The Vacuum Blade that had claimed countless lives in Danzō's hands
now carved through his own throat, severing arteries and spine alike.
His head clung to his neck by only a few shreds of flesh.
Kato Dan's soul drifted back into his body.
Relief washed over him at once.
Facing someone like Danzō—a power within Konoha's upper echelons—had been too much pressure.
The fight had been too intense, now that it was over, reality struck him.
He had killed Danzō.
No one in the village could ever know this.
Dan looked toward the two ANBU nearby and began forming seals.
This wasn't the time to confront the village openly—
the ANBU had to die here!
Seeing the killing intent in Dan's eyes, Yagami's heart clenched.
He quickly raised his hand, ready to form the Self-Binding Curse Seal—the mark of a spy from the Uzumaki Clan—to prove his secret allegiance.
But before the final seal was formed, he stopped.
The situation had turned again.
Dan's breath caught—"Ugh!"—
his Spirit Transformation Technique broke off abruptly.
A Vacuum Blade burst through his back and sliced out through his chest, then continued downward, grinding through everything in its path—
heart, lungs, spleen, intestines, kidneys.
A horrific wound tore open the entire left side of his torso.
And from behind him—
Danzō's face, twisted in pure malice, leaned close to his ear!
This time there was none of the calm, calculating composure Danzō usually carried.
Only bloodlust.
The precious Mangekyō Sharingan once belonging to Uchiha Kagami—
one destroyed by Madara,
the other, only hours later, destroyed by Kato Dan!
Unforgivable.
"Kato Dan! You dare raise your hand against me?!"
Blood spurted from Dan's open wound like a fountain.
His mind reeled. Danzō's neck had been nearly severed—
how was he alive?
Even Tsunade couldn't heal something like that.
Dan struggled to complete his last hand seal—if he could just pass on the information—
But Danzō, a veteran of countless battles, gave him no chance.
The Vacuum Blade swept upward,
slicing clean through Dan's left arm.
The severed limb hit the muddy ground with a wet thud.
"Dan!"
One of the Senju guards screamed, immediately flashing through hand signs.
B, recognizing the start of a Summoning Technique, panicked.
If something unexpected was called forth, things could spiral out of control.
He made a quick sign of his own—
and the Senju guard's hand froze midair.
Parasitic Insects had burrowed into his arm, chewing through tendons and nerves,
rendering him incapable of completing the jutsu.
Yagami took advantage of the distraction.
While his own opponent faltered, he dashed forward and cleaved him down with a single stroke.
The tide of battle flipped in an instant.
Moments ago, Dan's side had the upper hand.
now, all three of them lay dead in the rain.
Before Danzō could issue any command, B spoke up immediately.
"Lord Danzō! We'll handle the cleanup at once!"
Yagami caught Danzō's blood-smeared, feral expression and bowed his head,
joining B in their grim work.
B and Yagami stacked the two Senju guards' corpses together.
As for Kato Dan's body—it remained beneath Danzō's feet.
That body had immense value.
It would be secretly dissected to study the mysteries of the Spirit Transformation Technique.
Yagami's eyes flicked toward the corpse.
Around its neck hung the First Hokage's Necklace.
He didn't dare move.
Neither did B—because Danzō himself stood motionless in the rain.
Yagami stayed tense, watching for any sign of sudden betrayal.
If Danzō decided to silence them to keep his secret—
well, that possibility wasn't small.
But perhaps not yet.
After all, Root didn't yet have the "Tongue Cursed Seal of Absolute Obedience."
They weren't completely under his control.
Root might be Danzō's direct force, Yagami thought grimly,
but does that mean ANBU are treated like disposable stepchildren?
Even stepchildren shouldn't be slaughtered so casually for convenience.
Time passed.
Danzō made no move to kill them.
Rain poured harder still, as though mourning Kato Dan—
that bright, talented young man whose promise had ended here.
He would live on in memory.
In the recollections of those who survived him,
he would only grow stronger,
until nostalgia painted him a hero he never had the chance to become.
That's the tragedy of memory, Yagami mused—the "nostalgia filter."
Kato Dan's forbidden jutsu had been powerful indeed,
but his weakness was fatal—
half-paralyzed without mobility, helpless once the enemy got close.
Yagami tallied up the results in his mind.
His plan to weaken the Senju Clan's influence in the upper council—
it had succeeded.
Kato Dan had destroyed one of Danzō's eyes,
and Yagami's manipulation had borne fruit.
As for revealing his true identity to the Senju, or defecting—
he dismissed the idea.
He glanced at Danzō again,
remembering that Commander Yellow Dog had already begun to suspect him.
No, he couldn't risk exposure.
Sympathy aside, survival came first.
Yagami watched Danzō carefully from the corner of his eye.
Orochimaru had given Danzō advanced transplantation techniques,
and yet—Danzō had died twice in one night.
It was just like in the original story,
Danzō dying over and over against Sasuke,
burning through Sharingan eyes as if they were expendable substitutes.
B finally moved.
Yagami followed.
B stepped close to Danzō and said quietly,
"Lord Danzō, it's too dangerous for you to fight in person.
Next time, please allow us to handle such missions.
If we bring more Root operatives—and maybe a few ANBU squads—
we can prevent such risks altogether."
Yagami swore inwardly.
'You damn bootlicker. If you want to suck up, fine—but don't drag the rest of us in.
When everyone else dies doing your groveling, you're the one who walks away with the credit.,
Danzō's pale, fishlike eyes closed slightly, his tone heavy.
"I'm not upset because I was in danger," he said slowly.
"I'm upset because these eyes were the dying gift of my dear friend, Kagami."
"For the sake of Konoha, I've long been ready to die—
but like Lord Second, I must die with purpose."
"I cannot die pointlessly.
I must fall only when Konoha faces its greatest peril—
and become the final guardian of the village."
He sighed.
"What a pity for Uchiha Kagami.
My friend's legacy was lost—all in a single night."
Yagami thought to himself:
So that's how he sees it.
As long as Hidden Leaf still stands, he refuses to die—
convinced he's destined to be the last one to give his life for it.
Every battle, the ANBU fight and bleed for his intelligence—
and Danzō swoops in at the end to "protect the village."
It all makes sense now.
He truly believes his own self-serving logic.
B quickly chimed in,
"I'm sure Lord Kagami would take comfort, knowing his eyes saved you twice tonight, my lord."
Yagami—ever the professional—managed not to gag at the shameless flattery.
Danzō gave a single grave nod.
"Let's move. We return to the main camp—find Orochimaru."
Whether Danzō would transplant a new Sharingan or revert to his original eye,
no one knew.
B asked,
"Lord Danzō, shall we hand over Kato Dan's body to Alpha for dissection?"
Danzō shook his head.
"Kato Dan's death must remain absolutely secret.
Orochimaru must not know.
He and Dan were classmates—and he's close to Tsunade."
"If word got out, Tsunade would turn against the village without hesitation."
"It's not yet time for the Senju Clan to break from Konoha.
That can wait until the Second Great Ninja War ends—
only then will we consider how to eliminate the Senju threat once and for all."
B's eyes flicked sideways, toward the Fox—
wordlessly asking whether Yagami should be trusted with such a secret.
Danzō's gaze followed.
Yagami's heart skipped a beat.
He immediately spoke up:
"Lord Danzō, I have an idea—
one that could erase every trace of Kato Dan's death!"
In the cracks between power and paranoia, survival was a delicate game.
He had to stall—
at least until the next full moon,
to buy himself a little more room to maneuver.
Danzō's cold eyes studied him from head to toe.
"Speak," he said at last. "Let's hear it."
***
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