Reality warped.
Danzo's disintegrating body vanished like a phantom, and a second later, he materialized completely unharmed thirty yards away, already sprinting toward the treeline. One of the Sharingan implanted in his right arm permanently closed, losing its light.
System Explanation: Izanagi. A forbidden Uchiha genjutsu applied to the user's own reality. It bridges the gap between illusion and reality, allowing the user to negate their own death or fatal injuries at the cost of permanently blinding the Sharingan used to cast it.
"Intercept him!" Danzo roared to his remaining elite guards.
Fu Yamanaka and Torune Aburame instantly engaged.
"Ninja Art: Poison Dust!" Torune exhaled a massive cloud of microscopic, venomous nano-insects designed to destroy cells upon contact.
"Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu!" Fu simultaneously launched his mental chakra, attempting to forcefully hijack Jin's nervous system and paralyze him.
Jin did not slow down. He analyzed the dual-threat instantly. Dodging the microscopic insect cloud would waste time, and engaging in a mental tug-of-war with a Yamanaka would leave him vulnerable. Efficiency was required.
His right Mangekyo spun. "Susanoo-no-Mikoto."
System Explanation: Jin's unique Mangekyo ability. A targeted, instantaneous optical attack that forces the physical breakdown of matter within his line of sight.
Fu and Torune didn't even have time to scream. Their bodies instantly broke apart into ash, their techniques dissipating into the wind.
Without breaking stride, Jin closed the distance to Danzo.
Ten seconds later, Jin caught him. He activated his ocular jutsu again. Danzo crumbled to ash.
Jin stopped running, crossed his arms, and waited.
A moment later, reality shifted again. Danzo materialized to Jin's right, immediately weaving hand signs. "Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
A massive, compressed bullet of wind shot toward Jin. Jin casually sidestepped the lethal projectile, locked eyes with Danzo, and activated his Mangekyo once more.
Danzo died again.
Jin blinked, feeling a sharp sting in his optical nerves. His vision blurred slightly at the edges.
Jin's Internal Monologue: The chakra toll of repeated Mangekyo usage is severe. I need to conclude this. I could easily sever his arm to prevent Izanagi, but permanently killing Danzo right now is politically detrimental to the Uchiha. Danzo is a paranoid, tyrannical extremist. If he lives, he will inevitably escalate his oppressive tactics against the other noble clans out of fear. He is the perfect bogeyman. I need him alive to push the other clans into an alliance with the Uchiha. I am simply here to deplete his stolen Sharingan inventory and stall for time.
For the next three minutes, the forest became a repetitive slaughterhouse. Danzo ran, Jin killed him, and Izanagi resurrected him.
Finally, the barrage stopped. Danzo stood panting, his chakra reserves dangerously low. Every stolen Sharingan on his right arm was now closed and blind. He had only one Mangekyo Sharingan left—the one belonging to Kagami Uchiha, hidden beneath the bandages on his right eye. He could not afford to sacrifice it.
"Enough, Jin!" Danzo gasped, raising a hand in surrender. "We can negotiate. Whatever you want, I can provide. Let us make a trade."
Danzo was cornered. Jin's optical jutsu was completely unblockable, and running was a mathematical impossibility. Negotiation was his only survival vector.
Jin relaxed his stance, secretly relieved. He had pushed Danzo to the absolute brink without accidentally killing his most useful political pawn.
"A trade? Acceptable," Jin stated firmly, wasting no time. "I want four specific assets. The Reaper Death Seal formula. The Flying Thunder God jutsu formula. Hashirama Senju's cultivated cells along with the complete research data. And the Edo Tensei (Reanimation) jutsu formula."
Danzo's single visible eye widened in absolute horror.
Danzo's Internal Monologue: How does he know about those? The Reaper Death Seal and Flying Thunder God are classified S-rank secrets. The Hashirama cell research and Edo Tensei are black-ops projects even the Hokage doesn't fully know I possess. There is a high-level spy in Root.
"Give them to me, and you live," Jin demanded, his voice slicing through Danzo's panic.
"When I return to headquarters, I will have them compiled—"
"Do not insult my intelligence, Danzo," Jin interrupted coldly. "A paranoid man does not leave his most vital secrets unguarded in a filing cabinet. You carry your absolute core assets on your person. Hand over the storage scroll. Now."
Danzo's face twisted in humiliated fury. He realized he could not stall or deceive the man standing before him. Gritting his teeth, Danzo bit his thumb, wiped the blood on his left palm, and slammed it against his right forearm.
With a puff of smoke, a highly complex, encrypted storage scroll appeared. Danzo unrolled it, unsealed the requested documents and the stasis-sealed vials of Hashirama cells, and tossed them to Jin.
Jin caught the items, his Sharingan quickly verifying the chakra signatures and contents. Everything was authentic.
"A pleasure doing business," Jin said, sealing the items into his own vest. He turned his back on Danzo, preparing to leave.
Danzo stared at him, utterly bewildered. "You are leaving? What about your parents?"
Jin paused and looked back over his shoulder, a mocking smirk playing on his lips. "My parents? Oh, you mean the bait you kept at your headquarters?"
Jin chuckled. "I appreciate your hospitality, Danzo, but there's no need. While you brought your entire army out here to die in the forest, Elder Yashiro and an elite Uchiha strike force breached your undefended Root base. By now, my parents are already having tea back at the Uchiha compound."
"Farewell."
Jin vanished using the Body Flicker technique, leaving Danzo standing alone in the ruined forest.
Danzo froze. The realization hit him with the force of a physical blow.
Danzo's Internal Monologue: He never intended to fight a war here. He willingly walked into a guaranteed death trap purely to draw me and my forces out. It was a tactical diversion. My headquarters... all my remaining research, my unsealed artifacts, my infrastructure... it was left completely exposed.
"No..." Danzo whispered, his face draining of color. "Those Uchiha bastards... I will kill them all! Ah!"
Pure, unadulterated panic seized him. Danzo activated his fastest movement jutsu, tearing through the forest toward the village underground.
When he finally arrived at the hidden entrance to Root Headquarters, his worst fears were realized.
A massive pillar of fire roared into the night sky, consuming the underground facility. Dozens of Anbu operatives had formed a perimeter around the blazing crater. Standing at the front of the formation, his face illuminated by the flames of decades of destroyed black-ops infrastructure, was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Root... my life's work..." Danzo choked out. "Everything is gone."
The sheer psychological trauma, combined with his depleted chakra and severe physical exhaustion, overwhelmed his nervous system. Danzo coughed up a violent spray of blood, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed unconscious into the dirt.