Danzo's Betrayal

"Leave Shisui to me. Don't look into his eyes."

After warning them, Ensei Uchiha formed hand seals and used the Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, blocking Black Zetsu's escape route.

Seeing this, Kushina Uzumaki noticed Shimura Danzō being brutalized by the two puppets nearby and prepared to go seal him.

But as she approached, she caught a whiff of an overwhelmingly foul stench.

"This is... the smell of a corpse. Danzō, the body you're using for Impure World Reincarnation must be almost completely rotten by now."

Kushina quickly guessed Danzō's current state. How could a jutsu that summoned the dead from the underworld, like Impure World Reincarnation, have no side effects?

Danzō had just had his head blown off by Zero Three, which resembled Hashirama Senju, and was slowly regenerating.

Clearly, even without a head, Danzō's Impure World Reincarnation body could still hear Kushina's words.

"That bastard Monkey has already sent out the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"

Once his body had mostly recovered, Danzō leapt out of the encirclement formed by Zero One and Zero Three.

"Though they're only imitations, being able to fight these two is something to be grateful for."

Danzō spoke with some feeling, then summoned Baku.

His Impure World Reincarnation body didn't even have blood, yet he could still use the Summoning Technique. It was undeniably strange.

Working with his Summoned Beast Baku's Wind Release, Danzō used ninjutsu to temporarily suppress the enemies before him, then stood beside Shisui Uchiha, who was being controlled by Black Zetsu.

Meanwhile, Ensei's Shadow Clone was already close to exhausting its ocular power.

The Shadow Clone technique was, in a nutshell, a way to divide one's Chakra equally.

But Shadow Clones could only bear a limited amount of ocular power. Eighty percent of Ensei's strength now came from the immense Byakugan power within him.

It was perfectly normal that his Shadow Clone couldn't beat Shisui.

"You stink! Danzō, can't you get farther away?"

Ensei smelled the foul stench and couldn't help frowning.

Though it was only a Shadow Clone, the unpleasant memories would be passed on to his original body, so Ensei was already thinking of retreating.

But with Black Zetsu, that old schemer, around, Ensei didn't dare recklessly dispel his Shadow Clone.

After all, when a Shadow Clone was dispelled, its Chakra returned to the original body. Who knew whether Black Zetsu might tamper with it somehow?

The odds were low, but Ensei wasn't willing to take the risk.

So he used the ocular power within his Shadow Clone to protect himself as best he could. Inevitably, though, this meant he was burning through too much ocular power and wouldn't be able to defeat his opponent anytime soon.

But that was all right. Ensei sensed faint fluctuations nearby, immediately abandoned his fight with Black Zetsu, and used the Body Flicker Technique to get away.

The next moment, another Ensei appeared nearby, accompanied by a petite calico cat.

Four dazzling red barriers appeared with them, along with numerous members of the Uchiha Clan.

Seeing this, Black Zetsu knew the opportunity had passed and began looking for a way to escape.

Unexpectedly, Danzō, who had been standing beside him all along, suddenly switched sides.

Danzō pressed one hand against the dark half of Shisui's body. Flame-like markings began to spread across Black Zetsu.

It was the Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal. Danzō had clearly become quite proficient with this Sealing Jutsu.

In an instant, Black Zetsu was completely unable to move.

Seeing this, Ensei's heart stirred. He hurriedly called out to Kushina, "Seize the chance and seal Black Zetsu! Use your strongest Sealing Jutsu!"

After speaking, Ensei took a white object from his pocket and placed it in his palm.

At his words, Kushina didn't hesitate. Enduring the stench coming from Danzō, she went straight to Shisui.

She gave Danzō a couple of odd looks, then formed sealing marks with both hands and pressed them against either side of Shisui and Black Zetsu.

These were two different seals. Naturally, she used the Four Symbols Seal on Black Zetsu. Although it wasn't the strongest seal, it was the most powerful one she could use quickly at that moment.

The seal she used on Shisui was merely a jutsu that restricted his Chakra and movement.

Just as the seals were about to take effect, a massive green Chakra appeared out of nowhere, blasting Danzō and Kushina away from Shisui.

At the same time, a skeletal claw mercilessly reached out to grab Kushina.

Facing this attack, Kushina activated her Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak without hesitation. But at that critical moment, the feeling that her body was no longer under her control came over her again.

This time, however, it wasn't Shisui's Kotoamatsukami. It was a wisp of black substance that had silently slipped into Kushina's body.

Ensei noticed this and became much more wary of Black Zetsu. He wouldn't provoke Black Zetsu without Six Paths-level strength.

So Black Zetsu could use his body like that!

As Ensei marveled at the sight, the green Susanoo's skeletal claw mercilessly pierced Kushina's body, tearing away nearly half of it.

Watching from the sidelines, Ensei couldn't help sighing.

"Izanagi... Release!"

At Ensei's words, the scene faded like an illusion, revealing two entirely different realities.

In the original reality, Kushina had failed to seal them, and Black Zetsu had controlled Shisui into using Susanoo, turning the tables with a surprise attack.

But the reality before them now was that Kushina had successfully sealed Shisui and Black Zetsu.

Izanagi was the strongest genjutsu. Its target wasn't the enemy, but the entire world!

"Don't go near Black Zetsu..."

Just as Kushina was about to reinforce the seal, Ensei suddenly warned her.

Kushina froze at his words, then obediently took two steps back, avoiding the strand of black thread extending from Black Zetsu.

"Ensei Uchiha... We'll meet again."

Black Zetsu's shadow-like body slid off Shisui and sank into the ground, disappearing.

Ensei used the Byakugan's ability to see through everything to observe in secret, but in the end, he couldn't find a trace of Black Zetsu.

It was as if Black Zetsu had vanished the moment he entered the earth.

In truth, Black Zetsu had no space-time abilities. He was simply exceptionally skilled at hiding.

He had managed to escape right under the noses of Hagoromo Otsutsuki and Hamura Otsutsuki. It was only natural that he could evade the Byakugan's scrutiny.

At the same time, back at home, Ensei's original body used Zero-Two Model's malice detection to mark a presence with very faint malice in purple.

Though Black Zetsu had escaped, Ensei hadn't come away empty-handed.

At the very least, he had confirmed that ordinary Sealing Jutsu didn't work on Black Zetsu, and that the Nine-Tails Chakra's ability to distinguish good from evil worked on him.

The Nine-Tails truly was the most unusual of the Tailed Beasts.

As for Black Zetsu, he had accomplished everything he'd set out to do on this trip. He had successfully uncovered some of Ensei Uchiha's secrets.

So, could this be called a win-win?