Chapter 46

"Send a thousand ninja to engage them! The first battle affects morale. Victory is the only option!"

"The first battle is also a good chance for the commander to establish his authority. Lord Danzo, as commander-in-chief, you'll be taking the field yourself, won't you?"

Xuan Zhe added with a smile.

"...Do I need you to tell me that?"

Danzo's expression darkened as he answered through gritted teeth.

Since he had come to the front, he was prepared to enter battle. What commander would arrive at the position only to hide in the rear?

However much Shimura Danzō liked his shady dealings, he still cared about saving face. Besides, he had already begun thinking about taking Hiruzen Sarutobi's place.

War? What was there to fear?

He had once been a Kage Level fighter too.

"Big bro, can't we have Lord Raikage charge over here too? So damn annoying!"

Bam!

A slammed his knuckles down hard on Killer B's head and snapped:

"You **, can't you act serious on the battlefield?"

Whenever something important happened, this brat was bound to turn it into a complete mess. If Konoha hadn't been so strong that he and his father couldn't hold out alone, he really wouldn't have wanted to bring this troublemaker out of the village.

Only after Killer B settled down a little did A explain:

"Dad's tied up with Sunagakure and Konoha. He won't be free anytime soon. I heard there's some kid about your age called the 'Yellow Flash' who's especially hard to deal with."

"But it doesn't matter. Even without Dad, we can still break through the Land of Fire's defenses!"

With that, A cracked his fingers, his joints popping loudly.

"They're here! Lord A!"

A Special Jōnin from Kumogakure beside him called out.

A and Killer B looked up.

Countless tiny black dots appeared on the distant horizon and rushed toward them in the blink of an eye.

In less than ten seconds, A could make out the newcomers.

Konoha's ninja army!

"Is that the 'Konoha Black Blade' who killed Shamon in the last war?"

A watched Xuan Zhe with interest.

Killer B waved his arms and legs, humming a tune as he cut in:

"A sword user, huh? Yo~ Big bro, leave him to me! Eight-O and I will play with him. So damn annoying!"

"Fine, but be careful. I hear he's different from that White Fang fellow. This guy's Fire Release is especially powerful. Once it catches, you can't put it out. Make sure you're careful-huh?"

Just as A finished warning Killer B, his expression suddenly changed as he noticed the man at the very front of Konoha's army.

That old face, covered in wrinkles despite its owner being barely over fifty, startled even A. "Is that... Danzo?"

Of course he had heard Danzo's name.

But hadn't that old fox, famous throughout the Shinobi World, always hidden behind the scenes?

Why had he come to the battlefield?

Had Konoha run out of people?

That was impossible. Weren't White Fang, Jiraiya, and the others still around?

Failing that, Hiruzen Sarutobi could come himself. Why send Danzo?

"Whatever. Judging by his position, he's probably the commander-in-chief?"

A's slicked-back hair began to stand on end, and lightning much like Hatake Sakumo's formed armor that enveloped his entire body.

"Fine. If I kill him, Konoha's morale should plummet, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, A charged straight out like a heavy **.

The ground beneath his feet shattered, and the shock wave whipped up a whirlwind that nearly blew several nearby Kumogakure ninja away.

"Black Blade is yours, B!"

A shouted without looking back.

"Hmph, I'm the great Killer B of Kumogakure, yeah!"

Killer B suddenly tossed out eight short blades, twisting his body like a strange snake. He held one between his teeth, clamped two in his elbows, trapped another two beneath his armpits, and tucked three behind his knees.

The next second, he charged toward Konoha's army in that bizarre posture, spinning like a top.

The Kumogakure ninja behind him roared as well, charging toward Konoha's ranks with murderous intent pouring off them.

"Lord Danzo, A is coming for you!"

Hizashi Hyuga's Byakugan had already seen through the A-B duo's attack routes. He hurriedly called out to Danzo and Xuan Zhe, "Lord Xuan Zhe, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki is heading your way!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

Xuan Zhe had already vanished from his spot and reached Killer B in the blink of an eye.

Killer B's pupils contracted sharply, and he cursed inwardly, Bakayarō! This guy's speed is even greater than Big Bro's...

Clang-!!

Two blades collided, sending sparks flying.

"Hmm, this feeling... something's wrong..."

Inside the sealed space, the Eight-Tails suddenly frowned.

That strange sensation, and that indescribable unease...

What exactly was it?

Meanwhile, facing the Third Raikage's son, Danzo spoke without the slightest panic.

Lightning Release, is it?

I happen to know Wind Release, its counter!

"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

As A charged toward him clad in Lightning Release Chakra Armor, Danzo rapidly formed hand seals and spat out several wind blades resembling sickle weasels.

"Hmph!"

Watching the incoming wind blades, A curled his lip in disdain.

With a flash of blue light, he vanished from his spot, leaving the wind blades to hit empty air.

The next second, he appeared on Danzo's right.

"You're slower than Teacher Tobirama, but I can sense your movements."

Danzo spoke coldly, thrusting the kunai in his hand straight at A's waist.

Scrape-clang!

What happened next left everyone dumbfounded.

The instant Danzo's kunai struck A's flank, it snapped clean in two.

"Hahahaha!!"

Xuan Zhe truly couldn't hold it in this time. After putting some distance between himself and Killer B, he clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up.

This scene was far too much like that later classic-

Stabbing Susanoo with a kunai.

If you ever thought you were stupid enough, just remember that Danzo had once stabbed Susanoo with a kunai.

Across from Xuan Zhe, Killer B was equally baffled by Danzo's move.

Had this guy never heard of his big brother?

Even if he hadn't, as a student of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, surely Danzo had seen the Second Raikage use the Lightning Release Chakra Armor passed down through successive Raikage during the First Shinobi World War?

What the hell was he doing, stabbing Lightning Release Chakra Armor with a kunai?

Even A froze, lowering his head to look at the spot that had been stabbed.

What exactly is this guy trying to do?

A test?

"Its hardness is decent." Danzo frowned, his voice very low.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

A felt that choosing an opponent like this was an outright insult to his own intelligence.

He straightened the fingers of his left hand into a blade, and Lightning Release chakra erupted instantly.

"Lightning Oppression Horizontal!"

Boom-

Accompanied by A's furious roar, the brilliant lightning around his left hand came slashing down.

Crack!

Before Danzo could react at all, his right arm was torn away like a rag.

Thud!

A bloody arm flew through the air and landed on the ground a dozen meters away.

"Aah!"

With his entire right arm brutally severed, Danzo screamed in agony, his knees slamming hard into the ground.

His whole body convulsed nonstop.

Everyone present stared, dumbstruck.

"Are you... here to entertain me?"

Nearly half a minute passed before Xuan Zhe couldn't help blurting that out.

From the omniscient perspective he had watched from in his previous life, he had already thought Sasuke's battle with Danzo was like watching a comedy.

Danzo's ridiculous moves could practically rival that pineapple-headed guy's later on. Stabbing Susanoo with a kunai, using Izanagi as a Substitution Technique, and finally sacrificing his life to seal a bridge.

An idiot paired with a clown.

But now Xuan Zhe was standing beside him, watching it with his own eyes.

He simply couldn't believe there were still ninja this pathetic around.

He had talked such a big game.

Yet he hadn't even lasted two exchanges before someone took his arm off.

The surrounding Konoha ninja were all dumbfounded.

They could barely stop themselves from looking at him like an idiot and cursing outright:

They would be better off without a frontline commander-in-chief like this!