Arrival

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Several sharp gusts flew out from the forest, killing several Kumogakure shinobi who had failed to dodge in the blink of an eye.

Danzo leaped out of the woods. Within a few jumps, he had already killed an unknown number of Kumogakure shinobi.

"It's Lord Danzo!"

"Lord Danzo is back!"

Everyone from Konoha immediately noticed Danzo's figure and began cheering.

Their somewhat stagnant morale finally began to rise.

Mito Hiroichi gave Danzo a complicated look. While relieved, he also felt somewhat unwilling to accept it.

Danzo raced across the battlefield. Most shinobi could not harm him even with ordinary ninja tools in hand; his body was now as hard as bronze.

"Danzo?"

Darui stopped Samui, who had been about to charge out. He stared wide-eyed at the young figure. This was clearly the Konoha jonin Yugito had chased away earlier.

What was going on?

"Don't look for Yugito. Gather our people as quickly as possible. If I can't capture Danzo, retreat," Darui quickly instructed Samui.

Without another thought, Darui leaped up and charged toward Danzo, forcefully suppressing the bad feeling in his heart.

Although most people had noticed Danzo's appearance on the battlefield, few were near him.

Right now, Danzo was surrounded entirely by Kumogakure shinobi. Regardless of where Yugito had gone, capturing Danzo first was the priority.

Because of Kirigakure's interference, they had already been at a numerical disadvantage. If they had not brought Yugito, Darui would have wanted to abandon this support mission long ago.

A Jinchuriki was crucial on the battlefield, yet he had never expected Yugito, who possessed jonin-level strength, to be so inexperienced that she would be so easily lured away from the battle zone.

His eyes filled with Killing Intent stared straight at Danzo. The crackling arcs of electricity flashing across Darui's body showed his determination.

Danzo remained expressionless as Darui charged toward him.

People were continuously rushing toward him from all around. What a pity A Kai was not here; otherwise, he probably would have intercepted Darui already.

However, with Brass Body already activated, Danzo was not afraid of Darui.

He fiercely swung his long blade. The swelling Wind Style Chakra within his body materialized along its edge, producing a piercing hum.

Clang—

The two blades collided, and Danzo's Wind Style Chakra firmly suppressed the electric arcs around Darui's blade.

The lethality and shocking effect brought by Lightning Style Chakra failed to show themselves properly under Danzo's suppression.

"Wind Style transformation taken to the extreme!"

Darui's pupils contracted. He had not expected Danzo's mastery of Wind Style to have reached such a profound level.

He knew Danzo's Chakra nature was wind, and Wind Style restrained Lightning Style. But since Darui had dared to ambush Danzo, he naturally had confidence in himself.

With the use of a secret technique, Darui could temporarily enhance his own attributes.

The Chakra natures countered one another. Even though water restrained fire, as long as one's mastery of Fire Style was refined enough, it could still evaporate water in turn.

But he had not expected Danzo to have mastered Wind Style to such an extreme.

That was almost impossible.

A ninja's life was limited. Given limited time, most shinobi chose to develop multiple natures. Sarutobi Hiruzen, for example, was proficient in all five elemental transformations.

"You reacted quickly enough. You knew the situation was lost and wanted to capture me to threaten the entire force." Danzo looked at him calmly, casually flexing his hand.

That strike had numbed his palm.

The Yotsuki Clan truly possessed tremendous strength. Even after two Strength Amplifications, Danzo was still somewhat weaker than Darui in raw power when he had not triggered a Critical Hit.

"Enough nonsense. Where is Yugito?" Darui snapped, his hands never stopping as he continued slashing at Danzo.

Strike after strike, Danzo silently raised his blade to block Darui's attacks.

Without Swift Step, Danzo's speed could only match Darui's. But he was not in a hurry. While blocking Darui's attacks, he said leisurely, "The Two-Tails Jinchuriki. Kumogakure is certainly willing to spend lavishly. Aren't you afraid of losing such an important weapon?"

With victory assured, he only needed to withstand the other man's attacks and wait for the surrounding Konoha shinobi to come support him.

"Old bastard, you'd better hand Yugito over, or I'll make sure you die here today!" Darui said viciously, his eyes blazing.

Who couldn't make threats like that?

Danzo muttered inwardly, then said in a mocking tone, "Young people should learn to see themselves clearly. You know exactly what you're capable of, so don't say such exaggerated things just to encourage yourself."

Combined with Danzo's faintly smiling expression, those words looked unbearably irritating to Darui.

The fury in his heart surged upward.

There was still a long time before the events of the original story. Darui currently only possessed the strength and qualifications to command a squad, but he lacked sufficient maturity and composure.

He was unlike the Darui of the original work, who appeared lazy but remained unflustered in all matters.

At this point, Darui was still young and hot-blooded. At Danzo's provocation, he was ready to explode like a firecracker.

"Die!"

With a roar, the blue electric arcs around Darui crackled as they turned black. The muscles of his upper body bulged and directly burst apart his clothes.

His bronze-colored skin gleamed somewhat dazzlingly beneath the sunlight.

This... was he stripping because he couldn't win?

Danzo smacked his lips. He had not expected something that happened so often to anime protagonists to unfold right before his eyes. Unfortunately, Darui was not the protagonist, and Danzo was not the villain.

Without hesitation, while this guy seemed to be undergoing some kind of transformation, Danzo directly swung his blade to teach him how cruel the world could be.

But to his surprise, the slash passed straight through Darui's body.

An afterimage?!

Danzo's pupils contracted as a sharp pain came from his arm. He twisted sharply and dodged.

Where he had been standing, Darui was sneering as he withdrew his hand.

His palm stood upright, four fingers held together like weapons and gleaming with cold light. Crimson blood dripped from his fingertips.

His entire body was covered in Black Lightning, every strand of hair standing on end. If not for the black glow surrounding him, Danzo might have thought the Yotsuki Clan actually possessed Saiyan blood.

Danzo frowned and looked at the four bloody gashes across his arm.

If he had not dodged quickly, that attack would have crippled his arm.

"I didn't expect you to inherit the Third Raikage's Black Lightning, or to have learned his Four Finger Spear Hand as well." Danzo praised him sincerely, while trying to stall for time.

After unleashing his power, Darui's speed had begun to surpass his.

"If you hand Yugito over now, I can consider sparing your life," Darui said with a sneer.

Danzo considered it, but instead of answering, he said, "Actually, I rather admire your Third Raikage. He held back ten thousand Iwagakure shinobi by himself."

"Every achievement Lord Third Raikage made in life was Kumogakure's glory," Darui replied without thinking.

However, the moment he finished speaking, several swift figures launched surprise attacks at him from every direction.

"You were stalling for time?"