The Departure of the Darkness of the Shinobi World

Biwako had none of the others' reservations and directly pressed, "Danzo, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Seeing that Minato remained silent, Danzo's tone grew increasingly aggressive. "A Hokage should protect his comrades, yet the Fourth Hokage's negligence led to the previous Hokage being seriously injured and the Two Advisors being assassinated. Shouldn't you be ashamed?"

Minato looked Danzo directly in the eye. "That's right. I should indeed be ashamed—ashamed that, as Hokage, I failed to discover your evil deeds in advance!"

Danzo tried to play the sympathy card again. "Is the Fourth Hokage blaming this old man for failing to protect Homura and Koharu? If that is the case..."

"Enough, Danzo!" Minato finally shouted, unable to endure it any longer. "I already know everything about how you colluded with Orochimaru, leaked the village's intelligence, and then murdered the Two Advisors!"

Minato pressed, "What exactly did you do all this for? Did you want to become an advisor or the Hokage's assistant, or did you want me to commit suicide like White Fang?"

It would be best if you were ashamed enough to kill yourself. Of course, Danzo could not say that aloud, nor could he admit to his earlier crimes. He changed the subject. "As Hokage, do you only know how to slander your comrades to evade responsibility?"

Minato had already roughly guessed Danzo's objective and did not want to keep arguing with him. "Torune has already confessed all your crimes. Are you still refusing to admit it?"

When Danzo heard Torune's name, he felt that something was wrong, but he stubbornly argued, "It is merely one person's testimony."

Minato turned to Yamanaka Inoichi and asked, "Inoichi, how did the investigation into the Sound Ninja Four go?"

Inoichi stepped forward and said, "We did indeed find images in their memories of Orochimaru and Danzo's subordinates exchanging intelligence."

Danzo remained stubborn. "Oh? My subordinates actually did such a thing? I knew nothing about it."

At that moment, an Anbu hurried over and reported, "Hokage-sama, after emergency treatment, Sai is out of danger."

Minato waved for him to withdraw. "Once Sai is interrogated, we will know whether he acted on his own or under your orders. Danzo, what else do you have to say?"

Danzo fell silent. At this point, there seemed to be no way to salvage the situation. His scheme was gradually collapsing as evidence emerged one piece after another.

"It was indeed my doing." Danzo clenched his cane tightly, then suddenly released it and let it fall to the ground. As though he had given up resisting, he said resignedly, "But I devoted my entire life to Konoha. I did this because... Fu, make your move!"

As Danzo's words fell, a straw puppet doll holding a scythe suddenly dropped from the air and attacked Naruto. Naruto instinctively thrust a Rasengan at it.

"Don't touch it! That's the Mind Transfer Puppet Curse Seal Technique!" Inoichi recognized the puppet doll.

But it was too late. The Rasengan struck the puppet doll, and as it flew away, Naruto's consciousness was confined inside it. The sudden shift in perspective made Naruto think he had accidentally used the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Meanwhile, Yamanaka Fu took over Naruto's body and immediately controlled Naruto to move toward Danzo.

Danzo seized the chance to press a kunai against Naruto's throat. But in the next instant, Yamanaka Fu seemed to suffer a tremendous blow—the gate to the Nine-Tailed Seal space had never been locked, and he clearly could not enjoy the welcoming ceremony from Nine Tails. Although Yamanaka Fu's consciousness returned to his body, he did not awaken.

Naruto's consciousness returned to his body, only for the fox to mock him. "So weak. You actually fell for such a little trick."

Naruto became angry with shame and instantly entered Golden Body Mode. One Chakra hand extended from his shoulder to block the kunai at his neck, while another reached out from behind him, formed a Rasengan, and slammed it into Danzo's chest.

"Urgh!" Danzo had taken Naruto hostage because Naruto appeared to be the weakest person present, while also being the person Minato cared about most. He had hoped it would buy him a chance to escape, but he had not anticipated this change. Naruto blasted him flying, and he spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Before he could even hit the ground, Kushina's fist had already smashed into his face. "You actually dared... to take my son hostage!"

Kushina's red hair flew wildly as her fists struck Danzo's face without pause, beating him until even the Third Star Shadow would not recognize him. Yet Danzo suddenly vanished.

Under everyone's astonished gazes, Danzo appeared outside the crowd. Every injury on his face had disappeared, and he sprinted madly toward the gate.

It was Izanagi! At the instant it was activated, the Sharingan recorded the caster's condition. Then, for the duration of the technique, any injury suffered by the caster—even the caster's death—would be restored to the state recorded by the Sharingan. The price was the permanent blindness of one Sharingan. It was a forbidden technique of the Uchiha clan.

After Naruto blasted Danzo away, he activated Izanagi at the instant Kushina pursued him, buying himself a chance to break away from the crowd and escape. The Sharingan he used had come from his former teammate, Kagami Uchiha.

He believed that as long as he escaped, with the immense amount of Konoha's classified intelligence he possessed, he would definitely have another chance to make a comeback!

But events clearly would not go as he wished. Before he could rush through the gate, Minato pinned him to the ground. "You harmed Konoha's comrades and harmed my family. I will not let you leave!"

Seeing that Danzo still wanted to resist, Minato raised his hand. "Big Ball Rasengan!"

"Ah!" Danzo screamed. "You'll regret this, Fourth Hokage!"

Using his last strength, Danzo tore open his clothes. Blood sprayed from his entire body, transforming into black markings that swelled into a sphere. "For Konoha's future, even if I die, I cannot allow a naive man like you to continue serving as Hokage!"

Minato immediately moved away from Danzo and shouted, "Everyone, fall back!"

Reverse Four Symbols Seal—a ninjutsu Danzo had inscribed on himself in advance, activated at the moment of his death. It sealed all nearby matter into his body and carried it to the underworld, where it would never see the light again.

Hearing Minato's warning, everyone immediately retreated to a safe distance.

Then Danzo fell to the ground. Centered on him, everything within a spherical radius of several dozen meters vanished, including the once-level ground, the unconscious Yamanaka Fu, and—Danzo's front gate...

The darkness of the shinobi world, Danzo Shimura's life, came to an end.

Looking at the devastated scene, Minato was silent for a moment before saying, "I will thoroughly investigate Danzo's crimes and make them public. The Two Advisors will also be properly buried. Shikaku, work with Jiraiya-sensei to tally Konoha's casualties and other losses. Inoichi, work with the Military Police Force to calm the villagers."

"Yes!" *2

"Madam Biwako, please Go To the shelters and explain the situation to the guests."

"Alright."

"Asuma, I'll have to trouble you later. Lead Team Ten to the Daimyo's Mansion and report this incident."

"Leave it to me."

After Minato assigned the tasks, everyone dispersed one after another. Only Naruto and Kushina remained by Minato's side.

Naruto suddenly remembered something important. "Um, Old Dad, Old Mom, I never had the chance to tell you. I put Shukaku's Jinchuriki in our house."

"Huh?"

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