Shimura Danzo's sudden movement immediately drew Hyuga Satoru's attention. With both Root and the ANBU already in motion, there was no guarantee that the ever-calculating Danzo wouldn't make a move of his own.
Right now, all the Hyuga guards were locked in combat with the ANBU.
For this one instant — Satoru was alone.
"Advisor Danzo, what are you planning to do?"
Uchiha Fugaku's eyes narrowed as he spoke. He, too, had noticed Danzo's subtle shift in posture.
On the surface, this looked like a clash between the Hyuga and the Hokage's side — Hiruzen and Danzo.
But in essence, it was a fight over authority.
Which carried more weight inside Konoha — the will of a great clan, or the order of the village's high council?
They weren't just fighting over a corpse anymore.
They were fighting over who was allowed to decide.
From Fugaku's point of view, he naturally hoped the Hyuga would win. Like the Uchiha, the Hyuga were one of the great clans. If the village finally started taking the power and the interests of the great clans seriously, it would only benefit the Uchiha later.
He himself had once had the chance to resist.
But he had compromised — and because of that compromise, the Uchiha had been pushed to the village outskirts, away from the political center they'd helped build.
Only a few short years had passed, and Fugaku could already feel the Uchiha being slowly edged out.
He wanted to change that.
And siding with the Hyuga today — was a way to do it.
But to Danzo, Uchiha Fugaku was already labeled "too soft."
"This has nothing to do with the Uchiha," Danzo said coldly. "Get out of my way."
His voice was like ice — and before Fugaku could say anything more, Danzo's slow, limping pace suddenly turned into a burst of speed.
In an instant, his figure blurred — and he drove his fist straight toward Hyuga Satoru's abdomen.
The leader of Root… had finally chosen to attack.
"…Tch."
Satoru clicked his tongue.
He had underestimated Danzo's ruthlessness.
He had thought Danzo might still show some restraint in front of the Hyuga Main Family — but this was the same man who had once dared to plot against a Hokage, and who would, in another timeline, ambush Uchiha Shisui.
A man like this only ever weighed cost and value.
Satoru's Byakugan had already locked onto Danzo, so the moment the punch came, he crossed his arms to guard.
But the instant they clashed — a violent force exploded from Danzo's fist.
"Urgh—!"
Satoru was blown back, his body flipping through the courtyard air before he twisted and landed several meters away.
So strong…!
He had judged Danzo's strength based on what he "should" have had at this point in time — mainly Wind Release, no Shisui's eye, no Hashirama cells — so at worst he should have been a bit stronger than Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
But after a single exchange, Satoru knew he'd been wrong.
Even without stolen bloodlines, Danzo's raw taijutsu power was at the level of a solid elite jonin.
Before Satoru could fully reset his stance, he heard the sharp whistle of metal.
A shuriken — spinning, its edge wrapped in wind chakra — came screaming straight for his lower body.
Danzo's wind-nature transformation was clean — the shuriken's cutting power was enough to slice flesh from bone.
Satoru's muscles tightened.
He didn't use Rotation.
Instead, he snatched out a kunai, kicked off the ground, and — with Byakugan's perfect field of vision — threw it straight at the incoming shuriken.
Lightning chakra crackled over the kunai's blade. Its speed and piercing power spiked.
In midair, the two projectiles met — and Satoru's kunai drilled cleanly through the shuriken's center, knocking it down and pinning it to the ground.
Neutralized.
But Danzo didn't stop.
Two more wind-charged shuriken cut through the air; at the same time, Danzo exhaled sharply — blowing out Wind Release: Shuriken Blades from his mouth, launching them at Satoru while he was still airborne and least able to dodge.
One attack after another — tight, merciless, meant to cripple.
From the side, Uchiha Fugaku's face darkened.
Danzo wasn't holding back at all.
If even one of those blades landed, a boy Satoru's age would be disabled — maybe forever.
But Satoru remained calm.
His eyes flashed.
His body vanished.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
The wind blades tore into the space where he'd just been, smashing into the courtyard wall behind him. The wall was torn open in two long gashes and collapsed in a rumble of broken stone.
When Satoru reappeared, he was right next to Danzo — his leg whipping out in a fast, heavy roundhouse aimed at Danzo's chest.
Of course.
Danzo's earlier strike had sent Satoru flying past one of his marked kunai.
"Flying Thunder God… truly a powerful jutsu," Danzo muttered. "But in your hands, boy, it's far from invincible.
You're still too green."
He had already memorized where Satoru's seals were. Seeing Satoru appear beside him didn't surprise him at all. He lifted his left arm to block and reached out with his right to grab Satoru's neck.
Catch the space-time user → brand him → bind him.
"Submit quietly," Danzo barked, eyes flashing.
But just as his palm was about to touch Satoru's skin—
Boom!
A violent surge of chakra erupted from Satoru's entire body, forming a dense, close-fitting wall between the two. Danzo's hand stopped dead, unable to break through though it was only inches away.
"Rotation?" Danzo muttered, stepping back to avoid being dragged into a spin.
But Satoru didn't move.
He didn't spin.
He just stood there — covered in a tight, gleaming chakra film.
Not Rotation, then.
Satoru's gaze was steady.
This was his Chakra Armor — an original technique he'd developed while refining chakra shape transformation off Hyuga principles. Like Rotation, it expelled chakra through every pore — but instead of dispersing it in a whirl, it compressed it around the body, becoming an absolute defense fitted to his frame.
He'd even started experimenting with elemental infusion. This was the first time he'd used it in a live battle — and it worked.
Danzo didn't recognize it — he had no Byakugan, no way to see the structure of the technique.
So he changed tactics.
His hands blurred.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A roaring wind exploded from Danzo's mouth, sweeping through the courtyard like a storm. Tiles shattered, dust and sand blasted into the air. Even the Hyuga and ANBU fighting nearby had to brace themselves.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had already leapt back out of range, face darkening.
Hyuga Satoru's talent was… terrifying.
To fight Danzo head-on at this age — and not immediately lose — was enough to make even the Third shake.
But the more Danzo used big, open jutsu like this… the harder it would be to smooth things over later.
This mess… how was he supposed to clean it up?
The wild gusts slammed into Satoru — and shattered.
The debris that hit his Chakra Armor turned to powder.
He didn't budge.
Slowly, Satoru raised his right hand.
A ferocious chakra construct — lion-shaped — formed around his arm. Within its open jaws, a dense, spiraling chakra sphere condensed, pressure rolling off it like heat.
"Die."
Satoru's eyes went cold.
He thrust his arm forward — and the roaring chakra sphere shot out like a cannonball straight at Shimura Danzo.
Danzo wanted to kill him.
Then Hyuga Satoru… would simply kill him first.
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