Danzo's Despair

The silver moon hung like a hook, cold to the bone.

The forest was shrouded in darkness. Under the moonlight, broken, mottled shadows stretched across the ground, making the place look exceedingly eerie.

Suddenly, a violent explosion erupted beside him, jolting Danzo out of his daze and back to reality.

Where was this?

In a trance, a flood of memories surged through his mind, and only then did Danzo remember where this was!

The border of the Land of Lightning!

It was still the familiar scene, just as it had been back then!

At that moment, triggered by the movements of the Konoha Ninja, a chain of Explosive Tag traps detonated all at once, flames bursting beneath Danzo and the others.

Amid the tremendous shockwave, Danzo's eyes suddenly cleared. Chakra erupted beneath his feet as he threw himself forward.

Kagami had only just raised his hands when Danzo moved ahead of him, wrapping his arms around Utatane Koharu and carrying her out of the blast zone.

After the explosion ended, Kagami's brief hesitation left his arm injured by the blast.

The one who should have been injured was Danzo, but it had become Kagami instead.

The Second Hokage descended, frowning. "Kagami, how could you be so careless? You couldn't even dodge an explosion like that. That doesn't match your usual ability."

"My apologies, Teacher." Kagami did not explain and immediately apologized.

The Second Hokage turned his gaze to Danzo.

"Good job. Your reaction just now was quick."

Praise from the Second Hokage was rare, but Danzo remained neither arrogant nor servile, merely nodding slightly.

In the Second Hokage's eyes, such composure made him even more satisfied.

Danzo... he had improved greatly this time.

Because of the Explosive Tags, their original group of more than ten had been reduced to only