Shimura Danzō lay flat on the ground, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. An ink-black slash flew over his head and instantly sliced through the wall ahead.
That was close.
A little closer, and I'd have ended up just like that wall.
Danzo had just pushed himself up when he heard the cloaked figure behind him taunt:
"Shimura Danzō, you bastard, you're pretty nimble."
Danzo stiffened all over.
Why does that voice sound so familiar?
He whirled around, eyes wide, and stared at the masked man approaching him step by step. His throat caught.
"Are you... Hatake Sakumo?"
After that one taunt, the owner of the voice said nothing more, continuing to approach step by step.
Danzo's Adam's apple bobbed as his mind raced.
Perhaps it was because he knew who his opponent was now, and wasn't so panicked anymore.
Or perhaps it was because he knew he couldn't escape, so he gave up trying.
Danzo rapidly formed Hand Seals and pressed his hands to the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
"Bang!"
A cloud of white smoke burst forth. When it cleared, a massive creature revealed itself.
It was a giant beast several meters tall, covered in long orange-brown fur. Shaped like an elephant, it exuded a suffocatingly oppressive presence.
Baku.
Hatake Sakumo looked at the familiar summoned beast.
Wasn't this the beast Danzo summoned when he fought Sasuke in the anime?
He remembered it clearly. When he had watched the anime, the beast had seemed pretty imposing when it first appeared.
With its snout open, it had combined its power with Danzo's Wind Release to devastating effect, briefly suppressing even Sasuke with his Susanoo activated. In the end, though, Sasuke had sent it "home" with a single Fire Release jutsu.
As Hatake Sakumo was recalling this, Danzo's sinister voice reached him.
"Hmph, Hatake Sakumo, do you know what the consequences are for attacking a village advisor?"
The moment the schemer finished speaking, Baku threw open its enormous jaws, its long snout swelling toward the sky...
A powerful, overwhelming suction swept horizontally from his mouth like a tornado!
Only it wasn't blowing people away. It was sucking them into its mouth!
Hatake Sakumo had just been about to talk back with "Talk no Jutsu" when he felt a savage pull dragging him forward.
The wind howled, his robes flapped wildly, and his feet left the ground as the force pulled him along.
At the same time, Danzo rapidly formed Hand Seals.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Wave after wave of wind blades shrieked through the air, sweeping toward Hatake Sakumo in an overwhelming barrage!
Combined with Baku's terrifying suction, Vacuum Serial Waves instantly surged in power, its wind blades multiplying from a handful to more than a dozen.
With Baku's suction boosting it, the originally B-rank Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves had been forced all the way up to a terrifying A-rank level!
And it was a sustained AOE attack, too!
Hatake Sakumo tightened his grip on White Fang.
His mind raced.
He couldn't cover his entire body with Armament Haki; at most, he could cover half of it at once.
If he covered his upper body, his legs would get cut. If he covered his legs, his chest would get cut.
With more than a dozen wind blades bearing down on him, there was no dodging them.
He made up his mind.
Cover my legs completely with Armament and protect my lower body.
As for my upper body...
I'll block them head-on with Armament-coated White Fang!
That's the plan!
Hatake Sakumo exerted himself, sending Armament Haki spreading down his legs.
Still being dragged along by Baku's suction, he swung White Fang...
"Clang, clang, clang, clang..."
A rapid series of crisp metallic clashes rang out.
Hatake Sakumo swung White Fang, blocking every Vacuum Wave aimed at his upper body.
The slashes carried along by the suction also struck at his legs at the same time.
With several ripping sounds, both the robe and trousers covering his legs were cut open, exposing the skin beneath.
But his legs, covered and protected by Armament Haki, were completely unharmed. Not even a scratch remained.
Danzo watched in alarm.
My combined attack with the summoned Baku and Wind Release was taken head-on by Hatake Sakumo without leaving a scratch?
What the hell is that strange stuff that turns black?
But he was an old schemer, after all. Though turmoil raged within him, he showed none of it on his face. Instead, he intensified his attack, unleashing Wind Release as though it cost him nothing.
Dragged along by the tornado-like suction, Hatake Sakumo was pulled from more than ten meters away to ten, eight, then five...
And he was still closing in fast!
The frenzied light in Danzo's sinister eyes burned brighter and brighter.
He could already picture the god of slaughter who had made blood flow like a river through the entire Root Base being swallowed whole by his Baku.
Looking at the smug expression on Danzo's face diagonally ahead of him, Hatake Sakumo clicked his tongue, the sound muffled beneath his mask.
Does this old bastard really think he's about to succeed?
To be honest, in his plan for tonight's operation, the troublesome opponent he had anticipated all along had been Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.
He hadn't expected Shimura Danzō to be the one who actually caused him trouble.
But... that was all.
With the distance between them down to just three meters, Hatake Sakumo had no patience left to play games with him.
Armament Haki surged wildly down his arm and into White Fang.
The Armament Haki already coating the short blade grew denser and heavier at that moment.
So dense that black lightning crackled from it!
Hatake Sakumo flicked his wrist and unleashed a flying slash!
Enveloped in a far denser coating of black substance than the previous one, the slash tore through the air, trailing streaks of black lightning.
The effect resembled Conqueror's Haki Coating, the highest-level application of Conqueror's Haki, another kind of Haki in One Piece.
The difference was that Conqueror's Haki Coating produced red-black lightning, while the black lightning on this flying slash was an effect that could only be produced by cultivating Armament Haki to the highest level.
In plain terms, Armament Haki had to be powerful to the extreme to produce this effect.
"Slash..."
The slash first collided with the Wind Release air waves Danzo had unleashed.
Like a knife cutting through tofu, they shattered on contact.
Then, without meeting any resistance, the slash struck Baku as it held its mouth open and frantically sucked in its target.
"Crack!"
A soft sound rang out.
The massive beast, several meters tall, was cleaved clean in two from head to tail!
The terrifying suction stopped on the spot.
Danzo froze, staring at the summoned beast beside him, his pride and joy, as it was cut in two with a single stroke. His eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Wrong! I was completely wrong!
I never should have tried to use Baku to hold Hatake Sakumo down and seize the chance to kill him. I should have used the time my summoned beast bought me to hurry up and run!
But now... it's too late to run, and I can't beat him in a fight.
That thought went through Danzo's mind, and he decided to risk it all instead.
The ruthlessness buried in his bones was forced out.
Danzo gritted his teeth, reached out, and tore hard at his shirt.
"Rip..."
His clothes came away, revealing his skinny upper body, covered in markings.
That gaunt torso was densely covered in black jutsu seal markings!
Hatake Sakumo nearly lost his grip on White Fang.
Both the original Hatake Sakumo's memories and the anime he had watched before transmigrating told him clearly...
This is the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique!
Danzo's final trump card!
The scene before him was exactly like the one in the anime.
Danzo let out a crazed roar.
"Reverse Four Symbols Seal!"
The instant he finished speaking, all the blood in Danzo's body burst from his pores!
The blood traced the complete pattern of the Four Symbols Seal in midair. As the pattern expanded, a strange, even more terrifying suction appeared out of nowhere!
Danzo laughed maniacally, the sound shrill and grating. His sinister eyes were fixed on Hatake Sakumo, filled with gratification.
"Don't look down on me! I am Shimura Danzō! Hahaha... Hatake Sakumo, let's die together!!"
Hatake Sakumo was truly afraid now.
He finally understood why Sasuke and Obito had nearly pissed themselves when they saw Danzo use this move in the anime.
The original owner's memories contained a complete description of the technique.
A powerful S-rank Sealing Jutsu!
When the user died or chose to sacrifice himself to use it, the jutsu formula engraved on his body beforehand would take effect.
Once the technique took effect, the user was certain to die. At the same time, once released, it could not be interrupted, and it would not stop even if the user died on the spot.
Everything within a five-meter radius would be sucked in and completely sealed!
The face behind Hatake Sakumo's mask was covered in sweat.
I'm done for, I'm done for, I'm done for...
I shouldn't have shown off.
If I'd known, I wouldn't have played games with Danzo. I should've just killed him with one slash from a distance.
Now this might end badly...