Jiraiya genuinely couldn't stand the bickering between the two elders any longer. Stepping forward with a deep scowl, he forcefully cut them off. "Will both of you shut your mouths and focus on the threat?! Danzo, let me get this straight—are you seriously telling me that Orochimaru was physically executed tonight?!"
Danzo snapped his head toward the Toad Sage, his raspy voice tracking with immense venom. "Of course it is the absolute truth! Do you honestly believe an elder of my standing would fabricate a military failure of this magnitude? The snake tried to engage this monster in a direct duel, only to be completely vaporized in a single microsecond!"
He adjusted his footing, pointing his pale, engineered right arm toward the sky as he shamelessly rewritten the timeline. "That bastard Orochimaru couldn't even survive a single frame of combat. If the old man hadn't poured every ounce of his strategic prowess into a high-intensity battle of attrition to lock the whelp down, your vanguard wouldn't have had a single extra second to sprint to these coordinates for support!"
Both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya locked highly suspicious, deeply analytical gazes onto the elder. They mapped Danzo's baseline power metrics perfectly; back during their youth, his combat capacity was respectable, and though he sat slightly below Hiruzen, the disparity wasn't catastrophic. But after sustaining multiple severe war injuries and taking a definitive back seat to focus on black ops administration, his physical frame had decayed significantly. For him to claim he was currently a superior asset compared to a prime Orochimaru was a structural lie they flatly refused to swallow!
Then, their eyes dropped down to his unbandaged flesh and the flashing red eye. Jiraiya's voice dropped into a dangerous, heavy growl. "By the way... I haven't officially interrogated you regarding that engineered arm and the stolen Sharingan! What exact heresy is that? Did you honestly manage to block Naruto Uzumaki's strikes relying purely on those stolen bloodlines?!"
Danzo's jaw tightened, a subtle twitch fracturing his stern expression. Realizing he had backed himself into a corner, he forced a rigid, stubborn sneer. "That is correct! The old man utilized the supreme parameters of these enhancements to single-handedly anchor that muscular monster to the field!"
The surrounding Shadow Guards felt an immediate sense of cognitive dissonance. Usually, whenever this old vulture encountered an administrative failure or an investigation into his illegal projects, he would deploy ten thousand bureaucratic maneuvers to deflect the blame and shirk accountability. For him to happily accept total responsibility for locking down the asset today was a massive, unnatural anomaly.
But before their brains could parse the deception, Naruto abruptly ceased his casual orbital hovering. His blank, pupil-less glare locked squarely onto the physical form of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The exact millisecond that slitted gaze anchored onto his perimeter, Hiruzen's ancient sensory network screamed in absolute panic. His entire muscular system tensed, his chakra flaring to maximum density as he adopted a total emergency guard.
Naruto tilted his massive, hyper-muscled neck at a sickening angle, letting out an eerie, echoing laugh. A microsecond later, his silhouette violently imploded—vanishing from their perception as he materialized right in front of the Hokage's face, his massive, ki-wrapped right fist driving forward with unimaginable velocity.
BOOM!
The fist detonated against the target, but instead of fracturing bone, Hiruzen's container burst into a massive, expanding cloud of thick white smoke!
Naruto paused mid-air, looking thoroughly dazed as his ancient, instinct-driven brain tried to process the event. Why had the frail old man suddenly disintegrated into a cloud of useless vapor? This specific anatomical problem was something his current, dormant CPU simply lacked the logical formatting to compute!
Before he could pivot his head, the stone bedrock beneath his boots violently ruptured. Four massive, dense columns of earth shot upward like pneumatic pistons, slamming together with absolute mechanical precision to form a thick, semicircular earthen dome that completely encased his two-meter-tall frame, trapping him within the dark structure.
Sunk deep within the soil a few dozen meters away, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long, trembling breath of relief. Thank the ancestors, he thought, his ancient heart hammering wildly against his ribs. He had preemptively deployed a high-level Shadow Clone to act as a sensory decoy the exact second Naruto's aura shifted. Had he chosen to rely on his raw physical reflexes to dodge that incoming trajectory, his skull would have been completely vaporized on the spot.
Believing the Earth Style containment matrix had successfully anchored the asset for a brief interrogation window, Hiruzen prepared to override his subterranean burrowing and breach the surface.
CATASTROPHIC BLAST!
Before his boots could even push through the dirt, the reinforced earthen dome violently detonated into ten thousand jagged shrapnel pieces. Naruto had simply compressed his right fist and driven it straight through the structural apex of the fortress, shattering the master-level ninjutsu like brittle glass as he soared back into the open air.
Hiruzen instantly dropped his hips, squatting back down into the dirt like a terrified mole. He thanked his lucky stars he hadn't rushed out of his hole a second sooner; otherwise, his frail, aging container would have crashed head-first into the trajectory of a berserk, unstoppable god!
Having cleanly vaporized his cage, Naruto floated above the flat clearing, his stark white eyes sweeping across the dark trees. But the landscape was entirely barren.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Jiraiya, and the entire squad of elite Shadow Guards had completely vanished from his immediate line of sight, leaving him standing entirely alone in the center of the desolate, scorched clearing, his brilliant green Super Saiyan aura casting long, eerie shadows against the bark. Every single individual present on this field was a veteran of the Great Shinobi Wars; the exact millisecond Naruto's fist shattered the Hokage's clone, their survival instincts had dictated an immediate, synchronized retreat into the surrounding structural cover.
Huddled securely behind the massive trunk of an ancient oak tree, Jiraiya frantically pressed his palms together, his internal network working at maximum capacity to accumulate nature energy. He was preparing to initiate the complex summoning protocol to manifest the Two Great Toad Sages, Fukasaku and Shima.
Mapping the destruction of the Baku alongside Danzo's frantic briefing, the Toad Sage had formulated a realistic assessment of the kid's combat parameters. Though his logical mind still harbored deep skepticism regarding the rumor that a titan like Orochimaru could be executed in a single frame, the raw physical pressure vibrating through the forest floor was undeniable.
Against an anomaly of this magnitude, trying to wage a conventional war without utilizing Sage Mode was nothing short of psychological suicide. He had to unleash his absolute, pinnacle transformation immediately.
Yet, a sharp pang of internal guilt pierced his chest. Minato... Kushina... This muscular colossus was the sole surviving legacy of his favorite student. If his calculations failed or his nature chakra fluctuated during the high-intensity clash, what if he accidentally inflicted a terminal, lethal injury upon the boy? His moral center was caught in a paralyzing, suffocating knot of hesitation.
But Naruto's predatory sensory network didn't grant him a single microsecond to resolve his internal dilemma. The white-eyed monster slowly panned his head across the treeline, his gaze snapping to a dead halt as it anchored directly onto Jiraiya's coordinates.
Oh, hell no! Jiraiya's heart plummeted into his stomach. The kid mapped my exact signature! Against a velocity parameter that absolute, trying to execute a lateral evasion from a stationary position was a mathematical impossibility.
"Change of plans—scatter!" Jiraiya roared to the comms channel. Breaking cover, he violently thrust his boots against the oak trunk, transforming his frame into a high-speed blur as he sprinted across the horizon to act as a mobile decoy!
Submerged deep within the topsoil, the true body of Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a frantic barrage of mental curses. That bumbling, impulsive idiot! Naruto hadn't even initiated a forward trajectory yet, and Jiraiya had panicked, broken his stealth matrix, and transformed his own body into a massive, screaming live target for a berserk Saiyan! He was actively rendering their defensive layout entirely useless!
But the subsequent sequence fractured the Hokage's calculations entirely.
Naruto didn't waste a single millisecond tracking Jiraiya's running path. Instead, his muscular frame tilted forward, his green ki detonating like a jet engine as he dived at terminal velocity straight toward a seemingly empty, regular patch of high grass situated right at the base of the oak tree Jiraiya had just abandoned.
Hiruzen's analytical brain locked up in absolute confusion. Why is he bypassing the active decoy to assault a patch of weeds?
The answer erupted a microsecond later in a violent explosion of dirt and wood. A shrill, high-pitched scream of pure panic tore from the bushes: "You completely unhinged little bastard! Get away from me!"
Puff!
Under the massive kinetic wind of Naruto's descent, the high-level Transformation Jutsu completely dissolved, exposing the frantic, trembling form of Danzo Shimura, who had been disguised as a patch of grass to let Jiraiya take the heat! Forced into the open, the old vulture spun on his heel and began executing a desperate, high-speed retreat, his legs moving faster than they had in thirty years.
Danzo was mentally screaming a torrent of hysterical profanities at the heavens. Why?! Why on earth did this blonde king-bastard bypass a six-foot-tall, running white-haired target just to sniff out my exact hiding spot?! What unholy, ancestral blood-grudge does this child harbor against my person?! He doesn't even possess a functional conscious mind right now, yet his biological instincts are still single-mindedly hardcoded to hunt down my administration!
But no matter how much adrenaline pumped through his ancient veins, a disabled, sixty-year-old politician could never hope to outrun the velocity of an unbound Saiyan.
A sharp hum of plasma sliced through the air, and Naruto materialized directly within his path. Before Danzo's single Sharingan could even register the displacement, a massive, ki-wrapped left hand shot forward like a hydraulic clamp, latching onto the elder's skull with a bone-crushing grip.
SAIYAN VELOCITY OVERRIDE!
Realizing his old rival was a microsecond away from having his brain matter squeezed through his ears, Hiruzen Sarutobi violently exploded out of the topsoil, his fingers slamming through an immediate summoning formula.
"Summoning Jutsu: Monkey King Enma!"
BOOM!
A massive cloud of smoke unfurled, and the legendary simian monarch materialized on the field. Hiruzen didn't waste a single syllable on an operational briefing, screaming at the top of his lungs: "There is no time for data, Enma! Transformation: Adamantine Staff! NOW!!!"
The newly summoned King Enma was momentarily bewildered by the chaotic environment, but decades of elite combat instincts took over in a microsecond.
Puff!
A massive plume of white smoke erupted, and in the next frame, Hiruzen Sarutobi was firmly gripping the Adamantine Staff. With a heavy roar, he swung the legendary weapon, launching a brutal, high-velocity strike directly toward Naruto's flank!
Though Danzo had spent his entire political career orchestrating underhanded plots, he had still been Hiruzen's closest brother-in-arms for decades. How could the Hokage sit back and watch his old teammate's skull be completely pulverized by a rampaging monster?
Yet, the exact millisecond the pitch-black staff closed the distance, Naruto executed a casual, lightning-fast backhand wave of his arm. His massive hand intercepted the trajectory with absolute precision, effortlessly batting away the Hokage's master-level sneak attack as if it were a bothersome insect.
Having his strike completely deflected, Hiruzen rapidly pivoted his stance, landing heavily on the grass as his eyes darted back to the asset. The absolute second his gaze locked onto Naruto, his jaw nearly dropped clean off his face.
A hyper-dense layer of green ki had forcefully enveloped Danzo's entire body. In a display that completely shattered the tactical laws of physics, Naruto had unceremoniously folded the supreme commander of the Foundation cleanly in half at the waist and crotch, utilizing Danzo Shimura as a literal, human-flesh nunchaku!
Swish! Whoosh! Swish!
Naruto violently spun the elder around his massive torso. The old vulture's legs and upper body formed two perfectly balanced segments of a makeshift weapon. Danzo was rapidly whipped around Naruto's hips, spun smoothly beneath his armpits, and wrapped behind his back, matching the textbook flow of a master practicing high-velocity nunchaku routines.
This bizarre, cinematic visual left Hiruzen, the Shadow Guards, and everyone else on the field looking thoroughly stupid. Hadn't the administration explicitly deduced that Naruto would completely surrender his cognitive functions and revert to a mindless, rabid beast during a rampage? If his brain was entirely offline, how on earth was he executing complex martial arts weapon routines?!
Furthermore, this was the absolute first time in the history of the continent that anyone had ever witnessed a human-flesh nunchaku—let alone one manufactured out of the supreme leader of the Root division. The gathered shinobi were truly receiving an education tonight!
His brain violently melting down, Hiruzen stumbled a half-step back, staring at the blurred, spinning form of his old friend trapped in Naruto's grip. He stammered out a frantic, horrified question: "Danzo... you... you just... is this the incredible strategic prowess you utilized to stall the asset for so long?!"
Danzo, currently being swung through the air at terminal velocity, was entirely unable to formulate a verbal response. At this precise microsecond, he desperately wanted the earth to split open and swallow him whole.
The proud leader of the sovereign Foundation, a supreme elder of the Hidden Leaf council, was actively being brandished by a three-year-old child as a human circus toy. The sheer, existential humiliation made him wish he were genuinely dead!
Huddled securely behind another ancient oak tree, Jiraiya watched the frantic nunchaku routine, and against all logical reason, a sudden wave of profound, artistic envy washed over his chest.
He tracked the crimson light of Danzo's transplanted Sharingan as it blurred through the night sky, casting a brilliant, jewel-like trail in the dark. Man... if I possessed a weapon that incredibly flashy and unique, my status as the Toad Sage would easily attract the unyielding affection of thousands of women across the continent!
Having successfully calibrated the weight and balance of his new toy, Naruto unleashed a savage, cackling laugh and charged straight toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Forcing his mind back into focus, the Third Hokage aggressively raised his posture, swinging the Adamantine Staff head-on to engage Naruto in a high-intensity clash of raw taijutsu.
A chaotic, rapid-fire sequence of parries and strikes exploded across the clearing. The pitch-black weapon of the Hokage collided relentlessly against the green, ki-wrapped body of Danzo Shimura, the violent impacts spraying bright metallic sparks into the foliage with every single contact.
After a few brutal rounds of trading blows, Danzo's spine was on the absolute verge of snapping. Even though the dense green aura shielded his skin from immediate lacerations, the continuous kinetic shockwaves were rattling his internal organs and causing his brain to violently buzz.
Capitalizing on a microsecond gap between their strikes, Danzo spat a mouthful of blood and screamed a furious, hysterical curse at his old teammate: "Hiruzen, you absolute, short-sighted bastard! Put your damn stick away! You are actively poking me to death!"
Parrying another hyper-fast arc, Hiruzen barked back as he swung the staff, "Just endure the pressure a little longer, Danzo! The administration will bring this confrontation to a definitive conclusion shortly!"
Danzo's single eye flared with rabid fury as he was whipped through the air again. "You hypocritical old fossil! It's easy for you to preach patience when your back isn't the one absorbing the blunt-force impact! Let's swap professional positions, you bastard! Let me poke your spine with a solid iron staff and see how long your patience lasts!"
Naruto appeared to have developed an absolute addiction to the routine. Instead of utilizing his superior velocity to immediately execute the two elders, his primitive fighting instincts treated the battle as an entertaining game. He deliberately matched Hiruzen's rhythm, treating the Hokage like a sparring partner to test out new weapon combinations.
Hiruzen quickly parsed the asset's psychological state, and a cold sweat drenched his robes. This twisted dynamic perfectly mirrored encountering a starving tiger in the wilderness—if the apex predator chooses to casually swat at you for entertainment rather than immediately tearing your throat out, do you honestly possess the administrative courage to refuse the game?
The Hokage knew with absolute certainty that the exact second he dared to lower his staff, Naruto's fist would instantly vaporize his chest cavity. He refused to wager his survival on a blind gamble. Left with zero strategic alternatives, he could only offer a silent apology to his teammate's ribs and continue aggressively hammering his black staff against the human nunchaku!
As the minutes blurred, a dizzy, vomiting Danzo gradually accustomed his internal equilibrium to the physics of the spin. Every single time Naruto swung his frame toward Hiruzen's incoming staff, the old vulture would frantically deploy his engineered left arm, using his palm to intercept the blunt impact and actively mitigate the structural shock to his spine.
As they synchronized their movements, the flow of the battle actually began to look remarkably fluid and choreographed. The defensive transitions and strikes became so precise that the watching Shadow Guards began viewing the slaughter as an aesthetically pleasing, master-level martial arts exhibition.
"I have to admit," a Shadow Guard murmured beneath his porcelain mask, his eyes tracking the vectors. "I never realized Elder Danzo possessed such remarkable ergonomic utility as a defensive weapon."
The secondary guard nodded in deep consensus. "Indeed! Historically, we assumed Lord Hokage's ability to transform his summoning beast into an iron staff was the absolute peak of unique weaponry. But looking at the field now, Elder Danzo has completely bypassed that metric by transforming his own body into the weapon. The two of them truly earned their reputation as legendary teammates; even their personal preferences in combat gear are flawlessly identical!"
BOOM!!!
Before their whispers could continue, a blinding streak of crimson chakra violently breached the perimeter of the clearing.
Jiraiya, having finally completed his complex nature energy accumulation to activate his supreme Sage Mode, materialized directly within Naruto's blind spot. With a roar that shook the trees, he launched a devastating, full-power flying kick targeted squarely at the boy's waist!
The two Great Toad Sages, Fukasaku and Shima, sat firmly anchored upon his shoulders, their sensory networks flaring to stabilize his chakra.
CRASH!!!
Sensing the incoming displacement through pure instinct, Naruto effortlessly swung his left hand back, pulling his makeshift shield around his torso. Jiraiya's heavy wooden clog missed Naruto entirely, detonating with absolute, Sage-infused kinetic force directly against the center of Danzo Shimura's lower spine.
The sheer, monumental shockwave caused Danzo's single Sharingan to violently roll back into his skull. Letting out a strangled, breathless shriek of pure, unadulterated agony, the supreme leader of the Foundation completely blacked out from the pain, his body going entirely limp as his consciousness dissolved into darkness.