Uchiha Shinji didn't rush.
He waited for a little while longer to ensure Danzo had gone far enough, then used the Transformation Jutsu to increase his height, transforming into an ANBU uniform, and dashed toward the Root base!
The Root base was underground, so there were no other doors or windows—only this one underground entrance disguised by the rundown building.
As expected.
This sole entrance was guarded around the clock by Root shinobi.
Shinji had anticipated this, so before the surprise attack, he had already activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
When the Root shinobi guarding the entrance spotted him and called out to verify his identity, Shinji immediately cast a genjutsu, taking control of the guard.
"Take me to Danzo's secret vault!" he ordered.
However, the Root shinobi under the influence of the genjutsu didn't move, his expression showing resistance.
"Huh!?" Shinji was surprised.
He hadn't formally trained in genjutsu, nor had anyone taught him the technique, but up until now, his Mangekyō Sharingan's power had been enough to force his way through without fail.
He didn't expect it to fail here.
Shinji quickly realized that this shinobi was strong and had likely undergone special training to resist genjutsu.
Narrowing his eyes, he added more power to his Mangekyō Sharingan: "Take me to the secret vault!"
With the added force of his ocular power, the Root shinobi finally succumbed completely to the genjutsu, moving like a puppet to lead Shinji into the Root base.
Dressed as an ANBU, Shinji followed closely behind.
The interior of the Root base was far larger than Shinji had imagined.
After descending a long spiral staircase, his eyes widened in shock.
"This…"
Even though he had prepared himself mentally, he was still taken aback.
In front of him was an enormous pit that seemed bottomless, like a massive subterranean building with rooms carved into the rock walls on every level.
Each level was connected by spiral staircases and rope bridges.
Even from a distance, the sight made one feel an overwhelming sense of oppression and fear.
"Keep going!" Shinji urged.
Under the control of the genjutsu, the Root shinobi resumed walking forward.
Meanwhile, Shinji, following behind, discreetly placed explosive tags at key points along their path.
As they descended further, the lighting grew dimmer and dimmer. The pitch-black rope bridges below made it feel as if they were truly descending into hell.
Shinji suppressed his unease and kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings.
Finally, after navigating the complex stairways and bridges, the Root shinobi led Shinji to a large door.
Shinji asked, "Is this Danzo's secret vault?"
The Root shinobi nodded.
Stepping back to a safe distance, Shinji ordered, "Open it!"
The Root shinobi approached the door and pushed it open.
Through the faint light inside the vault, Shinji saw rows upon rows of shelves.
However, from this distance and in such poor lighting, even with his Mangekyō Sharingan, he couldn't make out the items on the shelves.
After a brief hesitation, Shinji asked, "Are there any traps inside?"
"I don't know."
The Root shinobi shook his head.
"Go in first!" Shinji ordered.
Without hesitation, the Root shinobi stepped into the vault.
Sizzle!
In an instant, a blinding electric light sparked from the floor of the vault, enveloping the Root shinobi entirely.
"Ahhh!"
A scream of agony echoed through the corridor.
At the same time, countless red warning lights embedded in the rock walls throughout the base began to flash, and a sharp alarm blared immediately afterward.
Shinji's heart jumped in alarm, and he quickly turned around.
Swish!
The Root shinobi, still smoking from the electric shock and barely able to stand, hurled a kunai at Shinji!
Without bothering to engage, Shinji dodged the kunai and bolted for the exit.
With a few swift movements, he was out of the corridor and back on the spiral staircase.
With a quick glance, he noticed several figures rushing toward him from all directions amid the shrill alarm.
Looking back.
The Root shinobi who had been shocked was also pursuing him from the corridor.
Shinji breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, while racing up the staircase, he pulled out several kunai from his shinobi pouch, each tied with explosive tags.
He threw the kunai one by one at the traps he had set earlier.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions echoed through the Root base.
"Is he insane!?"
"Damn it, stop him!"
"Accursed intruder!"
The Root shinobi surrounding Shinji were all furious.
The structure of the Root base, which extended downward, was excellent for preventing infiltration but highly vulnerable to internal destruction from explosions.
One wrong move, and the entire base could collapse inward, burying everyone alive.
So when they saw Shinji attacking the base's rock walls with explosive tags, several Root shinobi abandoned the chase to immediately use Earth Release techniques to reinforce the walls.
Shinji, though his heart was pounding with fear, had Susanoo as a backup. Even if the base collapsed, he could still force his way out.
So he became even more reckless, pulling out all the remaining explosive tags from his shinobi pouch.
"Stop him!"
The Root shinobi were scared out of their wits.
If all those explosive tags detonated at once, the base might actually collapse.
At that point, forget saving the base—none of them would make it out alive!
Seeing this, the remaining Root shinobi stopped their pursuit, afraid that chasing Shinji further would push him into detonating everything, leading to mutual destruction.
Shinji also paused, refraining from triggering the explosions, and instead focused on activating Breathing Techniques as he sprinted up the staircase, fleeing while the Root shinobi glared at him in fury.
Reaching the surface entrance, Shinji quickly pasted more explosive tags onto the walls on either side of the exit as he bolted out.
Boom! Boom!
The fiery explosions swallowed the entrance in an instant, collapsing the surface structure of the Root base.
While sprinting away, Shinji glanced back.
Confirming that no one was chasing him, he didn't let his guard down and immediately slipped into the nearby bushes.
Only after reaching a relatively safe area did he finally dispel the Transformation Jutsu and remove the mask from his face.
"I'm counting on you, Coalball…"
Shinji gazed toward the Root base, his expression serious.
Earlier, when he had turned to flee and draw away the Root shinobi, Coalball had quietly slipped out of his shadow, hiding in the vault's shadows.
That was why, despite the secret vault being within reach, Shinji had fled without hesitation.
"It has to work…"
He silently prayed.
A chance like this—when Danzo had left the base, leaving it vulnerable—would be rare in the future.
If they didn't succeed this time, with the base on alert, infiltrating it would become even more difficult.
Roar
Just as Shinji was lost in thought, a distant rumble echoed, followed by a thunderous beastly roar reverberating through the skies above the village.
Shinji looked in the direction of the sound, utterly dumbfounded: "N-Nine Tails!?"