After Uchiha Kiyo incinerated Danzō with a blazing Fire Lotus, he reappeared one kilometer away from the battlefield, far from where Danzō had perished.
This marked the boundary of Izanagi's spatial effect.
Izanagi not only grants temporary resurrection, but also allows limited spatial displacement upon revival. If it weren't so, how would Madara Uchiha have faked his death so successfully? He revived deep underground, in a place too confining to escape physically. Even with his powerful physique, he couldn't have clawed his way out through sheer force. There are no caskets in the shinobi world, and under the soil, there's no leverage for direct strength.
One kilometer—this is the upper bound of Izanagi's repositioning capacity.
It was impossible for Danzō to reappear right next to Uchiha Kiyo after resurrection. Hence, Kiyo didn't need to worry about a surprise attack.
This intel had been passed to Uchiha Kiyo by none other than Uchiha Madara.
It was also the limit of Izanagi's activation range via the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Moments before releasing the Fire Lotus on Danzō, Uchiha Kiyo had stealthily formed a Qi Yuan Slash with his other hand and severed Danzō's entire right arm.
Only then did Uchiha Kiyo finally exhale in relief.
Though he had a vested interest in Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, allowing such a technique to exist in another's hands was a source of unease. Now, it was obliterated.
As the smoke cleared, Danzō reappeared, completely unscathed, but his expression was dark and livid.
It was a massive loss—he had sacrificed Kotoamatsukami just to trigger Izanagi!
"That damned brat… he knew. He must have done this intentionally."
At that moment, Danzō's hatred for Uchiha Kiyo burned deep in his heart.
Tsunade, watching from afar, ceased combat with the lava golem that had exploded into fragments under the shadow clone's command.
"Damn it. He even left behind a shadow clone just to stall me?"
She felt an inexplicable irritation. Fighting a clone felt beneath her stature.
She frowned as she watched Danzō reappear untouched by the previous explosion.
"That old bastard made it out alive. Even I'm not confident I could've withstood such a blast."
This confirmed her suspicions—this Uchiha Kiyo was undeniably one of the powerful combatants from the recent war in the Land of Fire. The summoning of a towering lava entity and the cataclysmic explosion made it unmistakable.
The earlier detonation had shaken all of Konoha. The very ground quaked like an earthquake.
It could be said—the whole village was rattled to its core.
Uchiha Kiyo chuckled coldly.
His mission objectives were fulfilled—the Shimura clan was eradicated, and Danzō's Mangekyō was rendered useless.
As for killing Danzō outright—heh, removing a figure with more than a dozen spare lives wasn't something that could be completed instantly. Not with Tsunade standing nearby.
Jiraiya would likely arrive soon too. Once in Sage Mode and accompanied by two Great Toad Sages from Mount Myōboku, even Uchiha Kiyo might not hold his own.
And as for why Jiraiya hadn't yet shown up—well, let's just say Tsunade had caught him peeping at the women's baths the previous night and had given him a beating.
Uchiha Kiyo activated his Uchiha Propulsion Technique, lifting himself skyward alongside the remaining lava golem and shadow clone.
Hovering mid-air, Kiyo unveiled his Sharingan for all to see—his Uchiha identity plain and undisguised.
"Uchiha returns for vengeance!"
He didn't give them time to ask questions. His intentions were already laid bare.
"I am Uchiha… and I've come to avenge my clan!"
Danzō annihilated his people, so Uchiha Kiyo annihilated Danzō's. Perfectly justified.
Not that Kiyo expected any of them to agree—or to sympathize.
Floating above, he scanned Konoha. Everyone below was alarmed to see he could fly. Their expressions soured.
Jiraiya had just arrived on the scene, unaware of the full story, but he could tell from the destruction and the presence in the sky—this person was the culprit.
And he could fly.
This made the situation all the more troublesome.
There were airborne shinobi, sure—but they were exceedingly rare. Bringing one down was no small feat. Even the simplest assassination would be difficult.
Now that Konoha's top fighters had gathered, Uchiha Kiyo began weaving hand seals.
With the lava golem dispelled, molten rock converged in mid-air under his command and formed a titanic lava fireball.
Upon seeing it, Danzō's instincts screamed—This is bad! His second thought was to glance toward his foundation: Root.
The colossal molten sphere plummeted from the sky and smashed directly into Root's underground base.
"Hahaha! Greetings from the Xian (Immortal) Organization!"
Uchiha Kiyo's laughter echoed across the skies of Konoha.
In the next instant, he vanished.
But his voice—"Greetings from the Xian Organization!"—continued to reverberate across the village.
"Damn it!"
Kiyo was gone. Danzō was livid. He scanned the wreckage of the Shimura estate, then shifted his gaze toward Root before breaking into a sprint.
Tsunade clicked her tongue in frustration once Danzō left.
"Damn that Danzō. He's done nothing but stir chaos and incur loss upon Konoha. No—I'm calling a meeting. He must explain himself!"
Jiraiya stood beside her, hesitant. The Shimura clan had just been wiped out. Would Danzō really risk turning rogue?
He said nothing. That fireball earlier had shown just how devastating Uchiha Kiyo had become.
At that moment, Root had been struck hard. And now that the Shimura clan was gone, Danzō had lost the leverage to rebel.
But thinking of Uchiha Kiyo—the man behind this chain of destruction—Jiraiya's mind spiraled in disarray.
What the hell is going on…?
Though Danzō's influence had waned and Tsunade's grasp over Konoha had tightened, the village's overall strength had also been compromised. Meanwhile, the broader shinobi world was teetering into chaos. It wouldn't be long before other villages made their move.
This chaos wasn't just between the Five Great Nations. It was an unraveling of order. Akatsuki's activities were the storm's eye. Over the years, the ninja world had accumulated countless S-rank rogues, and Akatsuki had unified them into a force stronger than any singular shinobi village.
So many powerful missing-nin roamed unchecked. Even the information networks of major villages were compromised.
No one had yet compiled data on the disappearance of the tailed beasts—but once they did, someone would realize that half of the tailed beasts were already gone.
Without their jinchūriki, no nation dared initiate war.
Konoha—Naruto Office.
The high-ranking Konoha officials sat in silence. The atmosphere was heavy.
"You're all aware of the Shimura clan's annihilation," Tsunade broke the silence. "The attacker was a Uchiha ninja. He explicitly stated he came for vengeance. You all understand what this implies."
She glanced toward Danzō and his two loyal council elders—Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
Everyone's eyes turned to the trio. No names were said aloud, but it was clear—they had orchestrated everything in the shadows. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi…
"It's a disgrace," Danzō exploded. "That the mighty Konoha was infiltrated by one man, and that he got away!"
His rage was tangible. When he'd returned to Root, he found it reduced to a molten crater. His heart still bled.
In this timeline, with Uchiha Kiyo not constantly interfering, Root had flourished. It had stockpiled significant power—now destroyed in one night.
And worse—Uchiha Kiyo had severed Danzō's Mangekyō Sharingan—the Kotoamatsukami eye—crippling his trump card.
Now, when the culprit was mentioned, Danzō couldn't help but spit venom.
"Declare him wanted! In Konoha's name! We must hunt him down—he must die!"
His fervor was unmatched, but the room remained silent.
Especially Jiraiya—he gave Danzō a look that said, Clean up your own mess for once.
It was humiliating. With only Tsunade and Jiraiya left as Konoha's Sannin-level leadership, things were complicated. As Hokage, Tsunade couldn't act personally. Jiraiya had made it clear—he wouldn't go after Uchiha Kiyo.
So Danzō's decree felt like a bad joke.
Still, out of lingering respect for his past power, no one mocked him aloud.
But the fear Danzō once commanded was gone. Without Hokage backing, with the Shimura clan erased and Root decimated, his influence had evaporated.
The other clan leaders were already scheming—how to absorb the Shimura clan's vacant seats and resources.
Of course, these things would be whispered behind closed doors.
Danzō sensed the shift in atmosphere. His expression soured. He looked to Tsunade but found no support there. Her cold gaze only deepened his fury, nearly making him cough blood.
Seeing Danzō hit rock bottom, Tsunade rapped the desk with her knuckles. The room refocused.
"I've gathered everyone here to discuss the Xian Organization."
At the mention of the mysterious group, the mood turned grim.
Before Uchiha Kiyo vanished, his final words "Greetings from the Xian Organization"—still echoed across the skies of Konoha…