Danzō Attacks

"Report to the Hokage! Lord Danzo is not in Konohagakure. He left with his personal troops!"

"Report to the Hokage! Jonin Asuma Sarutobi has been severely injured! The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has escaped..." Another Anbu appeared and delivered news the Third Hokage found hard to accept.

"How could this be... Cough, cough, cough!"

The Third Hokage was old, after all. Struck by such a devastating blow, he covered his mouth and coughed violently. Bent over, he left Naruto's home with the support of an Anbu ninja. His already aged body seemed to have aged another ten years in an instant.

He raised his head and looked at the Fourth Hokage's face on Hokage Rock in the distance.

Minato, was this retribution...?

Danzo's Attack (1/2)

♂ 　　Within her inner world, Naruto stood on tiptoe and reached for the seal on the gate. The Nine-Tails wrapped its tail around her and pulled her inside.≒≒

"Naruto, what are you trying to do?"

"Break the seal! We agreed that once I left Konohagakure, I'd give you your freedom! Nine-Tails, don't tell me you've been locked up for so long that you've gone stupid?"

Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails suspiciously.

"Idiot! I'm worried about you, okay?! If you break the seal with your current body, you might not be able to withstand my power! Do you understand?!" The Nine-Tails roared at Naruto with an expression of utter frustration.

"Why are you yelling so loudly?! You sprayed spit all over my face!" Naruto wiped the saliva from her face with a disgusted expression.

Seeing the blatant disgust on Naruto's face, the Nine-Tails froze on the spot, utterly devastated.

Looking at the dejected Nine-Tails, Naruto actually found it a little cute. She climbed onto its head and stroked its fur.

"I know you don't want me to die."

"Who doesn't want you to die? Hurry up and die already! Once you're dead, I'll be free!" The Nine-Tails' ears twitched as it immediately retorted. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, all nine tails stood upright, just short of bristling.

"Fine! You said it, so I'll go right back to Konohagakure! Once I return, I'll definitely be brainwashed into an idiot and turned into Konoha's obedient puppet... But don't worry, Nine-Tails. Before that happens, I'll break the seal and set you free."

Naruto jumped down from the Nine-Tails and walked toward the exit as she spoke. The serious expression on her face did not seem fake at all, as if she really would return to Konohagakure.

"Stop! Fine, I admit I don't want you to die, okay?! You little brat!"

The Nine-Tails gave up and admitted that it could not bear to see Naruto die. After all, no one had ever treated it as an equal.

Most people either feared it or loathed and hated it. Only Naruto had looked at it from the very beginning as though it were someone equal to her, rather than a monster.

Naruto seemed to know many things, but that was irrelevant to the Nine-Tails. If Naruto wanted to tell it something, she naturally would. If she did not, the Nine-Tails would not ask.☆☆

"Hehehe~!" Naruto hugged the Nine-Tails' leg and rubbed against it, a radiant smile on her youthful face. "I knew you couldn't bear to leave me!"

"You little brat, you obviously knew. Did you really have to make me say it so clearly?!"

The Nine-Tails looked at Naruto helplessly, allowing her to rub against its leg. An unconscious smile appeared at the corner of its mouth, and its gaze was gentle.

Not long after the Uchiha Clan left Konohagakure, they arrived at a grassy field. Beyond a cave ahead lay the Valley of the End, where Hashirama Senju, known as the Shinobi God and one of Konoha's founders, had once fought Madara Uchiha to the death.

The Uchiha Clan was headed for a mountain called Crow Mountain, located at the border where the Land of Rivers, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Fire met.

Shisui Uchiha's crows had been caught from Crow Mountain. As Shisui Uchiha's disciple, Itachi Uchiha's crows naturally came from Crow Mountain as well.

As they walked across the grassland, everything around them was silent. Even the distant birdsong they had heard earlier had vanished, replaced by deathly stillness.

"Stay alert! Enemies are coming! Protect the children first!"

The children were the future of the Uchiha Clan. They had to be protected!

Fugaku Uchiha activated his Sharingan and vigilantly scanned the surroundings. Kotomi Uchiha stood beside Sasuke, protecting him. Before becoming a housewife, Mikoto Uchiha had been a Jonin-level ninja.

Although she had not trained for many years and her strength had declined, she was still above Chunin level. Even against a Jonin, she would not fall behind for a while.

"Leave protecting the children to old bones like us!" The elders of the Uchiha Clan stepped forward, activating their Three Tomoe Sharingan one after another. Though advanced in years, they were still vigorous!

As people with Uchiha pride flowing in their blood, they had never abandoned their training! Perhaps years of retirement had worn away their edges, but for the Uchiha Clan's future, they would still use their nearly dulled teeth to tear open their enemies' throats!

The ground shook, and walls of earth suddenly rose one after another, forming a cage that trapped the Uchiha Clan members.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitation Drawing!" A pale-skinned, expressionless ninja with empty, emotionless eyes threw out two enormous scrolls. Tigers, leopards, eagles, and all kinds of beasts drawn in ink emerged from the scrolls, gained physical form, and charged at the Uchiha Clan members.

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!" X2

Fugaku Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha rapidly formed hand seals. The straight flames they expelled instantly vaporized the ink beasts into steam.

"Today is the day the Uchiha Clan dies!"

Danzo looked at the elders protecting the children, as well as the young Uchiha Clan members warily guarding the perimeter.

"The old, weak, sick, and disabled are nothing to fear!"

"Attack! Kill them all! Remember to leave their eyes behind!"

"Yes!"

Danzo's personal assassination force surged forward. Even at a disadvantage, the Uchiha Clan members showed no fear as they clashed with Root's ninjas.

The advantage of the Sharingan was immediately displayed. Genjutsu and ninjutsu alike could be seen through by the Sharingan. Apart from those with the poorest talent, the Uchiha Clan members had at least awakened the One Tomoe Sharingan.

Seeing the battle reach a stalemate, Danzo joined the fight as well. With swift, decisive movements, he gouged out an Uchiha Clan member's eyes in a single exchange and snapped his neck at the same time.

Danzo cruelly tossed aside the eyeless corpse, drawing the attention of every Uchiha Clan member.

Danzo coldly glanced at the Two Tomoe Sharingan in his hand before tucking them into his clothes.

"Danzo!!! How dare you!"

In his fury, Shisui Uchiha's eyes naturally awakened into the Mangekyō Sharingan as he charged toward Danzo.

"Shisui Uchiha, I'll be taking your eyes."

Danzo spoke with absolute certainty, greedily staring at Shisui Uchiha's eyes. To avoid falling under Shisui Uchiha's genjutsu, Danzo closed his left eye and opened his right.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

Danzo suddenly drew in a huge breath and fired the Chakra in his mouth like bullets, like a machine gun.

Shisui Uchiha's figure darted left and right. With the title of Body Flicker Shisui, and with his Mangekyō Sharingan activated, he easily dodged Danzo's ninjutsu.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!"