Two days after Kurama's incident, Zoro finally leaves Konoha. He has done looking around although it's not fun because everyone is very gloomy, so he leaves quickly.
But yet another problem arises. He senses some people are following him since he left Konoha. That's why now he is walking instead of riding Torao as usual.
The ones who follow him put quite a distance between them. But Zoro still can sense them. There are 10 people following him and they have quite a lot of chakra even for jonins, so they must have taken him seriously.
"What do you want to do?" Asks Torao from Zoro's shadow.
"Let's just continue to walk. I think they will approach me when we get far enough from the village."
Just as Zoro thought, the pursuers really approach him when he gets very far from the village.
Only 2 of the 10 show up in front of him, a bald man and a woman with blonde hair. The other 8 are still hiding even though they've gotten closer.
"Roronoa Zoro, follow us back to the village. Someone important wants to meet you."
Zoro frowns at how they talk. "What the fuck? Are you ordering me right now? Am I your fucking subordinate?"
"Don't ask any questions and just follow us. If not, we will drag you by force."
"These motherfuckers are really trying to get on my nerves, huh?" Zoro's veins pop out of his face because of how pissed he is by them.
They followed him, blocked his way, then ordered him around without even introducing themselves politely.
"You must've looked down on me just because I'm still a kid in your eyes, aren't you? Sorry but, I won't follow you as I'm not your subordinate. Besides, I'm sure it's not even an official order from the village. If it is, then you won't have followed me from afar and only approached me after I got this far. So I don't see why I should oblige to your demand."
Zoro talks while moving Sandai Kitetsu from his right waist to his left waist. He then holds it with his left hand while his right hand is on Wado Ichimonji as he js ready for any confrontation.
The 2 ninjas frown when knowing that Zoro has realized them tailing him and even ready to fight them. They look at each other before nodding. Then they suddenly charge to attack Zoro.
With his hands on the swords, Zoro lowers his body a bit before he suddenly disappears from his spot and appears behind the 2 ninjas. Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu are slightly drawn from their scabbards.
"Nitoryu Iai: Rashomon!" (2 Sword Style Acting Draw: Thin Life Gate!)
*Click*
Zoro pushes the 2 swords back to their scabbards and blood splattered from the 2 ninjas' bodies at the same time.
They have vertical cuts from their heads to their crotches. The cuts are really deep and would have cut them in half if Zoro used more power.
Still, the cuts are deep enough to kill them instantly as their skulls and bodies are almost split in half.
The other 8 ninjas that hide behind the trees are surprised seeing their comrades die so easily. They didn't expect Zoro's attack to be that fast and powerful.
"How about the 8 of you? Still want to hide?"
Zoro unsheathes all his 3 swords and gets ready to fight the remaining enemies. They finally come out after knowing that he has sensed them. There's no point in hiding anymore, after all.
The 8 ninjas are wearing black cloak with animal masks. Zoro already guessed it, but now he finally can confirm that Danzo is the one sending these guys because they are from Root.
"Wearing masks won't protect you from my swords, you know."
Zoro makes a flying slash attack to the front and the ninjas jump to dodge it. They scatter around with some throwing kunais and shurikens while the others are making hand seals.
Zoro deflects the kunais and shurikens. Some kunais have paper bombs on them, so Zoro deflects them strongly to throw them away from him.
Then he runs in zigzag to dodge some wind blades that come from a ninja. But he runs toward a ninja who then shoots a big fire ball.
Instead of changing his direction, Zoro jumps toward the fire ball. He moves his 2 swords vertically behind the sword in his mouth, pointing them down before making a vertical slash using the 2 swords in his hands.
"Tora Gari!" (Tiger Hunting!)
The slash attack cuts the fireball in half and he passes through between them. But his slash attack is still flying towards the ninja and cuts the ninja's left arm because he realizes it late.
Zoro doesn't let him go though. He swings Enma in his right hand horizontally and the flying slash attack hits the injured ninja. The ninja can't even react because they are already very close and gets his body cut in half.
Suddenly, Zoro jumps upwards and a pair of hands come out of the ground where he stands. A ninja moved underground and tried to capture him, but he sensed all his enemies with his Observation Haki.
"Santoryu: 108 Pound Ho!" (3 Sword Style: 108 Pound Phoenix!)
Zoro shoots 3 compressed air projectiles to the ninja hiding underground. They destroy the ground and pummel the ninja who can't escape on time because they are too close to each other.
However, the ninja isn't killed although he won't be able to move as he loses consciousness after getting his head hit and damaged badly.
So Zoro finishes him off by stabbing him with Sandai Kitetsu when he descends. He won't let anyone here leave alive because he knows there won't be anything good waiting for him if they capture him.
He tries to pull out his sword, but strangely his body can't move. He looks down and sees that his shadow is connected with the shadow of an enemy that stands a few meters away on his left.
"A Nara, huh? And the one beside him must be..."
Then an enemy that stands beside that Nara ninja forms a triangle with both hands. He is a ninja from the Yamanaka clan who tries to enter Zoro's mind and controls it.
However, instead of entering Zoro's mind, the Yamanaka ninja coughs up blood instead. It surprises all the ninjas because it's very rare for someone to defend this jutsu.
Zoro grins because he wasn't sure if it would work. He activated his Conqueror Haki when that Yamanaka ninja attacked him. Then he used his Conqueror Haki to attack the Yamanaka ninja.
He thought it would block the mind control because Conqueror Haki affected minds and spirits. But he didn't expect it would give the enemy that much backlash.
"Well, seems like I don't need to be afraid of the Yamanaka clan now."
Zoro suddenly moves even though the shadow still binds him. The Nara ninja is struggling to stop Zoro, but he can't. Zoro just forces himself to move with his powerful physical strength.
"Don't be surprised yet. I'm still not done."
Once again, Zoro uses his Conqueror Haki and now he aims it at the Nara ninja. It's not enough to make the ninja faint, but the shock is enough to make him unable to keep his shadow jutsu that binds Zoro.
"Santoryu: Oni Giri!" (3 Sword Style: Ogre Cutter!)
Zoro dashes forward and slashes the 2 ninjas who have lost their composure because of his Conqueror Haki.
He easily cuts them up and kills them because they can't defend themselves with their minds in shambles.
Now, only 4 ninjas remain and they look at Zoro with very wary expressions. After all, he has defeated 6 of them without much trouble.
They all look at each other before nodding. Then 1 of them turns around and runs away while the other 3 charges at Zoro.
"Trying to escape and report what happens here? In your dream."
Zoro uses his Conqueror Haki on the 4 of them. He hasn't fully mastered his Conqueror Haki, but it's enough to hurt their spirits.
Brainwashed guys like them have weak spirits and willpower. Or rather, they almost don't even have any willpower because they only think of themselves as tools, so they are easy to affect.
They all fall to their knees while trembling in fear for reasons unknown to them. But when they look at Zoro, they get even more scared. He looks like a demon from hell in their eyes.
Though he doesn't know that and doesn't care about how they see him. He just wants to finish this quickly, so he runs and cuts their defenseless necks one by one.
Zoro swings his swords to remove the blood before sheathing them back to their scabbards.
"As I thought, Root members are quite trashy. The real skilled ones are in Anbu, after all, and well, organizations like Anbu are a secret organization specialized in stealthy missions, so direct battles aren't their forte. But these guys are just too weak and bad at fighting."
That's what Zoro thinks, completely disregarding the fact that he is someone strong enough to hold the 9 Tailed Fox alone. Though Danzo also disregarded that by only sending these people.
Now, Zoro thinks of what to do with Danzo and Root. They have come with bad intentions, so he won't just let them go without any consequences. He is someone who holds his grudges, after all.
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Chapter 61. A Glimpse of Eight Gates
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