Chapter 200: The Final Death of Danzō
Danzō lay on the cold stone, his life bleeding out onto the floor. As Sasuke delivered his victorious monologue, a seething, impotent rage burned within the old warhawk. To have survived a lifetime of warfare, serving the Second Hokage and shaping Konoha from the shadows... to be undone by a boy's trickery...! But I cannot die... not yet... there is still so much to be done...!
While Sasuke spoke, Danzō, with a terrifying willpower, pushed himself up from the pool of his own blood. The crimson stain had spread across his torso. "Oh? When you decided to annihilate the Uchiha clan," Sasuke mocked, watching the dying man's struggle, "did you ever imagine it would end like this, Danzō?"
"Konoha's traitor... Uchiha remnant... Itachi's stain... don't you dare be so smug!" Danzō's voice was a weak gasp that escalated into a hysterical roar. As he screamed, the pale, mutated flesh of his right shoulder began to writhe violently. A sapling burst from his skin, rapidly growing into a thick, gnarled tree trunk, greedily sucking the last dregs of his chakra.
This is! Danzō realized in horror. The injuries are too severe... I can no longer suppress the First Hokage's cells! If this continues, I'll be consumed!
With a final act of ruthless pragmatism, he severed the transforming right arm at the shoulder with a burst of chakra. His single eye, burning with desperation, fixed on Sasuke.
"*Izanagi!*" he snarled through gritted teeth.
Nani?! Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. How?! I counted! I made him miscount with my genjutsu! He should have no eyes left!
As the technique activated, Danzō felt a profound regret. The jutsu I was saving for Uchiha Ren... forced to waste it here... The prized Mangekyō Sharingan of Shisui Uchiha, implanted in his right eye, slowly closed, its light extinguished forever. He knew this eye was different; it could not be restored. But Sasuke before him was on the verge of collapse. It was a desperate, costly gamble.
The scene rewound. The severed arm, the fatal wound—all vanished. Danzō stood whole once more, though his chakra was almost depleted.
"I must admit, you have every right to be proud, to have driven this old man to such a state," Danzō wheezed, his gaze fixed on the staggering Sasuke. "But this 'contest of eyes' you spoke of... it seems I am the ultimate victor."
"Guh...!" Sasuke coughed, a fresh trickle of blood spilling from his lips. The strain of the Mangekyō was evident, twin trails of crimson streaming from his eyes.
"Have you reached your limit? It seems the Uchiha line will indeed end by my hand. Not just you, but Uchiha Ren as well," Danzō declared, his voice gaining a manic edge. "*Wind Release: Vacuum Jade!*"
He exhaled a volley of high-pressure air bullets directly at the defenseless Sasuke. To Danzō, Sasuke was already a corpse.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The projectiles exploded around Sasuke, kicking up a thick cloud of dust that swallowed his form.
"Even a genius... is still just a fool who overestimates himself," Danzō panted, addressing the ghost of Itachi. "Itachi... the stain of your life... I have cleansed it for you. Consider your naive wish fulfilled." A twisted sense of accomplishment filled him. "I will... take your brother's eyes now."
But his triumph was shattered.
As the dust settled, a figure emerged, standing tall. It was Sasuke, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He was battered, but the aura around him was sharper, more dangerous than before. The exhaustion seemed to have lifted.
"Impossible!" Danzō's voice was a ragged scream.
A gentle breeze cleared the remaining dust, revealing not just Sasuke, but the fully-formed, majestic Susano'o towering behind him, its colossal bow drawn, a chakra arrow aimed directly at Danzō's heart.
Panic, raw and absolute, seized Danzō. He didn't stop to think. He turned and fled, his body screaming in protest. "I... I cannot die here...!"
"After all this, you still think you can live?" Sasuke's voice was ice. "Go and apologize to the Uchiha clan in hell! *Die!*"
The Susano'o released the arrow.
Thwump!
Danzō looked down in disbelief at the chakra shaft protruding from his chest. He stumbled, turned to face Sasuke, and collapsed onto his back.
"N-no... Impossible..." he gurgled, blood filling his mouth. "You were... already... How...?"
"Reached my limit? That was your own arrogance," Sasuke said disdainfully. "Don't you know there are things like Soldier Pills in this world?"
"S-Soldier Pills? Impossible... they couldn't restore you so quickly... You... Guh!" Another bout of coughing wracked his body.
"A Soldier Pill couldn't, you're right. But this could." Sasuke raised his right hand. In it was a small, transparent vial containing a faint, glowing blue liquid.
"This... this is...?" Danzō's vision began to darken. Death's grip was final.
"*Stimulant,*" Sasuke stated coldly.
"Pulse... pulse..." Danzō repeated the unfamiliar word, his mind failing to comprehend it as the last spark of life fled his body. Shimura Danzō, the root of Konoha's darkness, died in confusion and bitter defeat, his schemes and stolen power ultimately meaningless.
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