After being exposed, Naruto smiled dismissively. "Don't talk big. Even when I left the village, you couldn't keep up with my strength. After becoming a high-ranking figure in Konoha, you got lazy and stopped training. Your body isn't what it used to be—can you even handle this?"
Naruto's words made Danzo's face turn livid.
Those were the same words he once used to mock Sarutobi Hiruzen. Now they were being thrown right back at him. And even with the power of the dragon veins, he might still not be a match for a Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
After his Wind Release probing attack failed, Naruto gave up on ninjutsu and charged straight at Danzo.
As the saying goes, fists beat old bones—so when dealing with a half-buried old man like Danzo, you hit hard.
After several clashes of fists and kicks, Danzo's arm went numb. He tried to widen the distance, but Naruto struck him mid-air and slammed him violently into the ground.
With a sharp thud, a kunai pierced through Danzo's heart, leaving him with a look of disbelief.
Naruto calmly stepped back, waiting for Danzo's resurrection. After a few breaths, Danzo reappeared dozens of meters away, fear flashing across his face as he looked at Naruto.
Naruto said indifferently, "Izanagi is a nice trick… but how many times can you revive?"
Danzo ignored him and scanned the surroundings, clearly searching for Uchiha Shisui. But even after pushing his dragon vein sensing to the limit, he couldn't find any trace of Shisui.
"So Shisui didn't come to this time and space… that's a relief."
After speaking, Danzo removed the limiter on his arm, revealing the grotesque array of three-tomoe Sharingan embedded into his flesh. He grinned viciously. "Little Naruto, you can kill me many times… but you've only got one life."
Naruto's answer was a Rasengan.
The massive impact shook the entire tower. Clearly, under such overwhelming chakra, both the Lost Tower and the dragon veins were becoming unstable.
"The Fourth Hokage's Rasengan is indeed powerful… but how many times can you use it?"
After dodging the attack, Danzo began taunting Naruto. He had already noticed—there was no Nine-Tails inside Naruto. That was very good news for him.
Naruto's expression shifted slightly. Lack of chakra was indeed his biggest problem right now.
If Kurama were still there, he would've entered Sage Mode combined with Nine-Tails chakra long ago and crushed Danzo outright, showing him the gap between a true top-tier shinobi and someone playing pretend. Izanagi wouldn't have mattered—he'd just overwhelm it with brute force.
But now, he had to fight smart. Conserve chakra. Use every bit efficiently.
Forming hand seals, Naruto created shadow clones that attacked Danzo from all directions. Meanwhile, his real body sank into the ground, approached from below, and cleanly claimed Danzo's second life.
Then he set up sealing traps and slashed Danzo's arm with a dagger coated in slow-acting poison.
Izanagi could rewrite reality, allowing Danzo to negate fatal damage for one minute. With ten Sharingan, that meant ten minutes total.
So instead of wasting chakra killing him over and over, it was better to stall until Izanagi ran out.
As the momentum shifted, Danzo grew anxious and started actively looking for openings to counterattack. He even deliberately exposed flaws, trying to lure Naruto in.
Naruto didn't bite. He simply hid among his clones and waited.
After nine minutes passed, Naruto launched another attack. Sharp wind blades tore through Danzo's defenses, leaving bloody wounds across his body.
Watching Danzo struggle, Naruto slowed his pace and approached step by step.
Seizing his last chance, Danzo crushed his own heart, triggering Izanagi once more. Instantly, he struck Naruto in the abdomen, and dense curse seals spread across Naruto's body.
These seals restricted the flow of chakra.
Immediately after, Danzo tore off Naruto's mask, stared at his youthful face, and sneered. "Without the Nine-Tails, you're nothing. Just obediently become my puppet."
As he spoke, Danzo removed the bandage over his eye, revealing the Sharingan capable of Kotoamatsukami, and activated the genjutsu.
Naruto's eyes lost their light, becoming dull and lifeless, like a puppet staring blankly at Danzo.
The enemy being so easily controlled should've been a good thing—but Danzo suddenly felt something was off. He stared closely at Naruto.
Then Naruto's eyes regained clarity. The dense curse marks on his body were instantly devoured, and in the next moment, he appeared behind Danzo. A kunai flashed—cutting across Danzo's eye, leaving a streak of blood.
"Flying Thunder God… and you actually resisted Kotoamatsukami?! Shisui was saved by you!"
Clutching his eye, Danzo could no longer suppress the Hashirama cells in his body. His flesh began to swell uncontrollably, his emotions spiraling out of control.
Naruto stored away the Kotoamatsukami eye, retreated dozens of meters, and looked at Danzo expressionlessly.
With that eye gone, Danzo was no longer a real threat. The backlash from the Hashirama cells alone was enough to destroy him—not to mention the unstable dragon vein chakra inside his body.
Naruto kept his distance to guard against Danzo's Four Symbols Sealing Technique.
At this point, Danzo knew everything had been seen through. Every plan, every scheme—Naruto had read them all.
But he still couldn't understand.
Why had Naruto defected? And why would he help the Uchiha?
Looking up, their eyes met. Naruto seemed to read Danzo's thoughts and sneered.
"I gave Konoha a chance. Konoha just didn't take it."
"As for helping the Uchiha… that's thanks to your own schemes. Otherwise, how would I have gained so many loyal subordinates? Right now, I'd probably still be Konoha's obedient jinchūriki."
"I see…" Danzo nodded slowly, even showing a hint of approval. "If I had trained you personally, Konoha would've gained an invincible weapon. I was too soft back then."
"No…" Naruto shook his head with a strange smile. "If that were the case, a Tailed Beast Bomb would've already flattened the Hokage Building. I might not repay kindness—but I always repay grudges."
"One last question…" Danzo said solemnly. "In Uzushio Village's vision, what kind of future awaits Konoha? Will you annex the Land of Fire, or just hide overseas playing ninja village games?"
Naruto looked at him and smiled faintly. "That's not something a loser like you needs to worry about. Honestly, I didn't even want to kill you. Your existence actually limits Konoha's development. But you ran away on your own… what a waste."
"You—"
Before Danzo could finish, his body was completely consumed by the Hashirama cells, transforming into a mass of Wood Release.
After devouring him, the wooden growth didn't stop. Instead, it began absorbing the dragon vein chakra, mutating into a grotesque Wood Release monster that spread wildly in all directions.
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