Kill Danzo

The outskirts of the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

In the forest.

Ingetsu's Shadow Clone dissolved into air.

Before this, he had planted Yachihoko in Mikoto from afar, then come here to stand by.

At the critical moment, Ingetsu formed the Ox, Boar, and Goat hand seals and used Izanagi.

To complete the final task.

The Shadow Clone vanished after forming the seals, and the feedback it brought back mobilized the Yin Release Chakra in Ingetsu's main body, completing the release of 'Izanagi.'

The principle was similar to Naruto's Shadow Clone shaping a Rasengan, or a Shadow Clone charging up for Sage Mode.

He sensed the rules changing.

Danzo's brows furrowed deeply. He opened his mouth and exhaled, his face cold and ashen, his heart dead. He raised his right hand to cover his hollow right eye socket, his murky left eye glaring at Ingetsu as he panted heavily, drenched in sweat.

Having lost 'Kotoamatsukami' once more, the Yin Release Chakra remaining in Danzo's brain was instantly drained. On top of that, after using his Eye Power, his mind scattered in an instant.

Ingetsu was hardly better off. He was mentally exhausted as well, both eyes burning with pain, and he wanted to find somewhere to collapse and sleep.

At this point, Ingetsu couldn't even finish Danzo off, let alone lift a blade. He stood there entirely on willpower.

This was the contest between Sharingan.

It could be as flamboyant as two users firing off high-burst ocular techniques at each other, burning away everything. It could also be a restrained struggle like this, as though two chess players were facing off, every choice concealing limitless killing intent.

Unfortunately, Danzo was a terrible chess player.

At least, that was how Ingetsu saw it.

He shouldn't have played with the eyes of the Uchiha.

The hearts of the Root Organization members present who could see this place sank into the abyss once again.

Lord Danzo... seems to have lost.

The few Uchiha, meanwhile, were like people seeing the first light of dawn.

But neither side knew whether this battle still held some kind of reversal.

Only Danzo and Ingetsu knew.

It's over.

The two sides had just clashed and caused quite a disturbance. The first ANBU reinforcements would arrive here in less than a minute.

Ingetsu couldn't kill Danzo himself for the time being, but he still had nine Uchiha behind him!

He glanced back at the people supporting Tamao, his calm eyes seeming to send some kind of signal.

"Go support Big Brother..."

The weakened Tamao pushed Izumi away.

Izumi came to her senses as if waking from a dream, handed him over to a subordinate beside her, and Body Flickered toward Ingetsu.

After learning the truth behind the Night of the Uchiha Massacre, their view of Ingetsu had already changed completely.

Uchiha Nanfeng and the other six Uchiha moved as well. Red light blossomed in their eye sockets as the Three Tomoe manifested. Carrying overwhelming rage, they gripped their ninja blades and pounced on Danzo like leopards.

Ingetsu hadn't controlled them because he also wanted to see what kind of mettle they possessed.

Even if Nanfeng and the others didn't act, Yachihoko would control them and make them attack.

But after Danzo was killed that way, those who hadn't acted would have no reason to be kept alive.

To his relief, these people were decent.

They were all carefully selected by him from among the younger generation of the Uchiha. Although they weren't the most talented group, they were the group with the most upright character.

Ingetsu considered himself no good person.

But he still hoped that—

he could live in a world filled entirely with good people.

After the Night of the Uchiha Massacre, they should all awaken the Three Tomoe and reach complete Eye Power. As for the Mangekyo, that might be difficult.

Damn it...

Danzo stared at the attacking Uchiha and hurriedly backed away a few steps, but his weakened state meant he couldn't summon any strength from his body.

Ingetsu took a cylindrical liquid container packed densely with Sharingan from his robes and held it in his palm. Unhurriedly, he explained:

"Danzo, every one of your guesses was wrong.

Before I came here,

only my right eye was Mangekyo. My left eye had been replaced with an ordinary Three Tomoe from the very beginning.

I still have ninety-nine Sharingan here."

A strike that killed both body and spirit!

Danzo's eyes widened as he stared at the container, violent changes spreading across his aged face.

Clearly, as long as tonight passed,

those Sharingan

would all belong to Shimura Danzō!!

But this wasn't the time for Danzo to think about that. He had to consider how to survive his current predicament.

In the gloomy forest,

the rustling of footsteps came from afar.

A large number of ninja were converging on this place.

Danzo's dim old eyes looked beyond the forest, and he secretly relaxed. The Monkey's ANBU, along with some Leaf Village ninja, would arrive soon. He only needed to hold out for another dozen seconds!

Danzo's thought had barely ended

when Nanfeng and an Uchiha beside him reached Danzo. They crossed their blades and slashed viciously at his chest.

Splurt—

The crossed wounds tore open Danzo's chest, blood spraying out and splattering across Nanfeng's face and the faces of the enraged Uchiha, making them look even more ferocious.

"Die for me!!!"

Two Uchiha replaced Nanfeng and the others, Body Flickering to Danzo's sides from behind and slashing upward at an angle.

The blade flashes swept past.

Danzo's arms were cleanly severed from his shoulders.

Of the six Uchiha, the remaining two swept past Danzo along the ground, working together to sever both his legs.

"Urgh—"

Excruciating pain surged through Danzo's four limbs. He spat out a mouthful of old blood, but Nanfeng and another Uchiha had already taken over again. Before Danzo could fall, two ninja blades crossed toward his throat.

Danzo looked at the cold gleam only inches away and smiled weakly because, at long last, his life had been preserved.

Crack, crack—

A loud sound of wood scraping against wood erupted. It seemed as if some kind of seal had been undone within Danzo's body. A towering tree suddenly grew from his right arm, continuing to expand until it wrapped around his body, leaving only his old face exposed.

The change came without warning.

Uchiha Nanfeng and his companion were stunned. Their ninja blades ultimately struck only the tree's outer bark and could go no farther.

The two were thrown back by the enormous tree surging into the sky.

At this moment, Ingetsu put away the container, patted Izumi's shoulder as she supported him, then withdrew his hand to show that he had recovered some strength and could walk on his own. "Let's go. We don't have a chance to kill him for now."

Izumi woke from her dream once more and nodded slightly.

After he finished speaking, the six Uchiha who had become crazed with killing were taken back under Yachihoko's control and retreated to Ingetsu's side.

Izumi's two teammates supported Tamao.

Tamao looked helplessly toward Danzo and exclaimed:

"Danzo's actually a damn tree!!"

The corners of the Uchiha's mouths twitched.

After Tamao's outburst,

they immediately calmed down.

The footsteps in the forest were drawing closer and closer. This was the best opportunity they would have to leave the Leaf Village.

Uchiha Nanfeng suddenly sensed movement beside him. He turned his head and looked over, astonished.

"Ingetsu Captain, what... are you doing?"

Ingetsu wore an expressionless face as he suddenly drew the ninja blade from his back and walked toward Danzo, who was wrapped in the enormous tree.

The other Uchiha realized what was happening a moment later and were utterly shocked. It turned out that Ingetsu had taken control of them and brought them back to his side because he had recovered a little strength and wanted to kill Danzo with his own hands!

"Captain, escape quickly!"

"Ingetsu Captain!"

"You left us here, so run! If you don't leave now, it will be too late!"

The Uchiha urged him anxiously.

Ingetsu seemed not to hear Izumi and the others shouting behind him. He raised his blade, aimed it at Danzo's heart, and pushed it in inch by inch with all his remaining strength.

At the tree's hollowed-out section, every inch the blade pierced in made Danzo's old face contort violently, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Ingetsu said coldly, "What are you pretending for in front of me?"

Danzo glared furiously at Ingetsu. When the ninja blade had been driven in until only the hilt remained, the life force in Danzo's body rapidly faded. At last, his old eyes slowly closed, his head drooping weakly like a withered tree.

The Uchiha were stunned.

Izumi recalled what Ingetsu had just said.

Didn't he say... there was no chance?

Izumi's beautiful eyes widened as she stared blankly at the man's steadfast back.

"Heh heh heh..."

Tamao grinned, revealing two rows of bloodstained teeth, and laughed foolishly.