"One-Sword Style: Mirror Flame."
Danzō froze for a fraction of a second—
and that was enough.
Yusuke's blade was already in front of him.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets!"
Danzō didn't dodge.
He chose to trade head-on.
Because now he had Izanagi.
With Izanagi erasing consequences, he could "die" as many times as his stolen eyes allowed—burned to ash, cut to pieces, and still rewrite reality.
Crack!
Yusuke split him cleanly in half.
A heartbeat later—
Danzō reappeared intact.
At the same time, Danzō's wind bullets shredded Yusuke like a sieve—
but in the blink of an eye, flames stitched his body back together.
Danzō's Izanagi could nullify Yusuke's sword.
Yusuke's Fire Release Chakra Mode could ignore Danzō's jutsu.
But Izanagi had a time limit.
Yusuke's elemental fire form consumed far less chakra.
The longer this dragged on, the worse it was for Danzō.
So Danzō charged.
He needed a kill—now.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
He spat out razor wind.
Yusuke vaulted up, Sharingan prediction guiding him cleanly between the blades.
"One-Sword Style: Soul Sever!"
Yusuke's sword aimed for the head.
Danzō didn't dodge—
he lunged in and clamped a hand around Yusuke's throat.
Crack!
Danzō's head flew.
Beheaded.
Then Izanagi triggered again—
Danzō reformed in front of him like nothing had happened.
A cold smile spread across Danzō's face.
Trying to trade skills with me? You're not ready.
His hand signs snapped.
"Cursed Seal Binding!"
Black markings burst across Yusuke's body like ink spreading through veins.
That grab at the throat—
it wasn't desperation.
It was the setup.
Yusuke was pinned.
Danzō stepped closer, smiling like a vulture.
He even reached for Yusuke's sword, as if he could casually take it away.
Yusuke sighed inwardly.
How many times have I seen this exact scene already?
No creativity at all.
He opened Susanoo again.
The Tengu-like armor wrapped around him.
The cursed seal binding shattered instantly.
"Damn—!"
Danzō sensed disaster and immediately used Wind Release to glide backward through the air.
Yusuke tracked him mid-flight.
"One-Sword Style: Fury Dragon Pierces the Heart!"
Danzō's eyes went red.
A moment ago, to "save time," he had released Izanagi—
and if this hit now, he was finished.
He grit his teeth and forced out a trump card at massive chakra cost.
"Wood Release: Great Spear Tree!"
BOOM!
A giant tree erupted and intercepted the piercing strike.
Danzō barely escaped.
The instant he landed, he reactivated Izanagi.
Yusuke frowned.
That had been a clean window.
Danzō slipped through it.
Cornered again, Danzō turned to the ugliest option.
With Izanagi as insurance, he unleashed a suicidal technique.
"Wood Release: Root Explosive Burial!"
A forbidden jutsu even Danzō couldn't fully control—
without Izanagi, it would kill him too.
Even Yusuke felt pressure this time.
Susanoo could block a lot—
but Wood Release was a different beast.
Hashirama's power had once pinned even a fully armored Nine-Tails.
Danzō couldn't compare to Hashirama—
but a "life-for-life" Wood Release forbidden technique still wasn't something to laugh off.
Yusuke's right eye turned.
"Mangekyō Sharingan: Epitaph."
The future unfolded in fragments.
He saw the gap.
Crack—crack—crack—!
Roots exploded outward, swallowing the entire field.
Several Root shinobi—still half-dazed from genjutsu—were crushed and impaled, dying without even understanding why.
Danzō didn't flinch.
To him, they were necessary sacrifices.
Yusuke's disgust deepened.
He preached sacrifice—
but when it was his turn, he always chose another man's life.
Root's so-called "faith" had long rotted.
Danzō stared at the towering wood and muttered:
"…It's over."
Then Yusuke's voice came from behind him.
"Over?"
Danzō's pupils shrank.
"Impossible…!"
He survived Root Explosive Burial?!
But the truth was simple.
At the instant the wood closed—
Yusuke had already found the seam and slipped out in elemental form.
The forbidden jutsu never truly touched him.
"One-Sword Style: Shadow Kill!"
Danzō was cut into fragments again—
and again Izanagi rewrote it.
Danzō's breathing turned ragged.
He glanced at the Sharingan embedded along his arm.
"Damn it… not much time left."
His chakra and stamina were failing.
Izanagi's remaining duration was draining away like sand through fingers.
If he couldn't end Yusuke immediately, he would lose—certainly.
That thought finally triggered real fear.
He hadn't felt death this close in decades.
Not since Tobirama's last stand—
the moment Danzō hesitated, and Hiruzen became Hokage instead.
That humiliation burned back to life.
Hiruzen couldn't do it…
So I will.
I won't lose again.
He drew a kunai and poured every last drop of chakra into it.
"Even if we die together…"
"I'm killing you today."
"Uchiha Yusuke—die!"
Yusuke exhaled slowly.
So now you finally want to trade your life?
Can you, though?
He wasn't untouched either.
A Kage-level opponent plus forty elite Root—
this wasn't effortless.
But he didn't hesitate.
He fused flame into his blade until it looked like it held a living sun.
"Next strike ends you."
"Prepare yourself, Danzō."
Danzō glanced at his arm.
Izanagi had maybe one minute left.
One minute is enough.
"Cursed Binding Vacuum Blade!"
He fused Wind Release with sealing restraints—
because brute force alone didn't work on an elemental body.
Yusuke's right eye spun.
"Mangekyō Sharingan: Epitaph."
"One-Sword Style: Instant Slash!"
Time itself seemed to blink.
Pshhk!
Both weapons pierced flesh.
Danzō smiled, blood staining his lips.
"You're too impatient."
"Izanagi hasn't ended."
"This battle… is mine."
Yusuke smiled back—wrong, almost eerie.
"…Is it?"
"You're the one who lost, Danzō."
Ripples spread across Danzō's vision.
When he "snapped awake," he realized something terrifying:
The Sharingan on his arm—closed.
"Izanagi… didn't activate?"
His face twisted.
"No…"
Yusuke's voice was calm.
"Just as you think."
"You were in my genjutsu."
Danzō's mouth trembled.
A choking sound escaped him.
"Gah—pff!"
He vomited blood—rage and injury collapsing together.
"Uchiha Yusuke…"
"I'm not finished—!"
Yusuke's expression didn't change.
At this point, Danzō's threats were meaningless.
He could barely hold himself upright.
Danzō sank to his knees.
Yusuke sighed.
If you hadn't tried to erase the Uchiha…
none of this would have been necessary.
But Danzō would never understand.
To him, everything was "for himself," dressed up as "for Konoha."
Yusuke stepped forward to end it—
and Danzō suddenly screamed.
"AAAAAGH—!"
His right arm—stuffed with Hashirama cells—began to swell grotesquely.
Crack—crack—crack!
Green shoots burst through his skin.
The arm went out of control, transforming violently into Wood Release.
Yusuke's eyes narrowed.
He can't suppress the cells anymore.
Danzō panicked.
"If this continues… I'll be devoured by Hashirama's power—!"
He acted instantly.
With a kunai, he cut off his own right arm.
Blood sprayed.
He panted, shaking.
Now he was truly finished.
And for the first time—
retreat entered his mind.
I can't die here. I'm the one who will change history…
"Genjutsu… Release!"
With the last of his chakra, Danzō broke the lingering genjutsu in the area.
Root operatives staggered awake.
He issued a cold order.
"Uchiha Yusuke can't be beaten."
"Cover my withdrawal!"
Yusuke shook his head in contempt.
He fought like a madman—
then ran the second it turned ugly.
In shamelessness, Danzō was unmatched.
Root's captains reacted fast.
"Everyone who can still move—come!"
"Protect Lord Danzō!"
They formed a protective ring around the heavily wounded man.
Yusuke sneered.
"Didn't you say you'd fight me to the end?"
"Now you want to hide like a turtle?"
Danzō's face didn't change at all.
"A single victory means nothing."
"Who laughs last… isn't decided yet."
A smoke bomb flew.
Yusuke's lip curled.
Using smoke in front of the Sharingan?
Childish.
He slashed.
A gust dispersed the smoke instantly.
Root jutsu poured in again—trying to slow him.
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"
"Parasite Insect Jutsu!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
…
Yusuke's Mangekyō flared.
"Susanoo!"
The Tengu armor returned.
All those attacks became nothing but scratching a mountain.
Danzō's eyes filled with dread.
That Susanoo again…
Run—now!
Supported by two loyal captains, Danzō sprinted.
Yusuke pursued.
"One-Sword Style: Twin Dragon Flash!"
The two captains turned, gritting their teeth.
"Lord Danzō, go!"
"We'll hold him!"
Danzō nodded without emotion.
"Then I leave it to you."
He ran—
without even a shred of dignity left.
The two captains blocked the flying slash, then threw themselves into desperate counterattacks.
"Genjutsu: Falling Haze!"
"Konoha-Style Sword Art: Crescent Moon Dance!"
They fought like they meant to die—
only to realize the horrifying truth:
Yusuke in front of them…
was just a shadow clone.
The real Uchiha Yusuke was already ahead.
Waiting.
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