What of it

A single eye...

Sidestepping the kunai aimed at his chest, Minato watched the head soar high into the air.

From the very first moment he saw Danzo, he had noticed the bandages wrapped around the man's right eye.

However, the man's right hand still possessed a normal skin tone; it appeared he had not yet transplanted any Hashirama Cells.

"Danzo..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the scene before him, his lips trembling slightly.

Seeing a companion of several decades beheaded right before his eyes dealt him a powerful emotional blow.

"Minato, you..."

"One moment, Lord Hokage."

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could finish, Minato raised a hand, cutting him off.

He looked down at Danzo's corpse, created a Wood Clone with a wave of his hand, and then teleported his original body several dozen meters away.

The crowd watched Minato's actions in confusion.

On the field, the Wood Clone stepped forward and reached out to tear the bandages from Danzo's severed head!

But before he could touch the target, Danzo's corpse slowly dissipated like a reflection in water.

The Danzo who had been beheaded by Minato just seconds ago appeared back on the field, completely unscathed!

No, that wasn't quite right.

Minato's gaze swept over the bloodstains on Danzo's face; judging by his appearance, Izanagi could not rewrite injuries sustained before the technique was activated. That was good news.

"Haa... haa..."

Danzo stared at Minato, who stood dozens of meters away, his heart filled with sheer terror.

He could not fathom how Minato had realized he wasn't dead.

"This is impossible... how did you know?"

"What on earth is going on?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi furrowed his brows, looking at Danzo with suspicion and shock.

The moment he saw Danzo resurrect, he had instinctively disrupted the flow of chakra within his body, yet he found no signs of being under a genjutsu.

"This should be... the Izanagi of the Uchiha clan, right? I recall it being recorded in the clan's ancient texts."

Tsunade's expression was grim: "This guy must have transplanted a Sharingan from the Uchiha."

"I see, a forbidden technique of the Uchiha..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi understood immediately.

Although Izanagi was a forbidden Uchiha technique, it was not exactly a secret; during the Warring States period, the Uchiha clan had relied on this technique to act arrogantly for quite some time.

The Sarutobi clan was also a ninja clan that had survived from the Warring States period, so naturally, they had records of this technique as well.

Danzo cast a cold glance at Tsunade, surprised that she had identified his trump card at a single glance, though considering her identity, it was hardly unexpected.

He had only learned of this technique by chance, tracing back to the battle between the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha at the Valley of the End.

In that battle, the First Hokage had emerged victorious, while Madara had ended up dead as the loser, his body falling into the hands of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

As the corpse of a powerhouse who had awakened the Mangekyo, the Second Hokage naturally would not let such excellent research material go to waste.

However, out of respect for his friend, the First Hokage had never allowed the Second to conduct research on it.

After the First Hokage passed away, the Second had not yet had the chance to study it before the First Shinobi World War broke out.

Later, the Second sacrificed himself to cover the retreat of his subordinates, having appointed Hiruzen Sarutobi as the Third Hokage before doing so.

But... they were all too young at the time.

Having just ascended to the position of Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi lacked the strength and prestige to command absolute authority, forcing him to rely on the help of friends like them.

It was precisely during that time that he came into contact with the experimental base left behind by the Second Hokage.

At the same time, he discovered something—Madara Uchiha's body was missing!

As the captain of an Anbu division at the time, he dared not hide it and immediately reported the matter to the newly appointed Third Hokage.

The two had once suspected that the Uchiha clan had stolen Madara's body, and for this reason, they had tightened their surveillance of the Uchiha, until he learned of the existence of the technique known as Izanagi...

At that moment, he had felt a chill run down his spine; his scalp had nearly burst from fear!

Yet, as years passed without a single word of Madara, he couldn't help but suspect that the man might have long since died of old age, which led him to focus his attention back on the Uchiha clan.

In the end, he obtained the eye that could grant a person a second life from an old friend...

"But how did that boy notice?"

Utatane Koharu was puzzled; it wasn't just Danzo who wanted to know—she was deeply curious herself.

"Minato is a sensory-type ninja, and my family has some records regarding the Uchiha. Given his intelligence, it shouldn't be hard for him to guess," Tsunade said, casually making excuses for Minato.

In truth, she had no idea how Minato had figured it out, but she didn't care.

The unwillingness in Danzo's eyes was almost tangible.

He had nearly forgotten that the boy lived at Tsunade's house, where the ancient ninjutsu scrolls preserved by the Senju Clan were available for him to read and practice almost without restriction.

With such talent and such conditions, why couldn't he have been mine?!

"That is enough, Danzo."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice, "Attacking fellow villagers is unforgivable. I have already warned you before: do not continue to make mistake after mistake!"

"Hmph, even now, Hiruzen, do you still not see it?"

Danzo sneered, "This genius you place such high hopes in is nothing but a starving wolf in sheep's clothing, feigning innocence to lead everyone around by the nose!"

As he spoke, he pointed to the corpses littering the ground and the mere three or four Root ninjas remaining.

"Do you see these bodies? In the single minute before you arrived, he slaughtered almost the entire Root force single-handedly! He has been hiding his true strength all along!"

"If your brain is sick, go see a doctor!"

Tsunade scoffed, "What ninja doesn't hide their strength? Those who don't know how to hide their strength are already dead!"

Utatane Koharu sighed, "Indeed, there is no point in making such unreasonable arguments."

Danzo ignored them both, staring fixedly at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Minato remained silent, watching the scene quietly, curious about how Hiruzen Sarutobi would react.

With his absolute crushing superiority in stats, let alone one Danzo, even if the Third and the others attacked together, they wouldn't be able to stop him.

Furthermore, the Wood Clone he had just separated was continuously releasing Spores.

Between his sensory abilities and the Spore tracking, there was not a single chance for Danzo to escape.

Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi, Minato made up his mind: if the man dared to shield Danzo, he would immediately declare, "The inherently evil Cloud Village spy dared to bewitch the Hokage-sama, I shall now..."

Fortunately, Hiruzen Sarutobi still possessed his reason.

"So what if he did?"

After a brief silence, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed imperceptibly, his heart filled with disappointment.

He had never once thought Minato was simple.

Whether it was his wariness toward the higher-ups, the way he deliberately set traps to send his classmates to the hospital, or the act of forcing his hand just now, all of it was enough to prove that the boy was not as simple as he appeared.

But... so what?