The Death of Shimura Danzō

The bamboo blinds of the hot spring inn on the shopping street fluttered up in the swift wind. Amid the rising steam, two Shimura elders were leisurely enjoying massages.

Uchiha Yakumi's kunai silently pressed against the masseur's nape, and a single glance from him made the man collapse limply to the floor.

"Shimura Musashi, Shimura Tani, the two of you have committed crimes. The Military Police Force would like to invite you for a cup of tea."

The older Shimura Musashi was just about to form hand seals when he discovered that his fingers no longer obeyed him. At some point, his chakra pathways had been sealed.

The younger Shimura Tani tried to leap up, only for chains that suddenly appeared to wrap around his ankles. He crashed heavily onto the hot spring stones, sending water splashing everywhere.

"Uchiha! Are you trying to rebel?" Shimura Musashi roared, only to be knocked unconscious by a chop from Uchiha Yakumi.

As the two Shimura Clan elders, clad only in bathrobes, were dragged out of the hot spring inn, Uchiha Sanpo leaned beneath the Cherry Blossom Tree outside.

He plucked a cherry blossom and said softly, "Don't worry. You'll be seeing Shimura Danzō very soon."

It was seven in the evening. The people of Konoha had finished dinner and had nothing to do.

When they saw countless people running toward Konoha Plaza, they joined in as well. Before long, several thousand people had gathered in the plaza.

In the middle of the plaza, the two Shimura elders tied to wooden stakes were drenched in sweat.

Suddenly, more than a dozen Root ninja kept appearing from all directions.

The crowd parted to make way as Shimura Danzō slowly emerged, his cane striking heavily against the ground.

"Uchiha! Release them immediately!"

Uchiha Sanpo stood atop the platform, the corner of his mouth lifting. "Shimura Danzō, you old dog, you came in person? How... exactly what I wanted."

Unexpectedly insulted so brazenly, Shimura Danzō angrily raised his left hand and shouted, "Attack!"

In an instant, more than a dozen Root members charged toward the two Shimura elders.

Uchiha Sanpo made a hand signal, and Uchiha Shisui's Three-Tomoe Sharingan began to spin. Shimura Danzō's lone eye instantly lost focus for several seconds. He had fallen under Shisui's Sharingan: Genjutsu.

Uchiha Sanpo used the Body Flicker Technique, and a flash of cold light streaked through the air.

Shimura Danzō's right arm was severed at the shoulder, blood spraying across the sandy ground of the plaza.

Then, his fingers plunged beneath the bandages over Danzō's right eye and forcibly dug out the Three-Tomoe Sharingan that was still spinning.

"Aah!!!" Danzō's scream sent birds flying within a hundred meters.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had just arrived, happened to witness the scene. The pipe in his hand fell to the ground with a crack.

His voice boomed like muffled thunder. "Uchiha Sanpo! Release Advisor Danzō immediately!"

Twelve Anbu drew their weapons at once, the cold gleam of their kunai merging into a single sheet of light.

The villagers at the edge of the plaza began to stir, and several timid people shrank back with their necks tucked in.

Unhurried, Uchiha Sanpo placed his longsword against Danzō's neck. The blade had already cut a line of blood.

Seeing this, Uchiha Yusuke led members of the Military Police Force in handing out flyers. The flyers listed Shimura Danzō's crimes, Root's training procedures, and the names of children who had joined Root over the years.

Crime 1: The department controlled by Shimura Danzō was the "Dark Ops Training Department," also known as Root. Most of its members were war orphans, forced to join Root at the age of five or six. They had to master basic assassination techniques before turning ten, with an elimination rate as high as 90%.

According to the Military Police Force's investigation, a total of 1,432 war orphans had been forced into Root, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,300 children during Root training.

Root Training Procedures

1. To make Root members become emotionless, they had to personally kill a companion or relative upon graduation.

2. Those who survived were implanted with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal and could not reveal any intelligence about Root. If they disobeyed orders, they would die from the Cursed Seal's backlash.

3. Twenty hours of high-intensity training every day, including:

a. Endless assassination drills: Before graduation, trainees had to ambush one another. Serious injuries were routine.

b. Poison resistance tests: Trainees were forced to consume deadly poison and concoct their own antidotes. Failure meant death.

c. Starvation survival: They went without food for an entire week, surviving only by stealing or eating the corpses of their companions.

4. Once trainees were eliminated, they became test subjects for Root's human experiments, with a mortality rate close to 100%.

Crime 2: To steal the Kekkei Genkai of Konoha's clans, he captured Konoha villagers for human experimentation. To steal the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan and forbidden techniques, he assassinated several Uchiha Clan jōnin.

Evidence: Shimura Danzō's right arm had been transplanted with Hashirama Cells and several Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Beneath the bandages over his right eye was another Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Crime 3: He provoked war. During the Second Shinobi War, the arrogant Shimura Danzō went to Amegakure and provoked Hanzō of the Salamander. As a result, Hanzō cut his right arm and stabbed out his right eye. Seeing how weak a Konoha elder was, Hanzō launched a war against Konoha, causing the deaths of thousands of Konoha ninja.

After witnessing Shimura Danzō's crimes, the thousands of Konoha villagers watching began shouting, "Shimura Danzō deserves to die! Kill him! Kill him!"

"Shimura Danzō deserves to die! Kill him! Kill him!"

Seeing that the villagers' emotions had been stirred.

Uchiha Sanpo suddenly raised his voice, and it rang across the entire plaza. "Do you know why no one dared expose Shimura Danzō after he committed so many evil deeds? Because the one protecting him was none other than the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen!"

With that, the tip of his longsword pointed straight at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The plaza instantly erupted, and cold sweat seeped down Sarutobi Hiruzen's back.

Several ninja clan heads in the crowd exchanged meaningful looks.

Sarutobi Hiruzen forced himself to remain calm and shouted, "Absurd! When have I ever protected Danzō? I knew nothing of what he had done."

Uchiha Sanpo sneered. "Root's official name is the Dark Ops Training Department, and the Anbu is directly under the Hokage. Root's funding was also approved by you, the Hokage. And now you are telling us that you knew nothing about Root?"

He grabbed Danzō's bloody severed arm and displayed the section embedded with Sharingan to the crowd. "Where did these eyes come from? And where did this arm transplanted with Hashirama Cells come from?"

A white-haired elderly woman suddenly rushed out of the crowd, her trembling finger nearly poking Sarutobi Hiruzen in the face. "The day my grandson was taken away, I clearly saw Anbu members taking him!"

An old farmer wearing a bamboo hat trembled as he accepted a flyer. Cloudy tears fell onto the paper. "My grandson... they said he was going to participate in the Anbu selection... but he never came back... so he was already gone..."

Root used children for human experiments.

A heart-wrenching cry suddenly burst from the crowd. "That's my Ryota! His name is on the list!"

When they read the part about surviving by eating the corpses of companions, a burly man suddenly hurled the kitchen knife in his hand toward the platform. It sank deeply into Shimura Danzō's thigh.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's lips trembled as he looked around. Everywhere he looked, he saw eyes filled with anger and betrayal.

Even the most loyal Anbu lowered their weapons at that moment.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice suddenly sounded much older. "I... I didn't know... about any of this..."

Enduring the pain, Shimura Danzō suddenly bared his teeth in laughter. "Evil Uchiha, none of this has anything to do with Sarutobi. Everything this old man did... was for Konoha!"

At those words, Uchiha Sanpo erupted with intense killing intent. He swung his longsword with force, the blade slicing through the air with a piercing shriek.

Shimura Danzō's head flew high into the air, blood gushing from his neck.

His eyes were filled with disbelief. He was actually... going to die...