Danzo's Hundred Ways to Die

Noticing Setsuna had chased after him, Danzo sneered inwardly. "Just a green little brat."

He turned and formed hand seals, creating dozens of Shadow Clones. At the same time, blades of wind shot from his mouth. "Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

The wind blades converged, swallowing Setsuna like a tornado.

Taking advantage of Setsuna's obstructed vision, Danzo created another layer of Shadow Clones to remain in place while his real body secretly sank underground.

Sure enough, the tornado did not hold Setsuna for long. He tore through it by force, then burst forth like a tiger or leopard and kicked the nearest clone apart in an instant.

The other clones scattered into position and formed hand seals together. "Wind Release: Press—"

At that moment, Setsuna raised two fingers from both hands and pressed them to his temples. "Solar Flare!"

A blinding flash erupted, completely locking down all of Danzo's clones. Danzo was filled with uncertainty. Was this Taijutsu too?

Although Setsuna could not move while using Solar Flare, he took the chance to sense the positions of every one of Danzo's clones.

Danzo was not a sensory ninja, after all, and could not determine what Setsuna was doing.

The instant the glare faded, Setsuna struck again, sweeping away every clone like a gale scattering fallen leaves.

"The real body isn't here." Setsuna was slightly startled. He truly had not noticed when Danzo's real body had vanished.

"Now!" Seizing the opportunity, Danzo burst out from underground and viciously drove a Kunai toward Setsuna's shoulder blade from behind.

"Heh, as a ninja, you can't even defend against an attack from undergrou—" Danzo was about to mock him when a sharp crack rang out. The Kunai snapped, and the smile on his face froze instantly.

Setsuna turned around with a "ferocious" grin.

His body could withstand even bullets. Thinking a mere Kunai could break through his defenses was seriously underestimating him.

At the sight of Setsuna's smile, Danzo seemed to see a demon. He leaped back, trying to escape, only for Setsuna to seize his right ankle and swing him back and forth like a whip.

Danzo's body could not endure such abuse. His chest caved in at once, blood spraying out as though it cost nothing. He looked ready to die.

The two Root ninjas who had followed him had undergone training to "eliminate the self," yet even they felt their scalps go numb at the sight. This brat really dared to kill Lord Danzo!

"Phew, I've finally eliminated an evil spy for the village..." Setsuna said with a smile, patting his hands together. Then he discovered that his body seemed beyond his control. Band-like markings emerged across him, and Danzo suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

"Izanagi? Izanagi requires a Three-Tomoe Sharingan to activate. The night of the clan massacre hasn't even happened yet, so where did he get a Three-Tomoe Sharingan?" Setsuna was not alarmed. Instead, he studied Danzo with interest. A three-tomoe ninja would be an important figure even within the Uchiha Clan. Their sudden disappearance would definitely cause unrest. Could it be Kagami Uchiha's Sharingan?

Nearby, Danzo's expression was extremely ugly. He had possessed those two eyes for years and had imagined many situations in which he might use Izanagi, but he had never imagined wasting one precious chance on a Genin from his own village.

"Forget it. As long as I can obtain perfect Wood Release, this loss is nothing." Danzo comforted himself, only to realize that Setsuna's eyes held none of the panic he had expected. He said coldly, "Are you so certain I won't kill you?"

Setsuna laughed, still determined to define Danzo's identity. "As expected of a spy sent by an enemy village. You even have the ability to revive. I don't know how you did it, but if I can kill you once, I can kill you a second time. I refuse to believe you can revive endlessly."

Danzo could not be bothered to explain. He merely sneered. "You still don't seem to understand the situation."

"What situation? Are you talking about that pathetic sealing technique you put on me?" Setsuna laughed loudly. "Have you ever seen someone bind an elephant with hemp rope? You think a sealing technique of this level can trap me? Break!"

With an angry roar from Setsuna, his blood and vitality surged. The band-like markings binding him shattered instantly.

"How is this possible? Even the Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal can't restrain him!" Danzo's pupils contracted sharply. Before he could flee, Setsuna's elbow punched straight through his chest.

Yet the next moment, Danzo reappeared in the distance completely unharmed. Damn it. The ocular technique from one Sharingan can only last a minute. I wasted too much time talking to him just now. This Izanagi only has thirty seconds left.

The thought made Danzo want to retreat.

Although he could revive endlessly during those remaining thirty seconds, given the current situation, unless he used the Reverse Four Symbols Seal to perish alongside Setsuna, he would still have no way to defeat him even if it lasted another thirty minutes.

But how could that be possible? He still had to preserve his useful life for Konoha. Only he could make Konoha great again.

"It seems I can only leave for now and find Orochimaru afterward to work together and capture him." With that thought, Danzo opened his mouth to seek reconciliation. "About what happened today..."

Before he could finish, Setsuna launched a short-range assault and blasted him apart with one punch.

Danzo restored himself again and snapped furiously, "Bastard! Listen to me first..."

Bang!

Danzo's brains blossomed through the air in a dazzling display.

"Damn it, let me finish..."

"I am the darkness of the Ninja World..."

"I really am the Hokage's advisor..."

"Bastard, what exactly are you trying to..."

"Can we reconcile..."

"AAAAAAAH..."

The two Root ninjas who had followed him were dumbfounded. In a mere thirty seconds, they had witnessed twelve different ways Lord Danzo could die. The gruesome sight made them realize for the first time that having the power to revive was not necessarily a good thing.

Once the thirty seconds were up, Danzo truly panicked. He still had one final Three-Tomoe Sharingan, but it was his last one. How could he waste it in a place like this?

"Listen to me, I'm really not a spy!" Danzo shouted as fast as he could. This time, Setsuna did not kill him. Instead, he placed both hands on Danzo's shoulders, making Danzo breathe a slight sigh of relief.

But before he could explain further, Setsuna grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently, growling in a neurotic tone, "You interrupted my rest today. Maybe I won't be able to complete tomorrow's training. My rate of improvement will be slowed, and I won't reach the goals I've set for myself. One step behind means falling behind at every step, and in the end, this tiny flaw will get me killed on the battlefield. You want to kill me. Whether you're a spy is no longer important!"

After hearing Setsuna out, Danzo had only one thought in his mind: this was a lunatic with persecution delusions. Thinking of what he had heard about Setsuna's past, he suddenly felt that it was normal for Setsuna to have such twisted psychology.

A person alone and helpless, without talent, looked down upon by others, able only to silently train in Taijutsu by himself in some corner.

Perhaps it was precisely because of that twisted obsession that he had become so strong.

Seeing Danzo's terrified expression, Setsuna forcibly suppressed the urge to curl his lips upward.

He had deliberately been putting pressure on Danzo. He had already sensed Hiruzen Sarutobi's arrival, and it seemed he would not be able to kill Danzo completely today. In that case, he would make Danzo believe he was an obsessive madman and ensure Danzo would not dare provoke him again.

Good people were the ones others dared point guns at. An obsessive madman with overwhelming force was surely someone even trash like Danzo would fear.

As he spoke, Setsuna grabbed Danzo's body and tore him in half like one of those absurd anti-Japanese war heroes.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had arrived just in time, stared wide-eyed at the scene. Danzo had been killed!

At that moment, he did not know what he felt. Sadness for an old friend? But that friend had once again defied his orders and attacked someone in the village.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. Just as he was considering how to handle this, Danzo's body appeared once more and he threw back his head in a grief-stricken roar. "No!"

His trump card had still been used up.

Behind him, the Third Hokage stared at the scene in shock. This ability was...?