"Where on earth did Nagato find a monster like Simu Kamizuki!"
Black Zetsu complained as soon as Obito set him down, unable to stop himself from looking at Sasuke in the sky.
Although the members of the Akatsuki were all quite abnormal and could be called monsters, Simu was more than just a monster himself. More importantly, he could continuously create even more monsters!
Furthermore, Black Zetsu and Obito had yet to discover where his limit truly lay. That was the most terrifying part.
"I don't know."
Obito's expression was equally solemn. The power Simu displayed made him feel threatened. What if Simu didn't stand on his side at the final moment? Did he have enough confidence to deal with him?
Obito wasn't sure.
"I should find an opportunity to talk to him," he said suddenly.
Black Zetsu nodded in agreement. "Yes, we really should test his thoughts."
If Simu could accept their plan, that would be ideal. If not, they could prepare early.
For instance, they could gather intelligence on the Jashin Religion and strike at the right time to prune this threat.
At this moment, Black Zetsu and Obito weren't the only ones shocked by the abnormality in the Uchiha Clan compound. Ninjas on another battlefield felt it too.
The moment Sasuke opened his eyes, an incredibly surging and evil aura swept through the entire Leaf.
Forget the ninjas; even the civilians hiding in their homes could feel a strong sense of foreboding.
Shikaku Nara's face darkened. He couldn't help but rub his throbbing temples with his fingers.
"You've got to be kidding me. It's just one thing after another!"
They were currently heading to the outskirts of the Leaf to support the Hokage, yet something else had happened at the Uchiha Clan compound.
Judging by the intensity of that evil aura, it likely had something to do with the Jashin Religion.
The Jashin Religion was truly persistent.
Shikaku suppressed the urge to curse and forced himself to calm down quickly.
As the "brain" of the Leaf, he couldn't afford to lose his composure now.
Being part of the high-level circle of the Leaf, Shikaku was one of the people who knew about Itachi Uchiha's plan.
Therefore, since a problem had arisen at the Uchiha compound, the most likely scenario was that Itachi had been attacked by the Jashin Religion while purging the Uchiha.
Moreover, something uncontrollable had occurred.
Shikaku stared intently in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Because it was so far away, he could only see a purple, star-like point of light suspended in the air.
Fortunately, he had a sensory ninja by his side.
Upon activating the Byakugan, the Hyuga ninja quickly provided intelligence.
"Shikaku-sama, I see a massive mass of chakra above the Uchiha compound. It's accompanied by a powerful, cold aura. It should be Yin Style chakra."
"The owner of that chakra seems to be fighting an enemy right now."
"As for their identity, the distance is too great to see clearly."
The Hyuga ninja felt somewhat guilty, seemingly blaming himself for not being useful enough in such a crisis.
Shikaku patted his shoulder and said, "It's fine. You've done well."
Even the Byakugan had its limits. Shikaku couldn't ask a subordinate to do something impossible.
However, he still obtained crucial information from the Hyuga ninja.
The Uchiha Clan was also engaged in a battle.
According to Shikaku's deduction, there was a high probability that the Jashin Religion and Itachi Uchiha were in conflict.
This was good news. At the very least, it proved indirectly that Itachi hadn't betrayed the village and was buying them time.
So, the best course of action was to meet up with the Hokage as quickly as possible, resolve the situation there, and then provide support to Itachi Uchiha.
The original agreement between the high-level officials and Itachi was for him to execute all Uchiha in secret. In exchange, the village wouldn't reveal the coup, and his brother, Sasuke Uchiha, would inherit the Uchiha name.
But under the current circumstances, the Uchiha coup had already begun, and the Jashin Religion had forcibly intervened, turning the village into a mess.
Yet Itachi Uchiha had fulfilled his promise. He had stood by the village and dealt with a large portion of the Uchiha forces, led by Fugaku Uchiha.
Thus, the handling of Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha had fallen into a dilemma.
"Forget it. That's for the Hokage to worry about. The most important thing now is to support the Hokage!"
Shikaku shook his head and reminded himself.
He then turned to the ninjas whose attention had been drawn by the anomaly and shouted, "The Hokage has other arrangements for the Uchiha! Everyone, stay sharp and support the Hokage at top speed!"
"Yes!"
Thanks to Shikaku's long-standing reputation for being "unfailing in his plans," no one doubted his words. Instead, they felt relieved and accelerated toward the outskirts of the village.
At that moment, by the edge of a massive crater created by an explosion, Danzo's figure slowly emerged.
On his arm covered in Sharingan, a second eye slowly closed.
"The power of that guy's self-destruction was truly terrifying."
As Danzo marveled, his eyes searched the edge of the explosion's range.
In less than a second, he spotted his old friend, the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently struggling to push Enma's body aside.
At the moment of the explosion, the Adamantine Staff in his hand had turned back into Enma. Without hesitation, Enma had pulled Hiruzen into his arms, using his diamond-hard body to shield him from the blast.
But the impact from the Apostle of Desire's explosion was simply too horrifying. Even Enma was severely injured and on the verge of death.
"Enma, how are you?"
Blood stained the corners of Hiruzen's mouth as he asked with concern.
"Cough, cough..."
Enma was no longer as majestic as before. The monkey lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
Hearing Hiruzen's question, he struggled to rally his spirits and said, "I won't die, but I have to leave first, Hiruzen."
"I understand. I'll release the summoning immediately. Go back and heal!"
With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly released the Summoning Jutsu, and Enma vanished in a cloud of smoke.
He wiped the blood from his mouth. Despite Enma's protection, the powerful shockwave from the explosion had caused significant damage to his body.
His internal organs, in particular, were almost all damaged to some degree, which was why he couldn't stop coughing up blood.
However, Hiruzen wasn't overly worried. Such injuries would be a death sentence for an ordinary person, but not for a ninja.
Especially since he had a disciple who was known as the world's greatest medical ninja.
As long as Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't die on the spot, he could just wait until after the battle to recall Tsunade. She would heal any injury!
Hiruzen had complete faith in Tsunade.
Right now, he needed to be on guard against that mysterious Jashin follower. Although his summoned beast had self-destructed, the man himself might still be hiding around the battlefield.
Hiruzen observed for a dozen seconds but found no sign of the enemy. Instead, Danzo was rushing toward him from a distance.
Normally, this would be a good thing.
The enemy had fled, and his partner was rushing to provide support.
Yet for some reason, an ominous feeling welled up in Hiruzen's heart.
"Monkey, are you okay?"
Danzo appeared before Hiruzen, looking concerned.
He was only a few dozen meters away from the Third Hokage. For a ninja, that distance took only a few seconds.
Although Hiruzen felt something was off, he acted as if nothing were wrong. "I'm fine. Be careful, Danzo. The enemy might still be around."
This sentence was not only telling Danzo to watch out for the enemy but also warning him that since the enemy might still be near, he shouldn't try anything.
Danzo took the opportunity to scan the surroundings.
The vast earth was scarred and empty. The enemy was nowhere to be found, leaving only endless dust slowly dissipating.
Only two people remained on the massive battlefield.
Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The former looked back and said hoarsely, "Don't worry, Monkey. Shikaku is very sharp; he should send support immediately."
"Yes. I hope nothing else happened in the village."
While Hiruzen voiced his concern for the village, his eyes were fixed firmly on Danzo's back, as if the man before him were some kind of dangerous beast.
At this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi was heavily injured and at his limit. Although the village wasn't far away, it would take at least a few minutes for help to arrive.
For a ninja, that was enough time to do many things.
Thump, thump, thump...
Time seemed to slow down. Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose hair was starting to turn white, could clearly hear his own heartbeat.
As the Hokage, he couldn't remember the last time he had been on the battlefield facing a life-or-death crisis.
It seemed he had stayed in the village too long, to the point where he lacked even the courage to face betrayal.
Under Hiruzen's almost breathless gaze, Danzo turned around. The bandages on his face had been torn off at some point, revealing an eye that had been hidden for a long time.
It was a Mangekyo Sharingan, red like a ruby and engraved with a black, four-bladed Fuma Shuriken pattern!
"That's Shisui's..."
Hiruzen's eyes widened in surprise. He recognized those eyes instantly.
Recognizing them reminded him of something, and he tried to close his eyes as fast as possible.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The moment his gaze met the Mangekyo, the legendary Genjutsu quietly bloomed.
Kotoamatsukami!
A massive amount of ocular power flooded into Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind in an instant.
Under this terrifying impact, his memories and perceptions were being dismantled and modified bit by bit.
Hiruzen was somewhat familiar with Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, so he could almost guess the script that would follow.
Before his will was completely altered, he managed to ask, "Danzo, why are you doing this?"
Danzo's expression didn't change as he replied in his hoarse, calm voice, "Monkey, you are too cowardly. Only under my leadership can the Leaf develop better."
Hiruzen endured the feeling of his head nearly exploding and asked again, "Are you going to betray the Will of Fire left by our teacher?"
Danzo sneered. "You're still so naive. Only the victor is qualified to interpret the true Will of Fire."
"You..."
Hiruzen seemed to want to say more, but his spirit was like a small boat in a vast ocean. It was finally overturned by a surging wave, and he was buried in the bottomless sea.
At the same time, a trail of blood-tears fell from the corner of Danzo's eye.
Two minutes later, when Shikaku arrived with a large group of Leaf ninjas, they saw this scene:
The dying Third Hokage was lying in Danzo's arms. Danzo's face was full of sorrow, and his eyes were filled with tears.
"Hokage-sama!"
Shikaku rushed to Hiruzen's side and signaled for Kakashi to be ready to provide support at any moment. He even intentionally or unintentionally let his shadow overlap with Danzo's.
It was unclear if Danzo saw through Shikaku's little trick, but his face remained grief-stricken.
"Elder Danzo, what happened?"
Shikaku frowned the moment he saw the Third Hokage. No matter how he looked at it, Hiruzen Sarutobi had "death" written all over him.
"Medical ninja, get over here!"
Hearing Shikaku's roar, the medical ninja in the team rushed forward.
Danzo gently laid Hiruzen on the ground and began to tell Shikaku and the others what had happened.
Naturally, he left out the part where he used Kotoamatsukami.
Shikaku wanted to ask for more details, but the ninja performing the medical jutsu said, "Shikaku-sama, the Hokage's injuries are..."
"Are what?!"
Shikaku's tone was icy.
If something happened to the Hokage now, he didn't know how the Leaf would carry on.
The medical ninja gritted his teeth and said, "With these injuries, there might be a glimmer of hope if Tsunade-sama were here, but I am truly powerless."
"Damn it! Communication squad, have you still not contacted Tsunade-sama?!"
Shikaku clenched his fists, filled with a rage that had nowhere to go.
"Shikaku, forget it."
The Third Hokage lying on the ground suddenly spoke. Shikaku hurried to kneel beside him and leaned down to listen.
"I know my own body. Don't blame the others."
"As the Hokage, I am happy and satisfied to die protecting the village."
"It's just... cough, cough, cough..."
Mid-sentence, Hiruzen Sarutobi began to cough violently, and a large amount of blood poured from the corners of his mouth.
After the medical team busied themselves for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally spoke his last words: "Let Danzo succeed as the Fifth Hokage."