Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 375 What the hell is that thing?
"what happened?!"

The violent tremors and the distant flames startled Huang Tu, the two Yukito, "Rasa," and Kisame Hoshigaki, among others.

They leaped onto nearby high ground almost simultaneously, their expressions grave as they gazed in the direction from which the sound came.

From their perspective, the dust from the distant explosion slowly settled, leaving behind a shocking scene.

Kaka! Click!
In the once peaceful and serene Konoha, a large area of ​​the ground was cracked and raised.

A twisted and deformed black forest is growing and spreading wildly at a visible rate!

The trees were completely black, with twisted and gnarled branches, and their shapes were bizarre and grotesque, like the limbs of monsters. They were not any tree species they knew.

Their leaves are not green, but have sharp edges like knives, reflecting a ghostly light in the pale moonlight, clearly possessing a strong aggressiveness and lethality.

The surrounding normal vegetation and buildings withered and decayed after being pierced by its sharp branches and leaves, as if their own vitality had been forcibly plundered and absorbed by these black trees.

"What was that?" The two Yugitos frowned, their expressions grave and puzzled. "And who launched this attack?"

"Hiss! Hiss!" Samehada, the shark's back, emitted a piercing cry, seemingly agitated by the repulsive aura.

“This chakra…” Kisame’s shark eyes narrowed slightly as he whispered, while the “Rasa” disguised as Orochimaru beside him had a glint in his eyes.

"Look at the center of that black forest." Huang Tu pointed to the huge sunken pit in the black forest and said in a deep voice, "All the strange trees grew from there."

"Hmm?" The others immediately noticed the abnormality and stared intently in the direction he was looking.

Deep within that ever-growing, dark forest, in that sunken pit that seemed to connect to the earth, something appeared to be wriggling from its twisted roots.

"Let's go see what's going on," the two Yukito said without hesitation, their figures disappearing from the spot as they rushed towards the eerie black forest.

The others looked at each other in confusion and followed suit.

At this very moment, in the hollow of the black forest, the twisted and gnarled black tree roots slowly wriggled and spread outwards like living things.

All the terrifying black trees grew out of the crater created by the explosion.

Danzo Shimura's hazy consciousness gradually became clearer from the pain and confusion.

He slowly opened his eyes. Before him was a night sky shattered by jagged branches, and the air was filled with the smell of burnt blood.

Even more chillingly, some mutilated bodies were hanging conspicuously from some particularly tall black branches.

Those were the root researchers who failed to escape in time. Their bodies were pierced by newly grown sharp branches, and their blood dripped onto the ground, accumulating into pools of blood. The scene was as terrifying as hell.

"This...is my secret base..."

"Experiment...explosion..."

Fragments of memories flooded his mind, and Danzo fully recalled the last scene.

At the same time, Danzo felt an unprecedentedly powerful force, like a surging undercurrent, rushing and roaring within his body!

"Success!"

A maniacal smile crept across Danzo's lips.

Although the process was somewhat unexpected, the power was real!
Hinata Kumokawa, I...

However, just as his heart was pounding and his ambitions were burgeoning, *whoosh! whoosh!*
Several whooshing sounds came rapidly from afar, followed by a cry of utter shock and even a hint of disbelief from nearby, reaching Danzo's ears.

"Wait, what the hell is that?!"

Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, Shimura Danzo abruptly looked up, becoming alert.

Several figures had appeared on the black trees at the edge of the pit.

The two bewildered Yugito, the solemn-looking Kouto, and the wary Kisame Hoshigaki gripping Samehada behind him all seemed to have seen something terrifying.

Orochimaru sensed something, and a look of surprise and doubt appeared in his eyes.

People from Kirigakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure?

"You..." Danzo instinctively opened his mouth, wanting to rebuke them and question why they were in Konoha.

However, what rolled out from deep in his throat was not the majestic human voice he had imagined, but a hoarse, distorted, inhuman roar.

"Roar!"

The eerie sound immediately startled Danzo.

what?
My voice...

He instinctively tried to move his body, but a strong sense of stagnation and heaviness instantly came over him, as if his soul and body were out of place!
He suddenly looked down at his body, and the sight before him struck him like a thunderbolt.

"What's this?"

He wasn't "lying" on the ground at all; rather, his lower body, from the waist down, was completely fused with those frantically writhing black tree roots!
Countless thick, dark roots penetrated deep into the earth and spread out from various parts of his body, forming the source of this black forest!
His limbs had long lost their human form; his arms and legs had mutated into branches resembling twisted ancient trees, and his skin had become rough and cracked like old tree bark.

Even more bizarrely, lines radiating an ominous red light pulsated like blood vessels, meandering and spreading along these wooden limbs, as if transmitting some kind of energy!
No...this is impossible...

Danzo's pupils trembled violently with fear as he struggled to move his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the murky blood not far from him.

The pool of blood reflected his current appearance as clearly as a mirror!
In the reflection, a "thing" whose former human shape could still be barely discerned was firmly "planted" at the bottom of the pit by countless wriggling black roots.

His left eye was a blank, lifeless white, while his right eye was a strangely swirling scarlet. But on his chin and neck, several ugly, tree-like bulges had grown!

He was a completely deformed and terrifying monster, half-human and half-tree!

"this is me?"

"This is me?!"

Danzo Shimura tried to scream in terror, but only a hoarse roar came from his twisted vocal cords!
"Roar!!"

Accompanied by roars filled with pain, anger, and rage, the black trees around them, which had been slowly wriggling, suddenly began to grow and spread wildly!
Sharp branches shot out like venomous snakes, and sharp splinters suddenly burst from the previously relatively safe tree trunk.

"what!"

Several ninjas who were observing from the nearby black trees were caught off guard. Their legs were instantly pierced by sharp wooden thorns that suddenly grew out of them, and they let out a shrill scream. Their blood stained the black branches and leaves red!

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Huang Tu's expression changed drastically, and he leaped backward. The two wooden figures, Kisame Hoshigaki, and "Rasa" also retreated without hesitation, creating distance between them.

However, those twisted, thick tree roots, as if possessing life and will, burst forth wildly from the ground.

Like ferocious black pythons, they relentlessly pursued Huang Tu and the others as they retreated, attempting to entangle and devour them!
(End of this chapter)