Kakuzu's thinking was simple. Since he could not defeat the First Hokage himself, he had to find someone who could.
After some consideration, he set his sights on Uchiha Madara.
Konoha had only recently been founded, and Uchiha Madara had not yet left the village.
From Kakuzu's knowledge of the future, Uchiha Madara would eventually become Konoha's first rogue ninja before fighting the First Hokage at the Valley of the End.
Working backward from that outcome, the conflict between Uchiha Madara and the First Hokage had to be extremely deep.
Although Uchiha Madara was no match for the First Hokage, the First Hokage could not have defeated him easily either. Otherwise, Hashirama would not have died only a few years later.
Since that was the case, Kakuzu could simply disguise himself as a mysterious figure and manipulate Hashirama into eliminating Uchiha Madara.
Then, after both sides exhausted each other, he could reap the benefits and finally break this endless cycle created by Izanagi.
Kakuzu shared several pieces of information from the future in an attempt to gain the First Hokage's trust.
"Since that's the case," Hashirama said with interest, "as the son of the Sage of Six Paths, what can you teach me?"
"That can wait. More importantly, Uchiha Madara is planning to attack Konoha. You must kill him now if you want peace in the ninja world."
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Kakuzu: "..."
Watching Kakuzu become trapped within the illusion, Danzo gasped heavily as his hands trembled.
Using Izanagi consumed an enormous amount of chakra, and the same was true for his Mangekyo Sharingan abilities.
On top of that, he had already used an extremely chakra-intensive Wood Release technique earlier.
Even so, Danzo did not immediately kill Kakuzu.
Kakuzu possessed five hearts. The intense shock of death would only cause him to instantly break free from the illusion.
Danzo needed time.
Rather than destroying one of Kakuzu's hearts, he needed to retreat somewhere secluded and recover.
Forming a Tiger hand seal with one hand, flames suddenly ignited around him.
This was a secret technique he had learned from Hanzō, a trap involving explosive tags known as the Flaming Formation.
The chain of explosions would temporarily prevent Sasori from pursuing him.
After making these preparations, Danzo immediately turned and fled.
The three-way battle at the border of the Land of the Moon ended far earlier than expected due to Danzo's desperate efforts.
Meanwhile, some distance away, a masked man was leisurely walking along the riverbank.
Fugaku had long wanted to kill Danzo, seize his Mangekyo Sharingan, and then strike a deal with Orochimaru.
However, he had never acted.
First, he was uncertain about the true abilities of Danzo's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Second, Danzo still possessed Izanagi as a final life-saving trump card.
A single mistake could not only alert Danzo and allow him to escape, but it could also backfire disastrously.
Furthermore, Fugaku still needed manpower to capture the Tailed Beasts, and Danzo remained a valuable combat asset.
Because of that, he had delayed taking action until now.
With Kakuzu monitoring Danzo, there was little chance for him to play any tricks. At the same time, it would force him to consume his Sharingan reserves.
In fact, Danzo's defection tonight had all been anticipated by Fugaku. Even Kakuzu and Sasori's attacks had been subtly guided by him.
Fugaku was never worried that Danzo would die.
The old fox would undoubtedly find a way to escape, though his remaining uses of Izanagi would likely be exhausted.
Fugaku had been waiting for precisely this moment to act as the final interceptor.
By the time Danzo reached him, he should have little combat capability remaining.
Fugaku was in no hurry.
He was a schemer by nature, someone who excelled at manipulating events from behind the scenes and valued timing above all else.
The preparations had only just begun. There was no point rushing.
He estimated he would have to wait at least half an hour.
What Fugaku did not know, however, was that Danzo had already dealt with Sasori and Kakuzu in a short amount of time and was fleeing toward his location.
If things proceeded smoothly, Fugaku would simply encounter Danzo earlier than expected.
Unfortunately, Danzo suddenly came to a stop before reaching him.
Standing in his path was a white-haired ninja.
The white-haired ninja grinned and pointed at Danzo's right arm.
During his use of Wood Release, Danzo's torn clothing had exposed that arm, revealing seven completely closed Sharingan embedded within it.
Danzo unexpectedly began to laugh.
In the past, he had always been the hidden predator lying in wait for others.
He had never imagined that one day their roles would be reversed.
Glancing at the snow-covered river, he mocked himself inwardly.
Anyone who spent enough time walking beside a river would eventually get their shoes wet.
What he never expected was that the one ambushing him in the end would be Hiruko, someone he had once manipulated so easily.
The irony was almost laughable.
Above the moon existed a magnificent sea of clouds, a sight impossible to witness in the ninja world.
Inside the artificial sun, a pavilion floated at the highest point above the endless cloudscape.
Standing there felt as though one were overlooking a vast ocean.
The eternal twilight painted the clouds in countless brilliant colors beneath the setting sun.
Towering cloud formations resembled enormous waterfalls suspended in the sky, creating a breathtaking and awe-inspiring scene.
Hayashi and Himeji had already been living on the moon for nearly two months.
There were few forms of entertainment there.
Whenever he had free time, Hayashi would stand in the pavilion and quietly gaze into the endless twilight.
However, he was not merely daydreaming.
Using his increasingly refined sensory abilities, he constantly observed everything happening in the ninja world.
At this very moment, he was watching the battle between Hiruko and Danzo.
The reason Hiruko had managed to intercept Danzo before Fugaku was simple.
He had been monitoring him the entire time.
Fugaku was determined to obtain Danzo's Sharingan.
Hayashi had the same goal.
Naturally, his intentions were similar to Fugaku's. Both wanted Kakuzu to consume the Sharingan eventually.
In truth, Hayashi had prepared a contingency plan long ago.
Danzo's arm had originally been cultivated by Hiruko.
Because Danzo did not trust him, he had not allowed Hiruko to participate in the final transplantation process.
Even so, there had been countless opportunities to leave hidden measures behind.
For example, just as Uchiha Madara had done to Obito in the original timeline by placing a cursed seal on his heart.
Besides a cursed seal, Hiruko had also implanted a Flying Thunder God Technique formula.
That ensured Hayashi could always locate Danzo no matter where he went.
Unfortunately, Hayashi was currently on the moon.
The vast distance, combined with the moon's enormous barrier that disrupted spatial fluctuations, prevented him from instantly returning to the ninja world.
Under those circumstances, Danzo had chosen to abandon the Akatsuki early because he could no longer remain there.
Although Hayashi could not act personally, he could still transmit his will back to the ninja world through Ōtsutsuki puppet technology and direct Hiruko remotely.
In reality, Hiruko had been tracking Danzo's movements all along.
Now that Hiruko's Chimera Technique was complete, killing an exhausted Danzo would be effortless.
Hayashi gently shook his head.
"The Pot King... is finally going to die."