Lu Ming looked down at Danzo.
“Did you really think I would follow you into this rat hole without any preparation?”
“I anticipated long ago that contact with Naruto would draw out the probing and suppression of an old dog like you. Every member of the Temple has been on standby here for a long time!”
He paused.
“As for my family, they are currently being guarded personally by Uchiha Shisui, who has awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.”
“With just these rotten fish and stinking shrimp under your command, you think you can touch even a hair on their heads?”
Danzo took half a step back.
The trump card he took pride in, the weakness he thought he could use to manipulate Lu Ming, had actually been within the opponent’s calculations all along!
Lu Ming increased the pressure of his palm.
“Ugh!”
Danzo let out a low grunt.
“Prick up your dog ears and listen clearly.”
Lu Ming’s voice grew heavier.
“If my family suffers even the slightest harm, even if they only break a layer of skin…”
“I guarantee that I will leave neither chicken nor dog alive in the entire Root, as well as the entire Shimura Clan, to be buried with them!”
Killing intent mixed with Conqueror’s Haki swept across the entire field.
Upon hearing Lu Ming’s words, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in the eyes of the forty-three Temple elites surrounding them began to spin rapidly.
“We will follow the Clan Leader to the death! If anyone dares to harm the Lord’s family, we will surely tear them into ten thousand pieces!”
Uchiha Tekka and the others roared in unison, their terrifying killing intent locking onto every Root Ninja present.
Those Root Ninjas retreated repeatedly, lowering their heads to avoid eye contact.
Danzo was intimidated by this aura, but he was an old fox who had occupied a high position for a long time; he wouldn’t just admit defeat like this.
“Uchiha Lu Ming!”
Danzo held his shoulder and spoke out.
“You brought a large number of clansmen to trespass into a restricted area of Konoha and dared to publicly threaten high-ranking officials.”
“You intend to start an armed rebellion. Your Uchiha Clan, just like back then, is inherently evil and intends to betray Konoha!”
Faced with this massive accusation being pinned on him, Lu Ming released his hand from Danzo’s shoulder.
He straightened his body and looked down at Danzo.
“Betrayal? Don’t throw dirty water on our heads.”
Lu Ming’s voice was powerful and resonant, echoing through the underground space.
“We, the Uchiha, are a founding family of Konoha.”
“Every inch of this Village’s soil contains the blood and sweat shed by our ancestors! We will not betray Konoha!”
Lu Ming looked around the Root base.
“However, the Root of this great tree called Konoha has completely rotted and stunk, and its branches and leaves are covered in malignant tumors.”
“As the masters, we have the responsibility and the obligation to clear away these decayed Roots, branches, and leaves!”
Lu Ming was telling Danzo plainly: Not only would the Uchiha not defect, but they would also openly act as a check and balance against your rotten Root!
Danzo gripped his cane tightly.
If he couldn’t crush Lu Ming here today, Root would never have peace again!
At that moment, Danzo made a secret calculation.
Using the motion of standing up, and under the cover of his wide sleeves, he made a hand signal to Fū Yamanaka, who was hiding in a blind spot.
Fū Yamanaka, in the shadows, understood immediately.
As a top expert of the Yamanaka Clan and a core elite of Root, Fū Yamanaka was confident in his mental secret techniques.
As long as he could catch a flaw, even a Kage-level powerhouse would have their body’s control seized by him!
Fū Yamanaka’s hands rapidly formed seals, his eyes locking onto Lu Ming.
“Mind Transfer Jutsu!”
Whoosh!
Powerful spiritual energy left Fū Yamanaka’s body, piercing straight toward Lu Ming’s brow!
“Got him!”
Fū Yamanaka’s spiritual body successfully invaded Lu Ming’s mind.
When Fū Yamanaka’s spiritual body stepped into Lu Ming’s mental world, he stopped in his tracks.
How was this the mental world of a normal person?!
This was a destructive purgatory completely enveloped by black and red lightning.
In the sky, a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan emitting endless divine might were looking down at him.
Vast spiritual power filled the surroundings.
“This… what kind of monster is this!!”
Fū Yamanaka’s spiritual body froze under this pressure.
“A mere firefly dares to run wild in my mental world?”
Lu Ming’s majestic voice echoed throughout the mental world.
“Get out!”
Lu Ming’s terrifying spiritual power, far exceeding that of an ordinary person, combined with the illusionary control of the Mangekyo Sharingan, turned into a destructive spiritual storm that ruthlessly crushed Fū Yamanaka’s spiritual body!
“No—!!!”
In the real world.
Fū Yamanaka, who was originally hidden in the shadows and maintaining his technique posture, let out a miserable scream!
His eyes rolled back, and shocking black blood overflowed from his nostrils, ears, and the corners of his eyes at the same time.
He was sent flying backward, slamming heavily into the rock wall before sliding to the ground, his life or death unknown!
Instantly defeated!
No one could even see clearly how Lu Ming had made his move!
“Fū!”
Torune Aburame, standing not far away, took a step forward.
He never imagined that Fū Yamanaka’s elusive secret technique would be countered so severely that he was critically injured!
Those Root Ninjas looked at Fū Yamanaka, who was bleeding from his seven orifices, and stopped their movements.
Danzo took a step back.
Fū Yamanaka was one of the top aces under his command, yet he was taken out without even touching a corner of Lu Ming’s clothes!
“This monster… cannot be allowed to live!”
Danzo clenched his fist.
He gritted his teeth and grabbed the bandages on his left arm with his left hand.
Rip!
Danzo prepared to unwrap the bandages and use his deepest hidden ultimate trump card.
Even if it meant mutual destruction, he had to keep Lu Ming here!
At this critical moment…
A loud explosion came from the damaged ceiling of the Root base!
Accompanied by a sky full of dust and gravel, a large number of Konoha Anbu Ninjas wearing black tight-fitting suits and animal masks descended from the sky, surrounding everyone on the scene!
The number of Anbu was extremely large, and their aura was completely different from that of the Root.
Surrounded by a large number of Anbu, an elderly figure wearing a black combat suit and holding the Adamantine Staff landed in the very center of the field.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had appeared in person!
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed the Adamantine Staff heavily onto the ground, his entire body emitting a terrifying aura of natural authority.
The standoff on the scene escalated to the extreme.
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi personally leading people to arrive, Danzo’s left hand, which was holding the bandages, stopped in mid-air.
He never expected that Hiruzen would come so quickly!
…
Time went back fifteen minutes.
In the Hokage Office on the top floor of the Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting behind his desk, frowning as he smoked his pipe.
Swish!
An Anbu squad leader knelt on one knee in front of the desk and reported in an urgent tone,
“Hokage-sama, urgent intelligence! A large number of Uchiha elite Ninjas who have awakened the Sharingan have suddenly left the clan compound and are moving rapidly toward the inner Village!”
“What?!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up, his pipe nearly falling to the ground.
“What do they want to do? Has the coup been moved forward?!”
“No!”
The Anbu squad leader swallowed hard.
“Their target is… the Root’s underground base.”
“According to our emergency investigation, just now, Lord Danzo sent Root elites to forcibly take away Uchiha Lu Ming!”
“Danzo, that fool!!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his palm on the desk, causing several cracks to appear on the solid wood surface.
He knew all too well how sensitive the current situation was.
The Uchiha were already on the verge of erupting.
For Danzo to forcibly take away Lu Ming, who held extremely high prestige among the Uchiha, at this critical juncture was no different from adding fuel to the fire!
“Assemble all Anbu elites and follow me to the Root!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted, grabbing his combat suit hanging on the wall and preparing to set out.
Just then…
Creak—
The heavy wooden door of the Hokage Office was slowly pushed open from the outside.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and several Anbu turned their heads at the same time to look.
They saw Uchiha Fugaku wearing a solemn traditional kimono, walking into the Hokage Office with steady steps.
“Fugaku? You’ve come at the right time!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Fugaku and said hurriedly,
“Quickly order your clansmen to stop their actions. I will personally handle the matter with Danzo and won’t let anything happen to Lu Ming. Whatever you do, don’t trigger a civil war!”
However, facing the anxious Hiruzen Sarutobi,
Uchiha Fugaku did not issue any order to retreat.
He looked at this Third Hokage, who had ruled Konoha for decades.
“Sandaime-sama, you misunderstand.”
Fugaku stood before the desk.
“I am not here today to discuss how to settle the matter.”
Fugaku met Hiruzen Sarutobi’s gaze and formally announced:
“I am here today to formally notify you. As of one hour ago, I have resigned from my positions as Uchiha Clan Leader and Chief of the Police Force.”
“From this day forward, the new Clan Leader of the Uchiha Clan is Uchiha Lu Ming!”