New Anbu Member Uchiha Itachi! The Dutiful Son of the Shinobi World

Although Kakashi knew little about the Root, he felt that among the dozen or so Root ninjas, at least two were Jonin.

The remaining Root ninjas were either Special Jonin or Chunin; there wasn't a single ordinary ninja among them.

However, what did he see?!

"Isn't this strength exaggerated?" Kakashi felt his mouth go dry. He watched as Whitebeard simply punched the air, and it seemed like even the atmosphere shattered.

The crisp sound of breaking glass coming from the air.

It was absolutely not an illusion!

The violently vibrating air stirred up a storm, and the buildings underfoot were slightly shaking, likely controlled by Whitebeard's strange ability.

Otherwise...

Naruto's residence wouldn't just be slightly shaking; it would be full of cracks like the other buildings.

This single blow affected the entire street.

Not a single building was spared, and not an inch of land remained intact.

Looking around.

It was all a mess.

"There's a fire! An earthquake!" The street's residents screamed in terror, scrambling out of their homes in a panic, "How could there be an earthquake suddenly? There hasn't been one for years!"

When they ran out, they saw the devastation outside.

And a giant standing there.

They were so shocked they didn't dare make a sound.

The aura emanating from that giant made them tremble all over. It was as if they had turned into ants, and that giant was a colossal mammoth.

The sense of oppression was overwhelming!!

Kakashi glanced at the civilians, feeling a headache: "I don't know if anyone got caught in this. Danzo's people don't care about the consequences of their actions on Konoha Village?"

"And now, those dozen people..." Kakashi widened his dead fish eyes a bit, "are all dead, right?"

The ground was stained with pools of crimson blood, drawing attention.

The dozen or so Root ninjas were shattered into pieces.

No intact bodies!

Kakashi turned to look at the room where Naruto was, finding that Naruto hadn't been awakened by the noise outside: "This kid... sleeps too soundly. Was he too tired during the day?"

He looked back at Whitebeard's figure.

At that moment.

Kakashi realized that Naruto's new "old man" was far more powerful than anyone had imagined.

Perhaps this Whitebeard...

Was it on par with the Hokage?

...

"Hmm? An earthquake?"

At the same time, Danzo, who was waiting for news from the Root assassination squad, felt a slight tremor and frowned deeply.

For some reason, Danzo had a bad feeling.

"Could it be... the assassination squad can't handle that Whitebeard? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Danzo shook his head.

Two Root Jonin, two Special Jonin, and ten Chunin. Such an assassination squad would be enough to kill even a battle-hardened elite Jonin.

He didn't believe an outsider could have the strength to escape the assassination squad.

If the other party was indeed that powerful.

The numerous spies planted by the Anbu in the village would have noticed such a strong outsider entering the village and forming a bond with the Jinchuriki.

What were they doing?

Gross negligence!

"Monkey, you've aged, no longer the shinobi hero of old." Danzo stared at a candle in front of him, his expression unreadable, but his ambition was clear: "Since you can't make decisions, I'll make them for you."

He hadn't informed Hiruzen about sending the Root to assassinate Whitebeard; this was an independent action by the Root.

Danzo believed he was doing the right thing.

"I am also doing this for Konoha!"

...

"Snap—" Hiruzen was working late in the Hokage's office when a sudden tremor broke his pen.

His ears twitched, vaguely sensing a commotion in the distance.

Hiruzen's expression changed.

He discarded the pencil.

He quickly got up.

He walked briskly to the window, looking into the distance with a grim expression, speaking to the air beside him: "Itachi! Go to Naruto's place and see what's happening! If there's any trouble, assist Kakashi in handling it."

"Yes!" Itachi, who had just turned 11 last month, was already a new member of the Anbu.

A shadow, barely visible, flashed by the window like a passing crow heading towards Naruto's residence.

Hiruzen, still in the office, looked grave.

By the dim moonlight, he could see faint smoke rising from the distant street.

That was where Naruto lived.

Something had definitely happened!

...

"Even though their bodies are fragile, they can spit fire and water, and control earth and wind," Whitebeard mused, "Ninjas in this shinobi world are really strange."

With that.

Whitebeard stopped looking at the shattered bodies. He glanced back at Kakashi and said, "White-haired kid, are you here to assassinate me too?"

"No!" Kakashi quickly said, "The Hokage only ordered me to protect Naruto, no other orders."

He immediately distanced himself from those Root ninjas.

He didn't want to take a punch from Whitebeard; that terrifying punch reminded him of Lady Tsunade.

"Then clean up this place!"

Whitebeard's tone was commanding: "Gu la la la! Since you follow that Hokage's orders, you wouldn't want Naruto to wake up and find the place littered with bodies, right?"

Kakashi wanted to tell Whitebeard—I'm not a battlefield cleaner. I've never done this.

But Whitebeard's gaze.

Made him swallow his words.

"I'll clean it up." Kakashi thought he could use a few small Water Release techniques to wash the Root ninjas' remains into the sewers.

After all, these Root ninjas were never meant to see the light of day; many of them didn't even have names.

Hidden behind masks in life.

Buried in the sewers in death.

Yes, very fitting.

"White-haired kid, you seem to know how to control earth, too, right?" Whitebeard continued to instruct: "Then patch up the ground, too! Forget about the cracked walls. They bullied my son, and this is their price."

Hey, hey, that's too much! Am I not some white-haired servant doing this kind of work?

Kakashi was full of black lines.

But...

He still did it.

Kakashi, with a gloomy face, used some water-release techniques to clean the ground, then prepared to use some earth-release techniques to fill the cracks.

He felt like a Jonin turned construction worker.

Fortunately, there were no familiar faces around, no one who knew him... This way, it wouldn't be too embarrassing, right?

"Kakashi-senpai?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind: "The Hokage sent me to see what's going on."

It was the voice of Itachi, hidden behind his Anbu mask.

"Senpai, what are you doing?"

Itachi's tone was full of confusion.

Kakashi: "..."

Damn it!

...

...