This Eye Shall Be the Price for Your Insolence!

Danzo's pupils trembled.

He felt as though a giant hand had seized his heart and was viciously kneading it.

He could barely breathe.

It felt as though something massive were pressing down on his chest.

Turbulent waves surged through his heart! Dead!

They were all dead! The ten elite Root operatives he had carefully prepared, drilled countless times, and sent out had all died!

This stretch of forest had been razed to the ground. The pungent, nauseating stench of blood mingled with the smell of wood chips and dust, flooding his nose and mouth.

Of those ten Root operatives, five were Jonin, while the other five were Special Jonin proficient in sealing techniques.

They were even rarer than ordinary Jonin! Such an important force had been completely wiped out.

His heart was bleeding!

"Na! Mi! Ka! Ze! Mi! Rai!"

Enunciating each word, Danzo squeezed the name out through clenched teeth, scarlet veins bursting in his eyes.

"You slaughtered your comrades in the village without restraint, using methods so cruel they are utterly heinous!"

"Do you still have Konoha in your eyes?!"

A roar filled with fury and unwillingness erupted from Danzo's mouth.

That righteous denunciation made Namikaze Mirai, who had just finished slaughtering them, laugh out loud.

"What a grand accusation."

"Danzo, why I appeared here and what these Root operatives intended to do—you should know better than anyone, shouldn't you?"

Danzo's shamelessness amused him.

When it came to pinning labels on others, I, Namikaze Mirai, would call you the strongest! "Hmph! Stay here obediently and wait for Hiruzen to arrive, then we can discuss how to deal with you!"

His left hand discreetly rested on his right arm as Danzo assumed a defensive stance. A bead of cold sweat faintly slid down from his hairline.

Damn it!

He should not have rushed over so quickly! He should have waited for Hiruzen and come together with him.

Facing Namikaze Mirai alone, especially with that bloody scene before him violently shaking his mind—

Danzo felt immense pressure!

Even now, he could not understand how Namikaze Mirai had broken through the Sealing Formula he had so carefully prepared and killed every single Root operative! Those Root operatives had all been handpicked specifically to counter his abilities!

"Danzo, there is something I need an answer from you about."

The contempt in Namikaze Mirai's azure eyes vanished, replaced by a faint chill.

"I heard that during the Nine-Tails Attack, you sent Root to stop the Uchiha Police Force from providing reinforcements?"

"That's right! It was this old man."

Danzo grinned coldly.

"Tomoe appeared in the Nine-Tails' pupils, so it was clearly inseparable from the Uchiha Clan. This old man stopped the Uchiha reinforcements—you should be thanking me instead."

Namikaze Mirai's face gradually turned cold.

After going to the Uchiha Clan Compound, he had basically determined that the Nine-Tails Attack had little to do with the Uchiha.

The Uchiha had no reason to do something so foolish.

Another enemy possessing a Mangekyo Sharingan was hiding in the shadows.

If Fugaku had successfully provided reinforcements back then, the outcome might have been different! Danzo seemed not to notice the change in his expression and continued speaking to himself.

"If this old man had not held back the Uchiha, who knows how far things would have escalated? Perhaps your Brother and Sister-in-law would have died..."

Boom! The ground beneath Namikaze Mirai's feet burst apart, and he vanished from where he stood.

When he reappeared, he was already before Danzo.

His clenched right fist was aimed at Danzo's Left Eye.

Three silver metal blades extended from between his knuckles, reflecting a razor-sharp glint.

His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and a bead of cold sweat slowly slid down his forehead. Danzo's Left Eye trembled as it stared at the metal claws inches away.

Just a little closer...

Just a little...

His Left Eye would have...

Chakra surged through his body in response to the danger. Beneath the Bandage wrapped around his Right Eye socket, that Three Tomoe Sharingan had already become bloodshot.

Izanagi was ready to activate at any moment.

Danzo smelled the threat of death.

Ever since leaving the Battlefield and retreating into the shadows, he had not tasted it in a long time.

This taste of death! "Namikaze Mirai, what are you trying to do?!"

The sudden furious shout interrupted Danzo's taut nerves and shattered the air, which had nearly frozen solid.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had arrived with the Anbu.

The group stopped behind Danzo, their minds tense as they stared at Namikaze Mirai.

Some Anbu had even drawn their Kunai, faintly forming an encirclement as they prepared for battle.

"Third Hokage, Root was dispatched to surround and kill a ninja of the village. How should this debt be settled?"

The three razor-sharp claws had not withdrawn. They remained poised before Danzo's Left Eye.

That keen aura made Danzo's eyeball sting.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the bloody Battlefield behind Namikaze Mirai, and a deep unease rose within him.

That bastard Danzo had caused another disaster! Just as he had guessed, Namikaze Mirai was even stronger than he had been three years ago! No one knew where his limits lay! "Danzo acted recklessly and treated the village's rules as nothing. In the name of the Hokage, I order him stripped of his position as Shadow Advisor as punishment."

Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at Namikaze Mirai, drew a breath, and suppressed the anger in his heart.

"I wonder if such punishment will satisfy you."

This beast was already on the verge of rage. If he was truly provoked, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Everything that had happened during the Third Great Ninja War had already proven that.

Sarutobi Hiruzen cursed Danzo half to death in his heart.

That fool—he had been warned countless times! If Namikaze Mirai had really been so easy to deal with, why hadn't he acted himself? With things having reached this point, he could only compromise first.

He had to make this beast quell his fury.

Sure enough, after he finished speaking, some of the chill in Namikaze Mirai's eyes faded.

The three claws before Danzo slowly began to retract.

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a breath of relief—

Slash! "Aaaaaah!!!! My eye!"

A spray of blood erupted.

Danzo clutched his Left Eye and fell to his knees, letting out a distorted, agonized howl. Crimson blood seeped through his fingers, quickly dyeing his entire palm red.

"You!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. A blazing rage seemed to burn in his eyes.

He had already yielded.

Yet Namikaze Mirai still...

"Consider that eye the price for your insolence!"

"Danzo! How are you?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen anxiously helped Danzo up. The latter tremblingly moved his hand away, revealing a blood-red ruin where his Left Eye had been.

"Hiruzen, I can't see..."

Three bloody slashes ran from the side of his nose to his temple. The middle one happened to completely cover his Left Eye.

The eye socket had already become a mangled mess of flesh and blood.

"Medical Squad!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen threw back his head and roared.

The sun had completely set.

Night gradually deepened.

Naruto sat by the window, propping up his chin with one hand as he waited boredly.

Click.

The door was pushed open.

When Naruto saw who entered, he excitedly pounced over.

"Uncle! You finally came back. I thought you were going to break your promise."

Namikaze Mirai smiled and ruffled Naruto's blond hair.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Uncle will make you dinner."

"Uncle will definitely keep any promise he makes to Naruto!"