Staring at the large snake head that had appeared before her, Ling suddenly stomped the ground, her monstrous strength technique erupting, causing the earth to crack and collapse in layers centered around her feet.
In an instant, Ling vanished from her original spot, leaving behind only an afterimage torn apart by the force.
Ling appeared beside the great snake's neck in a flash. At this point, the Wind Release Chakra on her body could no longer withstand the interference and dissipated, but it had still helped Ling break through the air barrier, increasing her speed.
The Ame no Habakiri in Ling's hand once again erupted with Chakra, and the two-meter-long wind blade suddenly extended further. She swung her sword directly at the great snake's neck.
The emerald green wind sword, entwined with countless fine wind blades, was like a divine sword struck down by a god of wind. Her monstrous strength erupted again, greatly increasing the sword's speed as it sharply cut across the great snake's neck.
"Pfft!" Blood splattered as a perfectly intact great snake head was severed by Ling's single strike. The heavy snake body fell to the ground, carving a long gully.
It seemed like an instant kill, but Ling had already unleashed her full power. Even a Jonin facing this attack from Ling would not have had time to use the Substitution Jutsu.
The great snake was successfully subjugated, its body vanished, and even the blood completely disappeared, as if it had never existed.
However, the snake-shaped gully on the ground indicated that a major battle had indeed erupted here.
Ling calmed the surging Chakra within her. This full-power outburst also made Ling realize her current upper limit.
She should be considered quite good among regular Jonin, but in her normal state, she was probably only at the Special Jonin level.
This was already very good. In a war, if she played it safe, adapted to the situation, and avoided provoking those transcendent beings, such as Kage-level individuals like Pakura and Rasa, there wouldn't be any major problems.
One must know that Ling was only a little over five years old, with still more than three months until she turned six. Ling's birthday was June 6th, which was truly a six-fold coincidence.
Just as Ling was about to leave this place and go home to rest, she found herself surrounded. They all wore Anbu vests and various masks, but Ling could discern that these people were not Anbu, but Root.
Ling was cautiously on guard, ready to summon Mahoraga to unleash a massacre at any moment, and her Chakra was also operating at full capacity.
"Uchiha Ling, tell me what happened here?" One inconspicuous Root member spoke, likely an Anbu Squad Leader level, whose strength was not inferior to Ling's normal state.
"I don't know. I was training here, and then a large snake rushed out and attacked me. After I injured the great snake, it disappeared."
Ling was subtly shifting the narrative, placing herself in the position of an attacked victim, and pointing out the great snake because there were traces of it left here. Konoha clearly knew who had a great snake.
Several Anbu returned from exploring and inspecting the battlefield. They approached the Anbu Squad Leader and communicated something in a secret language.
"Hmph! Orochimaru must have discovered illegal evidence about you, and you attacked him because of it."
A huge black pot was thrown over her, making Ling feel that this was truly Root's style—unexpected but within expectations.
"Oh? Then why don't you go directly to Orochimaru and question him? Why slander me here?"
Ling had already prepared for the worst. If things became unavoidable and these Root members insisted on fighting, she would have no choice but to kill them and then defect from Konoha.
"Hehe, Lord Orochimaru is currently at the Root base. Please come with us to confront Lord Orochimaru."
The Root members parted to create a path. This led to one of Root's bases, and their intention was clear.
"I don't believe your words. I choose to wait for the Hokage's Anbu to arrive."
Ling knew that this statement might be useless. Root did not fear the Hokage's authority at all; they only listened to Danzo.
However, Ling needed to occupy the moral high ground, stating that she was willing to accept an investigation, but not Root's investigation.
Meanwhile, Ling was secretly complaining about the Anbu's uselessness. Root had been here for so long, yet there was no sign of the Anbu.
In fact, Ling had misunderstood the Anbu. This area was under Root's defense, and Root's base was also nearby. One could only say that Ling was unlucky to have chosen such a place.
"If you have anything to say, you can tell the Hokage's Assistant yourself. Please!"
The Root Anbu Squad Leader's words were somewhat unchallengeable, and the surrounding Root members' killing intent pressed down on Ling.
"Heh, if I don't go, are you planning to make a move?"
Ling didn't know what orders Danzo had given these Root members, but Danzo definitely wasn't simply trying to eliminate her.
And Danzo was definitely waiting for an opportunity to openly take Ling away and control her.
Ling felt that Danzo had been sending people to watch her ever since she displayed Morning Peacock that day, but she hadn't realized it and had been careless.
"Uchiha Ling, if you disregard Lord Danzo's summons, then I will have the right to declare you a rogue ninja. Don't be ungrateful!"
The Root Anbu Squad Leader drew his Ninjato, and over a dozen surrounding Root members also simultaneously drew their Ninjato or Kunai, ready to act at any moment.
"Hmph, why are you yelling! I'll go if you want me to!" Although Ling's body relaxed, she remained fully on guard, lest she be ambushed from behind and have her heart gouged out.
Along the way, even though Ling intentionally slowed her pace, she still didn't wait for the Anbu to arrive, causing Ling to once again curse Hiruzen Sarutobi's incompetence.
However, Ling thought there was another possibility: her current predicament might have been tacitly approved by Hiruzen Sarutobi. He often tacitly approved such things.
Because of his tacit approval, First Hokage's grandson, Nawaki, was blown up, his internal organs emptied; Konoha's White Fang committed suicide, slandered by Root.
Ling was extremely irritated. She merely wanted to live a normal life, to survive well, yet someone insisted on dragging her into one conspiracy after another.
Just because she had half Uchiha blood, and because her outstanding talent was discovered.
Throughout the journey, Root treated Ling completely as a criminal, giving her no chance to escape. Ling also wasn't confident in quickly killing a Special Jonin and over a dozen Elite Chunin.
It must be said that old Danzo had a knack for training Root; Root's average skill level surpassed that of the Anbu.
If it weren't for a year later, in Konoha Year 44, when Danzo, having lost his mind, cooperated with Hanzou to try and eliminate the budding Akatsuki Organization...
Then he successfully courted death, causing Nagato to unleash the true power of the Rinnegan due to Yahiko's death, and even summon 'Mahoraga,' completely wiping out Root's elites.
Otherwise, after the Nine-Tailed Fox's attack, Danzo would have had a chance to ambush the Third Hokage and succeed him, instead of having Yamato assassinate the Third.
It was clearly impossible to succeed. Even without Kakashi's notification, the Third was not someone Yamato could kill.
Yamato's mediocre Wood Release only allowed his strength to reach the Elite Jonin level; he was still very powerless against Kage-level opponents.
Ling had now been led to a cliff face. Several Root members dispelled the seals here, revealing a dark, cavernous entrance.