The situation reached a stalemate.
Two men who each stood at the top of their respective factions locked eyes, neither willing to make the first move.
Both hoped to stall for time, yet neither knew what they were waiting for.
At that moment, Danzō found himself regretting the choices he’d made in his youth.
Maybe I should have married and raised a child back then.
If I had, I’d probably have a son about this boy’s age by now.
If I’d had the experience of raising a child, perhaps I’d understand how to deal with a reckless brat like him.
Why are young people willing to risk their lives over something as petty as pride?
And why are so many people willing to support such an absurd act?
Could Uchiha Kei possess some unknown ninjutsu capable of controlling people’s minds?
It was impossible to understand.
The longer the stalemate lasted, the more restless Danzō became.
He placed his hopes on the Hokage, yet no one understood Hiruzen Sarutobi better than he did.
Hiruzen was undoubtedly watching everything unfold—but unless the situation reached the point of no return, he would never reveal himself.
Was more time an advantage or a disadvantage?
Even Danzō no longer knew.
For all he knew, the Hokage might be planning to sacrifice him.
It wouldn’t be the first time that old “Professor” had abandoned someone for the greater good.
Uchiha Kagami.
Nono Yakushi.
Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha.
The entire Uzumaki Clan.
Weren’t those precedents enough?
With examples like those, who would willingly entrust their life to Hiruzen?
People consumed by suspicion rarely expect the best from others.
Every passing second became torture for Danzō.
Finally, he could bear it no longer.
“Kei,” he began, forcing his voice to remain calm, “you’re young, yet you’ve already accomplished much.
Do you even know who I am?
Do you realize what you’re doing?” “Go back.
Don’t drag your clansmen down with you.” He couldn’t win by force.
He couldn’t intimidate the boy.
So perhaps…
he could persuade him.
Maybe children responded better to kindness than threats.
If he soothed the boy’s temper, perhaps there was still room to salvage the situation.
Those were the softest words Danzō had spoken in decades.
All his life, he’d been the one bullying others.
Never the one being cornered.
Swallowing his pride before a mere teenager was humiliating…
But humiliation was preferable to death.
Everyone accumulated regrets over the course of a lifetime.
Better regrets than becoming a corpse.
At his age, was he really expected to fight a reckless youngster to the bitter end?
His body simply couldn’t take it.
He’d yielded.
The moment Danzō opened his mouth, Kei knew the old man had cracked.
Pathetic.
Not even a little patience.
Kei quietly let out a breath.
So Danzō had reached his limit too.
Good.
That made things much easier.
“So,” Kei asked casually, “who exactly are you supposed to be?” Since Danzō had backed down, there was a way to resolve things without bloodshed.
Danzō didn’t want to die.
Could the unseen Hokage really force him to?
He wasn’t the hot-blooded protagonist of some story.
Since Danzō had spoken first, Kei decided to give him a little face.
Seeing there was room to negotiate, Danzō relaxed slightly.
Whether Kei truly didn’t know his identity or was merely pretending no longer mattered.
Sometimes, pretending not to know was the best way for everyone to step down gracefully.
Danzō even convinced himself that Kei was looking for a way to de-escalate the conflict.
After all, no one would march to attack someone’s headquarters without knowing whose headquarters it was.
“I am the leader of Root—and one of Konoha’s elders.” “Kei, I believe there must be some misunderstanding between us.” “Do you understand how difficult you’ve made things for me?
Assaulting Root Headquarters isn’t something that can simply be swept under the rug.” “If not for your own sake, then think of your clansmen.
They still have to live in Konoha.” Only then did Kei realize what had happened.
So that was the misunderstanding.
Konoha…
Naka Shrine…
Root Headquarters…
All three happened to lie along nearly the same route.
Seeing Kei leading a large force toward Naka Shrine, Danzō had naturally assumed Root was the target.
Fortunately…
This wasn’t Konoha joining forces to eliminate him.
That alone was enough.
Just as expected.
In any confrontation, whoever lost their nerve first lost everything.
Kei had absolutely no intention of correcting Danzō’s misunderstanding.
“So they’re just a bunch of nameless little delinquents who aren’t even registered as shinobi.” “Kill them.” One moment he was smiling.
The next, his expression turned ice-cold.
A crimson mist instantly erupted across the battlefield.
Blood-red fog swallowed the entire area.
Moments later, agonized screams rang out.
The Root shinobi—most of them mere Genin—had no means of resisting.
They died almost instantly.
Of course, “quickly” referred only to how fast death came…
Not how painless it was.
Uchiha Shugen.
A stunning beauty from the Iga Group.
Her Blood Mist Technique allowed her to expel blood from every pore of her body, creating a dense crimson fog that concealed her movements while she hunted her prey.
Even in the world she originally came from, her technique had been terrifying.
Now, empowered by chakra and aided by the Sharingan, it had become something far beyond mere terror.
The Blood Mist not only greatly enhanced her own speed but also slowed anyone trapped within it.
Anyone weaker than her who found themselves engulfed by the mist could simply give up resisting…
…and wait for death to arrive.
Uchiha Shugen Ninjutsu: A+Taijutsu: AGenjutsu: B Uchiha Kagerō.
A legendary beauty said to have captivated countless men.
Her unique constitution made every breath she exhaled lethally poisonous whenever someone approached her.
After gaining chakra and the Sharingan, however, she no longer needed to get close.
Now, her mastery of poison was sufficient to rival even Hanzo of the Salamander himself.
Uchiha Kagerō Ninjutsu: STaijutsu: CGenjutsu: A One had once secretly loved Uchiha Koshirō.
The other had long admired Uchiha Gennosuke.
Originally belonging to rival factions beneath the Uchiha banner, the two women had become close friends because they shared the pain of unrequited love.
Together, their techniques surpassed even Hanzo’s battlefield lethality.
Hanzo’s poison could still be escaped if one was fast enough.
Their combination offered no such luxury.
You couldn’t run.
You couldn’t endure.
Without a specialized countermeasure, the pair were every bit as devastating to the battlefield as Minato Namikaze himself.
Simply put…
They were weapons of mass destruction.
If Minato was a precision-guided missile…
Then these two were a pair of catastrophic poison bombs.
Individually, powerful shinobi could kill them.
But on a battlefield?
Their destructive power rivaled that of a Tailed Beast—especially against enemy personnel.
The crimson mist expanded.
A flock of white doves circled overhead.
Because within that circle…
Very few living beings remained.
Danzō and the handful of Root elites still alive had retreated onto the branches of a large tree.
Below them…
The ground was carpeted with the corpses of Root shinobi.
Ironically, the only reason Danzō had survived was because of Hanzo of the Salamander.
Years ago, when he’d sought cooperation with Hanzo in the Land of Rain, special gas masks had been developed so his men could withstand Hanzo’s poison.
That equipment had just saved his life.
But only barely.
The mask could block Hanzo’s naturally dispersed poison.
It could not completely resist this deliberately concentrated poisonous technique.
It merely reduced the poison from fatal to merely crippling.
Half of Danzō’s body remained exposed.
Large blisters had already erupted across his skin.
At least one of his arms was now useless.
Perched atop the tree, Danzō stared in utter disbelief.
Only a few seconds had passed.
The battle…
Was already over.
Too fast.
So fast he hadn’t even had time to react.
What had suddenly given Kei the resolve to attack?
He couldn’t understand.
He realized now that he knew far too little about this young man.
He’d never imagined Kei possessed such overwhelming battlefield power.
But that wasn’t what truly shocked him.
The real question was— How could Uchiha Kei actually dare to do this?
He truly intended to kill him.
Danzō Shimura.
One of Konoha’s elders.
A man second only to the Hokage in political authority.
Yet Kei had attacked without the slightest hesitation…
So close to Konoha itself.
“Uchiha Kei!” “You…
you’re really going to kill me?!” Danzō’s desperate roar echoed through the forest.
Below the tree, Kei casually picked up one of the discarded gas masks left behind by a Root shinobi.
Amused, he put it on.
His voice became muffled behind the mask.
“Danzō-sama.” “You’ve spent so many years abusing your authority in Konoha that you’ve forgotten something.” “Standing above others has never been easy.” “Only those who survive the battlefield become true ‘leaders.'” “Power handed to you by others—and good fortune alone—can never make you victorious.” “What are you trying to say?” For decades, Danzō had lectured others.
Now a mere teenager was lecturing him.
He found it unbearable.
Kei tossed the gas mask aside.
His expression turned serious.
“Danzō-sama.” “Don’t you understand yet?” “The Hokage granted you power.” “He gave you Root.” “He gave you authority over others.” “But at the same time…” “He took away your identity.” Danzō’s face instantly darkened.
He seemed to realize something.
Kei turned his back to him, unwilling to look at the old man’s increasingly twisted face as poison ravaged his body.
“Danzō-sama.” “The moment you became Root’s leader…” “You and every member of Root became dead men.” “Dead men without names.” “Dead men without records.” “And killing people who officially don’t exist…” “…isn’t considered murder.” Danzō froze.
It was true.
The moment someone joined Root, all ties with family were severed.
Their records disappeared.
Their existence was erased.
Only by becoming people who had never existed could Root ensure that failures in covert operations would never implicate Konoha.
If they officially didn’t exist…
Then killing them…
Wasn’t murder.
“Uchiha Kei…” “You can’t do this!” “The Hokage won’t let you get away with it!” It was the last struggle Danzō could muster.
Kei slowly shook his head.
“Danzō…” “You disappoint me.” “Is this truly the extent of your resolve?” “If I were you…” “I wouldn’t waste my final moments saying such meaningless things.” “I’d use every remaining second to find a way to survive.” “Think carefully, Danzō.” “No one is going to argue with me over a dead man.” Before he could finish speaking— A kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God Technique formula suddenly flew into the battlefield.
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