Kakashi's Death

At the edge of the Konoha Ruins.

Shimura Danzō appeared with a large force from Root.

"Even Jiraiya lost. I never expected that."

"Uchiha Shadian is the greatest evil of the Uchiha Clan. Find him and kill him while he's weak."

Shimura Danzō narrowed his eyes and spoke with a sinister expression.

Having caused such immense destruction to Konoha, Shimura Danzō could hardly wait to take Uchiha Shadian's eyes and claim his ocular power for himself.

Wasn't that why he had ambushed Shisui Uchiha in the first place—to obtain his powerful ocular power?!

For the sake of his ambitions, Shimura Danzō would pay any price.

Even with Konoha destroyed, his heart remained utterly unmoved. In his eyes, as long as he possessed power, he could rebuild a village like this whenever he wished.

"Fight! It would be best if you killed Hiruzen Sarutobi. Then I can swoop in and reap the rewards." The corners of Shimura Danzō's grim mouth curled upward slightly, as though he could already see the day he ruled the Shinobi World.

He had coveted the position of Naruto for a long time. If he could use tonight's chaos to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi, it would be perfect. Not only could he gather a large number of Sharingan, but he could also remove the stumbling block on his path to becoming Naruto. Killing two birds with one stone.

"It looks like we need to end this quickly." After learning that Konoha had become ruins, Hiruzen Sarutobi was deeply anxious. Unlike Shimura Danzō, who had no attachments in Konoha, he had an entire family here! With Konoha destroyed, his family assets had suffered enormous losses. He wondered whether his precious grandson had been injured.

"He's running low on chakra. Everyone, attack together. We must kill him." Hiruzen Sarutobi gave the order, deciding to use lives to wear Izuna Uchiha down before killing him. They could not let him drag this out any longer.

After killing Izuna Uchiha, they had to hurry back to support Konoha and find his precious grandson.

Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, countless Konoha ninja swarmed toward Izuna Uchiha and the Nine-Tails like locusts.

Izuna Uchiha raised a brow. In their earlier battle, Itachi Uchiha had used Susanoo against him, draining a considerable amount of his chakra and ocular power. Now they were resorting to human-wave tactics too. It was rather suffocating. If only I had awakened the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

If he had awakened the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he could use his ocular power almost without limit, maintain Susanoo all the way through, and sweep them aside.

Kakashi charged at Izuna Uchiha first. Though his left arm had been severed, the medical ninja had already stopped the bleeding. Moreover, after the successive battles, his chakra had recovered through Soldier Pills and rest.

"He really is a genius with the sword." Watching Kakashi charge ahead, Izuna Uchiha sighed. During their clashes, he had clearly sensed Kakashi's swordsmanship improving. Though Kakashi had lost an arm to him, he remained stubbornly resilient—far stronger than an ordinary jonin.

"What a pity." Though Izuna Uchiha admired Kakashi, their positions were opposed. He could only strike without mercy.

Izuna Uchiha pushed off with both feet and dove from the Nine-Tails' head toward Kakashi at incredible speed. "Do you think you've driven me into a corner? You still dare charge at me? Before the power of the Uchiha, any genius is nothing but trash. No matter how many of you come, you will never make me retreat even half a step."

"So fast!" Kakashi frowned, gripping his sword as his gaze locked firmly onto Izuna Uchiha's attack trajectory.

"Body Flicker Technique." Just as he was about to reach Kakashi, Izuna Uchiha's figure suddenly split into countless forms that scattered in all directions, closing in around Kakashi.

"The leaves didn't pass through their bodies. They're all solid." Kakashi's pupils widened. He had noticed that when the leaves swept into the air struck Izuna Uchiha's afterimages, they did not pass through them. That meant every afterimage diving toward him was a Shadow Clone—a physical entity.

"This Body Flicker Technique operates on the same principle as Shisui Uchiha's. It can't be stopped." The thought flashed through Kakashi's mind in an instant.

With his current strength, he could not stop this move.

"I showed you mercy earlier. Since you charged at me again, then I'm sorry." A flash of sword light swept past Kakashi's neck along with the voice.

Splat!

The blade flashed, and blood instantly gushed from Kakashi's neck.

"Kakashi!" Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted. As an Anbu captain, Kakashi had been one of his strongest fighters. Losing Kakashi meant losing one of his greatest generals.

"Captain," Itachi Uchiha called out heavily. Back in the Anbu, Kakashi had been the captain who led him.

Itachi Uchiha rose from where he had been resting. To resist Izuna Uchiha's Susanoo-Wrapped Nine-Tails, he had expended even more ocular power than Izuna Uchiha. So after working with the other ninja to disperse Izuna Uchiha's Susanoo-Wrapped Nine-Tails, he had withdrawn to rest.

"Stand down, Itachi. Let the others wear him down first. Find the right opportunity and give him a fatal strike." Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped Itachi Uchiha, who was about to enter the battle against Izuna Uchiha.

Kakashi had already died, and Jiraiya's fate was still unknown. They could not lose Itachi Uchiha as well. Otherwise, he would have no Kage-level experts left under his command.

Hearing this, Itachi Uchiha nodded and retreated behind the formation. He looked back in Konoha's direction and murmured in a voice only he could hear, "Is the village already gone? Then does my protection still have any meaning? Uncle, what exactly are you still planning? Can you still revive the others? Father, Mother, and Sasuke... what should I choose?"

Uchiha Shadian's actions had disrupted every one of his plans.

If not for Uchiha Shadian, he would already have left the village with the man claiming to be Madara Uchiha. As an S-rank rogue ninja, he would have protected Sasuke and Konoha from the shadows.

But now, everything had been thrown into chaos.

After this battle, Konoha had suffered devastating losses. Not only had its fighting strength been severely damaged, but its headquarters had been completely destroyed.

With its strength weakened, those villages that bore grudges against Konoha would surely send ninja to invade the Land of Fire and wage war against it once they caught wind of this.

That would inevitably trigger the Fourth Great Ninja War.

Uchiha Shadian brought Rin Nohara to the top of a large tree and watched the battlefield.

"Senior Izuna is truly formidable! He's actually fighting a hundred enemies alone." Uchiha Shadian exclaimed. Several thousand Konoha ninja had gathered on the battlefield, taking turns in batches to wear down Izuna Uchiha and the Nine-Tails.

And throughout the process, Konoha ninja continued arriving from every direction to reinforce them. These were ninja who had hurried back to Konoha from missions outside.

It had to be said that Konoha's indoctrination was effective. Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, these ninja charged at the Nine-Tails and Izuna Uchiha without regard for their lives, like moths flying into flames.

"How tragic." Rin Nohara could barely bear to watch. She had experienced the Third Shinobi World War and knew the cruelty of war, yet she could not help but sigh at the brutal slaughter before her.

"You'll get used to it eventually," Uchiha Shadian said flatly.

He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing behind the main ninja force, and sighed inwardly that the old man was truly devious, always hiding in the rear to finish off the wounded.

Suddenly, the sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

A kunai infused with chakra shot toward Uchiha Shadian's position.