In a remote, secluded corner of Konoha stood a traditional Japanese-style residence.
Two fierce-looking statues stood on the raised platform outside the entrance.
This was the residence of Shimura Danzō, the leader of Root.
Inside, Danzō sat at a table, reading a secret letter sent by the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, Hanzō of the Salamander, by the light of a candle.
The letter contained only a few lines:
Nagato has escaped from my grasp and is secretly rebuilding the Akatsuki.
The shinobi who previously rescued Nagato from me called himself Uchiha Kai.
His strength is no less than mine.
He may very well be a rare genius of the Uchiha clan, perhaps even comparable to Madara.
“If Konoha and the shinobi world are to enjoy lasting peace…”
“The Uchiha must be eliminated.”
Danzō muttered to himself before setting the letter alight.
Suddenly, the candle flame before him flickered violently.
Then—
Whoosh!
It went out.
“Killing intent…”
Danzō narrowed his eyes.
“Who is it?!”
“Ah!”
The Root shinobi guarding outside suddenly screamed and collapsed.
A figure with long hair was reflected on the paper-covered sliding door.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning pierced through the door and struck Danzō’s body!
Bang!
The door shattered.
Kai stood outside, his dark eyes staring into the room.
But Danzō was nowhere to be seen.
Only a wooden plank stood where he had been, pierced straight through.
“Substitution Jutsu.”
“Pretty fast.”
Kai raised his head.
Danzō stood on the roof eaves above him.
A cold wind swept through the night.
Under the moonlight, the two faced each other.
“Uchiha Kai.”
“I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time.”
Danzō’s voice was low and solemn.
Buzz!
Kai’s left eye transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
It locked onto Danzō’s head.
Kamui!
Crack!
Danzō’s head twisted violently.
Blood sprayed from his neck as his headless body fell from the wall.
Then—
The corpse blurred and vanished.
“An ocular technique capable of manipulating space…”
“Truly terrifying.”
Danzō’s voice suddenly came from somewhere else.
He stood completely unharmed atop one of the stone statues.
He pulled away the bandages covering his right eye, revealing the Sharingan beneath.
At the same time, his hands rapidly formed seals.
He took a deep breath.
“Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!”
Whoosh!
A massive blade of compressed wind swept across the area.
Buildings.
Walls.
Everything in its path was cleaved in two.
Yet Kai emerged completely unharmed.
“So that’s how it works.”
“You allow matter to pass through your body, rendering attacks ineffective.”
“So this is the power of your other Mangekyō Sharingan.”
“Truly, a pair of flawless eyes.”
“Why don’t you become a replacement for my right eye?”
As Danzō spoke, he pulled away the bandages covering his right eye.
The Sharingan beneath it gradually turned a lifeless white.
Its light had been extinguished forever.
Kai looked at him indifferently.
“Izanagi.”
“A forbidden ocular technique that requires the power of both the Senju and Uchiha.”
“By sacrificing the light in an eye, reality itself can be rewritten as an illusion.”
“Remove that right eye, and there’s the Hashirama-cell-enhanced right arm of yours…”
“And the ten Sharingan implanted within it.”
“This is all the work of Orochimaru, isn’t it?”
“What?!”
Danzō’s pupils contracted.
He knows everything about me?!
That bastard Orochimaru really has joined forces with him!
He betrayed Konoha!
“You may be able to make matter pass through your body.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“But if you want to attack, you have to become tangible.”
“In other words, the moment you fight back…”
“…you’ll lose!”
As Danzō spoke, he pulled his right arm from beneath his clothes and removed the metal plate covering it.
Ten Sharingan were embedded within his arm.
Each one slowly rotated.
The sight was horrifying.
Every time Danzō consumed one of those Sharingan, he could maintain Izanagi for one minute.
Ten Sharingan meant ten minutes.
For those ten minutes, no matter how many times Danzō was killed or by what method, the unfavorable outcome could simply be turned into an illusion.
That was the confidence supporting Danzō.
“Then give it a try.”
Kai’s voice remained calm.
Boom!
Danzō activated the Body Flicker Technique and rushed into close range.
He thrust a kunai toward Kai.
Whoosh!
Just as expected, both Danzō and the kunai passed straight through Kai’s body.
No effect whatsoever.
Swish!
Danzō spun around and slashed horizontally with his kunai.
Once again, it passed straight through him.
Danzō’s heart tightened.
This bastard…
He doesn’t intend to attack at all.
He’s planning to use this to exhaust my Izanagi!
Kai smiled mockingly.
“You could consider deactivating Izanagi.”
“But the moment you do, the ocular technique in my left eye will twist your head off just like before.”
“You know I can do it.”
This was what was known as strategic deterrence.
Danzō knew he had already fallen into a trap.
Yet he had no choice but to continue.
“Damn you!”
Danzō was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
He rapidly formed hand seals and unleashed an incredibly powerful Wind Release attack.
“It isn’t over yet!”
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
One powerful ninjutsu after another was unleashed.
What was astonishing was that Danzō chained his techniques together seamlessly, leaving virtually no opening between attacks.
Kai narrowed his eyes.
I see.
He’s planning to maintain a saturated offensive for the entire duration of Izanagi.
That way, I won’t be able to easily deactivate my intangibility either.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Danzō’s hands moved so quickly that they became afterimages.
The Mangekyō’s ocular abilities may be monstrous, but they still have limits.
His intangibility must have a time limit.
Kai smiled inwardly.
He wants to bet that his Izanagi will last longer than my intangibility.
Fine.
Let’s see which one of us can hold out longer.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Under the relentless bombardment of Danzō’s ninjutsu, the surrounding area was almost completely reduced to rubble.
Time passed second by second.
One Sharingan after another on Danzō’s right arm closed.
Once a Sharingan was consumed, it could never open again.
Four minutes passed.
Four Sharingan had already closed.
Yet Kai’s intangibility still hadn’t ended.
“Damn this ocular technique!”
Danzō was growing increasingly frantic.
But his hands never stopped forming seals.
He couldn’t afford to pause even for a moment.
The instant he stopped, Kai could reset his technique and render all his efforts meaningless.
But maintaining such a relentless barrage came at a price.
It wasn’t only his eyes being consumed.
His chakra was also rapidly approaching its limit.
Time continued to pass.
For Danzō, every second was torture.
Finally—
The fifth Sharingan closed.
Swish!
Swish!
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!”
BOOM!
A massive fireball collided with the Wind Release attack ahead.
Because of the elemental interaction, the flames erupted with even greater force and swallowed Danzō whole.
Izanagi activated.
The unfavorable outcome became a dream.
Danzō reappeared elsewhere.
Though he was being suppressed, his face was filled with the joy of someone who had finally endured the worst.
“Five minutes.”
“That was your limit!”
“I won!”
“Not necessarily.”
Kai’s pair of Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly blazed with light.
“Susanoo!”
Whoosh!
Brilliant blue chakra flames erupted around Kai’s body.
They rapidly formed a gigantic skeletal frame.
Muscle and sinew wrapped around the bones, forming a layer of flesh over the skeleton.
“Susanoo…”
Danzō’s expression became slightly solemn.
“Troublesome, but I may still be able to break it.”
In the original timeline, Danzō had already demonstrated during his battle against Sasuke that he possessed the ability to break through the second-stage Susanoo.
But then—
Danzō’s expression completely froze.
BOOM!
Even more powerful chakra flames erupted around the outer layer of Susanoo’s skeletal frame.
The enormous chakra stabilized.
It transformed into a majestic suit of armor that completely enveloped the Susanoo.
Susanoo—Third Form: Yatagarasu!
This was the strongest form of the half-body Susanoo.
A higher-level form—the Complete Body Susanoo—could only be achieved by possessing the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan or the power of the Six Paths.
Danzō stared blankly at the towering Susanoo standing twenty meters tall.
Kai’s voice was low.
“Danzō.”
“Do you still have confidence that you can break this within the remaining five minutes?”
Danzō gritted his teeth.
“I don’t believe you can maintain such a massive chakra construct for very long!”
“Heh.”
“You seem to have forgotten something.”
Kai smiled.
Beneath his right arm, a tree trunk twisted downward like a giant rope.
“Wood Release.”
Why did I forget?!
He possesses the First Hokage’s power as well!
Danzō’s heart sank.
He understood.
With the strength he had remaining, there was no way he could break this Susanoo.
Yet Danzō was a battle-hardened Kage-level shinobi.
Even in this desperate situation, he remained calm.
“The disturbance from our battle must have already alerted the village’s strongest shinobi.”
“We don’t need to wait five minutes.”
“They’ll be here soon.”
“Sarutobi Hiruzen.”
“The Yellow Flash.”
“Countless elite jōnin.”
“No matter how strong you are, you won’t survive if we’re surrounded and attacked together!”
Kai smiled indifferently.
“Heh.”
“There’s no need for me to kill you right now.”
“Orochimaru is already under my control.”
“The Sharingan in your right arm can no longer be replenished.”
“Even if you escape today, you’ll have only five Sharingan left.”
“No.”
“Make that four.”
“Do you really believe you’ll survive the next time we meet?”
Kai’s words were a naked threat.
Danzō clenched his fists tightly.
Finally, his attitude softened.
“What exactly did you come here for?”
“Stop all attempts to impeach the Fourth Hokage.”
“And don’t lay a hand on the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Kushina Uzumaki.”
“Otherwise…”
“You and your Root will disappear from this world.”
“Remember my words, Danzō.”
Whoosh!
As soon as he finished speaking, Kai disappeared into the swirling vortex of Kamui.
More than ten seconds after he left, the towering Yatagarasu Susanoo standing before Danzō finally dissipated with a tremendous rumble.
All that remained was the indelible destruction carved into the ground.
And Danzō.
His face was filled with unwillingness and humiliation.