The clanging echoes lasted for a full minute.
A total of five hundred senbon had been fired—every single one coated in poison. On closer inspection, they were even rusted.
Uchiha Ran saw everything clearly.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Poison, piercing damage, tetanus… Danzo Shimura didn't know whether this was intentional, accidental, or simply the result of never bothering to maintain his traps properly. Either way, the "buffs" were stacked to the extreme.
Anyone else would have died here without question.
"Stay close to me," Ran said calmly. "There are poisoned needles on the ground. As long as you remain within my range, they won't be able to harm you."
After speaking, he ignored Yakushi Kabuto and continued forward.
Kabuto quickly followed, staying within Susanoo's protective radius. At the same time, his gaze never left Ran, admiration and fascination mixing together as he secretly analyzed Susanoo's structure.
He wasn't just Orochimaru's subordinate—he was also a researcher to the core. Faced with such a legendary power, there was no way he could suppress his urge to study it.
Danzo's trap layout was astonishingly elaborate: senbon, kunai, explosive tags, daggers, crossbows, even compound bows. There was nothing it lacked—only things one wouldn't dare imagine.
But in front of Susanoo, all of it was meaningless.
Ran advanced straight toward the inner chamber without slowing down. It was clear that Danzo Shimura had prepared countless steps just to reach this point.
At the end of the passage stood a heavy iron door.
Without a word, Ran gathered chakra into his fist and punched forward.
The iron door was blasted off its hinges and sent flying.
Inside the chamber, Danzo Shimura had just taken a jar from a cabinet when the door exploded inward. He turned around, still holding it in his hand, facing Ran and Kabuto.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, eyes narrowing as his lips twitched.
As expected of you, Danzo…
The acting clan head of Konoha is holding a jar filled with Uchiha Sharingan.
You really are courting death.
Kabuto didn't dare voice a single word. The killing intent radiating from Uchiha Ran beside him was cold and overwhelming.
"Uchiha Ran!" Danzo shouted, his face drained of color. "How did you get here?! And you—who are you?! Why are you wearing Root's uniform?!"
His left hand clutched the jar tightly. His right hand trembled as he pointed at them.
"Heh," Ran sneered. "Danzo Shimura—you truly deserve to die."
His chakra surged violently.
In an instant, Ran flashed in front of Danzo and swung the Uchiha Flame Fan.
Danzo didn't even have time to react.
Fear filled his eyes as his body was smashed apart in a single blow, reduced to a bloody mess.
Ran caught the jar as it fell, his eyes blazing with hatred.
The fusion with the Uchiha Madara template was subtly influencing his state of mind.
Seeing the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan stored like trophies shattered the last restraint in his heart.
This fusion came from Madara during the Founding Era of Konoha—when Madara still remembered Izuna's final words:
Protect the Uchiha.
Safeguard the clan.
That was why, the moment Ran saw those eyes in Danzo's possession, his killing intent exploded beyond control.
Kabuto stood frozen.
Is Danzo… really dead just like that?
That didn't seem right.
Only four people knew the secret of Danzo's Izanagi: Ran, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Fu Yamanaka, and Aburame Torune. The rest of Root had no idea.
Before Kabuto could process it—
A shadow appeared above him.
Danzo Shimura descended from the air, kunai in hand, eyes filled with madness.
If he was going to die today, he would take one of them with him.
Kabuto felt a chill crawl up his spine.
When did this happen?!
Wasn't he already killed?!
Before Danzo could strike—
A massive arm of Susanoo shot out.
With a deafening crash, Danzo was slammed into the wall. His body shattered, internal organs crushed, bones pulverized.
"Pfft—damn it…!"
Blood sprayed as his body once again crumbled into dust.
Ran's expression darkened.
The fifth time.
Danzo had one Izanagi remaining. One more death—and it would be over.
Twenty seconds later, Danzo Shimura reappeared directly in front of Ran.
Disbelief filled his eyes.
"Why?" he rasped. "If you want the Hokage position, I'll give it to you. If you want the Village, I'll give you that too! Why won't you give me a chance to atone?"
"Why do you insist on killing me?! I, Danzo Shimura, devoted my entire life to Konoha! Everything I did was for the Village!"
"You're just a child! You've only been clan head for a few days! What right do you have to judge me?!"
His voice was hoarse, filled with fury and desperation.
Danzo was never a man who reflected on his mistakes. Ruthless and ambitious, he only knew how to press forward and crush his enemies.
In theory, seizing Konoha's power through schemes and manipulation should have worked.
But this was the ninja world.
A world where strength determined everything.
Schemes meant nothing in the face of absolute power.
Danzo didn't lose because of miscalculation—he lost because Uchiha Ran's strength utterly surpassed his own, destroying decades of planning in a single night.
This world did not care about cleverness.
Only power mattered.
"Any last words?" Ran asked coldly, his gaze already treating Danzo as a corpse.
Danzo looked down at his right arm.
The five Sharingan embedded within it had all closed. The yang chakra inside was starting to spiral out of control.
The madness drained from his face, replaced by grim resolve.
This time, he didn't try to escape.
He had hidden since the days of the Hidden Cloud conflict.
Since the battles in the Land of Rain.
Since the war with the Hidden Sand.
Since the Nine-Tails' attack.
He had hidden his entire life.
But this time—
He would not run.
"The Uchiha are a cancer in Konoha," Danzo said quietly. "Today, I will destroy the head of that cancer… and then personally apologize to my teacher."
His retreat was gone.
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