Chapter 5

The night fell, and the entire Konoha was plunged into darkness.

The street lights hadn't turned on, making it one of the rare moments of complete darkness in the village.

Danzo speaks with a middle-aged man deep underground in Konoha, "Well done. If we do this, that person, Sosuke, will surely die."

The middle-aged man was puffing on his pipe and frowned as he said,

"He's just a Tokubetsu Jōnin. Is it really necessary to go after him like this? This young man has a clean background and works really hard. He's a good candidate."

Danzo scoffed and replied, "Without any bloodline, he's nothing more than a TTokubetsu Jōnin. What's there to pity for a cannon fodder for someone like him?"

The middle-aged man sighed and said, "I hope all of this is worth it."

Seeing the man's expression, Danzo looked displeased and said, "Stop being so hypocritical. Back when we slaughtered the Senju clan, every one of those Senju clan shinobi was a good fighter, but I never saw you with this kind of expression!"

After hearing this, the middle-aged man seemed lost in thought and finally spoke.

"For the stability of Konoha, the Senju clan had to be wiped out!"

This time, Danzo didn't argue and instead spoke seriously: "The three members of the Senju clan are at the level of Hokage... If we don't get rid of a clan like that, other clans will never have a chance to become the Hokage!"

The middle-aged man sighed and said, "Let's not dwell on the past. It wasn't just you and me who made those decisions. It was the will of all the clans in Konoha."

Danzo didn't say much because he actually agreed with the man on this point.

The middle-aged man then stood up and said, "I'll leave now. Remember, if you're going to do it, make sure you do it cleanly..."

After those words, the man didn't stay any longer. He casually picked up his long robe and hat, put them on, and turned to leave the dark corner of Konoha.

On the back of the white robe were five large characters: "Third Hokage."

Looking at these five characters, Danzo couldn't hide the desire in his eyes.

Just like that, in such a casual manner, Danzo and the Third Hokage sealed Sosuke's fate.

This combination duo that held the highest power in Konoha, a mere Tokubetsu Jōnin, was nothing more than an ant, easily crushed at any time.

...

Sosuke was heading to the front lines for support, and the mission required him to get there quickly.

However, Sosuke wasn't in a big hurry. From the very beginning, he realized this mission wouldn't be simple.

So, whenever he had some free time along the way, he would take the opportunity to get used to himself with the abilities of his Goro Goro no Mi.

If he didn't get used to his powers soon, Sosuke wouldn't be able to handle an enemy if he ran into one later.

After all, Rokushiki couldn't be mastered in a short period of time. Even though he has Garp's memories, it wasn't something he could do overnight.

Therefore, the best way for him to increase his strength right now is to focus on improving his Goro Goro no Mi.

If he could enhance the power of lightning to around one hundred million volts, he should be able to reach a level above that of a Hokage.

The power of Goro Goro no Mi greatly enhanced Sosuke's speed, allowing him to fight without constantly consuming chakra to use the Body Flicker Technique. 

This directly boosted his combat ability to a whole new level.

In addition to his physical skills, Sosuke also occasionally stopped to practice his Observation Haki.

Thanks to Garp's memories, he found it very easy to learn Observation Haki. 

Moreover, the Goro Goro no Mi itself enhanced his sensory abilities, greatly improving his original weakness in perception.

After half a day of training, he could sense things almost a kilometer around him with no problem.

It's worth mentioning that in the original Naruto series, only the Byakugan and a few rare sensory abilities could achieve such a feat.

"This Goro Goro no Mi is amazing. The electric wave sensing plus the Observation Haki is like having a map of the whole area."

After this remark, Sosuke continued on his way.

If he kept up this pace, he figured he should be able to reach the frontlines before dawn.

He had just left Konoha and wasn't too far from the village.

'Even if Danzo wants to do something sneaky, he probably wouldn't be in a hurry.'

He thought to himself.

If something happened here, it would be hard to make up an excuse later.

After all, even the elite Sand Shinobi team couldn't infiltrate deep into the Land of Fire just to assassinate him at the right time.

As the sky began to brighten slightly, Sosuke could already vaguely see the patrol team's camp in the distance.

After traveling for so long, with his current stamina only at the peak of Chunin level, Sosuke had no choice but to sit down and take a short rest.

He took out a water bottle and was about to drink to quench his thirst.

Suddenly, sparks flew up from beneath his feet, and a loud explosion sounded.

The spot where he had been sitting was now engulfed in a sea of flames.

From the sound of the explosion, it was clear that exploding tags caused it, and it seemed more than one had been used.

The power of this explosion was so strong that even an Elite Jonin would be seriously injured if hit head-on.

At this moment, four figures suddenly appeared around him.

They were all dressed in black clothing, with hoods covering their heads and masked with various designs. Their masks bore some resemblance to the cat-faced masks used by the ANBU.

As soon as the four appeared, they each used a powerful jutsu and attacked the spot where the explosion happened.

"Katon: Dragon Flame Caterwaul no Jutsu"

"Raiton: Thunderbolt no Jutsu"

...

Looking at this scene, it was clear that these four individuals were at the Jōnin level!

As the smoke and dust settled, all that was left was a ruined area about ten meters wide and a charred shape resembling a person.

After seeing the corpse on the ground, one of them sneered and said, "In the end, he was just a Tokubetsu Jōnin. Did we really need to bring all four of us to deal with him?"

The person beside him seemed to agree, nodding and saying, "Yeah, it's over too quickly."

"Looks like he's really dead. He was just a Tokubetsu Jōnin, but he was so careless."

Unlike these two, the leader raised his hand and said, "We can't be careless until we confirm his identity!"

The voice was unmistakable, it was the same person who had previously spoken with Danzo in the jonin meeting room.

After speaking, the leader walked over to inspect Sosuke's body.

As soon as he approached, he immediately noticed something unusual, and there wasn't even a hint of the smell of burnt flesh in the air!

"Not good! Everyone, stay on guard! The kid isn't dead!"

As soon as his words fell, a thunderous roar rang out!

Then, a flash of bright blue lightning, a black figure appeared at the back of the four-person team. 

The man who had been mocking earlier slowly lowered his head and saw a blade sticking through his heart!

The speed of this attack was fast. It's important to mention that among the four of them were at least Jōnin level!

Yet, under this single attack, he didn't even have a chance to react and was effortlessly taken down!?

The man who had been pierced through the heart said in disbelief, "How... is this possible...?"

He slowly turned his head, and what he saw was Sosuke's face!

He looked completely different without his usual lazy expression and was replaced by killing intent.

The short blade in his hand was crackling with faint blue arcs of electricity, constantly jumping!

"Ten million volts! Thunder Roar!"