The Sharingan embedded in Danzo's arm snapped completely shut.
After using Izanagi, the massive chakra drain left Danzo gasping for breath. He was getting old—no amount of Hashirama cells could offset that.
"How… could this be…"
An odd sensation coursed through his arm. Alarmed, he clutched at it, but without the Sharingan to control it, he was powerless.
The muscles on his arm began to swell grotesquely, as though something was trying to burst out from within. Suddenly, a violent transformation occurred—his arm exploded, and a massive tree sprouted forth, beginning to devour Danzo as its host.
"Oh? The Hashirama cells are rebelling now?"
That arm had relied on the balance between the Sharingan and Hashirama cells. But now that the Sharingan had closed and become unusable, the balance was broken. The Hashirama cells had taken dominance.
Not just anyone could suppress Hashirama cells. Now, they had begun consuming Danzo from within.
"Aaaaaaghhhh!"
With a scream of agony, Danzo did what one would expect from a veteran who had survived the First Great Ninja War—he acted without hesitation.
He severed his own arm to save his life, snapping it off with brutal force and stumbling backward. His shoulder had already turned to wood, pale and unnatural.
He panted heavily. That was far too close. He had nearly died.
Kiyosuke approached slowly, spear in hand.
"You've got one life left."
"No—you can't kill me!"
Danzo roared, turning to flee.
But with so much chakra already drained, he didn't have the strength to run. His pace was more of a shuffle, like a young man out for a stroll. It was pitiful—Kiyosuke couldn't even bear to look.
The final, desperate struggle of the shadow of the shinobi.
"Then allow me to end your life."
A spear shot forward, piercing straight through Danzo's skull.
"That's the end."
"Not yet!"
Just as Kiyosuke thought it was over, Danzo suddenly appeared behind him, wrapping an arm around Kiyosuke's neck in a chokehold.
"I'll fight like a Hokage to the bitter end! People like you—I'll drag you down to hell with me!"
The sealing marks began to spread across Kiyosuke's body.
Maybe due to chakra exhaustion, the technique's activation lagged just enough for Kiyosuke to speak.
He didn't panic. In fact, he said calmly,
"Used your right eye, did you? That was quick thinking."
He glanced upward. The Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Formula floated in the air above.
"Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, huh? I know that one too. But you know what? I'm just a shadow clone."
With a poof, he vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Danzo stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the empty space before him.
Then, he let out a furious, unwilling howl.
"Kiyosuke Asakawa!!!"
A black liquid, thick as ink, erupted from his body, coalescing into a semi-transparent dark sphere, which collapsed in on Danzo at its center.
And with that, the leader of the Root, the "Shadow" of Konoha, ended his life.
The Reverse Four Symbols Sealing technique he'd kept in reserve had ended up sealing absolutely nothing.
...
At the center of the stadium, Kiyosuke's true body received the memory feedback from the clone and fell silent.
Unbelievable. That Danzo would try to take him down with a suicide technique at the last moment. How tedious.
Still, his death wasn't a bad thing. At least it wasn't bad for Konoha.
But... things were about to begin, weren't they?
He glanced down at the battle unfolding below.
It was a fight between Sasuke, newly returned from training, and Gaara.
Now that Sasuke had mastered Chidori, his combat strength had soared. He'd pierced straight through Gaara's absolute defense, injuring him badly.
Protected by sand since childhood, Gaara had never suffered real wounds. The sudden, sharp pain made him scream.
On the platform, Hanzō of the Salamander let out a snort.
Behind him, his guards sprang into action, seizing Sarutobi Hiruzen and leaping to the rooftop.
"What's going on?! Let go of the Hokage-sama!"
The Hokage's bodyguards immediately rushed to intervene—only to be effortlessly knocked aside.
In the stands, an individual dressed in ANBU uniform activated a large-scale genjutsu.
White, phantom-like feathers drifted gently from the sky like a soft rain. The unsuspecting spectators, still unaware of what was happening, fell into a deep sleep.
Kakashi and the others quickly noticed and dispelled the genjutsu on themselves.
Hanzō stood up. His body launched downward with sudden force.
He landed in the arena, kicked Sasuke aside, knocked out the proctor, and reached into the sand, yanking Gaara out.
"For the sake of my grand plan—be sacrificed."
He knocked Gaara out with a single blow.
The Sunagakure instructor Baki stood frozen in shock.
The One-Tails' jinchūriki never sleeps. If he ever loses consciousness, Shukaku immediately takes the opportunity to seize control.
And now that Gaara was knocked out...
"Gaara!"
Gaara lay unconscious.
Then, in the very next second, his eyes snapped open.
His pupils now looked like golden coins.
He let out a wild cry.
"Yes! I'm finally free—ahahahah!!"
Sand burst upward, slowly forming the massive body of the One-Tail, Shukaku.
Kiyosuke's expression darkened. This was bad.
He had thought Hanzō was actually Orochimaru in disguise.
But now it was clear—the real Orochimaru was disguised as one of Hanzō's guards.
So that meant Hanzō and Orochimaru were working together?
It turned out that this version of Hanzō hadn't yet been killed by Pain.
Well, no matter.
Now wasn't the time to think about that. The immediate priority was to wake Gaara up.
...
Leaping from the platform, Kiyosuke plunged into the arena.
Sand was swirling as it condensed into Shukaku's form. Gaara was at the core of it all.
Kiyosuke focused, pinpointed his location, and fired off a punch.
A blast of fire pierced through Shukaku's body, blowing a massive hole through the sand.
Kiyosuke dashed inside, clawing Gaara out of the scorching sand.
Immediately, the sand surged like a wave, trying to wrap around him and crush him alive.
"Fire Fist!"
Another blazing punch shattered the sand, and Kiyosuke dashed away with Gaara in tow.
He spat a mouthful of water onto Gaara's face.
Gaara suddenly jolted awake, clutching his head in agony.
"Get… out… of my head!"
His consciousness began struggling against Shukaku for control of his body.
Sunagakure's jōnin, Baki, arrived on the scene.
Kiyosuke handed Gaara over to him.
"Get him out of Konoha. If he stays here, it'll be hard to contain him. Once I finish off the enemies here, I'll help you suppress him."
"You have my deepest thanks!"
Sunagakure hadn't participated in this Konoha Collapse Plan. They had genuinely come to take part in the Chūnin Exams.
Gaara's berserk transformation had caught them completely off guard.
Baki nodded and quickly retreated with Gaara.
...
Hanzō, wearing his signature respirator, locked eyes with Kiyosuke.
"So you're Asakawa Kiyosuke?"
"That's right. Didn't expect the great 'Demi-God' Hanzō to join an assault on Konoha in his twilight years. Aren't you worried about tarnishing your legacy?"
"A man like me has no legacy to protect. My whole life, I've sought ways for Amegakure to expand its influence. And now... I've found my chance."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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