Achievement unlocked: Stabbing Susanoo with a kunai!

Danzo's secret?!

It couldn't be some scandal about his love life, could it?!

Bai Ye probably wouldn't waste his time talking about that...

Especially not in a situation this serious.

What Bai Ye intended to reveal definitely went beyond something that would merely embarrass Danzo.

Danzo had just tried to pin the charge of treason squarely on the Uchiha Clan.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's stance remained unclear, but he was undoubtedly leaning toward Danzo.

Under those circumstances, it would have been absurd for Bai Ye not to do something.

Unlike the others, who might not yet have fully grasped the situation, Danzo felt a sudden surge of unease.

He remembered their earlier encounter in the Hokage's Office.

Back then, the look Bai Ye had given him had left him with a sliver of hope. Now, however, Danzo suddenly realized that perhaps... that was exactly what Bai Ye intended to reveal!

If this secret came to light, he would never be able to become Hokage.

There was even a worse possibility.

This was a secret Danzo absolutely could not allow to be exposed.

Before Danzo could act, Bai Ye pointed straight at his eye and bandaged arm. "Elder Danzo, why don't you show everyone what you once researched together with Orochimaru?"

What he researched with Orochimaru?!

Bai Ye's words sent a shock through everyone present.

These days, Orochimaru's very name was taboo in the village.

Everyone in the village knew exactly what kinds of experiments Orochimaru had conducted.

And now Bai Ye had implicated Danzo, claiming that he had worked on that research with Orochimaru.

That was a serious problem!

Danzo, a member of the village's leadership, had actually collaborated with Orochimaru on his research?!

More importantly, the things Orochimaru had done were crimes punishable by death.

Danzo had done them too?!

The instant he heard Bai Ye's words, Danzo's expression changed.

What lay beneath those bandages absolutely could not be exposed. Worse still, how on earth had Bai Ye found out?!

Not even Hiruzen Sarutobi knew this secret.

This arm had been created through Orochimaru's secret experiments.

Orochimaru would never have told Bai Ye about it.

In that case, how had Bai Ye learned of it?!

"Bai Ye, my arm and eye were injured during the war..."

Danzo still tried to argue his way out, unwilling to let the truth be exposed before everyone.

But before he could finish, Bai Ye appeared behind him and raised his hand. An instant later, the bandages around Danzo's arm and eye came undone.

The state of Danzo's right arm and eye was immediately laid bare for everyone to see.

His right eye was a Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and ten more Three-Tomoe Sharingan were packed densely along his right arm.

There was a metal restraint as well.

The moment Danzo's secret was exposed, silence fell over the gathering.

No one had imagined that Danzo could be so depraved.

Especially Uchiha Setsuna, Uchiha Huo, and Uchiha Hui.

All three glared at Danzo in fury, wishing they could tear him apart right then and there.

These were their Uchiha Sharingan!!

What surprised Bai Ye somewhat was that Danzo already had eleven Sharingan at this point.

Right...

Bai Ye realized that Orochimaru had given Danzo this arm in the first place.

It had already contained Hashirama cells and Sharingan when Danzo received it.

Without the Sharingan to suppress them, Danzo could never have kept the Hashirama cells under control.

More importantly, Obito had collected all the Three-Tomoe Sharingan on the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

He had left none for Danzo.

That meant Danzo must have already possessed these Sharingan by the night of the massacre.

The man had a long-standing tradition of robbing graves, after all.

Still, this worked out nicely. Bai Ye would not need to explain much more later.

As long as the things on Danzo's arm were exposed...

His plans would be much easier to carry out afterward.

"Danzo, what have you done?! You stole our Uchiha Clan's bloodline?!"

Uchiha Setsuna roared, finally unable to restrain himself any longer as he demanded an answer.

"Elder Danzo, I expect an explanation!!"

Hyuga Hiashi also spoke, his voice measured.

Although the heads of the other ninja clans said nothing, every one of them turned to look at Danzo.

Clearly, they were all waiting for his explanation.

Unbelievable!!!

You looked like such an upright man, Danzo-no... you looked exactly like the sort to do this, but who would've thought you'd actually done it!

If Danzo failed to give them an explanation now, they would absolutely not let the matter rest.

This was no longer a discussion about Bai Ye's attack on Root.

Danzo's current appearance, combined with what Bai Ye had just said, made it obvious that Bai Ye had known about this.

And that also seemed to explain why Bai Ye had acted as he had.

His actions were entirely justified!

Bai Ye had learned that Danzo had stolen the Uchiha bloodline, and only then had he struck.

Besides, Danzo truly had some nerve!

He kept talking about ostracizing the Uchiha, yet he had transplanted their Sharingan into himself?!

He had certainly mastered the art of double standards!

Faced with this situation, Danzo's expression turned ugly. He had no idea what to say.

Danzo was no fool. He knew there was no talking his way out of this.

With an arm covered in Sharingan, the evidence was right before their eyes. Did he take everyone else for three-year-olds?!

Even a three-year-old would never believe his excuses, would they?

"Allow me to explain. Danzo once collaborated with Orochimaru to research the Sharingan and... the First Hokage's Wood Release. That arm contains ten Sharingan, and the arm itself was made from Hashirama cells.

"Am I right... Danzo?!"

Bai Ye spoke calmly. Since Danzo refused to talk, he would do it for him.

Once Bai Ye fully revealed Danzo's secret, everyone present sucked in a sharp breath.

Wait!!!

What had they just heard?!

They had thought Danzo merely coveted the Sharingan. They had never imagined that his arm also contained Hashirama cells.

This man had actually experimented on the First Hokage's corpse?!

Seriously?!

How could he be so depraved?!

At that moment, no one knew whether to believe Bai Ye. The news was simply too shocking.

When Bai Ye said it, quite a few people felt it sounded almost like a fabricated rumor.

Now that was a bombshell!

No wonder Bai Ye had been so fearless earlier. He had known all of Danzo's secrets.

This was an utterly vile affair!

The Uchiha and the Senju were the two clans that had founded Konoha.

No one had imagined that they would one day end up like this.

Uchiha Hui abruptly demanded, "Danzo, what do you have left to say?! Don't tell me this is all genjutsu and none of it is real!

"And I believe what our clan head just said was right too!

"You attacked Shisui because you wanted to steal his Mangekyo Sharingan! You've been stealing our Uchiha kekkei genkai for a long time!!"

Unless Danzo could suddenly produce an ability that trapped the entire world in genjutsu...

They would see how he explained himself today.

Faced with this, Danzo truly found himself in a difficult position.

The main problem was that he genuinely had no way to defend himself.

As he watched everyone press him for answers, a mad idea suddenly arose in Danzo's mind.

Seeing his expression, Bai Ye sneered inwardly.

This bastard...

Still hoping to lash out before he dies?!

It doesn't matter...

He had never intended to let Danzo leave alive anyway.

Letting this man live would be an insult to everyone who had suffered from his past deeds.

Before transmigrating, the person Bai Ye had despised most in the Hokage World had undoubtedly been Danzo.

He always claimed that if he had been a little braver back then, the position of Hokage would have been his.

But the truth was the opposite. When they had been deciding who would cover the retreat, he had been afraid of dying.

During the Third Shinobi World War, he had collaborated with Hanzo of the Salamander and effectively created Pain.

The Akatsuki had been perfectly normal at first, working toward peace in the shinobi world.

Although Obito had been plotting in the shadows all along, he had at least failed to find a way to target them in those early days.

But you just had to interfere!

To become Hokage, Danzo had collaborated with Hanzo of the Salamander and driven Nagato down a dark path.

During the Nine-Tails' Rampage, he had ordered Root not to support the Fourth Hokage.

Damn it!

That was utterly ridiculous!

The same thing had happened when Pain attacked Konoha. Root had not supported Tsunade then, either.

He had created Root only to spend every day waiting to reap the rewards of others' misfortunes.

He had conducted experiments with Orochimaru, targeted the Uchiha from behind the scenes, and ultimately succeeded in orchestrating the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

Everything Danzo had done had been for that so-called dream of his: becoming Hokage.

He constantly insisted that everything was for Konoha.

But in the end, had it not all been for himself?!

Those claims were nothing more than Danzo's attempts to whitewash his own actions.

This man would sacrifice anything to become Hokage!

Now, faced with the situation before him, Danzo hardened his resolve and immediately attacked Bai Ye beside him.

He knew he was going to die today!

Once Bai Ye exposed this secret...

There had been no way out for him.

The goal he had pursued all his life had been completely destroyed as well.

No one would choose someone with such a stain on his record to become Hokage.

He could never become Hokage now. The villagers would not support him; no one wanted their secret techniques or bloodline stolen in the future.

Never mind becoming Hokage.

Whether he could even survive after what he had done was now in question.

So Danzo decided to take all the blame himself.

But he would kill Bai Ye as well.

As long as he killed Bai Ye, he would eliminate a troublesome thorn among the Uchiha.

Then Hiruzen Sarutobi would be left with a Uchiha Clan he could deal with.

His life in exchange for the entire Uchiha Clan-he considered that a fair trade!

Rather than die in humiliation, he would fight Bai Ye outright.

He instinctively glanced toward Hiruzen Sarutobi, then attacked Bai Ye the very next instant.

He would wait no longer!

He would act himself and shoulder all of this!

Seeing Danzo suddenly attack, Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

"Heh. Naive..."

A cold sneer crossed Bai Ye's face.

Their earlier battle had already used up six of Danzo's Sharingan.

Now, Danzo had only five left in total.

"Stay back! Leave him to me!!"

Bai Ye waved a hand, stopping those who were about to come to his aid.

He would deal with Danzo himself!

There was more to do today than just deal with Danzo!

After Bai Ye spoke, Shisui, who had been itching to act, suddenly calmed down.

He had really wanted to attack.

The moment he saw Danzo's arm, he had wanted to go straight for him.

To think he had always believed this bastard was a good man.

He had never imagined that Danzo had coveted the Uchiha's Sharingan for so long!

But since Bai Ye had spoken, he couldn't make a move.

With Susanoo enveloping him, Bai Ye slashed straight at Danzo. The instant the blade struck, one of the Sharingan on Danzo's arm closed.

Immediately afterward, Danzo suddenly appeared behind him. "You've left yourself open!"

Crack...

The kunai stabbed into Susanoo, then snapped cleanly in two. Danzo froze at the sight.

A moment later, Susanoo's blade cut him in half at the waist again.

So this was Susanoo's defense?!

He had thought that was the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack.

His plan had been sound: use Izanagi to ambush Bai Ye from behind. He hadn't expected Susanoo's defense to be so strong.

Watching Danzo, Bai Ye could barely keep a straight face.

Seriously?!

So he really could unlock the achievement of stabbing Susanoo with a fucking kunai?!

"Is this guy an idiot or what..."

Shisui stared at the scene, his mouth hanging open, at a complete loss for words.

He was definitely an idiot!

He actually thought he could break through Susanoo's defense with a kunai?!

It wasn't as though Danzo had never fought Bai Ye before. Didn't he know this already?!

After witnessing that, Shisui knew that Bai Ye would most likely finish Danzo off.

The remaining four Sharingan began closing one by one.

At first, Danzo had fought with the intention of taking Bai Ye down with him.

But as his remaining lives dwindled, Danzo realized that he really was going to die!

Would he never get to become Hokage after all?!

Danzo couldn't help murmuring that question in his heart as he watched the Blade Aura draw closer.

A surge of defiance rose within him.

No!!!!

He absolutely couldn't die like this!!

At that thought, he immediately unleashed the Wood Release in his right arm, trying to block Susanoo's blade.

"Pathetic..."

Danzo's Wood Release belonged at the same table as Yamato's!

If it had been Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, Bai Ye would have felt some cause for concern.

But Danzo's... was he doing landscaping?!

Although the Wood Release absorbed much of the force behind Susanoo's strike, its blade still slashed straight toward Danzo again.

Just as Danzo was about to die beneath Susanoo's blade, a figure stepped directly in front of him. "Bai Ye, enough. We'll give your Uchiha clan an answer regarding Danzo!"

Heh... so Hiruzen Sarutobi finally couldn't sit still any longer?!