Barely managing to restrain Susanoo with the wooden dragon, Uchiha Shinsuke watched the raging Danzo and sensed something wasn't right.
No seasoned shinobi—especially not one like Danzo—would show their emotions so openly in battle. Yet throughout the fight, Danzo's reactions had been exaggerated, his emotions fluctuating wildly. He laughed maniacally one moment, then brooded in silence the next. It felt unnatural. Sloppy. Forced.
"Hmph… Looks like he's being affected by the Sharingan's power," Shinsuke muttered with a sneer. "Pathetic."
He poured more chakra into the jutsu, strengthening the wooden dragon's grip.
"Bastard!"
Unable to break free, Danzo leapt from Susanoo's shoulder, weaved hand signs rapidly, and roared, "Wind Style: Vacuum Pressure Cannon!"
A dense vortex of compressed wind howled toward Shinsuke.
But just before impact, a translucent crimson barrier erupted around Shinsuke, stopping the blast in its tracks.
"Four Violet Flames Formation!" shouted Uchiha Fugaku.
Three more barriers rose from the other directions, sealing off the area and encasing Danzo's Susanoo within a glowing, burning prism.
Seeing their patriarch return and take control, Shinsuke exhaled with relief. "Careful, Patriarch. The flame on Danzo's blade—it burns chakra. It even devours jutsu."
Fugaku's brows furrowed. "If that's true, our barrier won't hold for long."
As if on cue, Danzo returned to Susanoo's cockpit, fought against the restraining vines, and swung his massive blade toward the barrier walls.
Boom!
The slash struck the formation, black fire creeping across its surface—but the barrier didn't break. It held strong. Still, the spreading flames made one thing clear: it wouldn't last forever.
"Hahahaha! You insects think this can stop me?!" Danzo cackled, spinning the giant blade. In an instant, trees and branches within thirty meters snapped like twigs, and anything they touched ignited with black fire.
The Uchiha Jonin retreated in haste, wary of the growing blaze.
"This can't be…" Fugaku narrowed his eyes. "Is that Amaterasu?"
As clan leader, he had access to far more classified knowledge about the Uchiha than most. Based on Shinsuke's earlier descriptions, he suspected that Danzo's Mangekyō Sharingan might house Amaterasu.
But the fire was too fast. Too aggressive. Amaterasu didn't spread like this.
"No," Shinsuke said. "It's not the flames—it's the sword. That blade is infused with his pupil technique."
"If it really were Amaterasu, he wouldn't need to swing his sword at all. He could have ignited the wooden dragon directly with his gaze."
"…Makes sense," Fugaku nodded. Then, staring at Danzo's wildly laughing Susanoo, he added, "We just need to hold him off a little longer. Shisui and Jiraiya are on their way."
"Understood!"
The Uchiha forces shifted tactics. Instead of attacking, they focused on delaying, moving with precision to distract and stall.
Danzo snarled. "Flies… buzzing around...!"
Just as he raised his sword to strike, a sharp pain stabbed through his eyes. Blood tears streamed down his face.
"What…?!"
Shinsuke spotted it instantly. "Idiot. Burn through your Mangekyō like that, and you pay the price."
Even after transplanting cells from the First Hokage, Danzo only had one Mangekyō Sharingan. Activating Susanoo with one eye alone was something even a genjutsu prodigy like Shisui could barely manage.
Danzo's body staggered. The pain dulled his fury. Instead of attacking, he turned east—toward the coastline.
He knew he couldn't last much longer. The mainland was under Konoha and Akatsuki control. Only Kirigakure—isolated and distant across the sea—held the possibility of survival.
If nothing else, he could sow chaos there. Maybe even flush out Madara and his hidden allies.
But the Uchiha weren't about to let him go so easily.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
"Uchiha Flame Formation!"
Flames roared up the coastline. A massive wall of fire surged into Danzo's path.
He could have tried to circle around—but that delay would allow Fugaku and the others to catch up and restrain him again.
"No!" Danzo roared, blood pouring from his eyes. "Out of my way!"
His blade erupted in black fire again. With one strike, he obliterated the flame barrier. The fire wall collapsed into ash, devoured by his sword's unnatural blaze.
CRACK!
With a screeching snap, the barrier shattered like glass. The Jonin maintaining it coughed blood, overwhelmed by the recoil. Others quickly rushed in to help them retreat.
Danzo didn't stop. He raised his blade and slashed again.
Black fire erupted across the jungle, burning everything within tens of meters.
Fugaku called for a halt. "Don't charge through it. That fire… it's too dangerous. Even Water Style might feed it."
He glanced at the remaining Uchiha with him. "Leave the wounded. The rest, keep chasing!"
"Yes, sir!"
---
Danzo burst from the jungle, salty sea air rushing past him.
The ocean breeze numbed his senses and eased the burning in his eyes.
"Just a little further… If I can reach the sea, they won't find me."
He never intended to reach Kirigakure. Not really. That would only bring more attention, more danger.
No—he just needed time. To hide. To survive. He was still one of the strongest shinobi alive. A few years in the shadows, and he'd rise again.
But then—
"Yo, Danzo-sama. Been a while."
A familiar voice slithered into his ears.
Danzo froze.
That voice.
Orochimaru.
Even without turning around, he knew.
Why was Orochimaru here?
Panic overtook him. "You—you can't kill me! I'm useful! I know where Madara is! I can—"
His words caught in his throat.
Orochimaru had already materialized before him.
With a casual wave of his hand, he seized Danzo's body—and instantly, the illusion broke. A pale white corpse floated upward.
"A clone," Orochimaru muttered. "Tch. What a pity."
He turned his eyes on the real Danzo—now frozen in place by a sealing jutsu—and smiled.
"Whatever you knew… is now useless."
The White Zetsu network had likely already shared the intel. Madara, wherever he was, would've moved by now.
Danzo realized it too.
His eyes bulged. He tried to speak. To beg.
But Orochimaru didn't let him.
Whoosh.
Several shinobi emerged from the trees, landing on the shore.
Their eyes fell on Danzo's immobilized body… then shifted to the man standing beside him.
"Orochimaru-sama?" Fugaku was shocked. "Why are you here?"
Even if Danzo had defected, he hadn't expected Orochimaru himself to intervene.
"Just in time," Orochimaru said, turning to the sea.
Far in the distance, an island was slowly approaching. Thick clouds churned overhead, chasing after it like a storm.
The White Snake Sage had originally planned to land in the Land of Earth—but a massive tornado forced a course correction. Now, the island drifted toward the Land of Hot Water.
But it didn't matter. This whole area was sparsely populated. Easy to evacuate.
"You came to capture Danzo, didn't you?" Orochimaru asked with a smile.
"Take him back. And inform your people: a tsunami and earthquakes are coming. Move them inland."
"…Understood." Fugaku nodded slowly, though he clearly knew this wasn't just a natural disaster.
He glanced at Danzo's sealed body. The Third Hokage had ordered: life or death.
But returning Danzo alive would allow the village to investigate his crimes—and the truth behind his manipulation of the Uchiha.
Now, Orochimaru had handed him over, breathing.
Killing him now would complicate things.
Orochimaru noticed Fugaku's hesitation and asked calmly, "Is there a problem?"
Fugaku was about to respond when Shinsuke stepped forward.
"Orochimaru-sama," he said coldly. "The Hokage's order is life or death. If Madara comes to rescue him, we might not be able to stop it. We should carry out the execution now."
The excuse was flimsy. If help were coming, it would've arrived already.
But excuses didn't matter. Intent did.
Danzo, still frozen, turned his hateful gaze on Shinsuke—like a cornered beast.
"…I see," Orochimaru said, catching on immediately. "Even the Third Hokage has given up on you, Danzo."
Danzo—the shadow behind Konoha's peace—had been essential to its survival. Without him, Orochimaru mused, perhaps Konoha wouldn't have lasted through the wars.
But Danzo's methods had always been dark, his ambition unrelenting.
And now, even Hiruzen had cast him aside.
Orochimaru smiled coldly.
"There's no place for you in this world anymore."
He opened his palm. A black orb began to form.
"Your era… ended long ago."
_____________________
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