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"Well then. I've let go. Can I leave Konoha safely now?"
Akira smiled brightly at Hiruzen Sarutobi, then tilted his head toward Danzo.
"Don't blame me for being ruthless. The Third Hokage told me to let go."
"Y-you… damn you!"
Danzo glared at him with his single eye blazing.
Over on the other side—
Hiruzen stared blankly at the severed arm lying on the ground. For a full thirty seconds, he didn't move.
Then his face darkened. Veins bulged across his forehead.
"You bastard! Are you mocking me?!"
He was furious beyond words. When he said "let go," was this what he meant?
Akira raised a brow, looking genuinely puzzled.
"What? Was letting go of one hand not enough? Want me to let go of the other too?"
He reached for Danzo's remaining arm as if he were about to twist that one off as well.
"AHHH! Hiruzen, what are you doing?! Are you trying to get me killed on purpose?!"
Danzo shrieked in rage and pain.
"You… stop!"
Hiruzen's teeth ground together. His finger trembled as he pointed at Akira.
He'd thought the kid was some gullible fool.
Turns out, the fool was him.
The clown… was himself.
…
Brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant.
From a distance, Fugaku watched with open satisfaction.
He had known this so-called "Akira" wasn't someone to be trifled with.
And yet the Third Hokage had tried to play him like an idiot. What a joke.
Now look what happened. Danzo had just lost an arm for nothing.
Fugaku felt a rare sense of relief.
"You dare toy with me like this," Hiruzen thundered, face ashen with rage. "I don't care who you are, how strong you are, or what faction you come from…"
"Konoha will pursue you to the ends of the earth!"
"The foundation of this village is not something a reckless brute like you can comprehend."
"You will pay for your arrogance. Tonight, this will be your grave!"
His expression twisted as he roared, "Know your place and release Elder Danzo immediately. Do that, and I might leave you an intact corpse. Otherwise, you'll be crushed to dust!"
Even now, he was still trying to ensure Danzo survived.
Perhaps those two truly were inseparable.
"Release Elder Danzo!"
"Don't be foolish!"
"Defy us and you'll fall into hell!"
Voices rose all around. Konoha shinobi shouted in unison, their momentum swelling like a tidal wave.
They meant to crush him with sheer presence.
"I'll give you ten seconds. Let him go. Or I swear you'll regret ever being born!"
Hiruzen's voice dripped with killing intent.
"Ten. Nine. Eight…"
He began counting down.
With every number, his aura intensified.
It was as if the moment the countdown ended, he would strike without hesitation, Danzo's life be damned.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound split the air.
Akira and Danzo vanished.
Then—
Smack!!!
A crisp, explosive slap echoed through the night sky.
Hiruzen's countdown died in his throat.
His entire body slid backward across the ground for more than ten meters before crashing into a wooden beam jutting from the surrounding ruins.
Silence.
Akira now stood where Hiruzen had been moments ago. His expression was impatient.
"Are you done nagging? If you want to fight, stop talking and just come at me."
The battlefield fell dead quiet.
So quiet it was suffocating.
Every pair of eyes locked onto Hiruzen's face.
A bright red handprint stood out clearly on his cheek.
Shock rippled through the crowd like a tsunami.
He… got slapped.
In front of everyone.
That was the Hokage.
The leader of the village.
The most respected figure in Konoha.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would have believed it possible.
How dare he?
Was he tired of living?
This was Konoha. Slapping their Hokage here was the same as slapping every one of them across the face.
It was naked provocation.
Fugaku was stunned.
What the hell.
He had guts like that?
Beating up Danzo was one thing. Plenty of people despised that old vulture anyway.
But slapping Hiruzen Sarutobi in public?
That was something else entirely.
Truth be told… it was something Fugaku had imagined doing countless times.
He had to admit it.
He was impressed.
If he possessed this fake Akira's strength, even then, he wouldn't have dared.
That was the Hokage, after all.
Still… satisfying as it was, the aftermath would be brutal.
No one could stand alone against an entire great ninja village.
Not even him.
Should he bring the Uchiha to help?
Fugaku glanced at his clansmen, their eyes practically glowing.
Then at Akira, standing there with unshakable dominance.
He hesitated.
"You… do you have any idea what you've just done?!"
Hiruzen's voice trembled with fury.
His aged face twisted grotesquely.
This was Konoha. The strongest shinobi village in the world.
And he was the Hokage. The man at the very top.
This was supposed to be his home ground.
Akira was the one at a disadvantage.
If anyone was going to slap someone, it should have been him.
And yet—
He was the one struck.
What the hell is going on?
Right now, Hiruzen Sarutobi could practically feel the strange looks coming from the Konoha shinobi around him.
Even his own Anbu guards were staring at him with doubt in their eyes.
As if they were thinking:
Our Hokage is this weak? He got slapped in the face that easily?
Was all that talk about the strongest Hokage in history just hype?
Humiliated in front of so many subordinates, Hiruzen felt his composure cracking. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Akira, his voice warped with fury.
"You brat! Sneaking up on a sixty-nine-year-old man? No honor at all! You're finished. You don't even get a chance to beg!"
He barked the order viciously.
"Attack! Kill him! Leave nothing behind. Turn him to ash! Ignore Elder Danzo!"
"Hi—Hiruzen, you bastard!"
Danzo exploded in rage.
"Danzo, for the sake of Konoha, your sacrifice will be worth it. I'm sure you understand. After you die, you'll be a hero of the village. I'll personally choose the best burial ground for you."
Hiruzen's voice was ice cold, devoid of emotion. Like a machine.
No matter what, the man who dared to strike his face had to die here.
Even if it meant Danzo's death.
Compared to his authority as Hokage, Danzo's life meant nothing.
"Damn you! Hiruzen, you were always a hypocrite!"
Danzo could only curse helplessly.
Just as despair settled in—
Bang!
The ground split apart beneath them. A Root shinobi wearing a mask and wielding a ninja blade shot up from below.
"Lord Danzo, don't panic! I'll get you out!"
Gripping the sword with both hands, he slashed upward at the arm holding Danzo.
For a split second, Danzo thought he saw hope.
Then he realized it was just some idiot.
The man must've been stationed on the outer perimeter and had no idea how absurd Akira's physical defense was. He probably thought a sneak attack would sever the arm, rescue Danzo, and earn him a huge merit.
Danzo's eyes went dull. He didn't even need to look to know the outcome.
Clang!
The blade struck Akira's arm and rang like it had hit steel.
Behind the mask, the shinobi's smile froze.
"Wh—what kind of defense is that?!"
Boom!
Akira didn't bother answering. He kicked.
A bloody hole burst through the man's chest. His body flew more than ten meters before crashing down, dead beyond doubt.
The ambush achieved nothing, but it sounded the horn for Konoha's assault.
Crackle!
The instant Akira finished kicking the Root shinobi away, thunder roared behind him.
Lightning Release: Chidori!
Kakashi, wearing his dog-faced Anbu mask, rushed forward with blinding lightning in his hand. Beneath the mask, his three-tomoe Sharingan spun wildly, tracking every possible path of evasion.
But Akira didn't move.
He didn't even look like he planned to dodge.
"Tch. Not moving? Confident in your body, huh?" Kakashi muttered. "This is Chidori. It pierces through anything. Not some ordinary blade."
"If you won't dodge, you'll regret your arrogance. I'll punch a hole straight through you!"
He thrust forward.
For a fleeting moment, he thought he could already see the lightning tearing through Akira's heart.
Bang!
Kakashi froze, staring in disbelief.
Chidori struck Akira square in the back.
The skin blackened slightly. A trickle of blood seeped out.
That was it.
It felt less like stabbing a human and more like crashing into a mountain.
"What… what are you?" Kakashi whispered.
"Oh? Not bad. So this is the 'Chidori that pierces everything,' huh?" Akira glanced at the thin line of blood and raised a brow. "Ever since I injected four serum doses, you're the first one who's managed to make me bleed."
"…Are you complimenting me?"
Kakashi's face darkened. Hearing his own move described like that felt like open mockery.
"Think whatever you want. But right now, you'd better get out of my sight."
Akira's hand flashed out.
It was too fast.
Before Kakashi could react, his head exploded—
Not into flesh and bone, but into a burst of lightning.
Lightning Release: Lightning Clone.
The crackling clone detonated, electricity crawling over Akira's body.
Akira and Danzo were both swallowed in lightning.
To Akira, it felt like a relaxing electrotherapy session. Tingling. Almost pleasant.
To Danzo, it was hell.
His hair stood on end. His body charred black. There was even a faint smell of cooked meat before his eyes rolled back and he passed out.
"Be careful!" Kakashi's real body crawled out from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building. "His physical defense is monstrous. Normal attacks won't work. We need something stronger to hurt him!"
Akira raised a hand toward Kakashi.
"Chidori isn't used like that. It's supposed to be like this."
Kakashi frowned. What did he mean?
Don't tell me—
Lightning flared in Akira's palm.
"That's… Chidori?! How do you know it? I never taught anyone! Did you just learn it from watching once?"
Kakashi's expression sank. His signature technique, copied so casually. It felt awful.
"This is the real Chidori. Yours is the cheap knockoff. Later, white-hair."
Akira poured chakra into the lightning.
Whoosh!
A blue-white beam shot out instantly.
Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear!
Thud!
Blood spilled from Kakashi's lips. He stared at the beam piercing through his chest, stunned.
You can use Chidori like this?
They were twenty meters apart. And he'd been hit in an instant.
The spear retracted.
Kakashi dropped to one knee.
"Missed," Akira said calmly. "Was aiming for your head. Won't miss next time."
He lifted his hand again. Lightning gathered, aimed at Kakashi's skull.
"Stop!"
A figure clad in a green jumpsuit with a bowl cut and a blazing green aura appeared just in time.
Bang!
A powerful kick slammed into Akira's muscular arm. It didn't injure him, but it knocked the aim off course. The Chidori Sharp Spear fired and tore through a half-collapsed house instead.
Green jumpsuit. Bowl cut.
Might Guy.
"Finally, someone interesting."
Akira grinned, excitement flickering in his eyes.
He preferred fists over ninjutsu any day.
"I'll be your opponent now!"
Guy took his stance, face serious.
This guy is strong.
That kick should've at least bent his arm.
Instead, it felt like kicking a steel pillar. Guy himself had been flung backward from the recoil.
He didn't blink, didn't relax for a second.
Akira casually tossed Danzo aside like trash.
"Let this piece of garbage lie there for now."
He rolled his shoulders.
"Time to enjoy the fight. Bowl cut, don't disappoint me."
Flash.
He vanished.
"What? So fast!"
Even without blinking, Guy couldn't track him.
"In that case… Morning Peacock!"
Guy roared, fists blurring into afterimages. With every punch, a fireball burst into existence.
Faster.
Faster.
Hundreds—no, thousands of punches in an instant.
From his center, countless fireballs exploded outward like a peacock spreading its tail, youth blazing bright.
"No matter where you come from, you'll eat this! Burn, youth! Aaaah!"
He shone like a miniature sun.
And then—
He froze.
Because Akira didn't dodge.
He charged straight through the storm of fireballs, taking every hit like it was nothing.
"You only opened six gates? Who are you looking down on?"
Akira closed in and threw a punch.
Guy raised his arms to block.
Boom!
"Guh—!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was blasted backward.
His pupils trembled violently.
That kind of power… could a human even possess it?
This wasn't a man.
It was a monster wearing human skin.
"..."
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