A sharp pain surged through Danzo's body. He stared in disbelief at himself. How could a blade without an edge be this sharp?
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced behind him at Kakashi. His cold gaze showed no hint of emotion, as if Danzo wasn't even worth his attention. His flowing white hair only made the resemblance stronger.
For a moment, Danzo felt as if he was looking at his own teacher—Second Hokage Senju Tobirama.
The same cold eyes. The same white hair. That same natural pride and loneliness.
"Heh… Flying Thunder God Slash, huh?"
The mockery on Danzo's face faded, replaced by a bitter expression.
"Our teacher… never truly cared about us. Whether it was Hiruzen, me… or even Kagami."
"That's why Hiruzen worked so hard his entire life, desperately trying to earn our teacher's approval. He was a genius, too, but he always lived in our teacher's shadow. No matter how much we struggled for his recognition, he never truly saw us."
Bang!
Danzo's body crashed heavily onto the ground.
But he wasn't done talking.
"Our teacher was just like you, Kakashi. Everyone from his time is dead. His closest friend, Uchiha Izuna, was killed by his own hands. His brother died in Konoha. Even Uchiha Madara is gone."
"He was the only one who survived out of the four of them…"
"Hahaha… Hahaha!!!"
Danzo lay on the ground, laughing wildly as blood spilled from his mouth. He was in unbearable pain, but at this moment, he let out all the frustration he had kept inside.
Why? Why did that man treat them like that?
They had given everything they had, yet they were never acknowledged. Danzo had been willing to do anything for the village. Hiruzen had worked so hard his entire life, yet Tobirama never truly recognized him.
That man always claimed to hate the Uchiha clan, yet when he was drunk, he would talk about how his best friend was Uchiha Izuna and mumble about how he could never forgive himself.
But what about us? Were we supposed to bear the weight of the Uchiha clan's sins?
Were we supposed to carry the guilt of our teacher killing his own best friend?
"In the end, our teacher still died on the battlefield."
"That's why I can't stand geniuses like you… especially those with white hair who are skilled with a blade."
Lying on the ground, Danzo slowly closed his eyes—but it wasn't his own eye that shut. It was one of the Sharingan on his arm.
"Izanagi."
The forbidden Uchiha technique, Izanagi—a genjutsu so powerful it could rewrite reality, at the cost of permanently sacrificing a Sharingan.
As the transplanted Sharingan on his arm closed, the technique activated.
Danzo's body was instantly restored.
"So, you can go to hell too, Kakashi!!"
"Wood Release: Violent Spear Tree!"
Danzo's right arm shot forward toward Kakashi, creating a massive tree trunk that instantly swallowed up the space behind him. The enormous trunk extended dozens of meters, destroying everything within that range.
But Kakashi's reaction speed was far above Danzo's. Besides, his strange space-time ability wasn't any weaker than Danzo's Izanagi.
"I'm not the Second Hokage, so I can't judge all this."
"But you weren't wrong about one thing—you're definitely not worth my attention."
Kakashi appeared above Danzo, his blade glowing with white light. But just as he was about to strike—
"Wood Release: Root Burial!"
Danzo's right arm erupted with power again, sending out massive tree roots that completely engulfed both him and Kakashi.
Seeing this, Kakashi frowned and immediately retreated, teleporting 30 meters away from the attack's range.
Watching Danzo buried beneath the thick wooden growth, Kakashi felt a lingering sense of unease. That kind of self-destructive technique was something he had no good way of countering.
And the fact that Danzo had used it meant he was willing to pay the necessary price.
Sure enough, in the next moment, Danzo walked right out of the wooden prison.
"Kakashi, you shouldn't have gotten involved."
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!!"
Once again, Danzo unleashed a large-scale jutsu. Countless massive trees burst from the ground, rising up like a forest.
From his place on the execution platform, Gato watched in horror as his entire estate was wiped out in an instant by the growing trees. He was about to curse out loud when he suddenly remembered the situation and quickly went back to playing dead.
Still, he couldn't stop the tears from rolling down his face. That estate had cost him a hundred million! A hundred million!
It was one thing if those pirate idiots didn't appreciate its worth, but the estate was filled with valuable antiques and artifacts he had collected.
That hundred million… he had starved himself for five days, hanging from a mast without food or water, losing three kilograms just to make that money. That was the most honest profit he had ever earned in his life!
"It's gone… all gone."
"My money… Danzo, you bastard!"
"My money… all my money!"
Gato couldn't hold back anymore and started cursing.
Did Danzo even consider Kakashi's strength? What was the point of using such a massive jutsu? Did he really think this could hit Kakashi?
Just as Gato was still venting his frustration at Danzo, he suddenly felt someone approach the execution platform.
In an instant, Gato resumed playing dead. His furious expression vanished, replaced by a weak, near-death look.
Even the tears he had just shed somehow flowed back into his eyes. There wasn't a single flaw in his act.
Naruto and Sasuke were both stunned by what they just witnessed.
As expected of someone who had mastered Seimei Kikan (Life Return). That technique allowed one to control their body, but reversing even tears? That was next-level.
"Gato, I'm Naruto. We're here to rescue you."
Naruto whispered softly.
The moment Gato heard this, his half-dead state instantly disappeared, and he became full of energy again.
His eyes shot open immediately.
He looked nothing like someone who had been beaten for three days straight.
"Naruto?"
Gato looked at the two strangers in front of him.
"It's just a transformation jutsu."
Sasuke spoke, and the arrogant tone in his voice made Gato finally believe that the ones who had come were really Naruto and Sasuke.
The next moment, Gato let go of his hands, and his plump body fell straight down.
"You finally came to save me! Hurry, run!!"
Seeing Gato fall on his own, both Naruto and Sasuke were stunned for a moment. This guy had actually untied himself a long time ago and had just been pretending to be tied up this whole time?
"Stop staring, run!!"
Gato urged them.
Naruto quickly reacted, leaving a shadow clone behind that transformed into Gato's appearance.
Then, taking advantage of the chaos, the three of them escaped from the execution platform.
The whole process went completely unnoticed. It was so smooth that Gato almost felt a little uncomfortable.
They ran to a house near the port.
After Naruto and Sasuke turned back to normal, Gato finally realized that Sakura wasn't with them.
"Sakura didn't come with you two brats?"
Gato slumped against the wall. He couldn't believe Konohagakure had actually sent people to rescue him. Thinking about it, he had even planned to scam money out of Konohagakure before… How heartless of him.
"Sakura went home after finishing her mission," Sasuke said from the side.
"I see. No wonder. Then… do you guys not have a home?"
Gato blurted out without thinking. The next second, the whole room fell into an awkward silence.
Feeling like the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped a few degrees, Gato quietly moved to the corner and stubbornly put on his little sunglasses.
It was fine. He was used to it. People in this world were always so mean to him.
Maybe someone as talented as him was bound to suffer because even fate itself was jealous of his gifts?
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Danzo's battle was still going on.
After another clash, Danzo finally realized—he was no match for Kakashi.
Kakashi's abilities were too strange. His space-related techniques gave him an almost unbeatable advantage.
At least until Danzo could find a weakness in Kakashi's abilities, Kakashi had every chance to kill him.
And it wasn't just his weird space jutsu—Kakashi's swordsmanship was terrifying as well.
But at the same time, Kakashi also found Danzo extremely troublesome to deal with. It required a certain cost to defeat him, but the problem was—Danzo had plenty of "costs" to spare.
"Damn it, time's almost up."
Danzo watched as Kakashi disappeared once again.
"Wood Style: Piercing Spear Tree!"
His arm transformed into a massive tree trunk, completely covering his body.
At the same time, flashes of sword light appeared, slicing through the layers of wood. In an instant, the enormous tree, dozens of meters tall, was cut halfway through with a single slash.
"Secret Technique: Avalanche!"
Kakashi unleashed his technique once again, but just then, two figures leaped down from the sky.
Tap!
A crisp landing sound.
"Summoning Jutsu: Quadruple Rashomon!"
Massive Rashomon gates rose up, blocking the space between Danzo and Kakashi.
"Boom!!"
The raging white blade energy tore through two of the Rashomon gates before the third barely managed to stop it.
Just that one strike was enough for Orochimaru to grasp Kakashi's strength—the speed of his growth was downright terrifying.
Standing beside Orochimaru, Kabuto also got to his feet. Kakashi had actually destroyed the Rashomon gates he summoned. That was truly frightening.
"Orochimaru!!"
Both Kakashi and Danzo turned their attention toward Orochimaru.
"Kakashi, stand down. This is not something you should interfere with," Orochimaru said.
Hearing that, a grin spread across Danzo's face.
"Hahaha, Orochimaru, you really haven't changed, have you?"
"So, what now? Have you also come to witness the scar on Shanks' mighty lion?"
"Shanks?"
Orochimaru turned to face Danzo, his eyes filled with unconcealed disdain.
"Do you really think you're worthy?"
Orochimaru's gaze passed over Danzo and settled on a ship anchored near the port.
The ship had come to a stop, and at its bow stood a man with a carefree demeanor. His sharp, lion-like eyes were locked onto the scene unfolding before him.
Under that lion's gaze, a blindfolded Shisui walked across the water, making his way toward the battlefield step by step.
"Rumble!!"
A clap of thunder echoed through the sky as Shanks' Conqueror's Haki surged forth.
As powerful waves crashed onto the shore, Shisui, riding the crest of the waves, took a step forward, landing on the soil of the Land of Waves.
"Danzo, I've come to take back my eyes!"
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