"Kill him!"
Behind him, more than a dozen mask-wearing Root operatives moved without a flicker of hesitation.
They were killers hand-raised by Danzo himself—machines of obedience whose wills contained only one command: follow orders.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
A dozen figures exploded from their spots at once, poisoned tantos in hand, sealing off every path Minato could use to evade from all directions.
Their coordination was flawless, their movements razor-swift—each one an elite among elites.
On the dais, Hiruzen's face changed, and he blurted on reflex, "Stop! Danzo!"
He knew it then—this move of Danzo's had marched straight to a dead end. Whatever else he was, Danzo was Hiruzen's classmate; one in the shadows, one in the light; together, they had guarded Konoha.
For him to order an attack even after the Fourth Hokage had returned from the dead and publicly exposed his crimes—this was no longer an internal struggle. It was open rebellion.
Jiraiya's body tensed as well, ready to jump in at any time.
They were worrying for nothing.
Faced with an encirclement that would trouble even a Kage-class fighter, Minato's expression didn't ripple in the slightest.
The "Yellow Flash" feared by every great nation hadn't earned that name for nothing.
Other villages even briefed their shinobi before missions: if you encounter the Yellow Flash, you may abandon the mission on the spot—it won't be treated as betrayal or dereliction.
Minato couldn't even be bothered to look at the Root operatives rushing him.
He only lowered his head to the baby in his arms and said softly, "Don't be afraid, Naruto. This will be over quickly."
Then he raised his gaze to Danzo, who was being shielded by his Root.
As if he were looking at a dead man.
"Danzo, I gave you a chance. You didn't cherish it."
His voice, clear even through the violent whistle of bodies splitting the air.
"What a pity—you couldn't choose a clean death, could you?"
The moment his words fell—
Minato's figure vanished.
Vanished into thin air.
No hand signs. No warning.
The Root operatives who stabbed at where he'd been pierced nothing but air.
Shock filled their eyes.
Where did he go?
The next second—
A golden flash flickered behind one of the Root.
A blade parted flesh with a wet hiss.
The man stiffened. A fine red line traced across his throat. Disbelief on his face, he clutched at his neck as the light fled his eyes and he fell without a sound.
"Here!"
One of the operatives reacted instantly, wheeling to slash at the gold.
Too late.
The gold flickered again—
Now at another operative's rear flank.
Another soft sound.
The second Root fell.
Among the crowd, a silver-haired youth stood with a mask covering his face, one eye bare.
Kakashi.
His Sharingan gaped wide, the three tomoe spinning madly as he tried to seize the Yellow Flash's trail.
He tried—he truly did—but he couldn't.
It was speed beyond reason.
All he could catch were broken afterimages of gold, blinking like ghosts among the dozen Root operatives.
Every flicker took a life.
No screams. No struggle.
Root elites, veterans of a hundred battles, were lambs at slaughter before the "Yellow Flash."
They couldn't even brush the hem of Minato's cloak.
So this… this is sensei's true power?
No—
Faster, stronger, colder than the teacher he remembered!
This was the truly invincible Fourth Hokage!
Kakashi shook with the extremity of awe and excitement.
On the dais, Jiraiya's jaw had gone slack.
He saw it clearly.
Before making a move, Minato had already scattered his Hiraishin kunai across every inch of the field.
The entire plaza had become his domain.
Within it, he was a god who was everywhere at once.
"So this is… Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God)," Jiraiya murmured, eyes trembling with shock.
Not ten seconds.
In merely ten seconds—
Every last one of the Root elites lay on the ground, life snuffed out.
Minato, still holding Naruto, reappeared in the center of the plaza.
His clothes were spotless.
Naruto slept peacefully in his arms, as if none of this had anything to do with him.
The plaza fell dead silent.
Everyone had been utterly cowed by this textbook, foregone-conclusion massacre.
Danzo's single eye was packed now with bottomless fear.
His final buffer had been torn apart so easily.
Now it was his turn.
"D-don't… don't come any closer!"
Watching Minato walk toward him, Danzo let out a shriek of terror.
He clawed madly at the bandages on his right arm, ready to use his last and strongest trump card.
Embedded in that arm were ten scarlet Sharingan.
With just one, he could cast the forbidden jutsu "Izanagi," turning any reality unfavorable to him into a dream.
He had ten shots.
He still had a chance; defeat wasn't certain.
"Minato! You can't kill me! I can't die!"
Danzo roared, tearing away the bandage covering his right eye to reveal the Mangekyō Sharingan that had belonged to Shisui.
He prepared to unleash Kotoamatsukami and Izanagi together.
In the instant he began to weave signs—
Pity flickered in Minato's eyes.
"Too slow."
Before the words finished—
Minato vanished again.
This time he didn't use Hiraishin.
He simply drove his speed to the limit with Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique).
Horror drenched Danzo in cold sweat.
A golden light filled his world in an expanding bloom—
A blue, high-speed sphere of churning chakra pressed into his chest, carrying the breath of total destruction.
Rasengan!
Danzo's hands froze mid-sign.
He looked down at the chakra sphere ravaging his chest, despair and unwillingness flooding his eye.
Why…
Why is it so fast—
Not even time to trigger Izanagi.
A thunderous detonation.
Danzo's body shot away like a fired shell, smashing hard into the wall behind him.
Blood fountained through the air.
Is it over?
That's what everyone thought.
But Minato's performance had only just begun.
At the peak of Danzo's flight—
Minato's figure popped into existence above him.
Hiraishin Nidan (Flying Thunder God, Second Stage)!
He had already left a Hiraishin formula on the wall where Danzo would crash!
Suspended in the air, Minato looked down, cold, at Danzo's face twisted by despair.
His right hand didn't hesitate in the least; like lightning, it snatched for Danzo's freshly unbound right arm, studded with scarlet eyes.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
Danzo screamed at a pitch beyond pain.
Before thousands of horrified onlookers—
Minato tore Danzo's Sharingan-studded arm clean off at the shoulder.
The blood-soaked, sin-stained limb hung in Minato's grip.
And the spark of life in Danzo, too, had been utterly crushed by the Rasengan.
His lone eye bulged wide, refusing to close.
Even in death, he couldn't understand how this resurrected Minato could be stronger than in life—more decisive, more merciless toward any "rules."
Instant kill.
A true, no-suspense instant kill.
Konoha's greatest tumor—the leader of Root, Danzo—was dead.
So crisp. So complete.
Minato dropped from the air.
One arm cradled the sleeping Naruto. The other held that nauseating arm studded with Sharingan.
Blood dripped from his fingertips to the stone below.
He turned to the dais—to the two elders whose faces were chalk white, bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Koharu.
Homura.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!] [[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]