The Break

At 9:50 p.m., in the hidden passage inside Kage Rock.

"Remember, when you make your move, try to make the fight as dramatic as possible. Make it look like you and the Third Hokage fought fiercely and both ended up seriously injured." Shiraishi stood beside Danzo and gave him a reminder.

"Of course I understand!" Danzo was very unhappy with Shiraishi treating him like a child.

He was the Darkness of the Shinobi World of Konoha, Shimura Danzō!

Shiraishi held out his right hand, palm up. 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 fight the Third Hokage, wave the banner, and I'll help you complete the reincarnation," Shiraishi continued.

Danzo took the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. The moment it touched his hand, he felt a bone-chilling cold. Thousands of Ghost Spirits howled with resentment in his mind, and his consciousness wavered.

Shiraishi patted Danzo on the shoulder, dispelling the banner's influence over him. "Someone's coming. I'll withdraw first."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shiraishi used the most basic of the Five Elemental Escape Techniques and vanished into the earth beneath his feet.

Danzo stared at the Ten Thousand Soul Banner in his hand, full of wariness. That sensation had been truly horrifying. The banner seemed to contain a realm of the dead, its chill seeping into his bones.

Footsteps approached. Danzo gathered his thoughts, tucked the banner into an inner pocket of his clothes, then turned to look behind him.

In the dim light, a shadow fell across the passage wall. As the footsteps drew nearer, the shadow grew shorter.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing a Hokage robe with a pipe between his lips, came into view.

Ahem, ahem!

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a few dry coughs. He stopped about a meter in front of Danzo and took the pipe from his mouth.

"Danzo, what exactly did you want to tell me here?" Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his old friend. Trusting the bond they had built over decades, and confident in his own strength, he had come alone, just as Danzo had requested.

"Hiruzen, do you remember what Teacher Tobirama said to us at the end, in the Land of Lightning?" A trace of nostalgia appeared in Danzo's eyes. If things hadn't come to this, if he'd had any other choice, he truly wouldn't have wanted to turn against his old friend.

"Danzo, we're both old now. Some things should be let go. The future belongs to the young." Hiruzen Sarutobi knew what Danzo was fixated on.

Back then, he had been the first to volunteer to stay behind, and Teacher Tobirama had chosen to pass the Hokage Position to him.

That had haunted Danzo all his life. He always felt he'd lost the Hokage Position simply because he'd been a moment too late.

But some chances, once missed, were gone forever.

"Hiruzen, I didn't call you here to waste time!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's words had struck a nerve, and Danzo's tone grew heated. "I called you here to tell you that we can't negotiate with Iwagakure! They have no sincerity whatsoever! If you're willing to keep fighting, you won't have to step down. You can remain Hokage!"

Danzo stared straight at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his gaze as sharp as a blade. This was the last chance he would give his comrade.

"No! The village can't bear the losses of war any longer." Hiruzen Sarutobi met Danzo's gaze just as firmly and refused outright.

"Fine! Then why can't Orochimaru be the next Hokage? Why choose Minato Namikaze, who's barely in his twenties?" Danzo pressed on.

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

Orochimaru was Hiruzen Sarutobi's favorite student, the one he had believed in most. If he hadn't been left with no choice, he would never have given up on the mature Orochimaru in favor of the young Minato Namikaze.

After two consecutive Shinobi World wars and the deaths of those around him, compounded by Danzo's influence, Orochimaru's heart had begun to sink into darkness.

Under the circumstances, Hiruzen Sarutobi simply couldn't trust him with the village.

"What did Orochimaru do wrong?" Danzo shot back, as if he had every right to.

"Enough, Danzo! Do you think I don't know about those forbidden experiments you and Orochimaru have been conducting?" Hiruzen Sarutobi finally laid everything out in the open.

Hearing this, Danzo didn't panic at being exposed, nor did he show the slightest shame. Instead, he began to laugh.

"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"

Danzo laughed as if venting his frustrations, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grew darker by the moment.

"Hiruzen, your most beloved student turned out like this. It must be painful for you!"

"Danzo!" Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted furiously.

Danzo's laughter subsided, and he spoke with a grave expression. "Fine, Hiruzen! Now that we've laid everything bare tonight, I don't want to waste any more words."

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

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

Danzo's resolute words made Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils contract. He looked at Danzo in disbelief, unable to accept that he had truly gone this far.

"You're committing treason?" Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded, shocked and furious.

"I challenge you! Defeat me, kill me, and no one will oppose you again." Danzo spoke calmly.

"How did we ever come to this, Danzo?" Hiruzen Sarutobi could hardly accept it.

"Make your move!" Danzo urged.

With that, Danzo drew a Kunai from his waist and held it before him, making his stance clear.

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a heavy sigh and slowly removed his Hokage robe, revealing the full suit of armor beneath.

"Did you already guess, Monkey?" Danzo smiled at the sight.

"I was only taking precautions," Hiruzen Sarutobi explained.

"Come on, Monkey! Let's see how much of your strength you still have after all these years." Danzo raised his voice.

"I really don't want to fight you, Danzo." Hiruzen Sarutobi made one final attempt.

The sound of something cutting through the air rang out. Two Shuriken flew toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped backward to evade them, then rapidly formed hand seals and spat out a blazing fireball.

Fire Release: Great Flame Technique.

Danzo used the Body Flicker Technique to dart forward and avoid the fireball. After forming hand seals, he exhaled several air bullets imbued with the nature transformation of Wind Release.

Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere.

The battle between the two had begun.

At the entrance to the passage, Shiraishi, who was guarding the door, saw Minato arrive.

When he saw Minato, Shiraishi said, "They're fighting."

Minato nodded. He had already sensed the changes in Chakra within the Anbu.

"I'll go stop them right now."

Minato's voice was still ringing in Shiraishi's ears when he vanished from sight.

Seeing this, Shiraishi smiled and sent a message to Danzo through his spiritual sense.

"Minato Namikaze is here."

At the warning, Danzo's expression tightened, and he formed hand seals again.

Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere.

A massive wind sphere, larger than an adult, shot from Danzo's mouth, taking up nearly a third of the passage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't dare be careless. He spewed a vast torrent of mud, completely shielding himself behind it.

The wind sphere slammed into the mud wall and exploded. The gale burst in every direction, indiscriminately slicing apart and destroying everything around it.

Seizing the opportunity, Danzo pulled out the Ten Thousand Soul Banner and began to wave it.

Bone-chilling black mist surged from the banner, gradually swallowing the entire passage.

Minato Namikaze arrived just in time to see the black mist completely engulf Danzo and the Third Hokage.

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