"Danzo..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at his former comrade standing before him.
His voice was quiet, carrying an indescribable struggle. Yet the moment the words fell, they also held a certain ruthless resolve...
"Someone... wants to see you."
Before his words had even faded...
A peerlessly sharp stream of water tore through the air like lightning, mercilessly shooting straight for Danzo's throat!
Water Release: Water Blade Slash!
The water blade was as fast as lightning, leaving its target almost no time to react.
Yet Danzo's expression remained calm, without even the slightest trace of surprise.
His body trembled, and countless withered leaves and branches instantly emerged, forming a hard shield before him like ghosts and blocking the fatal water blade.
The water blade violently sliced through the dead wood, producing a piercing screech, but it could not break through that bizarre defense.
Senju Tobirama's eyes narrowed as a shocked thought flashed through his mind:
My brother's cells?
But in the next second, he keenly sensed that something was wrong.
The Withered Wood Release Danzo used was completely different from Senju Hashirama's vibrant, life-filled Wood Release.
This power was colder and more sinister, filled with the aura of decay and death, as if proclaiming its own evil and mutation.
"Teacher Tobirama..."
Danzo spoke slowly, his voice low, a faint desolation unexpectedly appearing on his face...
"It seems Orochimaru finally made his move and brought you back to life."
He turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi, his tone faintly mocking...
"Hiruzen, can't you see it clearly? From the moment Teacher Tobirama returned to life, you were no longer the Hokage who truly controlled Konoha..."
"But I can't blame you. You simply cannot defy Teacher Tobirama's authority... After all, he must believe I've been controlled by the Uchiha Sharingan."
Hmm?
Hiruzen raised his head and saw Danzo standing there with stubborn defiance.
"Teacher Tobirama, if he wants to unify the Shinobi World in his own way, he must reclaim both Konoha's light and darkness... Whether I implanted the Sharingan or not, he would still dispose of me."
"Utter nonsense!"
This time, Tobirama finally could not hold back his curse...
Evil Uchiha!
Faced with this upgraded, bizarre Uchiha, Tobirama could only curse the bastard inwardly.
He was actually using such a crude tactic to sow discord...
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned at those words, but Danzo's statement struck painfully at his heart.
Before he could respond, Tobirama swiftly cut off Danzo's continued speech.
Senju Tobirama was on guard. He knew that the Danzo before him was not the real Danzo, but someone whose evil will had long been corrupted and controlled by Uchiha Yuan.
If given more time, he might trigger some terrifying Word Spirit technique and even seize control of the situation outright.
Therefore, this had to end quickly.
In an instant, his hands formed seals at high speed once more, and an even more powerful stream of water rushed toward Danzo!
Danzo's expression shifted slightly, but he finally stopped holding back.
He abruptly spread his palm, revealing a hidden Mangekyō Sharingan.
At that instant, Senju Tobirama's heart jolted.
He had never expected Danzo to have a Sharingan hidden even in his palm!
The Sharingan spun wildly as endless ocular power frantically gathered, accompanied by suffocating waves of pressure.
The bizarre dead wood surging within Danzo's body rapidly transformed into strange vein-like forms, densely piercing into his body and gradually condensing into a Withered Blade that radiated a sinister, decayed aura.
Blade of Jumang...
With Danzo's low shout, the Sharingan suddenly erupted with scarlet ocular power, and the entire withered wooden blade instantly blossomed with an evil red glow.
A chilling and terrifying wave of chakra swept outward, shattering the surrounding air as though the gates of hell had silently opened at that moment.
He lightly swung his blade, and a scarlet beam carrying boundless evil instantly exploded toward the entire Hokage's office.
Boom!
The violent explosion shook all of Konoha, and the office was instantly destroyed by red chakra.
Dust and flames filled the sky, leaving devastation everywhere.
As the dust settled, Danzo lightly landed on the ground, only to discover that the earth beneath his feet was already covered in densely packed sealing formations...
Four blazing pillars of fire suddenly rose around him, attempting to seal off his movements.
Yet Danzo reacted even faster. With a stomp, the ground rapidly churned up countless withered branches, which pierced two Konoha Anbu ninja forming the barrier with thunderous force.
Blood sprayed, and the sealing formation instantly collapsed.
Danzo swiftly retreated several steps, nimbly and precisely avoiding the remaining traps.
At this moment, the streets were already deserted. The villagers who had once lived there had quietly been evacuated before Tobirama and Hiruzen made their move.
Danzo slowly emerged from the ruins, his steps steady as his robes snapped in the wind.
His expression was ice-cold. The Sharingan in his palm still spun wildly, radiating a chillingly cold aura.
Senju Tobirama and Hiruzen Sarutobi stood solemnly in the distance, watching Danzo's every move.
"Danzo... how could you use the First Hokage's cells?"
Hiruzen spoke carefully, yet Tobirama did not say anything to condemn him over the Wood Release.
Perhaps Teacher Tobirama would research it himself as well...
Deep down, after seeing the power of Fugaku's Sharingan just now, Hiruzen felt a flicker of uncertainty...
He merely asked quietly...
"Danzo, how much of your sanity remains?"
"Sanity? Teacher Tobirama, I have never been more sane. It's simply that my sanity differs from yours."
Hiruzen murmured, "Danzo, stop fighting. Let Teacher Tobirama help you break free from the fate of being controlled by the Sharingan."
Danzo gently shook his head. A strange red gleam flashed through his eyes, and his tone became somewhat disdainful and pitiful...
"Hiruzen, the one truly out of control is not me, but you. Stop living forever in Teacher Tobirama's shadow. He is nothing more than a dead man."
Senju Tobirama frowned tightly and spoke no further to him. Instead, he said quietly to Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Monkey, do it. We cannot hesitate any longer."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath, finally made up his mind, and swiftly removed the Hokage cloak from his back...
His hands rapidly formed seals, preparing to fight Danzo to the death.
Facing Hiruzen's attack...
Danzo raised the Withered Blade in his hand, and the surrounding space seemed to twist violently beneath the surge of that bizarre power.
Under the moonlight, Konoha had fallen into an unprecedented atmosphere of grim slaughter and silence.
At that moment, Danzo's eyes were chillingly cold as he slowly walked out of the ruined Hokage office building, stepping into the center of the street beneath the moonlight.
For some reason, as he looked at Danzo's back...
Hiruzen felt that the Danzo of this moment...
Was like a solitary shadow utterly severed from everything in the world, bearing endless curses and darkness as he waited for fate's final judgment and conclusion.
Pity and reluctance suddenly rose in his heart...
For a moment, he felt a kind of resistance toward Tobirama's harsh actions...
Actually...
I am the Hokage...
Before you continue