The smell of gunpowder from the Explosive Tags mixed with the pungent formaldehyde unique to an underground laboratory, forming a nauseating foul stench that burrowed straight into their nostrils.
Dozens of elite ANBU stepped over the collapsed rubble in synchronized clicks of their boots. Cold blades were drawn one after another, weaving a grim metallic net beneath the moonlight pouring through cracks in the ceiling. Behind animal masks of every kind were eyes filled with utter killing intent and vigilance.
Hiruzen Sarutobi carried a thick Golden Cudgel as he strode through the twisted alloy doors blasted out of shape.
The aged Hokage stepped onto the wreckage of collapsed laboratory tables. Night wind poured in from the surface, making his black combat uniform snap loudly. His gaze passed over the layers of ANBU and fixed directly on the center of the ruins.
In that instant, Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils contracted sharply, and veins bulged across the back of the hand gripping the iron staff.
It was too horrific.
His old friend, the same age as him, whom he had fought for half a lifetime and who had controlled Leaf Village's darkness for decades, now lay limp at Hyuga Xiao's feet like a pile of mud. Danzo's right arm, embedded with Sharingan, had become a lifeless piece of charred Withered Wood. No blood poured from the wound. Only nauseating green fluid mixed with black mucus dripped from his shriveled skin onto the cold stone floor, corroding it into hissing white smoke.
Danzo's huge, deformed body had completely withered. A massive bloody hole had been torn through his chest, exposing shattered pieces of his internal organs. Like a wild dog drained of moisture and with its spine snapped underfoot, he convulsed painfully on the ground.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's breathing grew heavy. He knew Danzo had