Elsewhere, although the two did their utmost to control their emotions, the violent heaving of their chests gave the truth away.
Uchiha Chen caught it all with his keen eyes.
At first, he'd still been uncertain whether Danzo was responsible.
Before, blaming Shimura Danzō for everything had simply been his habitual assumption.
After all, as the fifth-and-a-half-generation "Pot Kage," Danzo was always a safe choice to pin the blame on.
Now, however, the signs before him undoubtedly proved his guess was right.
As for the reason, it no longer mattered.
In Uchiha Chen's eyes, Shimura Danzō had already become a tool to vent his anger on once he was no longer useful. And when the time came, death would probably be the lightest punishment awaiting him.
At that thought, Uchiha Chen gave the two men before him a sly smile and said coldly, "Thank you for telling me this really was Danzo's doing.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to 'treat' him well in the future.
"To thank you, I'll personally send you on your way."
With that, he stepped forward and reached for a kunai, ready to end their lives.
But just as he approached, the situation suddenly took a shocking turn!
Perhaps they saw that the distance between them had closed enough. The two gravely wounded men exchanged a glance, then ignored their injuries and endured the agony as they tore off the tattered clothes that had long since fused with their flesh.
In an instant, blood sprayed everywhere, blossoming in the air like a flower.
They forced out the last trace of chakra in their bodies and spread it throughout themselves.
Then a shocking sight unfolded: black sealing patterns gradually surfaced on their blood-soaked bodies. Like mysterious talismans, the patterns emanated an ominous aura.
Uchiha Chen, standing some distance away, saw it all. His expression instantly turned grave as a thought flashed through his mind—he recognized Danzo's signature sealing jutsu!
The trump card Danzo had used in the original story when he fought Sasuke Uchiha: the Reverse Four-Symbols Sealing Technique, which had sealed an entire bridge at the cost of his life.
Though it hadn't managed to seal anyone, it had at least forced Uchiha Obito and Sasuke Uchiha to flee in disarray.
Uchiha Chen knew how powerful the technique was, and immediately retreated.
Fortunately, the sealing jutsu activated rather slowly, giving Uchiha Chen time to escape.
But just as Uchiha Chen had barely made it out of danger, he suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold coming from every direction.
He whipped around in shock and saw that the thick, ink-black seals on the two men were gradually merging!
Then, their voices rang out in unison: "Double Reverse Four-Symbols Sealing Technique!"
Before the words had even faded, the seals—which had been slow and limited in range—merged into one. Their speed and reach both multiplied.
In the blink of an eye, Uchiha Chen was caught inside the sudden seal.
Seeing that he was about to be sealed, Uchiha Chen could no longer contain his anger and began cursing furiously.
Far away, the two men heard his curses and finally smiled for the first time since the battle began.
To them, eliminating a powerful enemy for Lord Danzo before they died was an unparalleled honor.
As the seal activated, a massive transparent barrier spread outward at astonishing speed, covering the surrounding area for hundreds of meters.
When the sealing was complete, the barrier instantly contracted, sucking in the shattered earth, the dry branches, and Uchiha Chen, who had been trapped inside.
All that remained was a smooth, enormous crater and the two battered corpses within it.
Once everything had gradually settled, a figure slowly appeared at the edge of the barrier. The newcomer moved lightly, gazing at the terrifying scene before him and clicking his tongue as he shook his head.
"That old dog Danzo actually sent two such powerful assassins to take my life. That's quite a surprise!"
As his voice faded, the figure gradually emerged in the sunlight where the sealing technique had cleared everything away.
Astonishingly, it was Uchiha Chen, the very person who had just been sealed!
As it turned out, after the Majestic Destroyer Flame ended, cautious Uchiha Chen had once again used the Shadow Clone Technique and quietly sent his real body away amid the flames.
After all, if his guess was right, the two men had probably been sent by Danzo, and they might have some sort of last-ditch measure hidden on them.
To make sure he stayed safe, he decided to send his Shadow Clone to test them first.
As expected, both men had the Reverse Four-Symbols Sealing Technique placed on them.
The identity of the mastermind was now clear.
Uchiha Chen didn't mind that the sealed Shadow Clone had vanished without transmitting any information back.
After all, the sealing jutsu itself was proof enough.
The angrier Uchiha Chen got, the more he wanted to kill himself right then and use Izanagi to revive, then immediately cast Kotoamatsukami on Danzo and vent his anger to his heart's content.
But when he thought of Uchiha Izumi anxiously waiting in the cave, he could only suppress his fury for now and add another mark against Danzo in his mind.
After all, the Root's location was extremely well hidden. Uchiha Chen hadn't gone out of his way to investigate and didn't know where it was. Besides, even if he did, he couldn't just break in.
Though he was powerful now, and Izanagi meant he could almost never die, he still wasn't a peerless warrior like Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara, capable of sweeping across the world.
So, for now, he could only rely on Kotoamatsukami to gradually control everyone.
As his thoughts wandered, the fury that had surged inside Uchiha Chen gradually subsided.
To ensure no trace of what had happened was discovered, he completely destroyed the two corpses and erased every trace. Then, after using nearly all his chakra, he employed his still-unpracticed Earth Release Technique to fill in the enormous crater, which was hundreds of meters deep.
After completing these tedious but necessary cleanup tasks, he hurried to the cave to free Uchiha Izumi.
After all, the fierce battle and the subsequent cleanup of the battlefield had already taken quite some time. Now that everything was over, he needed to let her out as soon as possible.
As Uchiha Chen quickly formed hand seals and began undoing the jutsu sealing the cave entrance, a small figure appeared not far away—at the place where Uchiha Chen and Uchiha Izumi had first been attacked.
The person stared at the lava, now completely cooled, and covered her mouth with one hand. Her eyes brimmed with tears, as if she had seen something unbearably despairing and suffocating. Her body slowly crumpled to the ground despite herself.
But just as she was about to break down completely, almost unable to stop herself from bursting into tears, an extremely powerful chakra surge and a tremendous explosion came from a distant place.
The figure that had crumpled to the ground suddenly seemed to realize something. Her expression of sorrow instantly turned to joy.
She quickly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, then rose without hesitation and sprinted in the direction of the sound.