While the ghost blocked Uchiha Itachi's Amaterasu, Yuto's consciousness wavered for a brief instant under the influence of Jiraiya's auditory genjutsu.
Seizing that fleeting moment!
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo appeared at Yuto's side almost simultaneously.
At the same time, Tsunade came rushing in from nearby.
"How could Konoha fall to someone like you!!"
"This is absolutely not allowed to happen!"
Danzo's eyes blazed with killing intent as he rapidly formed hand seals, reaching out to grab Yuto's shoulder with one hand.
Curse Binding Seal of Self-Harm!
A black, sinister curse mark instantly spread from Danzo's palm, covering Yuto's entire body in dark, ominous symbols.
Right at that moment!
The Three-Tails Isobu, perched on Yuto's shoulder, let out a beastly roar charged with chakra.
Jiraiya's "Demonic Illusion: Toad Song" was instantly shattered by Isobu's cry.
Isobu breaking Jiraiya's sound-based genjutsu and Danzo using the curse seal to restrict Yuto happened almost simultaneously.
Because of this!
Hearing Isobu's roar, Danzo's expression shifted, a flash of surprise flickering through his eyes.
It wasn't just Danzo — the others wore equally stunned expressions as well.
Only now did everyone finally notice the small turtle-like Three-Tails Isobu resting on Yuto's shoulder.
Under normal circumstances.
A tailed beast like Isobu would instantly attract everyone's attention no matter where it was placed.
Yet here Isobu was, perched on Yuto's shoulder, and everyone had subconsciously overlooked it entirely.
It wasn't that Isobu was deliberately hiding its tailed beast aura.
Rather, the terrifying presence radiating from Yuto was simply too overwhelming!
It completely suppressed even the wild, baleful energy that a tailed beast like Isobu naturally emitted.
So all eyes in the vicinity were drawn to the awe-inspiring Yuto, while everyone subconsciously ignored the small turtle form of the Three-Tails on his shoulder!
Meanwhile, Danzo was already preparing to disengage and retreat.
Danzo kicked off the ground, leaping backward while swiftly pulling back the hand he had placed on Yuto's shoulder.
But Yuto was faster!
Before Danzo could fully retract his arm, Yuto had already grabbed it, yanking Danzo back with irresistible force.
And the curse seal Danzo had placed on Yuto was forcibly shattered by Kurama's chakra.
"You died by my hand once, and now you want to be my enemy even after death?"
"I really can't tell if you're foolish or naive."
Yuto spoke in a cold, indifferent voice.
As he spoke, he unleashed a rapid jet of water from his mouth!
Danzo didn't even have a chance to dodge before the water blast obliterated half of his body.
Yuto casually tossed the half-destroyed Danzo to the ground at his feet.
"The Will of Fire will never be extinguished!"
"Yuto! What you're trying to accomplish will never come to pass."
Sarutobi Hiruzen had already appeared at Yuto's left side, his voice thick with fury.
"Is that so?"
"Unfortunately, Konoha will have vanished long before that."
Yuto gazed calmly at Sarutobi Hiruzen, his tone completely unperturbed.
Tsunade flickered into position on Yuto's right side.
"Your Hidden Mist Village has recklessly started a war — you will face the hostility of the entire Shinobi World!"
"Trying to rule the entire Shinobi World? What you're chasing is nothing but a mirage!"
"Konoha will not be destroyed. The one who disappears will be you!"
Tsunade's face was likewise twisted with rage, her voice brimming with unconcealed killing intent.
At the same time, a white blur appeared.
Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Tsunade formed a triangular formation, pinning Yuto in the center.
The three exchanged a glance, simultaneously formed hand seals, and shouted in unison: "Three-Way Seal!"
As soon as the words left their mouths!
A translucent green pyramid-shaped barrier spread outward from the three of them, trapping Yuto inside.
It worked!
Tsunade, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Hatake Sakumo all brightened with hope upon seeing Yuto sealed within.
"Is this the best you've got?"
"A mere barrier won't hold me."
Yuto surveyed the green pyramid barrier, a hint of disdain in his eyes.
"No!"
"More precisely, this is only one part of it!"
A cold voice came from beneath Yuto's feet.
There lay Danzo — half his body shattered — yet he was already beginning to move.
Though only half his head had regenerated, under the influence of Impure World Reincarnation, speaking posed no difficulty at all.
The reason Danzo had approached Yuto and used a jutsu that required physical contact — the Curse Binding Seal of Self-Harm — was to wait for exactly this moment.
The "Curse Binding Seal of Self-Harm" was nothing more than a smokescreen!
Whether it could actually bind Yuto was something Danzo never cared about from the start.
Danzo's true objective was to get himself sealed inside the barrier alongside Yuto by having Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Tsunade use the "Three-Way Seal."
Truth be told, the crux of this plan didn't lie with those three — it lay with Yuto himself.
Although Danzo's goal was to be sealed inside the barrier with Yuto, he still fled with everything he had after using the Curse Binding Seal of Self-Harm.
He did this to avoid raising Yuto's suspicions.
And the key to all of this was precisely that Yuto was strong enough — so strong that even with Danzo fleeing at full speed, he would inevitably be caught and dragged back.
One has to admit — using your enemy's overwhelming strength as part of your strategy is a kind of irony in itself.
Danzo slowly pulled himself up from the ground.
His single regenerated eye on his half-restored head turned toward the direction of Hatake Sakumo and Sarutobi Hiruzen.
A complex look filled Danzo's gaze. He had secretly orchestrated events behind the scenes when Hatake Sakumo originally died.
"A sapling needs both sunlit leaves and dark roots to grow into a towering tree."
"Each in their own way, silently protecting the tree."
"It's a shame, Hiruzen. Right up to the very end, I never managed to catch up to you — to become Hokage."
A trace of melancholy crept into Danzo's voice.
As he finished speaking, his gaze drifted to Tsunade.
He wasn't saying this to earn forgiveness from Hatake Sakumo or anyone else.
Quite the opposite — Danzo had never believed that anything he did was wrong.
Besides, he was already dead now. The notions of right and wrong had largely lost their meaning.
But what bothered Danzo was this.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's "Will of Fire" had found a successor!
Yet his own "Root's Ideology" had no suitable heir.
In the past, Danzo would have looked down on Tsunade. In his eyes, both Tsunade and Jiraiya shared the same naive thinking as Hiruzen.
Orochimaru might have been a decent candidate, but he was far too dangerous for the village — not to mention, he was a missing-nin.
Now, however, in the face of this war.
Tsunade, as Hokage, had used Impure World Reincarnation — a forbidden technique that would inevitably invite controversy and hostility from other shinobi villages once the war ended.
This proved that Tsunade was, at the very least, not as rigid as Danzo had imagined.
If it had been Sarutobi Hiruzen, he would have agonized over the decision and ultimately refused to use Impure World Reincarnation.
Even in death, Danzo simply could not bring himself to respect Hiruzen.
And for the "Root's Ideology," there was no better candidate than the current Hokage — Tsunade herself.
Of course, all of this hinged on Konoha emerging victorious.
Nearby, Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze flickered slightly, but what showed more than anything was a quiet sense of resignation.
Others might not have understood, but knowing Danzo as well as he did, how could Hiruzen not grasp the meaning behind those words?
Even in death, Danzo — you still want to compete with me?
Meanwhile, inside the barrier.
As Danzo spoke, an explosive tag had somehow appeared in his palm.
"Reverse — Four Symbols Seal!"
Danzo let out a roar, and his entire torso burst open.
The Four Symbols Seal, inscribed on his body in advance, poured forth along with the tattered paper of his Impure World Reincarnation form, cascading in every direction.
A spherical expanding seal instantly formed within the Three-Way Seal, sealing everything in the surrounding space.
"Curse Binding Seal of Self-Harm, Three-Way Seal, Four Symbols Seal — three sealing jutsu in succession."
"Not only did they restrict my movement, they even sealed off the space around me."
"So the true purpose behind all of this was for that explosive tag, wasn't it — Senju Tobirama?"
Yuto cast a cold glance at Danzo's crumpled form on the ground, then looked up at Senju Tobirama, who had suddenly appeared outside the barrier.
"Correct. But you've realized too late!"
Senju Tobirama's eyes gleamed with icy killing intent as he formed a special hand seal in front of his chest.
Ephemeral Explosion Tags!!
The explosive tag clutched in Danzo's hand suddenly blazed with dazzling light.
A massive explosion and wall of flame instantly engulfed Yuto.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Explosion after explosion erupted from within the sealed barrier, each one more devastating than the last.
The shockwaves and extreme heat were entirely locked inside by the barrier seals, causing the explosive force to multiply with each successive blast.
"Ephemeral Explosion Tags" was an A-rank infinite detonation ninjutsu developed by Senju Tobirama.
Using a single explosive tag as a catalyst, it could summon trillions of tags in an endless loop, triggering infinite chain explosions.
The cycle was limitless and the power utterly terrifying.
Moreover, this ninjutsu had originally been developed by Senju Tobirama specifically to complement Impure World Reincarnation.
The explosions continued without cease!
By now, the sealed barrier was bathed in blinding light and searing heat, as though a miniature sun had been born within.
The "Reverse — Four Symbols Seal" that Danzo had set up was the first to give way, shattered by the relentlessly compressing force of the explosive tags.
That terrifying power then began pressing against the Three-Way Seal maintained by Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Tsunade.
As the devastating force made itself known, all three of their faces changed.
The Three-Way Seal was already riddled with cracks and wouldn't hold much longer.
But this had been anticipated by the Konoha forces.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
A series of sharp sounds tore through the air!
Uchiha Itachi, Namikaze Minato, Jiraiya, and a visibly weakened Orochimaru each took their positions at four points around the barrier.
Jiraiya glanced at Orochimaru first.
Seeing that the other man was injured but not in any immediate danger, he allowed himself a small measure of relief.
"Begin!"
Jiraiya shouted.
The moment his voice rang out, all four rapidly formed hand seals.
As the final seal neared completion, Jiraiya called out to Tsunade, Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Senju Tobirama at the center: "Pull back!"
All four swiftly disengaged, retreating to the outer perimeter.
Without the chakra support of Tsunade's group, the Three-Way Seal collapsed with a thunderous crash!
An earth-shaking roar and terrifying shockwave, carrying scorching heat and endless waves of flame, cascaded outward in every direction.
And the four positioned on the outer perimeter — Jiraiya, Itachi, Minato, and Orochimaru — simultaneously called out:
"Barrier — Four Red Yang Formation!"
From the east, south, west, and north, a massive red, translucent, rectangular flame barrier materialized, once again containing the surging fire from the Ephemeral Explosion Tags.
The horrific explosions continued.
Even with the Four Red Yang Formation holding, the ground beneath everyone's feet trembled violently and without stop.
Everyone present could well imagine what kind of apocalyptic scene unfolded at the epicenter of the blast.
After all, trillions of explosive tags had been compressed within the sealed space. As they continued to detonate, their power was growing by geometric multiples.
"A ninjutsu of this magnitude... 'terrifying' doesn't even begin to cover it."
"What a frightening man."
A sheen of cold sweat covered Orochimaru's pale face. The corner of his eye drifted toward Senju Tobirama's position.
But soon, Orochimaru refocused his gaze on the barrier.
"Danzo..." Staring at the barrier, Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes flickered as he let out a quiet, inward sigh.
Danzo was at the epicenter of the explosion as well. Under such devastating power, his Impure World Reincarnation body had likely been blown to pieces.
While an Edo Tensei body could regenerate, that only applied to relatively minor damage.
Under these circumstances, there was no way Danzo could recover anytime soon.
Which meant they had sacrificed one of their own combat assets.
On the battlefield.
It wasn't just Orochimaru and Sarutobi Hiruzen — the rest of the Konoha forces were also watching the barrier intently.
Even though nothing but towering flames were visible inside, no one dared to look away or relax for even a moment.
Meanwhile, apart from the central clash between the Sannin, Senju Tobirama, and Yuto.
The surrounding Konoha and Hidden Mist forces had already collided on the outer battlefield!
[
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