However, this thought had only just arisen when, during a brief lull in the offense, he caught sight of Uchiha Hikari's figure—or rather, three figures.
At this moment, the two shadow clones Uchiha Hikari had created were almost completely overwhelming the remaining Root members, while her main body was currently engaged with Yamanaka Fū, whom Kakashi had specifically warned about earlier.
Although Yamanaka Fū was not weak, he was clearly struggling to keep up in the fight against Uchiha Hikari. After only a short exchange, he already looked somewhat battered and was not in good condition.
"Cough"
After seeing this scene, the slight pride that had just risen in Kakashi's heart vanished in an instant. Instead, he became even more serious in dealing with his own opponent.
To be honest, if his chakra were sufficient and he could use shadow clones like Uchiha Hikari, he could probably achieve something similar to what she was doing.
But then again, while Kakashi might be able to do it, possessing the same amount of chakra as Uchiha Hikari was unlikely.
In the brief clash, Danzo had also removed the restrictions on his arm. When everyone present saw the ghastly pale right arm he revealed, no matter who it was, their eyes widened in shock.
"This..."
Upon seeing the Sharingan embedded in Danzo's arm, countless guesses surged through Kakashi's mind in an instant. Without exception, none of them painted Danzo in a positive light.
Compared to Kakashi's suspicions, Uchiha Hikari's reaction was much simpler. After seeing Danzo's Sharingan, her expression—which had remained calm from the beginning to the end of the battle—changed for the first time.
Sometimes the intent to kill someone could not be hidden, and that was exactly Uchiha Hikari's state right now.
Adjusting her stance, Uchiha Hikari used Yamanaka Fū's body as cover. While no one else could see, a red light flashed in her eyes. The next moment, Yamanaka Fū suddenly froze in place, then was heavily wounded by a single slash from Uchiha Hikari and fell to the ground.
After using the Eight Thousand Spears to mark the already weakened Yamanaka Fū and instantly kill him, Uchiha Hikari did not hesitate. She immediately shifted her target and charged toward Danzo.
Although she did not like— and even somewhat detested—the Uchiha clan for imprisoning her and using her as a combat weapon, even so, for someone with Uchiha blood flowing through her veins, Danzo's actions were utterly unacceptable.
Feeling the terrifying killing intent rushing toward him, Danzo could not help but feel somewhat surprised. After all, the opponent appeared quite young, and such killing intent was not something developed from killing just one or two people.
But surprise was surprise; Danzo was still an old hand in the game and would not be affected by it. The ninjutsu in his hands had already begun forming the moment she moved.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere."
Facing the numerous wind orbs that came like bullets, Uchiha Hikari did not choose to dodge. The next moment, flames suddenly rose on her samurai sword as she swung out massive flame slashes from time to time.
In this way, the vast majority of the wind orbs were blocked, and the remaining small portion could no longer threaten Uchiha Hikari. The distance between her and Danzo continued to close rapidly.
Danzo also noticed this and immediately stopped the ninjutsu. Instead, he drew a kunai, enveloping it with numerous Wind Release chakra to form a sharp "wind sword."
Danzo did not mind engaging Uchiha Hikari in taijutsu combat—or rather, he did not believe the opponent's taijutsu could surpass his own.
Before obtaining these Sharingan, he had always been renowned for his Wind Release and taijutsu. Even now, with some decline due to age, he could not possibly be inferior to a young girl.
As the wind sword clashed with the fire blade, both sides got what they wanted and began a taijutsu exchange. But after the two engaged, Kakashi on the other side suddenly let out a sigh.
"Danzo acting this way... no matter how you look at it, it cannot be said to be for the village's sake."
After forcing Aburame Torune back, Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing the Sharingan that his once-closest friend had given him.
His nickname was Sharingan Kakashi, and it could be said that only now had he truly resolved to fight seriously. Aburame Torune opposite him naturally understood this as well.
"Sorry, I can only follow orders."
"Next, I will go all out. Be careful, everyone."
As a former ANBU captain, Kakashi had some understanding of how Danzo controlled Root. Precisely because of this, he needed to defeat his opponent as quickly as possible and then go help Uchiha Hikari deal with Danzo together.
...
After using Lightning Release combined with genjutsu to subdue the last Aburame Torune, Kakashi let out a light breath. By now, a pile of people lay around him.
Because he had not gone for the kill, even though his strength far exceeded theirs, it had still taken considerable effort to deal with them.
At this point, the two previous shadow clones of Uchiha Hikari had also disappeared. The numerous Root members who had been her opponents lay on the ground just like those on Kakashi's side.
"They didn't die?"
Noticing that the fallen Root members were all still alive, Kakashi could not help but feel somewhat surprised. He had also sensed Uchiha Hikari's killing intent earlier. Although he did not know why she was so furious, to still hold back in such a situation?
This also made Kakashi even more convinced that his earlier judgment was correct. If Uchiha Hikari really had problems, would she deliberately hold back in a situation where killing would be perfectly justifiable?
In any case, Kakashi did not think so. From his understanding of Furina, if something like this happened, even if Uchiha Hikari killed everyone present who had acted, Furina would definitely stand on her side.
While sighing in admiration, Kakashi also located Uchiha Hikari and Danzo, who were still fighting. To his shock, the long-famous Danzo was actually being suppressed by Uchiha Hikari.
Not only did he have several obvious wounds on his body, but three of the Sharingan on his arm had somehow closed for unknown reasons. Although Uchiha Hikari also had some wounds, her condition was clearly much better than Danzo's.
"What?"
Before Kakashi could even react, Danzo—who had already given up taijutsu and switched to using ninjutsu to keep distance—was suddenly closed in on by Uchiha Hikari and beheaded with her sword. What happened next left Kakashi dumbfounded.
The already-dead Danzo reappeared the next moment from an empty spot, as if the person just beheaded had not been him at all.
Seeing this bizarre scene, Kakashi temporarily abandoned the idea of joining the fight to help. Although Danzo's ability was very strange, the current situation still favored Uchiha Hikari.
Thus, there was no need for him to act immediately. Instead, observing and figuring out the opponent's ability was also part of the battle.
In the short time that followed, Danzo was once again killed by Uchiha Hikari using taijutsu once and ninjutsu once. But without exception, after each death, Danzo would "revive" in a new location.