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Chapter 110 - Chapter 110: Probably, Applause is an Art?

Click~

Shortly after Danzō's shadow clone disappeared, the office door—previously sealed shut—swung open.

Looking at the four Root ninja bowing to him in unison,

Danzō, clad in black battle gear with a Ninja Blade strapped to his back, strode into the office.

[Dreamlike Mirage] had begun retracting from the walls inward.

The four men stationed in the corners of the office, ensnared in the illusion and briefly having their chakra flow forcibly disrupted, awakening from the genjutsu was no surprise.

Observing Kei Yamanaka, limp on the sofa, subdued by Dreamlike Mirage,

Danzō returned to his original seat and sat down.

"You're too proud. Strength isn't everything for a ninja. Blind confidence will only cost you the most essential quality every shinobi must possess."

His composure unshaken, he began brewing tea again, beneath his composed exterior lay a quiet arrogance.

What did it matter if he was stronger than Jiraiya?

Everyone possesses weaknesses. As long as one understands the intelligence and makes proper preparations,

even the strongest would be helpless.

This world is never short of ways to rein in powerhouses!

"Have you revealed your true body already?"

Bound on the sofa, Kei Yamanaka looked at the clearly visible skill listings interface on Danzō and immediately confirmed this was indeed his true body.

"If your real self is trapped here, why would I hesitate to confront you directly?"

Danzō continued his actions without pause.

After rinsing the teacup—once stained with medicinal residue—blood-red glow flickered in his eyes as his three-comma Sharingan activated.

As the Sharingan's genjutsu clouded Kei Yamanaka's mind, his fingers flew through rapid hand seals.

Complex jutsu patterns flared across the dim walls of the room, synchronizing with Danzō's chakra signature.

"Join Root. Become the sharpest blade in my hand. Let us together…"

"Aww~ You always go to so much trouble. Too bad none of your enemies can play along like Russian dolls with me."

Kei Yamanaka sighed lightly.

Clap clap~

A crisp sound of clapping echoed from the four corners of the room.

The four Root ninja, who had remained hidden until now, stood up simultaneously.

In eerie synchronization, each clapped once.

Potent Yin Release energy shattered Danzō's mental defenses nearly instantaneously,

plunging him into an overwhelming genjutsu.

Swish~

A shadow clone of Kei Yamanaka materialized beside the teacup he had previously touched.

Seizing his restrained original body, he vanished from the room in a flash of [Flying Thunder God Technique].

Moments later,

Kei Yamanaka's original body reappeared in the dimly lit office alongside Kushina, still clad in her Magical Girl Transformation.

Looking at Danzō curled on the floor, his Sharingan whirling wildly in agony, ensnared in the illusion,

Kushina's flushed cheeks burned with rage. Her fingers cracked, knuckles popping audibly.

He had the nerve to scheme against her boyfriend?!

If there was even one spot of unbroken skin left on this creep when she was done, Kushina would write her name backward!

"Don't touch him. He'll soil you."

Kei Yamanaka patted Kushina's head and gave a slight nod to the shadow clones around him.

Two of the shadow clones opened the office door and stood at the entrance, blocking any unexpected arrival of Root members.

The other two shadow clones quickly inspected the office to check for any traps they might have missed.

"Hmph~ Kei, you actually used your real body to withstand Tsuchigumo clan's [Sealing Technique] just now. That was way too risky!" Kushina said with one hand on her slender waist, clearly dissatisfied.

"Well, I had you, didn't I?" Kei Yamanaka replied, ruffling Kushina's hair while giving his girlfriend a compliment.

"Hehe~" Kushina giggled, blushing and raising her face, clearly enjoying the praise.

After enjoying some intimate gestures from her boyfriend, she finally asked, "How come Danzo didn't notice you forming [Hand Seals] to use ninjutsu just now? He's usually such a cautious person."

"Probably because...clapping is an art?"

A faint smile appeared on Kei Yamanaka's lips.

Who says you must clap with all ten fingers aligned perfectly?

Even Hashirama Senju could activate techniques just by clapping his fists together.

With [Zero-Frame Activation], [Genjutsu] through simple clapping becomes perfectly valid, doesn't it?

Danzo's preparation was certainly thorough.

When Kei first entered the underground training area, a special barrier hidden within the Anti-Sensor Barrier heavily disrupted shadow clones.

Under normal circumstances, shadow clones would instantly dissipate when passing through that barrier.

It was clearly designed to verify whether the visitor was actually his real body.

Once confirming it was indeed the real Kei,

the old fox used shadow clones to distract him while slipping colorless, odorless drugs into the tea.

Without solid medical knowledge, someone would almost certainly fall for it right there.

And even if he avoided the drugged tea,

four Root ninja stood ready to activate a special sealing barrier in conjunction with the [Dreamlike Mirage] enveloping the entire office.

For anyone else, that trap might have worked.

Unfortunately for him, he picked the wrong opponent.

From the very beginning, Kei knew this old fox didn't have good intentions.

Before reporting to Root, he had already stationed thirty shadow clones back home.

Later, he discreetly placed [Flying Thunder God] formulas on the Root elevator, in various hidden spots across different floors, and even on Squad Leader Otsu.

Once inside the office, his [System Ability] immediately revealed that the Danzo behind the desk wasn't his real body.

During his praise of Danzo's tea-making skills, he used the clapping motion to instantly cast [Genjutsu] over everyone in the room.

After placing a [Flying Thunder God] mark on the teacup,

he linked into Konoha's sensing barrier to alert his shadow clones and Kushina to get ready.

To lure out Danzo's real body and stop the old fox from endlessly deploying shadow clones,

he had intentionally allowed himself to be fully ensnared by the [Dreamlike Mirage].

Only after Danzo's shadow clone disappeared did Kei's clones appear, replacing the four Root ninja with shadow clones.

"What do we do now?" Kushina scanned the office's interior décor.

Picking up a foot-long paperweight, she kept poking the painfully groaning Danzo on the floor.

"Let's deal with the most critical matters first."

Kei Yamanaka clapped his hands together and delivered a sharp slap to the back of Danzo's head.

Danzo himself had implanted every Root ninja with the Tongue-Cutting Seal to ward off betrayal and chaos.

This jutsu was highly complex; if the old man died, the technique would collapse in an instant, throwing Root into turmoil.

To fully take control of Root's power, he needed to neutralize that threat first.

He needed to transfer control of the Tongue-Cutting Seal to himself.

As [Memory Reading Jutsu] activated and invaded Danzo's mind, 

Kei immediately began searching for the method to control the Tongue-Cutting Seal, along with its casting, removal, and transfer techniques.

In a matter of moments, he mastered the sealing technique that underpinned Root's very existence.

After completing this crucial task, he began flipping through Danzo's memories at lightning speed.

A string of recent, shocking scenes caused Kei to wince and grit his teeth repeatedly.

*"My eyes…"*

*Tatsuma Aburame, his personal guard? Tanuki Shigaraki, the researcher? Balanced offense and defense beyond compare?*

This old bastard…

Wait!

Was this guy actually planning to strike against Hiruzen Sarutobi?

Whoa… Mama mia…

Skimming past the memories that sent chills down Kei's spine, he finally accessed fragments related to Root.

Root's personnel structure, layout of its research facilities, funding sources and expenditures, information about department heads, various ongoing missions, spies and undercover operatives embedded in each hidden village…

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