Danzo stared at the kunai broken in two in his hand, momentarily unable to determine whether his opponent's skin was too tough or the kunai was simply defective.
But Naruto gave him no time to ponder this further.
The Self-Cursing Seal's binding duration was naturally limited. It was designed to instantly freeze an opponent's movement during combat, but against exceptionally powerful foes, the effect would weaken even more rapidly.
For Naruto, both physical restraint and chakra sealing happened to be his greatest strengths.
With Danzo's weathered face so close beside him, Naruto felt a primal urge welling up from within—an impulse to deliver a devastating blow.
The previous method of using pure Haki with taijutsu seemed unable to deal with the opponent, so this time he'd try something different.
Naruto's palm slightly opened, and a Rasengan almost instantly appeared in his hand.
"Take this!"
The compressed chakra immediately struck Danzo, spinning him like a propeller and embedding him into the wall of the Hokage Building.
It had to be said, the Hokage Building was indeed of excellent quality. Even after being punched with several holes, it didn't shake at all.
This time, Naruto used his Observation Haki to firmly "watch" the opponent, seeming to want to see clearly how Danzo recovered.
Just as Danzo's one-minute invincibility time ended, this hit forced him to continue consuming a Sharingan to "renew" the effect of Izanagi.
At the same time, one of the disturbing eyes on his arm closed.
Excluding the eyeball from Shisui that he had transplanted into his eye socket, he now only had four Sharingan left for use.
The scene of the Sharingan closing was also seen by Naruto.
In fact, it was very difficult for him to ignore that mentally polluting arm. The moment he saw the opponent's arm, Naruto immediately thought of Sasuke's eyes.
Then he recalled the situation of the Uchiha clan's extermination.
It seemed this old thing had played some disgraceful role in it. At least those Sharingan couldn't have been "voluntarily" transplanted to him by the Uchiha clan.
On the other side, Jiraiya remained cautious as he watched Orochimaru, guarding against any sudden attacks.
But unexpectedly, after being told by Naruto to "wait to be dealt with later," Orochimaru actually stood still obediently.
He looked at Naruto with interest, his eyes flickering with greedy light.
This power.
A formidable power he'd never seen before, without any chakra presence, as if it was an essence "extracted" from life force itself.
Could it be related to tailed beasts?
If only he could obtain some of Naruto's body tissue.
Compared to killing the Third Hokage and causing Konoha's collapse, Orochimaru's pursuit of immortality clearly had higher priority.
The view returned to the battlefield.
Under Naruto's gaze, Danzo, who had just been beaten into the wall with his head completely flattened, dispersed like a phantom, then reappeared intact on the other side.
"Damn fox demon brat..."
Before his words finished, Naruto's figure had already appeared in front of him, throwing another punch.
But this time, Danzo completely ignored his attack.
The same feeling again.
Like hitting a phantom.
It wasn't that his strength was insufficient, but that his attack and Danzo seemed to be "separated" by some kind of rule.
When Naruto's fist hit Danzo, Danzo's form would be affected, but would quickly return to its original position like a phantom.
It seemed any attack against him was ineffective.
"Ha! Fool! Don't you understand? I am invincible!"
Hearing this, Naruto said nothing, just continued punching.
Danzo watched as each of Naruto's punches and kicks had extremely powerful destructive force. Every time Izanagi "rewrote" these unfavorable realities into dreams, Naruto's fist would strike again in the first moment.
Although he wouldn't be injured, he also couldn't strike back.
This wasn't a solution if it continued.
This fox demon brat had no flaws at all. Ridiculously stable.
Thinking this, Danzo decided to use words to shake Naruto's mentality. He opened his mouth and laughed loudly.
"Hahaha, how ridiculous."
"A brat that no one cares about like you, would you actually fight for this village, for that Hokage who deceived you?"
After saying this, Danzo observed Naruto's expression change.
Unfortunately, it seemed to have no effect.
"Naruto Uzumaki... no, I should call you Naruto Namikaze!"
"Didn't Hiruzen tell you? Your father was the famous Fourth Hokage!"
"Think about it, what did you get despite being a hero's son?"
This was already Danzo revealing his cards. Such secrets would never have been disclosed by him before.
But there was no better option now.
However, Danzo didn't notice that when he said these words, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood not far behind him, with a constipated expression as if wanting to speak but stopping himself.
Hm?
Even this is useless?
Seeing that Naruto's breathing rhythm hadn't even changed, and his punches remained impenetrable, Danzo knew that once Izanagi's invincibility effect was interrupted, he would definitely be struck down again. A trace of despair inevitably appeared in his heart.
No!
I am Konoha's root! I am Konoha's future!
I can't die here like this!
Danzo's eyes changed. He decided to break the jar completely and bring out the real secrets as weapons to attack Naruto's spirit.
As long as Naruto showed a moment's flaw, he would immediately flee.
"Hmph, pathetic brat! Do you want to know the truth about Minato Namikaze's death?"
"He could have been saved that day!"
"It was Hiruzen who ordered the protection of the villagers."
"It was I!"
"I personally ordered the support troops to stand down, delaying the rescue time."
"Hahaha, that's right! Your miserable fate all these years stemmed from me and Hiruzen!"
This time, his words clearly had a considerable effect.
For the first time, a different expression appeared on Naruto's face.
His eyes suddenly became as deep as stagnant water, his lips pressed tightly together, and veins were already throbbing at his temples.
Like a volcano about to erupt, it gave everyone who saw it a suffocating sense of oppression.
But whether it was Jiraiya or Hiruzen Sarutobi, seeing this expression on that face, they all felt an ominous premonition.
"Yes! That's the unwillingness! That pain! Do you know? The pain I'm suffering now isn't even one percent of what your mother felt when she was pierced by the Nine-Tails!"
Thinking his verbal attacks were effective, Danzo continued his wild talk, completely unaware that he was dancing in a minefield.
Suddenly, an ominous chakra enveloped Naruto's entire body, and everything in the outside world seemed to freeze.
Naruto felt his vision blur, and the surrounding environment completely changed.
Drip.
That was the sound of water drops falling from the ceiling to the ground.
He found himself somehow standing in front of a massive prison gate that was sealed shut.
The big fox he had seen in his "dream" before was staring at him somewhat blankly.
After all this time, Naruto had naturally realized that this big fox was the source of all the misfortune he had experienced. The Nine-Tails.
And facing him, Kurama, bound by the Adamantine Sealing Chains, was also stunned.
Wait... where did this kid come from? How did I not notice at all?
[Chapter Complete]
***
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