Danzō's corpse lay sprawled on the ground, already beginning to grow cold. Under the effect of the seal, even his internal organs had completely vanished.
A jutsu that cost him his life had been effortlessly neutralized by Arata.
In the next moment, Arata's figure reappeared on the battlefield.
After returning, he surveyed the wreckage around him.
Everything within nearly an 800-meter radius had been sealed inside Danzō's body.
It was clear the jutsu had fully run its course. The power of Danzō's Reverse Four Symbols Seal was indeed impressive—its range alone surpassed that of the Land of Fire's Twelve Guardian Ninja.
But it had all been futile.
Against someone like Arata who wielded space–time ninjutsu, the Reverse Four Symbols Seal was practically a suicide move.
Arata found it puzzling. Hadn't Danzō learned from Hiruzen that Arata could already counter this seal?
Could it be that Hiruzen never shared that intelligence? Otherwise, Danzō wouldn't have rushed in so blindly to his death.
If Arata had killed Danzō normally, Danzō might at least have left a whole corpse. Instead, most of his body had been consumed by his own seal.
As it turned out, Arata's guess was correct.
Hiruzen had long known that Danzō secretly practiced the Reverse Four Symbols Seal, and that he would only use it against truly powerful enemies.
Arata—being a shared enemy of both men and already at a super-Kage tier—certainly qualified.
Even though Hiruzen knew the jutsu wouldn't be enough to defeat Arata, he still chose not to warn Danzō. His goal was to let Danzō die a more "glorious" death and stop being a constant thorn in his side.
On the surface, Hiruzen had always seemed patient with Danzō, but deep down he had long held grudges against this man who frequently challenged his authority.
So despite knowing the truth, he deliberately withheld the information. Partly to push Danzō into a desperate fight with Arata—but mainly to hasten the death of a rival he found troublesome.
There was also another calculation:
If Danzō's version of the seal proved stronger than the Twelve Guardian Ninja's and somehow took Arata down with him, Hiruzen could reap the benefits like a fisherman profiting from others' conflict.
Unfortunately for him, his strength simply wasn't enough. Greedy for a bit of military merit, he personally stepped into danger.
In the end, his plans bore no fruit—he died even before Danzō did.
And even if events had followed his design, Arata would still have been unafraid. The gap in strength between Arata and Danzō was too large. From start to finish, Danzō never managed to injure Arata even once.
It wasn't just Susanoo boosting Arata's defense. More importantly, his Rumble-Rumble lightning ability granted him lightning-like speed.
As the saying goes: all techniques are inferior to sheer speed.
If you're fast enough, no trick can catch you.
Arata relied on that speed to dismantle seemingly powerful techniques and strike lethal blows when enemies were at their weakest.
Beyond his solid combat experience and powerful perception, speed was Arata's true foundation.
With Danzō and Hiruzen eliminated, Arata had removed his two biggest threats.
Life in the Land of Fire would now be much smoother. At the very least, he no longer had to worry about constant schemes targeting him or the people he cared about.
Still, Arata remained clear-headed.
These two were, at most, elite mobs. The real bosses were the monsters of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Every one of them stood at Six Paths level or higher.
Even an aged Uchiha Madara could already fight Arata to a standstill. On top of that, there was the hidden Sage of Six Paths, the potentially resurrecting Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, and the ever-scheming Black Zetsu.
Compared to them, Hiruzen and Danzō were hardly worth mentioning.
So despite dealing with the two elders, Arata felt no pride or relaxation. He knew the real dangers lay ahead. Even at his current peak super-Kage strength, a moment of carelessness could cost him his life.
Shaking off those thoughts, he focused on the present.
Though Hiruzen and Danzō were dead, the aftermath still required careful handling.
He needed their bodies to be found—and for witnesses to be unable to identify him as the killer, yet still recognize the victims' identities.
If Hiruzen were merely listed as missing, that wouldn't do.
A missing Hokage wouldn't trigger an immediate succession. The entire nation would mobilize to search, and other countries might exploit the situation.
But if Hiruzen were confirmed dead in battle, the election for the next Hokage would begin at once—giving Arata his chance to step forward.
It sounded complicated, but for Arata, staging scenes and covering tracks was practically routine.
He first went to Hiruzen's body and added several extra cuts, making it look like he'd been killed by a taijutsu master wielding a blade.
Danzō's case was harder to modify due to his unique death. Arata could only destroy his eyes and brain, leaving his face intact.
This ensured no one could probe Danzō's memories before death.
For someone who could even share his Lightning Armor with others, this was trivial.
Afterward, Arata treated the other corpses the same way, then retrieved the severed heads he had stored in Kamui space and scattered them at the scene.
This made the Nine-Tails—who was confined inside Kamui—turn grim.
It had always thought Arata was just a hot-tempered brat. But it had clearly seen those heads just now.
One of them… belonged to Hiruzen Sarutobi.