This Is a Parting Gift

"Could you give me what you're holding, Lord Danzo?"

Hearing the voice full of amusement from beside him, Danzo's breathing involuntarily hitched.

That voice, that tone...

Danzo turned to look and saw a masked figure standing there—someone all too familiar.

"You bastard, you actually dare show your face before me."

He had come into contact with this Masked Man years ago, during the Hyuga Kidnapping Incident.

Back then, the Masked Man had directly opened the seals of the Root Base and walked right up to him in plain sight of all the Root guards.

Afterward, using the title of Orochimaru's assistant, he had offered Danzo numerous suggestions regarding war, including a propaganda campaign. He had also incited him to use the opportunity to drive a wedge between the Hyuga Clan and the Third Hokage, while provoking a war between the Cloud Village and Leaf Village.

"Lord Danzo, Lord Orochimaru will lend you a hand."

Then, before leaving, he had taken numerous experimental instruments from Danzo, saying that Lord Orochimaru's research results would be shared with him.

And in the end...

Not only had he failed to start a war, but he had also made the Third Hokage even more wary of Root.

The jonin had also believed that Danzo had ruthlessly killed those nearly hundred Konoha Ninja, practically cutting off the most important path for him to become Hokage—the jonin vote.

Boom!!

Danzo was about to say something else when a tremendous crash from the distant forest suddenly interrupted him.

That was the direction Shisui and Root had gone.

Danzo's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively looked away.

But in that instant—

Menma's figure vanished from the corner of Danzo's eye.

In the blink of an eye, Menma appeared behind Danzo, a brilliant blue Chakra Blade condensed in his hand.

With a light swing—

Sshk!

"Ah!!"

Only a barely audible sound rang out, yet blood splattered in every direction as flesh was sliced open and bone severed.

A bandage-wrapped arm flew through the air.

"How is this possible?!"

Danzo clutched his severed arm, watching helplessly as the Masked Man caught the arm cultivated from Hashirama Cells and three Sharingan.

Confusion, panic, pain, rage, fear...

Countless complicated emotions tangled together, twisting his aged face.

How did this bastard know his secret?

Without that arm, he could no longer use Izanagi.

Could he really be Orochimaru's subordinate? Was Orochimaru trying to discard him now that he had served his purpose?!

...Wait!

"My Kotoamatsukami?!"

When Danzo came back to his senses, he suddenly discovered that not only had his arm been cut off—

Even the Mangekyō Sharingan he had just taken was gone!

"Are you looking for this?"

A faintly teasing voice sounded out. Danzo followed it with his gaze.

The Masked Man had already completely sealed the Hashirama Cells arm.

Then, right in front of Danzo, he placed the Mangekyō Sharingan into a test tube filled with green liquid.

"Kotoamatsukami!"

Danzo roared with bloodshot eyes, "That is my Kotoamatsukami! Give it back to me!!"

As he spoke, he tried to circulate the Chakra within his body.

But to his horror, he discovered that he could not mobilize any of it at all.

"How..."

Danzo abruptly lowered his head.

At some unknown point, inky-black sealing formulas had spread across his entire body.

That Masked Man had actually inscribed the Four Symbols Sealing Technique onto him without a sound, completely locking away his Chakra.

"Lord Danzo!"

The Root members arrived at that moment, moving to shield Danzo.

But he only howled, "Kill him! At any cost!"

The Mangekyō Sharingan, Kotoamatsukami!

They were his hope of becoming Hokage, his hope of unifying the Shinobi World!

No matter who this Masked Man was, he would never allow Kotoamatsukami to escape his grasp!

Yet as he looked at the hysterical Lord Danzo, Menma's voice still carried a smile.

"Sorry, but my time is limited."

As the words fell, Menma symbolically formed a one-handed seal.

In an instant, surging Chakra finished gathering within his body.

"This is a Parting Gift."

A tiny black sphere slowly condensed atop his raised index finger.

Halos resembling Star Rings encircled it. At a glance, it looked both real and unreal, possessing a peculiar beauty.

Small Spiral Wheel Ugra!

With a gentle toss, it flew toward Danzo and the Root members.

That tiny sphere moved unbelievably slowly.

Yet it sent a sudden chill through the hearts of the Root ninja.

They reacted immediately. Some dragged Danzo toward cover along the flank, while the rest directly used ninjutsu in an attempt to stop it.

Water Release: Water Formation Wall!

Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!

The little sphere lightly collided with the walls of earth and water, looking as though it would disperse into shapeless Chakra in the next second.

But then—

Boom!!

Under everyone's stunned gazes—

Dust and smoke several meters high shot into the air. The violent explosion instantly shattered the sturdy Earth Flow Wall, while the Water Formation Wall evaporated completely.

The several Root ninja who had been taking Danzo toward cover along the flank were all thrown over by the blast.

As for the Root ninja who had tried to block it, they did not even have time to scream before they were reduced to ash in the explosion, scattering away with the wind...

By the time the smoke cleared, Danzo had crawled out from beneath several Root ninja.

But the masked bastard was nowhere to be seen.

Danzo stared blankly at the devastation before him.

The excruciating pain from his severed arm, coupled with the fury in his heart, had completely driven him mad.

"Ah! Orochimaru! I'll kill you!!"

Meanwhile, in the forest, the battle between Shisui and the Root ninja was also nearing its end.

An enormous green giant with a skeletal form stood there. Shisui covered his eye with a pained expression, standing within the giant's body.

Of the Root ninja, only three remained standing across from him without injury.

"W-What is that?!"

Faced with that godlike power, they could only gape in shock as intense helplessness rose in their hearts.

Just as the two sides faced off—

A figure suddenly appeared atop a tree above them.

"Only the first stage?"

Menma looked at the towering, godlike giant, a glint of interest flashing through his eyes.

Susanoo—the third power unlocked only by awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, God's Power symbolizing strength and destruction.

Shisui had only activated the first form of Susanoo, and even that seemed somewhat difficult for him.

"But this feeling... the Sharingan truly isn't a power that came from the Ōtsutsuki Clan."

Looking at those eyes filled with an evil aura, one of Menma's suspicions was confirmed.

The Sharingan was absolutely a product of the Ōtsutsuki bloodline undergoing mutation.