"Danzo... y-you're not dead?" Chiriku stared in disbelief, his expression frozen with shock.
The ultimate Lightning Release jutsu—Lightning Dream Lightning People—had enough power to instantly reduce an entire village to ash.
And yet Danzo was not only alive, but completely unscathed.
Chiriku couldn't believe his eyes.
"Sorry to disappoint. Not only am I alive—I'm perfectly fine," Danzo said coldly. "And I don't have time to waste explaining it to you."
"I'll give you one more chance. Option one: you join me in taking down Hiruzen Sarutobi, destroy Konoha, support the Daimyō in unifying military and political power, and help bring lasting order to the shinobi world."
"Option two: you're labeled a traitor guilty of attempted regicide. You and your entire clan will be remembered as criminals, disgraced for generations—perhaps even wiped out completely."
"Your choice."
Chiriku gritted his teeth. "...I choose the first."
Under the eaves, one must bow their head. As long as he was alive, there was still hope.
He was only pretending to submit—for now. Once they left the Land of Fire and entered Konoha, he'd have time to escape... and strike back.
With allies inside the village ready to coordinate, Danzo would be dead before he even knew what hit him.
"Hmph. Don't think I can't read you like a book. That quick agreement? Too clean. Clearly, you're planning something." Danzo sneered, then slapped his palm onto Chiriku's body.
A set of chakra seals flared to life across Chiriku's limbs.
Chiriku shuddered violently, the sensation of his own strength vanishing in an instant. He collapsed to the ground, completely paralyzed.
"Y-You—!"
"'You' what?" Danzo snapped. He slipped on his gloves, grabbed Chiriku's jaw mid-protest, and yanked it open. Then, pulling out a sealing pen, he began to inscribe a jutsu onto Chiriku's tongue.
A sealing formula glowed to life.
"Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal!"
"From now on, if you so much as whisper a word about me or the Daimyō, your entire nervous system will shut down. You won't be able to move, speak, or think. And if someone tries to extract information by force—boom."
"Your brain will burst like a melon. Paint the walls red and white. Got it?"
Danzo smiled coldly, savoring Chiriku's horrified expression.
Chiriku was pale as a corpse. He hadn't expected Danzo to be this calculating, this precise. All of his contingency plans—worthless now.
"Kitane. Chiriku has surrendered. What about you?" Danzo asked as Kazuma dragged Kitane toward him.
Kitane glanced at Chiriku. He didn't know why his comrade had suddenly surrendered... but he trusted him. Maybe there was still a plan, some hidden ace up their sleeve.
"I... I surrender too," he said.
"Excellent." Danzo nodded. "A wise man knows when to bend. Shame you didn't realize it sooner—would've saved a lot of lives."
Danzo sighed dramatically, giving an insincere shake of his head, crocodile tears glistening in his eyes.
Then he repeated the sealing process, placing the same restrictions on Kitane—completely neutralizing him.
"And now... one last step."
Danzo reached up and removed his hood, grabbing the heads of both Chiriku and Kitane and forcing them to look directly into his right eye.
The crimson glow of his Sharingan spun into view.
Eye contact confirmed—targets acquired.
A moment later, both men fell under his genjutsu. Danzo, satisfied, turned and walked calmly to the Daimyō's side.
"My Lord. Mission accomplished. The rebel members of the Twelve Guardian Ninja are now fully under my control."
The Daimyō: "…"
The Twelve Guardian Ninja had originally consisted of eleven members, with plans to recruit one more to complete the roster.
And then Sarutobi Asuma had shown up.
After one disaster after another, the elite squad had gone from eleven members to three.
Two of those three were now forcibly restrained and brainwashed—traitors-in-waiting.
The Daimyō felt a wave of despair.
When the hell did 11 + 1 suddenly equal 3?
He was starting to question reality.
"…You've done well," the Daimyō muttered bitterly.
Danzo waved it off. "There's no need for praise. Everything I do is for the Land of Fire."
"My lord Daimyō," he continued, with mock reverence, "when the old leaves fall, the new ones grow. If men die, more can be recruited."
"But if we miss this opportunity… it's gone forever."
Danzo gave the Daimyō an encouraging look, then added, "I assume your spies in Konoha have already informed you about the power struggle between me and Sarutobi?"
"Mm. I've heard rumors," the Daimyō replied. "I didn't know the outcome. But judging by your current condition... it seems you lost. I suppose that's why you came to me now?"
"You guessed right," Danzo growled. "He was a step ahead. That dog Hiruzen—cunning and underhanded. A coward who can't win fairly."
The Daimyō: "…"
Just admit you were outplayed. Is that so hard?
Danzo's stubbornness was pathetic. After being crushed by Hiruzen for decades, he still called it "one wrong move."
Give me a break. Even a peanut has more self-awareness than this.
"And after that?" the Daimyō asked.
"I made sure he paid for it," Danzo spat. "I cut off both his arms and legs."
The Daimyō: "…"
"…Is that true?" the Daimyō asked suspiciously.
"Hmph. I, Danzo, am an honest man. Righteous in word and deed. I have no reason to lie."
Danzo scoffed, then added angrily, "If not for the Uchiha, the Hyūga, the Inuzuka, and the Aburame clans backing him, I'd be Hokage already!"
—Meanwhile, after the battle had ended—
Uchiha Itachi's clone, concerned that Izumi Uchiha hadn't returned, decided to head toward the Land of Fire to investigate.
On the way, he spotted someone acting suspiciously—slipping a message into a carrier pigeon.
Itachi instantly recognized him.
The man had lived in Konoha for over twenty years. Which meant… he was a deep-cover spy placed in the village from childhood.
As a natural enemy of evil, Itachi didn't hesitate. A physical beatdown followed by a genjutsu lesson in morality.
The spy broke down, sobbing uncontrollably, overwhelmed with guilt toward Konoha, the world, and his own conscience. He revealed everything—things he should and shouldn't have said alike.
Then, unable to face himself, he took his own life in shame—to atone for his betrayal.
Itachi sighed. Thankfully, though the spy had discovered critical information—including Fugaku Uchiha's Mangekyō, and the forbidden reincarnations of the First, Second, Fourth Hokage, and Kushina—he hadn't had time to transmit it.
A small blessing in a larger disaster.
With a Fire Release: Cremation Jutsu, Itachi incinerated the body, leaving no trace behind.
Afterward, he contacted Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Kagami, launching a village-wide purge.
Anyone entering or leaving Konoha was stopped and detained.
Those who resisted were executed on the spot.
Under Shisui and Kagami's swift action, every spy from every nation hiding in Konoha was captured.
Then, under the influence of Uchiha Itachi's genjutsu, the spies wept tears of regret, betrayed their comrades and ancestors, and confessed everything—eager to sever all ties with their former masters.
Finally, following the leads, Itachi eradicated all enemy safe houses in Konoha—leaving no survivors, no hidden networks, no mercy.
Even the secret orders from Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio to recall Jiraiya and Tsunade were intercepted and blocked.