Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Having learned his lesson from last time, Gluttony immediately retreated after hitting his target with his first strike.

However, a smile appeared on his face this time. He had felt a clear physical impact with his fist, so he must have hit the enemy successfully this time.

In this way, even if the enemy doesn't die, he will be seriously injured.

Thanks to the Chaos's Mind Transfer Technique, the other members of the Skull Squad received the news that Gluttony had successfully hit Kirito, and a smile appeared on their faces.

But the next moment, the Root elite, codenamed Taotie, who used the Oil Woman's secret technique, changed his expression and shouted, "Oh no, we've fallen into a trap!"

With the help of the parasitic insect's vision, he clearly saw that the mysterious warrior at the center of the giant fist imprint had been replaced by a wooden figure.

Wood Release: Wood Clone!

After the Nine-Tails' inheritance operation ended, Kirito finally had the opportunity to see Wood Release ninjutsu in the Nawaki family's ninjutsu library, with Tsunade's authorization.

The Wood Release chakra within the White Zetsu clone finally found a use.

This Wood Release: Wood Clone is one of the Wood Release ninjutsu that Kirito recently learned.

Like the Shadow Clone, the Wood Clone is extremely deceptive, but its resilience and combat power are much stronger than the Shadow Clone; ordinary attacks cannot break it.

During his last battle with Gluttony, while using the Water Instantaneous Movement Technique to evade attacks, he secretly avoided their sight, creating a wooden clone to fight the enemy, while he himself used the Mayfly Technique to hide in a large tree.

"You guys have great teamwork. I'm having a lot of fun. Now let me see what you're capable of."

But the next moment, that voice, as always, with a calm tone, suddenly appeared, sending a chill down the spines of the Skull Squad and the others.

As the sound appeared, Kirito slowly walked out from a large tree not far away, coldly staring at the five members of the Skull Squad who were all looking at him with deep fear in their eyes.

The five Root elites in front of us are all quite strong, each possessing the strength of a Jonin. Among them, the Root elite who uses Wind Release, Aburame Secret Technique, and Akimichi Secret Technique even possess the strength of an elite Jonin. The five of them also cooperate quite well.

If he hadn't had the Byakugan's help, relying solely on the power of the Water Release technique used by the White Zetsu clone, he would definitely have been in a tough fight.

He was able to ignore the Root elite who used the secret techniques of the mountains because he possessed the Byakugan, thus avoiding being ambushed or controlled by those techniques.

Otherwise, if the opponent seizes an opportunity to use the Mind-Disrupting Technique on him during the battle, and then faces an attack from the other four, he will definitely suffer a great loss.

And that Root elite who took the Akimichi secret medicine, if it weren't for the Byakugan's help, he might not have been able to see the opponent's movements clearly and wouldn't have been able to use the Water Instantaneous Body Technique to dodge in time.

After consuming the Akimichi Secret Technique and using the Butterfly Transformation Technique, the Root ninja's strength had reached near Kage level, and his movement speed was the fastest among all the ninjas he had encountered so far.

Unfortunately, his speed, which he was so proud of, was completely countered by his white eyes.

In short, his first experience using the Byakugan in battle made him deeply aware of its power.

After gaining the power of the Byakugan, the White Zetsu clones could easily deal with, and even suppress, five well-coordinated Root elites with Jonin-level strength.

Kirito estimates that the White Zetsu clones now possess the initial strength of Kage-level beings.

“The enemy’s origins are unknown, and they are very powerful. They also have strange methods to counter my mountain secret techniques. I suggest we retreat immediately. Our mission is not to assassinate this person.”

Seeing that Kirito was still unharmed despite the combined efforts of the five of them, Chaos couldn't help but consider retreating. He used the telepathy technique to communicate with the other four.

"agree."

“That’s right. The mission that Lord Danzo gave us is not yet complete. We cannot die here.”

Gluttony and Gale immediately seconded the motion.

Neither of them is in good condition right now. One is beginning to suffer the backlash from the Akimichi secret medicine, and the other has already suffered considerable injuries. If the fight continues, they may be the first to die.

It wasn't that they were afraid of death, but they were unwilling to die at the hands of an enemy of unknown origin before they could complete the mission Danzo had assigned them.

"Then we'll retreat in different groups."

Seeing that three people agreed, Shadow decisively announced the retreat plan.

As soon as he finished speaking, he transformed into a shadow and began moving at high speed across the ground.

The Taotie was even faster than the Shadow, instantly transforming into a swarm of insects and disappearing. Clearly, what remained in place was merely an insect clone, while the true body had already disengaged from the battle.

The remaining three were not slow either, each using their own methods to retreat quickly.

Among them, Gluttony, who used the Butterfly Transformation Technique, actually took to the air and flew at high speed using the butterfly wings on his back.

"They actually escaped."

Kirito watched the five people retreat quickly from five different directions and sneered.

With his White Eyes and Spirit Transformation Technique, these people have no chance of escaping his grasp. If they don't run away and stay to fight him together, they might have a chance of winning. But if they scatter and try to escape, they will only face certain death.

The next moment, his gaze fell on the Root ninja running at the very back, who was the Root elite who used the Mountain Secret Technique.

He actually preserved his strength very well, but unfortunately, he was good at his family's secret mountain techniques. Although he was a Jonin and also mastered another chakra nature transformation, unfortunately, the other chakra nature he mastered was fire release.

Fire Release ninjutsu has high burst damage and high damage output, but its movement speed boost is very mediocre, far inferior to Lightning Release and Wind Release.

Therefore, he was the slowest of the five.

"Damn it, he's looking at me."

The moment Kirito's gaze fell upon Chaos, Chaos immediately noticed and cursed inwardly.

He quickly took out some wire and explosive tags from his ninja bag and quickly set up some simple and hidden traps along his escape route, hoping to slow down Kirito's pursuit.

However, Kirito noticed all of his little actions.

"The Byakugan's ability to see through things is truly unreasonable. No wonder the Hyuga clan's position in Konoha remains as stable as Mount Tai, even though there are no high-ranking members. This kind of strategic bloodline limit is simply the enemy's nightmare."

Kirito sighed inwardly.

At the same time, a large amount of blue-white electricity wrapped around his body, his hair stood on end, and then he made a gesture of drawing a sword, slowly exhaling a breath of hot air.

With Kirito's original body's understanding of Lightning Release chakra, the White Zetsu clone naturally mastered the nature transformation of Lightning Release chakra very smoothly.

He was currently using the Lightning Strike Secret Technique that Chizuru had recently taught him, which allowed him to rapidly increase his speed by consuming a large amount of Lightning Release chakra.

The Lightning Strike Secret Technique is a technique that a powerful member of the Uchiha clan replicated from the Yotsuki clan during the Warring States period using the Sharingan.

In theory, as long as the user's physical strength is strong enough and they consume enough Lightning Release chakra, there is no limit to the speed at which this secret technique can improve.

The White Zetsu clone's physical strength was enhanced by the God Tree cells, Hashirama cells, Wood Release chakra, and Sage Mode chakra, making it far stronger than Chizuru's. While it couldn't reach the monstrous level of physical strength of the Third Raikage, it far surpassed that of ordinary taijutsu ninjas.

Furthermore, the amount of chakra within the White Zetsu clone's body is already greater than that of a typical elite Jonin.

Therefore, when the White Zetsu clone used its full power to unleash the Lightning Strike Secret Technique, its speed far surpassed that of Chizuru. As for how fast it was, Kirito wasn't quite sure, but it was definitely no less than the instantaneous speed a ninja could achieve when using the Body Flicker Technique, and might even exceed it.

With a thunderous roar, the White Zetsu clone seemed to instantly transform into a streak of white lightning and rush into the chaos.

All obstacles along the way were pierced and destroyed.

Then, Chaos only had time to see a flash of blue and white lightning before he realized that Kirito had grabbed his head.

He looked at Kirito, wanting to speak, but then saw a headless corpse not far away. He immediately realized something, his eyes widened, and he died with his eyes wide open.

Sword Skill: Lightning Flash!

"The first one."

Kirito stored the severed head in a summoning card, then glanced with his Byakugan at the next member of the Skull Squad who was fleeing at high speed.

The elite of the Root who use the secret arts of the Aburame.

I've decided on you.

The next moment, he used the Thunder Strike Secret Technique again, transforming into a bolt of lightning to give chase.

Two or three minutes later, Kirito used his sword technique, Lightning Flash, to decapitate the fourth member of the Skull Squad, and then looked in a certain direction.

A short while later, Yamanaka Kumo appeared before Kirito with the head of the last member of the Skull Squad, Gale. He presented the head with both hands and respectfully said to Kirito, "Master Shin, you have worked hard."

Using the Mind Transfer Technique, he had previously witnessed the entire battle between Kirito and the Skull Squad using a flying bird.

If he was merely wary of Kirito before, believing he could fight Kirito, now he is filled with awe. The Night Organization leader's strength is truly unfathomable; killing a Jonin is as easy as killing a chicken.

Even the most elite ninja squads in Root would be defeated in a single move in a one-on-one fight.

The gap was simply too large; he couldn't muster even the slightest thought of resistance.

"You've worked hard during this time. Thanks to you, we were able to accurately locate these people. This operation has come to a successful conclusion. You can go back now. You won't be able to get involved in the battles to come."

Kirito took the head that Yamanaka Kumo handed him, along with the head he had just received, and put them into his summoning card, nodding as he did so.

"what."

Shan Zhongyun dared not raise any objections, bowed his head respectfully, and then quickly left.

At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh to himself, "After today, the ninja world will probably see the birth of another Kage-level powerhouse."

Seeing that Yamanaka Kumo obediently left, Kirito glanced in another direction with his Byakugan. Seven or eight kilometers away in that direction, a fierce battle was still raging between Iwagakure and Sunagakure.

Currently, the people of Iwagakure have the upper hand.

With the help of a large number of Iwagakure ninja, Huang Tu unleashed a collective Earth Release ninjutsu, forcing the Sunagakure ninja into a retreat and continuously blocking their escape routes.

However, with Chiyo, a Kage-level puppeteer, in charge of Sunagakure, a large number of Iwagakure ninja were tied down, so the retreat of Sunagakure was relatively smooth.

Furthermore, Chiyo has already rescued Akasuna and Sunagakure from Iwagakure, and Kirito's simple sealing technique on them has been broken. Now, both of them have regained consciousness and possess a certain level of combat ability.

"As expected of Chiyo, she's really troublesome. Even with the help of dozens of Iwa ninja, Huang Tu couldn't do anything to her and even suffered continuous losses. This time, Iwa Village is likely to suffer heavy losses."

Kirito observed Zhan Zhan with his Byakugan eyes and smiled slightly.

He was not surprised by this result. Although Huang Tu had laid a large number of Iwagakure ninja near the transaction site in advance to ensure the smooth completion of the transaction, Chiyo's strength was obviously beyond his expectations.

Kage-level ninjas are ultimately ninjas who cannot be described by ordinary standards.

Then, he looked in the other two directions, where Hanzo and Kakuzu, two Kage-level powerhouses, were located.

The two Kage-level powerhouses are currently observing the battle between Iwagakure and Sunagakure from afar, and both are aware of each other's presence, while also harboring a subtle mutual wariness.

"After taking care of the Skull Squad at the root, the next step is to deal with the remaining unexpected factors."

Kirito murmured.

Using Akagami and Sagara to sow discord between Iwagakure and Sunagakure was a pre-prepared script. Defeating the Skull Squad was just an appetizer to test his Byakugan abilities; the real meal was to join forces with Iwagakure and Hanzo to take down Chiyo, a Kage-level shinobi.

The only exception was the immortal Kakuzu.

Kirito hates surprises, so in order to ensure that his prepared script goes smoothly, he needs to deal with the unexpected Kakuzu.

The next moment, he used the Thunder Strike Secret Technique again and charged towards Kakuzu.

At the same time, Kakuzu, who was closely watching the battle between Iwagakure and Sunagakure, suddenly sensed something. He immediately abandoned his idea of ​​taking advantage of the chaos to hunt down the bounty target, quickly turned around, and looked in a certain direction with a solemn expression.

A moment later, a white flash of lightning appeared in his eyes, and a huge sense of threat suddenly arose in his heart.

Without saying a word, he quickly formed hand seals, and a huge, high-density vortex was instantly released by him.