In the shadowed depths of the Root base, damp stone walls exuded a biting chill. Danzo's gaunt fingers absently rubbed together, lost in thought.
Plans to confront Tsunade churned in his mind, but every scenario hit the same obstacle: Hiruzen Sarutobi.
This time, the Third Hokage stood openly behind Tsunade, even going so far as to revoke Danzo's position as her aide, stripping away most of his power like snapping a brittle branch.
A sour, oppressive heat built in Danzo's chest, and the metallic taste of iron rose in his throat.
"How dare you, Hiruzen!" he spat, voice hoarse. He hated how the Third Hokage had shown no respect, removing him from his position outright.
At the same time, he realized Hiruzen's strategy using him as a rough whetstone to sharpen Tsunade's political claws.
"Trying to use me as a whetstone?" Danzo's voice was like jagged shards of ice, echoing through the empty stone chamber. "Hiruzen, aren't you afraid I'll grind Tsunade's blade to pieces?"
A cold, sinister smile crept across his wrinkled face.
The thought wrapped around his mind like a vine.
Once Tsunade was gone, he could legitimately propose himself as the next Hokage to the Daimyo.
Even under the bandages on his left eye, Shisui's Sharingan twitched slightly.
He knew his reputation meant that, with other candidates available, the Daimyo would probably not choose him as Hokage.
But with the Heavenly Control technique, he could manipulate the Daimyo, and Konoha would be completely under his control.
"All I've done… is for Konoha!" he murmured to the empty air, the hollow self-righteousness almost convincing even himself.
In that instant, he spun around and froze.
A chill shot down his spine, sharp as a snake's fangs locking onto prey.
From the shadows nearby, two figures stood motionless like pines, their gazes so cold they could crack stone.
When did they get here? cold sweat soaked Danzo's collar as his heart raced.
With his sensory abilities, he had been utterly unaware of anyone entering!
If they strike now…
Instinctively, he reached for the metal device on his arm, fingers brushing the cold lock before he regained some composure.
When he saw them clearly, his pupils contracted sharply. "Naruto Uzumaki! Sasuke Uchiha!"
"You two brats, what are you doing sneaking into Root?" he hissed, lowering his voice to mask his panic.
"To avenge the Uchiha clan," Sasuke's voice was colder than the stone chamber. The six-tomoe Mangekyō Sharingan swirled in the darkness. "For Shisui Uchiha, for Itachi Uchiha… revenge!" He spat the words as though biting them out.
Shisui? Itachi? Danzo's chest tightened violently.
How could these kids know these long-buried secrets?
But he did not hesitate. Chakra surged in his throat. "Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
A storm of razor-sharp wind blades shot toward the two, yet Naruto and Sasuke did not even flinch.
The blades tore through their bodies unhindered, blood spraying across the stone walls, blooming like eerie crimson flowers.
"Hmph! You infants dare speak of revenge?" Danzo sneered, looking at the fallen, unwilling-to-die corpse.
The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki was dead a small pity. Next time the Eight-Tails revived, it would be under his control.
But the next instant, his neck felt as if gripped by invisible hands. Breath was cut off.
Looking up, a massive six-pointed Mangekyō Sharingan hovered from the ceiling. Its crimson pupil overflowed with icy malice and murderous intent, and threads of blood-red chakra slithered from it like serpents, coiling around his limbs.
"Genjutsu?!" Danzo's eyes widened in disbelief.
He had fallen into an illusion?
He tore the bandages from his left eye. Shisui's Sharingan spun rapidly, its ocular power surging like a tidal wave, ripping apart the illusion.
But as the genjutsu dissipated, a sharp pain struck his chest.
Looking down, he saw Sasuke's hand withdraw from his heart, Chidori crackling at his fingertips, blood dripping through the cracks between his fingers.
"Gah!" Danzo spat a mouthful of blood, his gaze locked on Sasuke's six-pointed Mangekyō Sharingan.
"I see… you've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!" Anger and frustration burned through him like wildfire. "You brat… hiding it so well!"
As his body slumped, he heard Sasuke's icy voice: "With your vision, you are only fit to crawl on the ground and look up at the Uchiha name."
"Who's there?!" The sounds of battle alerted the nearby Root operatives.
Dozens of shadowy figures quickly surrounded them, weapons glinting in the dim light.
"It's Lord Danzo!"
"They've killed Lord Danzo!"
"Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha!"
Shouts of shock and anger echoed, but Naruto stepped forward, voice calm and unshakable as a boulder. "Danzo killed fellow Konoha ninja, with conclusive evidence. By order of the Hokage, we are here to purge the traitors. From today, Root answers directly to the Hokage!"
The Root operatives froze.
They exchanged uneasy glances, hands trembling around their weapons.
Many had survived the pursuit of Shisui; none could claim innocence for their complicity.
"Don't believe their lies! Kill them! Buy me time!"
A cold voice came from behind, sending shivers down the operatives' spines.
They turned sharply. Danzo, somehow alive, stood behind them, leisurely undoing the metal device on his arm.
The "corpse" on the floor had vanished without a trace.
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances, each silently questioning the other.
Not even their Sage Mode could detect how Danzo had returned to life.
With the order given, the Root operatives had no choice.
"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitating Drawing!" A black tiger roared as it lunged; "Parasitic Worms!" Dark swarms blotted out the sky; "Mind Body Transfer!" Invisible threads of chakra silently snaked toward the two.
These ninja were elite, from secretive families, masters of cunning and vicious techniques. They had once hunted Shisui, who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan; they were no ordinary foes.
"Clearly they are blindly loyal to Danzo," Naruto said, a cold glint in his eyes. "Then there's no need to hold back."
Sasuke said nothing. The red glow of his Mangekyō Sharingan flared intensely.
The two moved like lightning through the crowd, silver bolts dancing like serpents, whirlwinds cutting like blades.
Even though the Root operatives were jōnin and elite jōnin, against Naruto and Sasuke in Sage Mode and with the Mangekyō Sharingan, their movements were as if slowed by a cinematic effect.
Strength, speed, reaction… Naruto and Sasuke were overwhelming in every aspect.
Within a minute, the sounds of battle fell silent.
The Root base was thick with the stench of blood. Bodies lay strewn across the floor.
Naruto and Sasuke stood in the center of the carnage, untouched, eyes cold as they turned once more toward Danzo.
By now, Danzo had removed the metal device from his arm, revealing countless Sharingan embedded beneath.
He silently formed a series of hand seals.
He glanced at the corpses on the floor without lifting an eyelid, as if the fallen were no more than stones on the path.
But Shisui's Sharingan in his eye had turned milky white, clearly the price of his recent resurrection.