Naruto: Get Stronger by Spoiling My Sister

It was a dark, silent night no different from usual on the surface. And yet, tonight, everything would change. Every destiny, every path, would be rewritten.

Neji raced through the village, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. He had already gotten Sasuke's answer. Now that he was certain Sasuke intended to leave the village, there was no longer any reason for him to remain at the compound.

"Still, Danzō must've caught wind of it by now. After all, the two men he sent to tail me just up and vanished."

A cold smirk crept across Neji's lips.

Ever since his return to Konoha, those two Root operatives had made their presence known though they probably thought they were being subtle. But under the heightened awareness of the Kagura Mind's Eye, every movement of theirs had been laid bare. They had no idea that Neji saw them as clearly as daylight.

Sasuke was leaving. And Danzō wouldn't dare let such an opportunity slip by. That agreement with Itachi? Meaningless. With Hiruzen Sarutobi dead and Sasuke leaving of his own volition, Danzō now had the perfect excuse.

But that ends tonight.

"Danzō… I'm coming for you. No more lurking in Konoha's underbelly. Your time is up."

With a twisted grin, Neji darted straight toward Root's hidden base. By dawn, the organization known as Root would cease to exist.

Beneath Konoha, the air was damp and stale. Darkness consumed everything an oppressive, haunted silence more unsettling than any ghost house.

Neji now stood before the massive doors that led into the Root facility. Two masked operatives stood guard.

"Identify yourself!" one barked, instantly on alert.

This was Root's hidden domain unknown to most. Even the Hokage and the ANBU seldom came near. And Neji clearly wasn't one of their own.

"Byakugan… A Hyūga, huh," the second operative sneered. Root agents, shaped by Danzō's ideology, harbored deep distrust toward bloodline clans.

Especially clans like the Hyūga and Uchiha eyes that could pierce their stealth and uncover their secrets. Root detested that kind of vulnerability.

"State your purpose. Now. Or we'll brand you a rogue ninja and deal with you accordingly."

Neji chuckled, rage simmering beneath the surface. "So this is how Root greets people? Accusations and threats? You act like Konoha belongs to you."

"You little! Speak!"

"Out of my way!" Neji's chakra surged violently, his presence exploding outward like a thunderclap, silencing the guards mid-sentence.

"Tell me where is Danzō?"

The killing intent in Neji's voice chilled the air. It was raw and undisguised. The two operatives faltered for a breath. But years of brainwashing had robbed them of fear, of self-preservation. Root had stripped them of past and future, of emotion and choice.

They quickly regained their composure.

"What's your objective? Speak now!"

"No need to ask. We'll capture him and present him to Lord Danzō ourselves."

One of them lunged forward, palm flashing with a sealing jutsu aimed at binding Neji in place.

"Tch." Neji scoffed. "That pitiful thing? You think that can hold me?"

Before the seal even fully activated, Neji vanished.

In the blink of an eye, he reappeared above them, inverted mid-air like a falcon in freefall, each hand locking tightly onto their skulls.

"Die."

"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"

With his palms pressed against their heads, he unleashed twin shockwaves of chakra. A faint, concussive pulse rippled across their faces then a sickening crunch. Blood splattered across the stone as their skulls caved in under the force.

No one survives a blow like that.

"Well," Neji muttered, glancing at the communicator one of them had gripped tightly even in death, "you died doing what you were trained for."

He shook his head, almost mockingly. "Loyal to the end. Danzō really did a number on you. Brainwashing at its finest."

"And because of that loyalty… no one in here is walking out alive."

"Monster Strength!"

Clang!

Neji struck the great metal door with a punch that echoed through the underground. The resulting boom reverberated through the cavernous tunnels.

To his surprise, the door didn't break it only buckled inward, warped but intact.

"Danzō, just how many horrors have you buried behind this thing?" Neji muttered darkly, his eyes narrowing as a murderous intent flared within him. "Even the gate is built to keep Konoha out."

"Fine. You've had enough time crawling in the dark."

"You'll pay for every single thing you've done."

"Break! Break!"

Bang! Bang!

Each punch thundered into the gate, denting it further. The sheer power of Neji's blows sent tremors through the ground. Dust and grit rained from the ceiling.

In the Root facility, operatives froze at the sound.

"What's going on?"

"An intruder!"

"Who dares attack Root?!"

In an instant, masked figures gathered en masse, surging toward the gate like a flood of shadows.

Meanwhile, deep within a laboratory, Danzō flinched as the crashing booms reached his ears. His hand trembled, and a precious drop of viscous liquid fell to the floor.

"No! That was a freshly harvested cell sample!"

Fury erupted within him.

"Who dares?!"

Danzō stormed out of the lab.

"Summon the others!" he roared.

Two figures appeared before him in a blur of motion one a burly man with ash-brown hair, the other clad entirely in black.

"Fū. Torune. Bring me the intruder alive."

"Yes, sir!" they answered in unison before vanishing.

Left alone, Danzō muttered to himself, "Tsunade? No. She only just returned to the village today. Her inauguration as Hokage isn't until tomorrow…"

"Damn it!" he swore, clenching his fists. The thought of his prized specimen going to waste filled him with murderous rage.

"Whoever you are… you die tonight."

And at that very moment, the booming crash resounded again so loud this time that even parts of the village above could hear it rumble from deep below.