Torment of Death

"Pfft!"

Danzo spat out a mouthful of blood, staring at A-Chou, who had pierced his heart without a moment's hesitation.

The latter quickly withdrew her blade, her body trembling slightly, though it vanished in an instant.

Danzo's blood sprayed out, only to be caught entirely by Kimura Takuya using ninjutsu.

"Well now, can't let this go to waste. You've still got plenty of suffering ahead of you."

Watching A-Chou, who seemed a bit dazed, Kimura Takuya reached out to pull her aside, and then the group simply watched as Danzo collapsed.

Kimura Takuya then injected his own soul energy into Danzo's body, monitoring the man's soul.

First the limbs, then the torso, and finally the brain.

Kimura Takuya clearly detected Danzo's soul detaching from his body.

Only when Danzo reached brain death did the soul truly depart from the physical vessel.

At the very moment the soul left, Kimura Takuya's soul energy lunged forward, grabbing hold of Danzo's soul and dragging it back.

Following this, Kimura Takuya reached out with one hand toward the Danzo body he had released from the sealing scroll earlier, and with the other toward Danzo himself, beginning to cast his ninjutsu.

"Ninja Art: Flesh Substitution Technique!"

The wounds on Danzo's body healed instantly, and the dead cells were reactivated, while the body used as the substitute became noticeably withered.

"Hmm, one body can be used about ten times, then?"

Immediately, Danzo's soul and the resurrected body began to fuse once more.

Danzo had been resurrected!

"Ah! Didn't I die? Did you not just kill me?"

Is there no consciousness when the soul first leaves the body?

Kimura Takuya watched Danzo's reaction, feeling a flicker of doubt.

He pondered for a moment and quickly arrived at a likely guess.

Perhaps the intense pain at the moment of death caused the soul to shut down its perception.

So, after the body dies, the soul is only passively ejected, remaining unaware of the outside world?

Having figured it out, Kimura Takuya waved his hand.

"Next!"

The people beside him took turns, one after another, killing Danzo.

And time after time, Kimura Takuya resurrected him.

"This isn't a genjutsu! You're resurrecting me? You've been resurrecting me this whole time? You can bring the dead back to life—you devil!"

"Correct. Your reward is another resurrection. Next."

"Pfft!"

By the third or fourth time, Danzo had realized the truth; he knew he wasn't under a genjutsu.

By the fifth or sixth time, after his body died, his soul began to retain a sliver of consciousness.

"Devil! You are toying with my soul! You devil!"

"Old man, we've barely started. You can't handle this much? Next."

"Pfft!"

As the body taken from the sealing scroll was consumed until it was nothing but skin and bone, Danzo's soul, upon exiting his body after death, now possessed full consciousness.

He even attempted to resist Kimura Takuya's soul energy.

But he was clearly no match for Kimura Takuya and was dragged back in once more.

The resurrected Danzo looked at the exhausted, withered body and began to laugh maniacally.

"Hahaha! Without that body, you can't cast your resurrection ninjutsu anymore, can you? So what if you kill me again? Hahaha!"

"Who told you I only prepared one body?"

Kimura Takuya looked at Danzo as if he were an idiot.

Is this it?

With this level of intelligence, he was called the Darkness of Konoha?

The high-ranking bigwigs of Konoha are like this?

After finishing his silent disdain for Danzo, Kimura Takuya, under Danzo's horrified gaze, pulled out a stack of scrolls.

Not many, just over a hundred or so.

He had used up every drop of nutrient solution in Tobirama's laboratory to force-grow these Danzo bodies over the course of half a month.

If he didn't make this thing die a thousand or eight hundred times, then there was no point in staying in this Hokage world!

"Bang!"

Kimura Takuya released yet another Danzo body.

The resurrected Danzo was trembling so violently he was nearly on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Sai, who was keeping watch outside the door, sent a message through their mental link.

"Big Brother Takuya, the Anbu are here. They are demanding to see Danzo."

"Understood. Tell them to wait a moment; 'Danzo' will be out immediately."

After replying to the message in his mind, Kimura Takuya took out a fresh body, severed its right arm, and crudely grafted it onto Danzo.

"Ah! What are you trying to do? Why are you healing my arm? What exactly do you want?"

Danzo stared at Kimura Takuya in terror.

Yet, the latter had not removed his mask once, and even his voice was faked; there was no way to discern his true purpose.

"Oh, I had nowhere to put this arm, so I'm just storing it on you for now."

After saying this, Kimura Takuya attached the arm sealed with the Sharingan onto the newly produced Danzo body.

He then removed the right eye from the body and healed the socket, making it look like an old, long-standing injury.

Satisfied, he wrapped it in gauze and dressed the body in the prepared clothing.

Next, he attached soul energy into the body.

He used the soul energy directly to control the body and refined a small amount of chakra.

Then, he transferred the previously absorbed Danzo chakra into this body.

Feeling that these two streams of chakra could not merge, Kimura Takuya confirmed in his heart that even with identical bodies, chakra refined by different spirits could not be fused.

Having conducted this little experiment, Kimura Takuya no longer hesitated and used his spirit to command the Danzo body to stand up.

It felt like controlling a robot—extremely uncoordinated.

He then had a Spark Society member familiar with Danzo lie down and planted soul energy within him as well.

He proceeded to connect the member's consciousness to the soul energy on the Danzo body, allowing the member to pilot the vessel.

The member familiarized himself with the body.

Before long, the sense of discordance vanished, replaced by a familiar sensation, as if it were a real person.

Watching from the side, Danzo saw the body on the floor stand up, move strangely for a moment, and then become indistinguishable from himself—even his habitual small gestures were perfectly mimicked.

He screamed in terror.

"Devil, you devil! What are you trying to do?"

"What am I doing? I'm going to have you die in my place, didn't you know? The Fifth Hokage has sent people to capture you; you are about to be judged and executed."

"No, that's impossible! I have sacrificed so much for the village; I have handled so many matters for Sarutobi.

He would never agree to execute me like this. He would only disband Root; he has always been so soft-hearted!

He would never do such a thing!"

"True, the Third Hokage wouldn't execute you, but the Fifth is in charge now."

"Even if Tsunade has become Hokage, it is not her place to decide my fate!

She isn't even fit to be the master of Konoha!"

Danzo shouted excitedly. It was fortunate that the soundproofing in Root was excellent, or the Anbu waiting outside would have heard him.

Kimura Takuya listened to Danzo's accusations and nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, Lady Tsunade has not yet truly secured her position as Hokage, but I will help her stabilize it. That is not something you need to worry about; your own business isn't finished yet!"

As the member-controlled Danzo body walked out to impersonate the man himself, Kimura Takuya maintained the soul energy connection.

He raised his hand and cast the Chakra Absorption Technique on Danzo once more, draining the chakra the old man had been secretly refining.

Damn it, this old bastard—give him a new arm, and he immediately starts getting restless.

Taking out yet another body, Kimura Takuya continued.

"Next!"