Ao is 43 years old this year and participated in the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars. His role in the Hidden Mist Village was similar to Shikaku and Inoichi. Even without the Byakugan, he was usually responsible for reconnaissance, sensing, and strategizing. He was not like Ino, who prided herself on being a sensory Ninja but could actually pin down a Jinchuriki and beat him.
Although he wasn't a Ninja who charged into battle, he has lived to this day, and his combat experience is quite rich. At this moment, without thinking, he picked up a table used for ingredients nearby, swung it with one hand, repelled Aburame Torune, and wood chips flew everywhere. He retreated two steps, then had time to draw his Kunai and assess his enemies.
The Root Ninja attackers were extremely silent, ranging in age from thirteen to thirty. Aburame Torune was considered young among them, at 17 years old.
Ao saw that Aburame Torune's all-black appearance was problematic and dared not make physical contact. He used the impact of 'Water Shockwave' to overturn two Root Ninja, threw out the Kunai in his hand, forcing back another Root Ninja. Then, he grabbed the ankle of one of the Root Ninja with one hand and his neck with the other, lifted him above his head, and threw him far in the direction of Aburame Torune.
Aburame Torune retreated quickly, creating a gap in the encirclement. The experienced Ao judged this to be a trap and instead broke through in another direction.
He quickly fell into danger.
The Root Ninja were fearless in the face of death, often not dodging his attacks.
One Root Ninja wrapped his arm with a chain hammer. Just as it circled twice, Ao elbowed him in the chest, causing a large section of his sternum to collapse. The Root Ninja spewed blood from his mouth, but the arm gripping the chain did not waver at all.
"Bastard! Are they suicide soldiers?" Ao didn't know who he had offended to have such elite sent to assassinate him.
As a Jonin, he was decisive, killing the Root Ninja who was entangled with him in two punches. The opponent was bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and his skull was deformed, but his hand still gripped the chain tightly. Ao ran two steps towards the side door and found this large 'pendant' still hanging on his arm. He shook his arm vigorously, but for a moment, he couldn't break free.
The remaining eight Root Ninja attacked from all directions: front, back, left, and right.
Ao's shoulder was gashed by a Root Ninja's Kunai, and his left hand and cheek were successively injured. He quickly injected himself with an antidote, but his face turned dark, a clear sign of severe poisoning.
He resisted fiercely, punching and kicking, his right hand forming a claw, crushing a Root Ninja's heart, but he himself was dizzy and his movements became increasingly sluggish.
"You want my Byakugan?!" Seeing them staring at his eyes like hungry wolves, he suddenly realized and intended to activate the pre-set jutsu in his eye to destroy the Byakugan.
Aburame Torune rushed forward first, pasting a sealing tag on his shoulder, causing Ao's Chakra circulation to noticeably slow. In that stunned, he was stabbed two more times with Kunai, and Aburame Torune even cut off his right hand, disabling his hand sign ability.
Ao was covered in blood. Most of his injuries were caused by Aburame Torune. The opponent had sharp eyesight and Jonin-level taijutsu, making it very difficult for him to cope.
Ao had encountered Ninja of the Aburame Clan on the battlefield and knew about their parasitic insects. However, he didn't detect the nanobots inside Aburame Torune. Mixed with Chakra, the insects were too small, and for a while, he couldn't figure out what they were.
The moment he was attacked, he sent a signal to the Village. The nearest Hidden Mist Village ANBU outpost was only ten li away. At a Ninja's speed, support should arrive quickly. Even with one hand gone, he could still hold on for a while with taijutsu.
". You're all dead!" Through his Byakugan, he memorized the Chakra characteristics of the attackers. As soon as the Village's support arrived, he could capture them and interrogate them for information.
A sudden premonition of danger rang in his heart. The battle-hardened Ninja suddenly looked up at the sky.
He saw white, snow-like Clay Bombs falling from the sky, and a figure stood on a giant flying bird, looking down at them.
Who is this? Is it someone from the Akatsuki Organization?
Before Ao could get a good look at the opponent's Chakra, countless Clay Spiders exploded after landing on everyone!
Explosions erupted one after another, and the scene was ablaze. The high-ranking officials and nobles on the Land of Water side were in chaos, and the female attendants ran in all directions. Ino then created two more Clay Owls on the spot, one in front and one behind, rushing towards Ao and Aburame Torune.
No oil-infused Chakra was added, pure explosive clay!
Ao tried to hide behind the rockery on site, but a Clay Owl blew a large hole in his chest.
Ao died on the spot. Aburame Torune left an insect clone in place, deceiving the Clay Owl.
He forced his way out of the explosion zone, intending to retrieve Ao's Byakugan, but only saw Ao's corpse lying in a pool of blood. The right eye socket of the corpse had become a bloody hole; the crucial Byakugan had been taken by someone else first.
After carefully checking and confirming that this was not a Shadow Clone, not a Transformation Technique, but a genuine corpse, he had no choice but to issue the order: mission failed, retreat!
The news spread quickly. Ao's death in the attack caused the Hidden Mist Village to explode.
Many Ninja swarmed out. The Mizukage even dispatched Zabuza Momochi with one goal: capture the culprits, interrogate the prisoners, find the real killer, and then avenge Ao!
And by the way, retrieve the Byakugan. That's right, they believed the Byakugan belonged to them, and outsiders taking it was unacceptable.
Aburame Torune ran fast, but his Root Ninja subordinates could not. They couldn't outrun Zabuza Momochi on the sea.
The Ninja fought desperately, then cut off their tails to survive, finally managing to protect Aburame Torune and two Root Jonin into the Land of Hot Springs. After shaking off their pursuers, they returned to the Land of Fire.
Out of a group of nine, two were killed by Ao at the wedding banquet, one was killed by 'Deidara's' explosion, two were killed by Hidden Mist ANBU Ninja during the pursuit, and one was captured alive by Zabuza.
The Hidden Mist Village did not obtain any information from the captives, but according to Ninja World law, 'If you see an unknown forbidden jutsu, it must have been invented by the Second Hokage. If you don't know who committed a bad deed, it must have been Danzo Shimura.' They believed these nameless Ninja must have come from Konoha Village's Root.
The Mizukage immediately sent a letter to Konoha Village, requesting the two great Ninja Villages to jointly investigate Ao's cause of death.
Danzo didn't know whether he should cry foul or what to do.
According to Aburame Torune and the other two Root Ninja, Ao's eye was taken by Deidara, who used Clay Bombs.
Could he say this? Say that Deidara stole Ao's Byakugan?
Jiraiya would definitely ask, 'How do you know?' Would he say his Root Ninja just happened to be passing by?
No fool would believe that!
Danzo was furious. 'Damn Akatsuki Organization, daring to make me take the blame! I will definitely not let you off!''
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