Danzo's pupils constricted. Uchiha Akainu's speed was too fast; the scorching heat from the approaching lava arm made Danzo's eyes sting, and his skin felt a burning sensation. A strong sulfuric odor assaulted his nostrils, intensifying the alarm in his heart and the feeling of impending death.
If he was touched... he would die!!!
Danzo completely disregarded any sense of composure; his backward dodge was quite clumsy. He practically rolled several times like a tumbleweed to avoid the attack. "Lord Danzo!!!" But a startled cry from a Root ninja made Danzo realize he hadn't completely dodged it.
"Hiss—"
A sharp pain in his left ear made Danzo suck in a cold breath. He felt like he smelled burnt meat. He quickly touched his left ear and found it was gone! Looking up in a hurry, he saw Uchiha Akainu had already broken free from the encirclement, pushing off the ground and leaping high into the air. His lava-flowing right arm suddenly began to visibly swell. It was as if a live volcano was building up terrifying power.
"Rookie, stand back."
The Anbu ninja responsible for monitoring the jinchuriki, seeing this scene, didn't care about anything else. He scooped up Naruto with the fastest speed he had ever moved in his life, trying to get away from this trouble spot.
Izumi's panicked eyes also immediately turned crimson. Sensing danger, she activated the Sharingan she had awakened at five years old due to the grief of seeing her father die at the hands of the Nine-Tailed Fox. And it was a Three-Tomoe Sharingan! (As shown in Itachi's True Story/Original TV series, it's a three-tomoe). The spinning tomoe rapidly drained her chakra, instantly making her face pale, but also unleashing unprecedented visual jutsu power. However, she used this power to dodge. Izumi trusted that Senior Akainu wouldn't tell her to stand back without a good reason. She chose to trust him!
Below, the two Root ninjas swiftly formed hand signs in unison.
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!" x2
Two powerful torrents of water surged upwards towards Uchiha Akainu.
"Lava Release: Great Eruption."
His right arm, which had swelled to be larger than his entire body, slammed downwards. The rolling lava, transformed from chakra, erupted at that moment like a volcanic explosion, forming an incredibly massive, monstrous lava fist that plummeted straight down!
—BOOM!!!
The fierce clash of Lava Release and Water Release kicked up intense, scorching steam. An incredibly pungent and toxic gas spread rapidly. Uchiha Akainu's "Lava Release", while very similar to Roshi of Iwagakure's "Lava Release" in its lava form, possessed a characteristic that Roshi's did not: the impactful force of a volcanic eruption!
Under the shocked gazes of the two Root ninjas, the colossal lava fist vaporized the Water Release and continued to press down!
"Protect Lord Danzo!"
—BOOM!!!
One Root ninja quickly pulled Danzo away to dodge, but the other Root ninja was half a step too slow. When the lava fist heavily impacted the ground, the splattering lava drenched half of his body.
"Aaaaaah!!!!" The Root ninja's agonizing scream drew everyone's attention. Half of his body looked as if it had been erased from existence. The parts of his body hit by the lava were actually on fire! A huge crater was also visible on the ground, as if a pool of steaming lava had appeared on the street!
"Is this... the 'Lava Release Demonic Beast - Uchiha Akainu,' the Uchiha clan's double Kekkei Genkai prodigy, whose name rose to prominence during the Third Great Ninja War, almost on par with Uchiha Shisui?" The Anbu ninja holding Naruto coughed, choked by the smell of sulfur. He was now drenched in cold sweat.
Fortunately... he had rationally chosen not to engage in a physical conflict with the other party from the very beginning. Otherwise... he wasn't sure if he would have escaped unscathed.
"U! CHI! HA! I! KE! I! ZU! MI!" Danzo's old face was so grim it looked like dark water could drip from it. One hand tightly gripped the bandages on his face, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
Danzo wasn't afraid of Uchiha Akainu; this naturally "evil" Uchiha brat was, in the end, just a novice who had recently entered the scene. Danzo was currently hesitating whether to reveal his trump card—the Sharingan—in front of such a large crowd.
Damn it... If only he had brought more Root guards today, he wouldn't have to hesitate.
Uchiha Akainu's body stood upon the lava, whose temperature was enough to vaporize flesh. He was completely unaffected by the lava's heat. Lava constantly dripped from his body, scorching shallow, smoking pits into the ground.
"Hmm?"
Far away in the Hokage Tower, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly keenly detected strange commotions outside. Just as he turned his head, a ninja pigeon flew in. Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze sharpened. He remembered clearly that the summoning animal of the Anbu ninja he sent to observe and protect Naruto was a ninja pigeon!
"Lord Hokage! Lord Hokage!" The ninja pigeon spoke in a sharp, human voice: "Bad news! Uchiha Akainu and Shimura Danzo are fighting! The jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, has also been caught in their conflict!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi abruptly stood up.
"Danzo!" His grave expression instantly turned ugly, and he gnashed his teeth, "Didn't I just tell him not to provoke that child, Akainu!" Knowing Danzo, this was likely a conflict Danzo had initiated! Danzo already harbored a strong animosity towards the Uchiha clan, and encountering the relatively active Uchiha Akainu... there was no telling what extreme actions Danzo might take.
However, when Hiruzen Sarutobi recalled Uchiha Akainu's absolute justice, his almost 100% case-solving rate, and eyes that seemed to see through everyone... he hesitated a little.
This... this isn't right!
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook off the strange thoughts in his mind. The most crucial thing now was to immediately go and stop the conflict. Otherwise, the range of Akainu's "Lava Release" Kekkei Genkai jutsu was no joke! He clearly remembered the child's terrifying performance during the Third Great Ninja War. That "Lava Release" with its volcanic eruption-like power... was definitely one of the most dangerous powers in the ninja world!
"Take me there!" Hiruzen Sarutobi first told the ninja pigeon, then suddenly called out, "Kakashi!"
Whoosh!
A figure instantly appeared before Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen Sarutobi commanded in a deep voice, "Immediately lead three Anbu squads and follow me to stop the conflict!"
"Yes, Lord Hokage," Kakashi nodded.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
—SPLAT!!! As the lava-flowing crimson arm effortlessly pierced through the second Root ninja's chest, a sharp whooshing sound immediately arrived, instantly tearing the Root ninja's body in two. But before the blood could even splatter onto Uchiha Akainu, it was evaporated and vaporized by the lava's intense heat.
The "Wind Style: Wind Cutter Jutsu," powerful enough to sever steel, continued its trajectory, carving a ten-centimeter deep gash in Uchiha Akainu's chest. But that gash was instantly filled by the surging lava around it.
"What exactly is going on with his 'Lava Release'...?"
Danzo's expression was exceedingly grim. He couldn't shake the feeling that Uchiha Akainu's Lava Release had an uncanny resemblance to the Hozuki clan's Hydrification Jutsu.