At the very last moment, right when Uchiha Obito was about to intervene, something flashed through Uchiha Sasuke's mind. He tore through the Cursed Seal and unleashed Susanoo completely.
What stood over him was almost a half-perfect Susanoo, and because breaking the seal had triggered a burst of emotion, the density of his chakra surged. The more his hatred grew, the stronger the power became.
Uchiha Itachi frowned. Sasuke had gained overwhelming strength, but he was drifting deeper into the dark, becoming more twisted and unstable. This wasn't the future Itachi wanted for him.
He could tell the video had been heavily cut. Something had happened off-screen—something powerful enough to make Sasuke explode with rage and break Shimura Danzo's Cursed Seal.
It had to be the so-called truth about him.
Just thinking about that made Itachi feel sick.
Under Sasuke's control, Susanoo drew its bow, arrow after arrow locking onto every point Danzo could possibly land.
The instant Danzo touched the ground, Susanoo's arrow was already flying toward him.
Danzo finally sensed real danger. He didn't even have time to form hand seals. In that split second, he made his choice—he released the other power sealed inside his right arm. It burst outward and transformed into a massive tree, knocking Susanoo's arrow off course.
The arrow veered just enough to spare his life.
"Because of that jutsu just now, Danzo's chakra suddenly dropped a lot," Uzumaki Karin said, catching the key detail. "Why burn that much chakra just to dodge Susanoo's attack?"
"He was supposed to still be running that immortality technique. Did he cancel his own jutsu at that moment?"
"That was Wood Release. So that's what it was."
Uchiha Obito's voice stayed flat. "If someone outside the Uchiha Clan wants to control that many Sharingan, there has to be a secret behind it. Damn Orochimaru… looks like he's tied to Danzo much deeper than I thought."
"He injected First Hokage Hashirama's cells into his body to boost his physical energy. That's the only reason he can handle that many Sharingan."
Off-screen, Hatake Kakashi shot to his feet. Wood Release. That was Wood Release.
First the Sharingan… and now Wood Release. These were the signature Kekkei Genkai of the two clans that had built the Leaf's foundations.
Both clans had dwindled to a single survivor, yet their influence still ran deep throughout the Leaf. If news like this got out, the village would explode instantly.
What was Danzo even trying to do?
Sure, those clans had "fallen," so it looked like no one would come after Danzo for meddling. But the Leaf still housed plenty of traditional ninja clans, and the Hatake Clan was one of them.
If Danzo dared to covet both the Sharingan and Wood Release, then of course he'd target other Kekkei Genkai clans too. One day he might even stretch his hand toward the Hatake Clan and steal their ancestral sword arts.
Kakashi might look lazy, drifting through life like "living is fine, dying is also fine," but the moment the Hatake Clan's legacy was threatened, everything about him changed.
Sure, he had no plans to find a partner and was content to grow old alone, but some instincts were carved too deep into his bones to ignore.
"Wood Release?" Uchiha Itachi's brows tightened as well. Danzo's excuse about "protecting the Leaf" could never justify what he'd done.
Only Sasuke had no idea what Wood Release meant inside the village. He just stared at the image of himself wielding Susanoo—cool, powerful, overwhelming. He imagined becoming that version of himself one day. Even if Kaede Kitahara kept teasing him as Sunny Sasuke, he didn't care.
Only by becoming strong could he take vengeance on Uchiha Itachi and Shimura Danzo.
He didn't know what Itachi's "secret" was, but clearly Itachi and Danzo were working together.
If they were allies, then neither could be forgiven.
"No—he would've died. If he hadn't dodged just now, he would've died. That's why he spent that much chakra escaping," Karin screamed toward the recording's Sasuke standing on Susanoo's shoulder. "Sasuke, the Danzo in front of you is the real one! He ended his invincible technique. You can kill him now!"
"That woman… a sensory type? She noticed it already?" Danzo finally saw Karin. "But it's too late."
A sensory-type ninja was valuable anywhere—sometimes even strategically decisive. What an ordinary ninja could sense was nothing compared to a specialized sensor.
In that critical moment, Sasuke heard Karin's warning and attacked. But he was still a heartbeat too slow. Danzo activated Izanagi again. Sasuke's strike landed, but it didn't kill him. Moments later, Danzo appeared once more.
And Sasuke was in terrible shape. Repeatedly using Susanoo and Amaterasu was tearing him apart from the inside.
Sharingan and Wood Release belonged to Danzo now, but Obito could already see the bigger picture. The Nine-Tails was also one of Danzo's targets.
"Naruto—he's after Naruto too." Kakashi felt a chill crawl down his spine. If Danzo wanted the Nine-Tails, Naruto was truly in danger.
"Nine-Tails? What is that? Why are Itachi and this Danzo both after it?" Sasuke still didn't understand what the Nine-Tails was, but he could sense it mattered.
The battle dragged on. Even though Sasuke had "killed" Danzo several times, he was steadily losing ground. Susanoo and Amaterasu were monstrous powers, but the stronger the jutsu, the heavier the price.
By now, the toll on Sasuke was so obvious everyone could see it.
Onscreen, Danzo charged Sasuke again and again, dying and reviving with every exchange.
At the same time, Uchiha Obito continued analyzing. "Izanagi turns all unfavorable conditions—injury, damage, even death—into a dream. At the same time, it pulls the user's favorable outcomes into reality. It controls the boundary between illusion and reality… the ultimate genjutsu one can cast on oneself."