"Danzo, show some respect when you speak!"
A cold glint flashed in Tobirama's eyes.
Insulting him was one thing—but insulting Hashirama?
Danzo must've been begging for death.
"Respect? Tch. How the hell am I supposed to respect him?" Danzo sneered. "He was a damn idiot, and I'm not supposed to say it? Screw it—I'll never be Hokage anyway. If I don't vent now, I'll explode."
Hashirama: "…"
"You don't like it? Then too bad."
"If Konoha had just taken over the shinobi world when it had the chance, none of this would've happened."
"You were smiling when you handed out tailed beasts like party favors!"
"Do you even realize what happened after you died? The great nations went straight to war. Thousands of Leaf shinobi died. Countless families destroyed—all because of you and that brain-dead decision!"
"How the hell did someone like you become Hokage? If it weren't for your power and Tobirama backing you, Konoha would've been ashes. You absolute trash."
Hashirama: "…"
"Danzo, that's enough!" Uchiha Fugaku stepped forward. Now that Kushina had fully restrained the Nine-Tails, he dispersed his Susano'o and rubbed his sore eyes, trying not to laugh despite his reddening face.
They were trained Uchiha. No matter how ridiculous the situation, they will not laugh.
"We'll agree to whatever you want—but let Lord Third go."
"What I wanted… was the Hokage seat." Danzo's voice was quiet—too quiet.
"But now? I want nothing."
"I'm going to destroy Konoha. Burn the shinobi world to the ground."
"You tried to wipe out the Shimura clan, Hiruzen? Fine. Eye for an eye. I'll wipe out your bloodline."
"Don't worry. I won't let you die quickly. You'll live long enough to watch your loved ones die—one by one." Danzo's eyes gleamed with manic hatred.
"Danzo, please… it's not too late to stop this," Hiruzen rasped.
"Stop? Hah! You ruined my future, I'll destroy your heaven.
You wanted me to live in misery? Then I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life drowning in guilt and despair."
"Danzo!" Tobirama's voice snapped like a whip. "One more move and I'll kill you myself. You've crossed the line. You've disgraced your teacher and your village."
If I weren't in an Edo body, I'd cut you down myself!
"Spare me, old man," Danzo scoffed. "You're a relic. You've got no business butting in. Honestly, I could wipe the floor with a hundred of you right now."
"And kill me? With just you? Don't make me laugh. You can't even handle White Zetsu right now—how the hell are you going to stop me?"
Tobirama rolled up his sleeves, his temper boiling.
This bastard really thinks I can't kill him just because I'm reanimated?
"Oh? You wanna go, old man?"
Danzo raised his hand—coated in wind-natured chakra—and struck.
CRACK!
Hiruzen's left arm and leg were severed instantly.
Blood sprayed across White Zetsu.
"AAAHHH!"
Hiruzen screamed, eyes bulging, body wracked with pain.
Itachi's hand trembled around the hilt of his blade, his eyes bloodshot.
"Danzo! Stop! Whatever you want—we'll do it! Just don't kill Lord Third!"
"Danzo, you bastard!" Tobirama's killing intent surged.
He cut off his limbs in public?! Enough!
Just as Tobirama was about to charge, Hashirama grabbed him.
"Stop, Tobirama! Stop! He still has Hiruzen!"
Tobirama seethed, glaring at Danzo with unfiltered hatred.
How blind had I been… to take this ungrateful monster as my student?
"Oh? Still got the nerve to glare at me, old man?" Danzo sneered.
"This is your fault too. See? Even your beloved Second Hokage wants you dead."
He brought his blade down again.
SLICE!
Hiruzen's right arm and leg were cut off in a single blow.
"DANZO!" Tobirama roared.
"One more word and I'll slit his throat," Danzo said, pressing his hand to Hiruzen's neck.
"You…" Tobirama growled.
"You win," Hashirama spat through clenched teeth. "What do you want?"
Danzo had them trapped—and he knew it.
People like him didn't fear force. They thrived on chaos. If you pushed them, they broke you.
They weren't to be reasoned with—they had to be ended in one clean stroke. If not, they'd haunt you for life.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Itachi's Sharingan flared—three tomoe spinning into a Mangekyō pattern.
The killing intent radiating from him stunned the entire plaza.
"He awakened the Mangekyō?!" Hashirama and Tobirama gasped.
Fugaku: "…"
Damn, that kid's acting is too good.
"Cough… good, good… Itachi, I knew I wasn't wrong about you."
Hiruzen smiled through the blood, eyes wet.
"My death awakened your eyes. That means it was worth it. Cough!"
"Master Lu was right…" he laughed weakly.
"Every man must die—some deaths carry the weight of a mountain, others are lighter than a feather."
"If I've committed unforgivable sins, then so be it. If my death helps you grow stronger, then it's a worthy end."
"HAHAHA—"
CRACK!
Danzo slapped him across the face, shattering his teeth.
"Shut the hell up! You're not fooling anyone!"
"Have you people finished your clown show yet?!"
A random villager stormed in, shouting through tears.
"If you have time to argue, why not be like the Uchiha—saving people?!"
"We're still suffering! And you—you are the cause of all this!"
He pointed at the high-ranking shinobi, sobbing with rage.
"Living in this village is an embarrassment!"
"Danzo, look what you've done! All for the Hokage seat!"
"You think this is a game?!"
"I finally understand what Master Lu meant—'Human sorrow is never shared.'"
"And you, Sarutobi Hiruzen… so many people have died today, and you still had the nerve to laugh!"
"If you were a real man, you'd have taken your own life the moment things fell apart!"
"Konoha doesn't need trash like you!"
Hiruzen's bloody smile froze.
He looked down at himself—at the wreckage around him.
He had smiled. In the middle of all this… he had smiled.
Ashamed, broken, Hiruzen's will collapsed.
He wanted to die.
Just as he prepared to bite through his tongue—
Danzo grabbed him by the throat.
"Die? Don't even think about it."
"There's more despair waiting for you."
"Don't worry—your reputation will burn, your legacy will shatter…
And you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, will live long enough to bury your own children."
"HAHAHA!"
Bury his own children?
Hiruzen looked toward the charred remains where his son and daughter-in-law had once stood—and wept.
"I heard," Danzo whispered in his ear, "that you sent Asuma to the Land of Fire… to join the Twelve Guardian Ninja?"
That vile, slithering voice made Hiruzen's blood run cold.
His eyes widened in horror.
He… he means to kill Asuma too?!
He doesn't just want to destroy me—he wants to break my soul!
"Danzo!" Hiruzen roared.
"What? Don't worry. I'll take good care of little Konohamaru too."
Danzo smirked as he stared into Hiruzen's bloodshot, furious eyes.
Blood gushed from Hiruzen's mouth.
He fainted on the spot.
"What a joke. You're weak. Pathetic."
Danzo tossed him aside like garbage.
"Losing a few people and you pass out? This is the man who became Hokage?"
Whoosh!
Itachi appeared in a flash and caught him midair.
"MEDICAL UNIT!" he bellowed.
"I don't care what it takes—save the Third Hokage!"
White-robed medical-nin rushed in with stretchers, beginning emergency treatment and prepping for hospital transport.
"His hands—his legs!" Kakashi lunged to retrieve Hiruzen's severed limbs—
But Danzo unleashed a Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, shredding them into bloody fragments.
"DANZO!"
Hashirama and Tobirama screamed in unison.
"What, you'll miss me?" Danzo scoffed.
"Don't worry—I'll be back."
He turned to Hashirama.
"As for you? Enjoy the disaster you created."
"Take a good look at the consequences of your idiocy."
"See what your little 'One Country, One Village' dream and your tailed beast distribution really cost the shinobi world."
"Disgraceful!"
Poof.
Danzo vanished—and reappeared beside Yin Kurama.
"Leaving already?" Itachi's voice rang out cold and sharp.
"Soulbind Command!"
"Underworld Prison: Eighteen Hells!"
A chilling, green-blue spectral barrier surged up around Danzo and the Nine-Tails.
"Danzo—face the judgment of the dead!"
In the eerie light, the corpses of ANBU, Root, and fallen villagers began to rise.
Skeletal spirits emerged from their bodies—howling, snarling, and dragging themselves toward the barrier.
Yin Kurama stirred.
It awoke just as the first spirits reached it—wailing souls of the wronged.
Pinned by Kushina's sealing chains, it couldn't move.
It could only watch as the spirits tore into its flesh and chakra.
Screams rang out—blood-curdling, soul-rending.
And then… silence.
Only emptiness remained.
The crowd stood frozen, chilled to the bone.
Was that really the Nine-Tails… just now?
Is this… Uchiha Itachi's dojutsu?
Terrifying.