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"You… you… Danzo! I never thought you'd actually stoop this low!"
"You violated forbidden laws, conducted human experiments in secret—and I trusted you! I must have been blind!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed at Danzo Shimura with a trembling finger, his aged face twisted with anguish, like a man betrayed by his closest friend.
Whether that pain was real or just a well-rehearsed act to distance himself, no one could say.
He turned to Akira and bowed slightly.
"Sir, it seems I wronged you. I offer my sincerest apologies. My doubts before—those were born of misplaced trust. Danzo has been one of Konoha's top officials for decades. A friend of many years. Who could have imagined he was capable of something so monstrous?"
He sighed heavily. "It seems I never truly knew him. I am ashamed."
As for Danzo, his face had gone ashen. His eyes were vacant. A dry, broken chuckle rattled in his throat.
It was over.
Completely over.
With the human experiments exposed in broad daylight, any excuse would be pointless. And even if he had one, he couldn't speak now.
From this day on, Shimura Danzo would be nothing but a rat in the streets, despised by all. Even death wouldn't wash it away. His name would be nailed to Konoha's pillar of shame for generations.
Ruined. Beyond repair.
"Th-that's…"
Someone suddenly cried out, their voice shaking with fury.
"That's my brother! Ryuichi! I thought he died on a mission…"
The man's voice cracked.
"They took him. Turned him into a test subject. Danzo—you animal!"
A Leaf shinobi had recognized one of the bodies below.
Hatred flooded his eyes.
Others followed, staring harder at the broken forms inside the underground facility.
It didn't take long.
Boom.
It was like a volcano erupted in the crowd.
Rage exploded, tidal and unstoppable.
"That's my father! He was taken too… Danzo, you bastard! I was ten when I became an orphan because of you!"
"Clan head, look! That's Hyūga Shinsuke! That lunatic even dared lay hands on the Hyūga!"
"Fugaku-sama, those are our people! More than one… That dog's been targeting the Uchiha for years!"
"Damn you, Danzo! Even the Yamanaka weren't spared!"
Yamanaka Inoichi stood stiffly, frost spreading across his face as he stared at the mutilated clansmen.
"And the Aburame…"
"The Nara too…"
"The Inuzuka—he didn't even spare the dogs!"
"The Akimichi…"
"The Kurama…"
One by one, the names piled up.
The horrifying truth became clear: aside from the Sarutobi and Shimura clans—and the families of two other senior officials—every major clan in Konoha had lost someone to Danzo's secret experiments.
"Third Hokage," Inoichi said, eyes blazing, "for crimes this vile, I propose he be flayed alive. That's the only way we'll get justice."
The response was immediate.
"I agree!"
"Skin him!"
"If we don't carve him up, how can the dead rest in peace?"
Voices overlapped, anger feeding anger.
Victims' families. Grieving friends. Shinobi whose blood simply boiled at the cruelty of it all.
Nearly twenty thousand people stood there.
Not one voice spoke in Danzo's defense.
In the end, their cries merged into one thunderous demand:
"Flay Danzo alive!"
"Flay him!"
"Carve him up!"
The roar shook all of Konoha.
It reached the sky.
And Akira smiled.
"Listen to that," he said lightly. "Isn't it beautiful?"
This was exactly what he'd wanted. He'd dug and dug into Danzo's crimes for one reason only—to destroy him completely. To make sure his fall was absolute.
He grabbed Danzo's head, forcing him to look up.
"I told you, didn't I? I'd turn you into a rat everyone wants to beat. Make you wish you were dead. So—how does it feel now?"
Danzo said nothing.
Akira frowned, then smacked his own forehead.
"Right. My bad. I crushed your mouth. You can't talk."
He clicked his tongue. "Shame. I really wanted to hear what you're thinking."
That was cruelty on another level.
Blood vessels burst across Danzo's blind eyes. Veins throbbed at his temples. His face twisted like a demon's.
If not for this man—
If not for this nobody who appeared out of nowhere—
He would still be Konoha's respected elder.
It was all because of him.
Even if I die, I'll haunt you.
Danzo's hatred burned without end.
"Oh? Still glaring at me?" Akira laughed. "You really haven't suffered enough."
Two fingers shot forward.
Wet, dull sounds.
Blood blossomed.
Twin holes where eyes used to be.
Danzo's body jerked violently. No scream came out—but the pain was obvious.
"And now," Akira said coldly, "you're going to repent."
He forced Danzo's head downward toward the rows of broken bodies.
"Kneel. Bow to the people you murdered."
In his heart, Danzo roared in defiance.
Never.
He would not kneel.
He was Root's leader. A pillar of Konoha. How could he bow to what he still considered "materials"?
He had done nothing wrong.
Everything he did was for Konoha.
Why should he kneel?
"Pointless resistance."
Two sharp kicks.
Crack. Crack.
Both knees shattered.
Danzo collapsed.
Akira slammed his head into the ground.
Bang.
Blood splattered as he completed a forced kowtow.
"Good!"
Cheers erupted from the surrounding shinobi.
The way they looked at Akira now—there was gratitude in it.
If not for him, they might have spent their entire lives fooled, revering a monster as a noble elder.
Just making Danzo bow once was enough to shift their hearts.
"You all said you wanted him flayed," Akira said calmly, glancing at the half-collapsed figure. "Mind if I do the honors?"
"No problem!" someone called out immediately. "This is all thanks to you anyway!"
Voices echoed in agreement.
Not a single objection.
Akira nodded, satisfied, then glanced deliberately at Hiruzen.
"You've always liked protecting him. Still feeling generous?"
Hiruzen was silent for a long moment.
Then he sighed, defeated.
"I have no objection."
The tide had turned too far. If he opposed it now, he'd lose everything.
Akira drew a kunai.
Just as he was about to begin—
"Stop! You can't do this! This is too cruel!"
An elderly woman's voice cut through the noise.
It was Koharu Utatane, one of Konoha's elders.
She stepped forward from the crowd, looking at Danzo's mangled state with visible discomfort.
"No matter what he's done, Danzo is still one of Konoha's elders! His punishment should be decided by Konoha's leadership—not by an outsider carrying out private execution!"
"And how can you possibly flay an old man alive? Have you no shame?"
She turned to the shinobi around her.
"He's still part of Konoha's leadership! He contributed to this village! And you—Konoha's own shinobi—are siding with an outsider against your elder? You—"
"Shut up, you old hag!"
Her words were cut off by a furious shout.
She stared in disbelief at the ordinary-looking chunin who had spoken.
"You dare? I am a Konoha elder! How dare a mere chunin insult me!"
"I'm insulting you because you deserve it!" the man roared. "My father fought for Konoha his entire life. Never once failed his duty. And what did he get? Kidnapped and turned into an experiment by that monster!"
"You think he shouldn't be flayed? Or is it because your clan didn't lose anyone?"
His voice trembled with rage.
"Or maybe you did know. Maybe you were part of it!"
"You—you insolent—!"
But before she could finish—
A tidal wave of furious voices drowned her out.
"Does this old woman have eyes? After what Danzo did, she still defends him?"
"Of course she doesn't care. Her clan wasn't touched."
"Maybe she helped him!"
"She wouldn't jump out now unless she had something to hide!"
The accusations surged like wildfire.
And just like that, the tide of hatred turned toward her too.
"..."
As the crowd tore into her, Koharu Utatane's face turned an ugly shade of green.
And when someone shouted that she must be sleeping with Shimura Danzo, she nearly coughed up blood from sheer fury.
What was wrong with these people?
What was wrong with this world?
She had only stepped forward to say something fair, to preserve a shred of Konoha's dignity. How had that turned into being drowned in spit and curses from every direction?
Watching from the side, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only sigh and shake his head.
Even he, the Hokage, didn't dare speak up in opposition right now.
And yet this old woman had the nerve to challenge the tide?
Honestly… beyond foolish.
Or was there really something going on between her and Danzo behind the scenes?
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at Koharu's ashen face in the distance, suspicion flickering through his mind.
'Idiot.'
Akira cursed inwardly and looked away. He crouched beside Danzo's prone body.
The next second—
A kunai flashed in his hand.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Each time the blade came down, a strip of flesh peeled away. Danzo's body jerked violently with every cut, blood spraying across the ground.
"Good!"
Cheers erupted.
Watching Danzo carved apart piece by piece, the crowd roared in savage satisfaction. The loudest of all were the Uchiha.
Even Fugaku Uchiha had abandoned any pretense of dignified composure. He shouted alongside his clansmen, face flushed red with exhilaration.
It felt incredible.
Absolutely incredible.
Tonight might well be the happiest night of his life. More thrilling than his wedding night.
That bastard Danzo had finally met his retribution.
...
The grisly spectacle continued for a full ten minutes under the crowd's feverish cries.
When it finally stopped, Danzo was nothing but a mangled mass of blood and torn flesh. Not a single patch of intact skin remained. The sight was pitiful—horrific.
Akira rose to his feet, tossed aside the kunai now soaked crimson, and looked faintly bored.
"Why not just end his life?" Hiruzen asked quietly, unable to mask the unease in his voice. "Why leave him alive to suffer like this?"
Despite enduring thousands of cuts under Akira's precise hand, Danzo was still breathing. The twitching heap of flesh on the ground proved it.
"I never said I was going to kill him." Akira shot Hiruzen a sidelong glance and sneered. "For someone this vile, death would be mercy."
His voice turned cold.
"I want him to live like this. In agony. With that ruined body. And he won't find peace—not until the very moment he finally dies."
"That's too cruel," Hiruzen said, frowning deeply. "Danzo is still one of Konoha's elders… Must he really endure this? Give him a clean death."
But he had badly misjudged how much the other Konoha ninja despised Danzo.
The moment he finished speaking, protests burst out from the crowd before Akira could even respond.
"Lord Third, you're too soft-hearted! He's right—scum like Danzo doesn't deserve an easy death!"
"Exactly!"
"I agree!"
Voices rose one after another. Not a single ninja spoke in opposition.
For the first time, Hiruzen found himself utterly speechless.
He hadn't expected it. Not this.
The ninja of Konoha standing against their Hokage.
"Medical team," Akira said calmly, "patch this thing up. Don't let it die just yet."
Whoosh—whoosh—
Several figures leapt from the crowd.
They stepped onto the blood-soaked ground and, up close, finally saw the full extent of Danzo's condition. Every one of them swallowed hard, a chill creeping down their spines.
It was ghastly.
His skin had practically been flayed off in its entirety.
And yet… he still lived.
The executioner's skill was terrifyingly precise. They couldn't help but feel a grudging respect for Akira.
Within moments, they carried the mangled body away for emergency treatment.
Not one of them sought Hiruzen's permission.
Watching it happen, Hiruzen's expression darkened.
The authority of the Hokage in Konoha… had already begun to crumble.
"..."
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