried the weight of his authority and the disappointment he felt.

Danzo sneered, his remaining eye blazed with defiance. "You were always too soft, Hiruzen. What the village needs is strength, not compassion."

The Hokage's chakra spiked in anger when he heard those words. "How about now? Do you still think I've gone soft?"

The Root Leader was silent and glanced at his trusted ninjas, who were fighting behind him. 'Hiruzen's Anbu managed to kill two more of my men but one of the Anbu can no longer battle. Still, the odds of victory are not in my favor. Damn it. If only I had those Sharingan.'

Shisui Uchiha's eye, his most prized possession being taken, left Danzo with a visible loss in power and presence. However, his resolve remained unbroken as he faced his old rival. "If you insist on stopping me, then so be it."

"Enough, Danzo. It's your actions that have brought us to this point. There will be no more hiding in the shadows," Hiruzen replied sternly. After everything that had happened in the last few days, his resolve also became unwavering.

Without speaking another word Danzo made a seal. The ground rumbled as the massive, elephantine creature with a serpentine trunk and immense tusks began to attack.

"RROOOOORR!"

Its roar echoed through the underground base, startling many. The Baku's presence was overwhelming, it's very breath drawing in the surroundings with a powerful suction force.

The remaining four Root ninjas moved in to attack in conjunction with Danzo's summon, but Hiruzen's Anbu swiftly intercepted them, engaging in a fierce combat. The Anbu ninjas forced the Root to shift the battle and move it away in order to not let Danzo have any backup.

Swords clashed, and jutsu were exchanged in a flurry of motion, creating a chaotic backdrop to the main confrontation between the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf and the Leader of the Root.

"Baku, attack!" Danzo commanded. The Baku inhaled deeply, creating a powerful vacuum that pulled debris and all loose objects. Even the Anbu and Root ninjas fighting on the other side were affected by its power and were slowly dragged towards its maw.

"Enma, transform!" Hiruzen ordered.

Enma's body elongated and shifted, turning into a massive, adamantine staff that Hiruzen wielded with both hands. With a swift, practiced motion, Hiruzen swung Enma in a wide arc, countering the Baku's suction force with sheer strength. The staff extended, smashing into Baku's face and forcing it to stagger backward.

Danzo, seizing the moment, launched a barrage of wind-style jutsu. "Wind Style - Vacuum Serial Waves!" A series of sharp, invisible wind blades shot towards the Hokage.

Hiruzen twirled Enma, deflecting the wind blades with precise strikes. Suddenly the Hokage sensed a powerful gust of wind coming towards him and turned his head up to see Baku's giant trunk about to slam down on his body.

Boom! The chamber shook and the ground cracked due to the force of the creature's attack.

Danzo narrowed his eyes as he knew Hiruzen didn't have time to get away. When his loyal summoning creature moved its large appendage away, the one eyed Root leader saw a square cage made of Enma's adamantine body that stopped the trunk and protected the kage.

Danzo's fists tightened as he recognized the jutsu. 'The Adamantine prison wall. With Enma's powerful body, even Baku will have trouble breaking through that box.'

Meanwhile, within the safety of the cage Hiruzen gathered his strength. "Let's go Enma." "Right!" The next second the Enma transformed into his large staff form and flew into Hiruzen's hand.

They rushed towards Danzo all the while avoiding attacks coming from their enemy. Hiruzen jumped and ran along the walls of the chamber and was steadily getting closer to his targets.

"Now Enma." Hiruzen jumped, dodging another wave of wind style attacks and he aimed his staff directly at Baku's right eye. The adamantine staff instantly extended and struck the creature's eye making it roar in pain.

Danzo almost lost balance as the elephantine creature thrashed under him in agony. The root commander made a seal and the nightmare creature began inhaling a large amount of air again.

Baku continued to attack with incredible force, drawing in everything around it.

"Hiruzen, we need to destroy that summoning creature first. Only then will Danzo be vulnerable." Enma advised and the kage nodded. "I'm aware. He should be in place right about now."

Just then from the corner of the room Hiruzen's shadow clone came rushing in avoiding Danzo's line of sight. It was created by the Hokage during the brief moment he was out of sight of Danzo within the adamantine cage.

"Fire Style - Dragon Flame Bomb!" He exhaled a large torrent of flames, combining it with Baku's suction wind.

The combination of fire and wind created a fiery storm, illuminating the dark chamber with blinding light and intense heat. The flames roared increasing in immensity and strength, and due to Baku's suction, the flames crashed into the beast's mouth forcing it to stop its inhalation.

The next second it screamed in pain as its whole body became lit on fire.

Danzo jumped away from atop his beast before he could be injured but had to dodge a strike from the adamantine staff by twisting his body mid air. He was only partially successful as the staff grazed his shoulder wounding him and sent him crashing into a wall.

Seizing the moment, Hiruzen's shadow clone kept attacking the summon. 'I don't know if this creature has any healing abilities or not, but I can't take any chances.'

A kunai with multiple explosive tags was thrown towards its soft underbelly. Seconds later, explosions echoed around Baku, followed by a violent eruption of flames and debris. The force of the blast was tremendous, as the explosive tags detonated under the creature, amplifying the damage.

The Baku's massive form convulsed, unable to withstand the internal and external explosions. After a final desperate roar, the creature vanished in a puff of smoke, its summoning jutsu forcibly undone by the damage.

Seeing his task completed, Hiruzen's clone dispelled itself, giving its creator its remaining chakra.

Danzo got up and took several deep breaths of air as he gazed at the Hokage. As the smoke cleared he saw Hiruzen standing tall, holding Enma in his staff form.

The aftermath of the explosion and smoke from the creature vanishing still lingered in the air.

After Danzo witnessed the destruction of his summon he felt a pang of frustration and anger. "Hiruzen...!"

Hiruzen's eyes were sharp. They were filled with both determination and a touch of sorrow. "It's over, Danzo. No more of your schemes."

With the Baku defeated, the momentum of the battle had shifted decisively in Hiruzen's favor. The Root ninjas, already on the defensive, were further demoralized by the loss of such a powerful ally but they were not ones to stop.

With Root and Anbu

As Hiruzen and Danzo clashed with their summoned creatures, the battle between their subordinates raged on in the chaotic backdrop of the Root base.

Among the combatants were two of Hiruzen's Anbu, distinguished by their Hawk and Tiger painted masks, facing off against four of Danzo's Root ninjas. They fought even more ruthlessly, exchanging injuries for injuries.

The Root ninjas, trained in stealth and assassination, moved with lethal efficiency. They launched themselves at the Anbu with a flurry of taijutsu strikes, aiming to overwhelm them with speed and precision. The Anbu however, were no strangers to hand to hand combat.

The Hawk-masked Anbu deftly dodged a series of rapid punches from one Root ninja. He countered with a swift kick to the side, sending the opponent stumbling. 'With Snake unable to fight, we don't have any powerful Genjutsu to slow them down.'

The Tiger-masked Anbu faced two opponents simultaneously, their movements were fast as they parried and countered. Their weapons created countless sparks in the air as they went head to head.

The Root ninjas attempted to overwhelm him with coordinated attacks, but Tiger was relentless. With a sudden burst of chakra, the Tiger-masked Anbu executed a spinning kick, striking both opponents with enough force to send them skidding back.

'My greatest strength is taijutsu. Fighting me in that field, even someone like Might Guy would have trouble.'

Seeing his comrades struggling, the remaining fourth Root ninja unleashed a barrage of shuriken, forcing the Anbu Hawk to leap back. The four Root ninjas quickly regrouped and stood together.

As they did, one of the Root ninjas kicked by Tiger weaved hand signs and unleashed a Genjutsu.

The world around Anbu Hawk seemed to warp and twist, the chamber's walls shifting into grotesque shapes. Hawk momentarily faltered, feeling the effects of the illusion.

'This is Genjutsu - Devil's Maw. I have to break it.'

Despite being under a gruesome illusion Hawk kept his calm. Anbu were trained to resist such techniques.

Before the Root ninja could attack and land a killing strike, with a swift hand sign Hawk disrupted his chakra flow and dispelled the Genjutsu, clearing his mind. He immediately retaliated, forming hand signs for a ninjutsu.

"Fire Style - Imperial Lion's flame!" A volley of medium sized fireballs with a lion head shot towards the four Root ninjas, forcing them to dodge.

One of them was suddenly caught in ninja wire trapping him in place. The lethal fire jutsu quickly ended his life and moved on to the other.

The second Root ninja countered with a water technique, "Water Style - Water defense Wall," He spit out just enough water to create a barrier that barely extinguished the flames.

In the midst of the elemental clash, the Tiger-masked Anbu vanished, only to reappear behind the water wall.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Several clones of the Tiger-masked Anbu materialized, each launching into a coordinated taijutsu assault.

The three Root ninjas were momentarily caught off guard and scrambled to defend themselves. The real Tiger targeted the weakest link of the group and struck with precise and powerful blows. Seconds later Hawk also rejoined the battle.

One of the Root ninjas, realizing they were at a disadvantage, quickly formed hand signs and shouted, "Earth Style - Earth Flow Spears!" Spikes of earth shot up from the ground, aiming to impale the Anbu.

The Hawk-masked Anbu reacted swiftly. He flipped through the air to avoid the spikes and landed in a crouched position. He formed three hand signs and inhaled a large amount of air.

"Wind Style - Air cannon!" A powerful gust of wind blew through the chamber, shattering the earth spikes and knocking the Root ninjas off balance.

Taking advantage of the opening, the Tiger-masked Anbu rushed forward, engaging the three Root ninjas in close combat. His movements were fluid and precise, each strike calculated to kill rather than disable.

One Root ninja attempted to draw a kunai, but Tiger swiftly disarmed him and followed up with a devastating elbow strike to the chest.

The blow sent the masked man staggering back several steps and then suddenly a sword pierced through his chest. "Gha!''

The remaining two Root ninjas, seeing their comrades falling, tried to regroup. However, Anbu Hawk was relentless. He used his wind chakra to enhance his speed and agility. He darted through the battlefield, trying to land swift and decisive blows.

One Root ninja attempted to trap him in a Genjutsu again, but the Hawk-masked Anbu countered with a burst of chakra, instantly breaking free from the illusion and retaliating with a precise punch to the jaw. "Not this time."

The battle reached its climax as the two Anbu cornered the remaining two enemies.

Breathing heavily, the Root ninjas glanced at each other. They realized they were outmatched. The two Anbu ninjas stood before them, weapons at the ready, but hesitated to deliver a final blow. Root was also part of the Leaf village. They wanted to give them a chance to surrender.

"Stand down," Anbu Hawk commanded, his voice firm but controlled. "This battle is over. You know you won't win."

For a moment, it seemed as though the Root ninjas were contemplating surrender. Their eyes darted between each other, their faces tense and covered in sweat. The air around the four ninjas was thick with anticipation. The sounds of battle still resonated in the shattered walls of the Root base.

Suddenly, one of the Root ninja with a grim determination in his eyes, spoke up. "We were trained to fight for the sake of the village, even if it meant our deaths. Lord Danzo is the only one who can save this village." He tightened his grip on his kunai, his resolve unyielding. "We won't surrender."

The Tiger-Anbu looked into the eyes of the roots and internally sighed. 'They're immensely loyal to Danzo to the point of blind worship. It seems there's no use in talking.'

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Author's Note:

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