"Lord Danzo… Lord Danzo!"
The frantic shouting rang beside his ears. Agonizing pain stabbed through his nerves, forcing him awake. Danzo's eyes snapped open.
He was lying on a stretcher, being carried somewhere by two medical‑nin.
"Lord Danzo, thank goodness—you're awake!"
A burning, tearing pain surged from the entire right side of his body, clearing the remaining haze in an instant.
"Wait—what's going on? The battlefield… what happened—ugh…"
The moment he spoke, the movement tugged at the wounds on his face. The sharp pain shut his mouth immediately.
Only now did he truly become aware of the state of his own body.
"My eye… and my right arm…"
Danzo realized the entire right half of his body was destroyed—completely unresponsive. Even speaking required effort.
"Forgive us, Lord Danzo. The situation was dire—we could only provide emergency treatment."
"Your injuries… I'm afraid…"
"Speak."
"The earlier attack from the Iwagakure forces obliterated your right eye and right arm. And the entire right side of your body has sustained severe burns. Your legs may recover, but only after you're brought back to Konoha for proper treatment. As for the upper body…"
Listening to the medical‑nin's words, Danzo felt his heart sink into a cold, bottomless pit.
He tried to sit up—but there was no strength at all. Chakra couldn't flow through anything on his right side. It felt dead.
He couldn't fight.
He couldn't even form a seal.
And that wasn't the worst part.
"What about the battlefield? What happened?"
"Lord Danzo, that… that monster that appeared—it was too terrifying. Its attack engulfed every Konoha and Iwa shinobi caught in the area."
"When the explosion hit, at least half of our forces were wiped out instantly."
"And then—while we were still in chaos—a massive Iwa reinforcement force arrived…"
"We risked our lives to pull you out, Lord Danzo. Many comrades stayed behind to hold off Iwa's pursuit so we could escape. They… probably…"
The quivering voice, thick with grief, made Danzo's mind roar like white noise.
"How many men do we have left?"
"Approximately… less than one thousand."
When Danzo set out, Konoha hadn't given him extra troops. Everything he brought were border forces—around three thousand shinobi.
Two months of battle.
Two months of bloodshed.
He had killed roughly that same number of Iwa shinobi—and suffered less than a thousand casualties himself.
A resounding victory.
A strategic masterpiece.
And now, in a single instant… one-third of Konoha's entire expeditionary force vanished.
"How? Wasn't Iwa still in internal chaos? Why would they bring out a Tailed Beast?"
It wasn't only his right side that had been shattered—his ambitions were shattered too.
With the results he had accumulated so far, he would have returned to the Land of Fire with enough merit to contend for the Hokage position.
But now…
Even with impressive military achievements—a stupid pwd like him could never become Hokage.
The Hokage needed more than accomplishments.
He needed strength.
"When did they muster a counterattack? Why didn't I receive any intelligence?"
Then he remembered—
Kabuto's mother, Nono Yakushi, the one who built his intelligence network—he had erased her.
The network she left behind was unreliable and he had already abandoned it.
Her intel system had been strongest in Iwa and Suna territory.
After discarding it, the replacement network hadn't yet been established.
"Lord Danzo… what should we do now?"
Hearing the ninja's trembling question, Danzo swallowed his bitterness and forced himself calm.
"Our objective is already achieved. Even if Iwa wipes us out here, it won't change Konoha's overall advantage. They no longer have the strength to mount a real invasion."
"The internal chaos in Iwa has probably stabilized. They're preparing a full counterattack. A concentrated offensive won't work anymore."
"From here on, they'll push us out of Earth Country entirely."
"Before we retreat… we'll strike one last blow."
"Order the remaining forces to disperse and plunder supplies. Then return to the border and prepare to reinforce the Kumo front."
"Any Land of Earth village or town you encounter—burn it. Take all supplies. Leave nothing. Anything you can't carry—destroy it."
"This…"
The ninja shuddered at the sight of Danzo's single remaining eye—burning a fierce, scarlet red.
"Yes… Lord Danzo."
"We're returning to Konoha."
"Understood."
Danzo lay on the stretcher, staring weakly at the sky.
"…Forgive me, Sensei."
His mind drifted back to that moment in the Land of Lightning—when Tobirama Senju stayed behind as a decoy to protect them, and fell in battle.
"This is almost identical…"
Back then, they had been one step away from forcing a peace treaty with Kumo.
But the sudden assassination of the Second Raikage shattered everything—forcing Tobirama to sacrifice himself.
Now he too had been one step away from victory.
If he had captured this strategic city in Iwa's heartland, Iwagakure would have been forced to surrender.
And once again—a sudden turn of fate destroyed everything.
"Why… why is it that every time I win the entire process… the result is still failure…?"
"Even becoming Hokage—I was so close. If only I had volunteered to stay behind with Tobirama-sensei that day… I would have inherited the title…"
Images and memories flickered chaotically through his mind.
But his resolve only grew stronger.
"Even so… for Konoha… I have no right to stop."
On the stretcher, Danzo's remaining eye burned brighter—fiery and blood‑red.
"Tobirama‑sensei's will… I will never abandon it. Hiruzen is too soft… he cannot protect Konoha."
"It has to be me."
"Even if I am not Hokage… for Konoha…"
His heavy eyelids finally closed.
And the broken man who rejected death—
was carried back toward the village he still intended to rule from the shadows.
-----------------------------///
Almost 2000 P.S xd. I think the ranking reset will go first lololol.
2000 P.S – Bonus
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