"Summoning: Nightmare Tapir!"
With a burst of smoke, a massive elephant-like beast appeared on the battlefield. Its most striking feature was the bandage wrapped around its head—identical to Danzo's, marking it clearly as his personal Summoning Beast.
"This is... Danzo-sama's Summoning Beast!"
The Root ninjas, who had begun to waver after Danzo's repeated failures, were suddenly energized by the sight. One of the younger operatives shouted in surprise.
As soon as the Nightmare Tapir appeared, it opened its wide, bloody mouth and unleashed a powerful suction force directed at Kakashi.
The sheer force of the suction created a hurricane-like wind, pulling Kakashi in before he could dodge. Within moments, Kakashi was swallowed whole.
"It worked! Danzo-sama really did it!"
A young Root ninja cheered, relief written all over his face.
"Hmph! How dare you doubt Lord Danzo?" Aburame Ryoma scoffed coldly. "You'll be punished when we return for your lack of faith."
"Yes, sir!" The young ninja immediately straightened up and bowed, no longer daring to speak.
"I never thought Danzo's Summoning Beast would be a Nightmare Tapir," Shisui commented, studying the beast closely. "According to the Summoning Beast Encyclopedia, the Nightmare Tapir feeds on dreams. It can devour dreams and recreate them. A terrifying creature."
Obito, however, remained unfazed. "I don't care what that thing is. Kakashi won't lose. I know it."
Shisui smiled. "Of course. I believe in him too."
At that moment, Danzo allowed himself a rare, smug smile.
"You said so many arrogant things, and now you've been taken out like nothing," he muttered, turning his back and walking toward Obito.
Kakashi was just a warm-up. The real prize was Obito.
"Rasengan!"
Boom!
Just as Danzo turned, Kakashi burst from the ground behind him and slammed a fully-charged Rasengan into his back.
"Gah—!"
The powerful spiral force crushed Danzo's internal organs in an instant. He coughed out a mouthful of blood—mixed with pieces of organs—clear evidence that the injury was fatal.
At the same time, the Nightmare Tapir, which had only swallowed a lightning-style shadow clone, was electrocuted from the inside out and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Technically speaking, the Tapir shouldn't have gone down so easily—unless it truly hated Danzo and saw this as the perfect excuse to run away.
Kakashi didn't press the advantage. Instead, he retreated swiftly, scanning the area with vigilance.
Sure enough, in the stunned eyes of everyone present, Danzo's dying body disappeared, and a completely unharmed Danzo reappeared nearby.
"You don't seem surprised," Danzo said, raising an eyebrow at Kakashi's calm expression.
"Oh, you mean Izanagi?" Kakashi replied casually. "Old man, do you really think I wouldn't notice you weaving hand signs just because your back was turned?"
Danzo's eyes widened.
"What?! You know about Izanagi? But how can you be certain I've mastered it?"
Kakashi shrugged. "A man named Masashi Kishimoto told me."
Danzo blinked. "Masashi... Kishimoto? Is he with the Anbu? A traitor in Root?"
The Root operatives around them began shifting uneasily. Suspicion was a death sentence in Root.
"No... no, it can't be," Danzo muttered. "Root ninjas don't betray me. That's impossible!"
He shook his head firmly. He would rather believe Uchiha Madara had turned over a new leaf than suspect betrayal in Root.
Kakashi chuckled. "You put too much faith in that 'Seal of the Tongue Curse.' But tell me—how can you be so sure that Minato-sensei, a sealing arts Grandmaster, didn't undo it?"
That struck a nerve. Danzo's pupils contracted.
If someone like Minato had interfered, then even the Root's loyalty seal wouldn't hold!
Danzo's mind raced. When this mission ended, he would initiate a full investigation. If even a trace of betrayal was found, he would purge Root without mercy.
But first, he needed to kill Kakashi.
Danzo pulled out two shuriken, spinning them rapidly between his fingers. Then, with a sharp breath, he infused them with Wind Style chakra and launched them at Kakashi. The spinning projectiles hummed as they sliced through the air—sharp enough to tear through boulders.
At the same time, he charged forward with a kunai in hand, now transformed into a Wind Style blade, aiming to impale Kakashi.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Shuriken and Wind Blade, huh?" Kakashi thought, analyzing quickly. "Looks like he's already used all his tricks except for sealing jutsu."
Time to get serious.
"Byakugō no In: Release!"
A faint blue light pulsed from Kakashi's forehead as he activated the Hundred Healings Seal. At the same time, he flung more than ten Flying Thunder God kunai across the battlefield.
Swish!
Just as the Wind Shuriken closed in, Kakashi vanished in a flash.
The next moment, he reappeared mid-air behind Danzo—one hand glowing with spiraling energy.
"Rasengan!"
Boom!
Another direct hit!
He had deliberately chosen Rasengan over Chidori to avoid physical contact—knowing that Danzo, a sealing master, would likely try to trigger the Self-Binding Curse if touched.
Danzo staggered and vanished once again, having used Izanagi to undo the fatal damage.
He reappeared a second time and lunged for Kakashi again. But Kakashi wasn't there—he had already vanished using Flying Thunder God.
Danzo ground his teeth. Without Uchiha blood, even with Hashirama cells to support it, his Izanagi could only last one minute per Sharingan.
And unlike in some timelines, Danzo hadn't yet experienced the Uchiha Clan Massacre. He had only a limited supply of Sharingan—one on his right arm and another belonging to Uchiha Kagami.
He had acquired the Izanagi technique from the Scroll of Seals—one of the terrifying secrets passed down by the Uchiha clan after Madara's betrayal, as proof of loyalty. That's when Danzo began his obsession with the Sharingan.
With enough eyes, he could cheat death—become immortal. If that happened, becoming Hokage and unifying the ninja world would be simple.
But Kakashi wasn't playing along. He disappeared whenever Danzo was invincible, letting the Izanagi timer run down.
Danzo growled in frustration as the second Sharingan in his arm faded into blindness—its one-minute use exhausted.
All he had left now was Kagami's eye.
"Execute Plan B!" Danzo roared. "Now!"
But no one responded.
He turned around—and his blood ran cold.
More than twenty Root ninjas were standing still, dazed and unresponsive.
"This... is an illusion?!"
Danzo's pupils shrank.
Who had this much power? Who could control so many Root agents at once?
Then he saw it—those eyes.
A pair of spinning, blood-streaked pupils. Four-pointed shuriken pattern. Mangekyō Sharingan!
"Uchiha... Shisui?!" Danzo shouted. "You activated Mangekyō Sharingan too?!"
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