Danzo's Betrayal

"I'll deal with Shisui. Don't look into his eyes."

After Uchiha Ensei gave the warning, he formed hand seals and unleashed the Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, blocking Black Zetsu's escape route.

Seeing this, Kushina Uzumaki noticed Shimura Danzō being ravaged by two puppets nearby and prepared to seal him.

But as she drew closer, she caught an incomparably foul stench.

"This is... the smell of a corpse. Danzo, the body you used for Impure World Reincarnation is nearly completely rotten, isn't it?"

Kushina Uzumaki quickly guessed Danzo's current condition. How could a ninjutsu that summoned the dead from the Pure Land possibly have no side effects?

At that moment, Danzo's head had just been blown apart by Zero-Three, who bore Hashirama Senju's likeness, and it was slowly regenerating.

And evidently, even without a head, Danzo's Impure World Reincarnation body could still hear Kushina Uzumaki's words.

"That monkey actually sent out the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki already?"

Once Shimura Danzō's body had mostly recovered, he leaped out of Zero-One and Zero-Three's encirclement.

"Even if they're only likenesses, being able to fight these two is still something worth celebrating."

Shimura Danzō spoke with some emotion, then summoned the Dream Tapir.

Clearly, an Impure World Reincarnation body did not even have blood, yet it could still use the Summoning Technique. It was undeniably strange.

Working with the Dream Tapir's Wind Release, Shimura Danzō used ninjutsu to temporarily suppress the enemies before him and stood beside Shisui Uchiha, who was controlled by Black Zetsu.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Ensei's shadow clone was beginning to run out of ocular power.

The Shadow Clone Technique was, plainly put, a technique that evenly divided the chakra within one's body.

But shadow clones had limited capacity for ocular power. Eighty percent of Uchiha Ensei's current strength relied on the immense Byakugan ocular power within his body.

It was perfectly normal that his shadow clone could not defeat Shisui Uchiha now.

"It stinks! Danzo, can't you get the hell away from me?"

Uchiha Ensei furrowed his brows at the rotten stench.

Though it was only a shadow clone, such awful memories would be passed on to the original body. Uchiha Ensei naturally already wanted to retreat.

But when facing an old schemer like Black Zetsu, Uchiha Ensei did not dare dispel his shadow clone rashly.

After all, the chakra released when a shadow clone dispersed would return to the original body. Who knew whether Black Zetsu could tamper with that chakra somehow?

Although the possibility was slight, Uchiha Ensei was unwilling to take that risk.

Thus, he used the ocular power within the shadow clone to protect himself thoroughly. However, this inevitably meant excessive ocular power consumption, making it difficult to defeat his opponent in a short time.

But that was fine. Uchiha Ensei sensed a faint disturbance in the distance and immediately abandoned his fight with Black Zetsu, using the Body Flicker Technique to retreat.

The next moment, another Uchiha Ensei appeared nearby, accompanied by a small calico cat.

Four dazzling crimson barriers appeared alongside him, as well as many members of the Uchiha Clan.

Seeing this, Black Zetsu knew he had lost his chance today and was just about to think of a way to retreat.

Yet unexpectedly, Shimura Danzō, who had remained at his side, suddenly turned against him.

Danzo pressed one hand against the black half of Shisui Uchiha's body, and markings like burning flames gradually spread across Black Zetsu's body.

It was the Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal. Shimura Danzō was rather proficient with this Sealing Jutsu.

In an instant, Black Zetsu was completely unable to move.

Seeing this, Uchiha Ensei's heart stirred. He quickly shouted to Kushina Uzumaki, "Take this chance and seal Black Zetsu! Use your strongest Sealing Jutsu!"

After speaking, Uchiha Ensei took a white object from his robes and placed it in his palm.

Hearing this, Kushina Uzumaki did not hesitate in the slightest. Enduring the foul stench coming from Shimura Danzō, she went straight to Shisui Uchiha's side.

After giving Danzo two strange looks, Kushina Uzumaki formed sealing marks with both hands and pressed them against Shisui Uchiha and Black Zetsu respectively.

These were two different seals. The one used on Black Zetsu was naturally the Four Symbols Seal. Though it was not the strongest seal, it was the most powerful Sealing Jutsu Kushina Uzumaki could deploy the fastest at that moment.

The Sealing Jutsu used on Shisui Uchiha was merely a ninjutsu that restricted his chakra and ability to move.

Just as the seals were about to take shape, an enormous mass of green chakra appeared from thin air and blew away Shimura Danzō and Kushina Uzumaki beside Shisui Uchiha.

At the same time, a skeletal claw ruthlessly reached for Kushina Uzumaki.

Faced with such an attack, Kushina Uzumaki immediately activated the Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak. Yet at that crucial moment, the sensation of losing control over her body returned once more.

But this time, it was not Shisui's Kotoamatsukami. It was a strand of black matter that had quietly infiltrated Kushina Uzumaki's body.

Uchiha Ensei noticed this and became far more wary of Black Zetsu. Without Six Paths Level combat power, he would absolutely not provoke Black Zetsu.

So Black Zetsu's body could be used like this too!

As Uchiha Ensei marveled at this, the green skeletal claw of Susanoo mercilessly pierced Kushina Uzumaki's body and tore away nearly half of her body.

Watching from the side, Uchiha Ensei could not help but sigh.

"Izanagi... release!"

With Uchiha Ensei's words, the scene dissolved like an illusion, revealing two entirely different realities.

Originally, Kushina Uzumaki had failed to seal him, and Black Zetsu controlled Shisui Uchiha to use Susanoo, completing a counterkill through a sneak attack.

But now, Kushina Uzumaki had successfully sealed Shisui Uchiha and Black Zetsu.

Izanagi was the strongest genjutsu. Its target was not the enemy, but the entire world!

"Don't get close to Black Zetsu..."

Just as Kushina Uzumaki was preparing to reinforce the seal, Uchiha Ensei suddenly warned her.

Kushina Uzumaki froze upon hearing this, then obediently backed away two steps, avoiding the thin black line Black Zetsu extended.

"Uchiha Ensei... we will meet again."

Black Zetsu's shadow-like body slid off Shisui Uchiha and sank into the ground, disappearing without a trace.

Uchiha Ensei secretly observed with the Byakugan's ability to see through everything, but ultimately found no trace at all.

It was as though Black Zetsu had vanished the instant he entered the earth.

But in truth, Black Zetsu did not possess any space-time abilities. His ability to hide was simply exceptionally outstanding.

Having escaped beneath the very noses of Hagoromo Otsutsuki and Hamura Otsutsuki, it was only natural that Black Zetsu could evade the Byakugan's detection.

At the same time, Uchiha Ensei's original body, at home, used Zero-Two's malicious intent detection to highlight an existence with extremely faint malice in purple.

Although Black Zetsu had escaped, they had not come away empty-handed.

At the very least, they had confirmed that ordinary Sealing Jutsu was useless against Black Zetsu, and that the Nine-Tails' chakra ability to distinguish good from evil worked on him.

The Nine-Tails truly deserved to be called the most special among the Tailed Beasts.

As for Black Zetsu, he had accomplished all his goals on this trip. He had successfully investigated some of Uchiha Ensei's information.

In that sense, could this be called a win-win?