Severance

9:50 PM, inside the secret passage of the Hokage Rock.

"Remember, when you make your move later, try to make the commotion as large as possible. You need to fabricate a scene where you and the Third Hokage engaged in a fierce battle, leaving both of you severely wounded," Shiraishi said, standing beside Danzō and giving his instructions.

"This old man understands!" Danzō was quite dissatisfied with Shiraishi's attitude, as if he were treating him like a child.

He was the Darkness of Konoha, Shimura Danzō!

Shiraishi extended his right hand, palm facing upward, and a Ten Thousand Soul Banner, shrunk to the length of an adult's arm, appeared out of thin air in his palm.

"Take this. After you clash with the Third Hokage, shake the banner, and I will naturally assist you in completing the reincarnation," Shiraishi continued.

Danzō took the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. The moment it touched his hand, he felt a bone-chilling cold, and the shrieks of thousands of resentful ghosts echoed in his mind, causing his spirit to waver.

Shiraishi reached out and patted Danzō on the shoulder, dispelling the influence of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. "Someone is coming. I am retreating first."

As the words fell, Shiraishi utilized the most basic Five Elements Escape technique, vanishing into the earth beneath his feet.

Danzō looked at the Ten Thousand Soul Banner in his hand with wary eyes. The sensation just now was truly hair-raising; the banner in his hand seemed to contain a kingdom of the dead, eerie and bone-chilling.

Footsteps approached from afar. Danzō pulled himself together, tucked the Ten Thousand Soul Banner into the inner pocket of his clothes, and turned to look behind him.

Under the dim light, a shadow was cast on the wall of the passage, growing shorter as the footsteps drew nearer.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing his Hokage haori and with a pipe in his mouth, appeared in Danzō's line of sight.

Cough, cough!

Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed a few times, stopped about a meter in front of Danzō, and raised his hand to remove the pipe from his mouth.

"Danzō, you asked to meet me here—what exactly do you want to say?" Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his old friend. Out of trust built over decades and confidence in his own strength, he had come to the appointment alone, just as Danzō had requested.

"Hiruzen, do you still remember what Tobirama-sensei said to us last, back in the Land of Lightning?" A hint of nostalgia appeared in Danzō's eyes. If it hadn't come to this, if there had been any other choice, he truly would not have wanted to raise a hand against this old friend.

"Danzō, we are both old now. Some things should be let go; the future belongs to the young." Hiruzen Sarutobi knew what Danzō's obsession was.

Back then, he had been the first to volunteer to stay behind, and Tobirama-sensei had chosen to pass the position of Hokage to him.

This was the inner demon that had haunted Danzō his entire life. He always felt that he had only been one step behind, and that was why he had lost the position of Hokage.

But some things, once missed, are missed forever.

"Hiruzen, I didn't bring you here to talk nonsense!" Danzō was provoked by Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, his tone becoming intense. "I brought you here to tell you that we cannot negotiate with the Hidden Stone! They have no sincerity whatsoever! As long as you are willing to continue the fight, you won't have to step down, and you will still be the Hokage!"

Danzō stared straight at Hiruzen Sarutobi with eyes like blades; this was the final chance he was giving his comrade-in-arms.

"No! The village can no longer bear the losses of war." Hiruzen Sarutobi stared back at Danzō just as firmly, refusing him point-blank.

"Fine! Then why can't the candidate for the new Hokage be Orochimaru? Why choose a Minato Namikaze who is only in his early twenties?" Danzō continued to question him.

"The thing I regret most is sending Orochimaru to Root." Anger flickered in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.

Orochimaru was the disciple Hiruzen Sarutobi loved and valued the most. If it hadn't been a last resort, he would never have chosen to give up on the mature Orochimaru to turn toward the young Minato Namikaze.

Through two consecutive Great Ninja Wars, those around him had died one after another, and combined with Danzō's influence, Orochimaru's heart had already shown signs of falling into darkness.

Under such circumstances, Hiruzen Sarutobi truly could not feel at ease handing the village over to Orochimaru.

"What did Orochimaru do wrong?" Danzō retorted, his argument weak but his tone defiant.

"Enough, Danzō! Do you think I don't know about those forbidden experiments you and Orochimaru have been conducting?" Hiruzen Sarutobi finally laid his cards on the table.

Hearing this, Danzō showed no panic at being exposed, nor any shame; instead, he began to laugh.

Hahaha! Hahaha!

Danzō laughed as if venting, his laughter making Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grow increasingly grim.

"Hiruzen, your most beloved disciple turning out like this—you must be in a lot of pain!"

"Danzō!" Hiruzen Sarutobi barked angrily.

Danzō reined in his laughter and said with a serious expression, "Fine! Hiruzen! Since everything has been laid out tonight, I don't want to waste any more words with you."

"I, Shimura Danzō, do not recognize you as Hokage!"

"Tonight, I challenge you. Only one of us will walk out of this secret passage alive."

Danzō's resolute words caused Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils to tremble. He looked at Danzō, unwilling to accept it; he had never expected that Danzō would actually go this far.

"Are you rebelling?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in shock and anger.

"I am challenging you! Defeat me, kill me, and no one will ever oppose you again," Danzō said calmly.

"When did we reach this point, Danzō?" Hiruzen Sarutobi found it hard to accept.

"Make your move!" Danzō pressed.

Having said that, Danzō drew a kunai from his waist and held it horizontally in front of him, signaling his stance.

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a heavy sigh and slowly removed his Hokage haori, revealing the full battle armor he wore underneath.

"Had you already guessed it, Monkey?" Seeing this, Danzō smiled.

"This old man was just taking precautions." Hiruzen Sarutobi explained.

"Come on, Monkey! Let's see how much of your strength remains after all these years." Danzō raised his voice.

"I really don't want to raise a hand against you, Danzō." Hiruzen Sarutobi made one final effort.

A whistling sound tore through the air; the answer to Hiruzen Sarutobi was two shuriken flying straight at him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped backward, dodging the shuriken, and quickly formed hand seals, spitting a scorching fireball from his mouth.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.

Danzo flickered forward, evading the fireball, and after forming hand seals, spat out several air bullets imbued with wind nature transformation.

Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere.

The battle between the two officially began.

At the entrance to the secret passage, Shiraishi, who was standing guard, saw Minato Namikaze arrive.

Seeing Minato, Shiraishi spoke up: "They've started fighting."

Minato nodded; he had already sensed the fluctuations of chakra within the Anbu headquarters.

"I will go stop them at once."

Minato's voice still lingered in Shiraishi's ears, but the man had already vanished.

Seeing this, Shiraishi revealed a smile and used telepathy to transmit a message to Danzo.

"Minato Namikaze is here."

Receiving the warning, Danzo's expression tightened, and he formed seals once more.

Wind Style: Great Vacuum Sphere.

A massive wind sphere, larger than a grown man, flew from Danzo's mouth, occupying nearly a third of the passage's area.

Hiruzen Sarutobi dared not be negligent, spitting out a massive torrent of mud to completely shield himself.

The wind sphere slammed into the mud wall and exploded violently, sending gale-force winds scattering, ruthlessly slicing and destroying everything in the vicinity.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Danzo pulled out the Ten Thousand Soul Banner and began to wave it.

An icy, bone-chilling black mist surged from the banner, gradually swallowing the entire passage.

Minato Namikaze, who had just arrived, witnessed the black mist completely engulfing Danzo and the Third Hokage.

"Lord Hokage!" Minato Namikaze cried out urgently, charging into the black mist without a moment's hesitation.