In the distant forest, Danzō felt his vision suddenly shift. He had undergone a spatial teleportation, appearing in an unfamiliar place.
Thud!
A kunai pierced Danzō's back, exiting through the front.
A line of blood trickled from the corner of Danzō's mouth, quickly washed away by the rain.
Danzō looked down at the pulp on the ground. Uchiha Mizukiku had been killed by the Yono Shima.
But, the person behind him, why... Flying Thunder God!
That ability to instantly teleport him and the pulp together was definitely the Flying Thunder God Technique!
He had been teleported by the Second Hokage, his teacher, using the Flying Thunder God before; he couldn't be mistaken.
Bizarre. Too bizarre.
Tobi's throat was pierced by the Vacuum Blade, with only thin layers of skin and flesh on the left and right connecting it—the thickness absolutely no more than 2 centimeters.
Yet, not only was Tobi not dead, he could counterattack and even use the Flying Thunder God to teleport him away.
"You... who are you, really?"
From beneath the swirl mask came a muffled voice: "I am Tobi. Weren't you looking for me? I'm here, you found me!"
The Danzō hanging on the kunai suddenly vanished, causing the kunai to feel light.
The kunai pushed forward, meeting only air and rain.
In the distance, Danzō's figure reappeared.
The wound piercing his heart had disappeared.
The three tomoe in Danzō's right eye slowly faded to a dull gray.
Danzō stared at Tobi and said, "No, you're not..."
Before the next word could leave his mouth, a person abruptly appeared in front of Danzō.
A kunai thrust straight out, piercing Danzō's chest once more.
His heart was pierced again.
Danzō's hair stood on end!
This situation of being hunted... it's definitely the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God!
As long as the enemy is marked with the Flying Thunder God Formula, the user can appear at any time, any place, to take the enemy's life.
Ignoring the injury to his heart, Danzō hastily raised his hand and saw a special formula on his wrist!
That was... such a familiar formula!
When Tobi grabbed my wrist just now, he imprinted the Flying Thunder God Formula on it.
This formula... it's Tobirama-sensei's Flying Thunder God Formula!
What Danzō didn't know was that the Flying Thunder God didn't have a fixed formula; it was just a type of cursed seal marking.
Yōkō's mischievous side surfaced; he deliberately used the Second Hokage's symmetrical double-leaf Flying Thunder God formula to frighten Danzō.
Danzō's fear reached its peak. Was he... being hunted by Tobirama-sensei?
Did Tobirama-sensei not die?
Like Madara, had Tobirama-sensei actually been hiding somewhere in the shinobi world all along, observing Konoha, observing the world?
Danzō thought, So that's it. How could those Kumo-nin have killed Tobirama-sensei?
Sensei fooled us all.
Was it because Sensei knew Uchiha Madara was alive, so he had been secretly planning something all along?
But...
But why would Sensei want to kill me now?
Did Sensei disapprove of some of my actions?
No!
Danzō hurriedly shook his head. It's not Tobirama-sensei, absolutely not Tobirama-sensei!
Danzō immediately thought of Fox obtaining the Flying Thunder God Technique from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
It's Fox! It must be Fox!
"Fox! You're Fox!" Danzō then felt something was off:
"Why do you have the Mangekyō Sharingan! What is your relationship with Uchiha Mahiru?"
Danzō immediately thought he had found the key:
"Uchiha Kirika's eyes weren't destroyed at all. Did you obtain one of Uchiha Kirika's Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Uchiha Kirika defected from Konoha, and Fox was the one who pursued her alone.
In Fox's report, Uchiha Kirika's eyes were destroyed, and Uchiha Mahiru's eyes were taken by Uchiha Madara.
Uchiha Mahiru's dōjutsu were Yono Shima and Ameno Mihashira.
Uchiha Kirika's dōjutsu were Yono Shima and Pillar Leech.
The one who used Yono Shima earlier wasn't Tobi at all, but Fox, who had obtained Uchiha Kirika's Mangekyō!
Danzō's figure vanished, reappearing in the distance once more.
Panting heavily, he stared warily at Fox, then pushed aside his upper garment, revealing his entire right arm.
On the right arm were a face reminiscent of Senju Hashirama and three transplanted Sharingan.
At this point, Danzō hadn't collected as many Sharingan as in the original timeline.
One in the right eye, three on the arm, totaling four.
Two of them had already been rendered useless by Izanagi.
Only the last two eyes remained.
"Who are you, really! Are you Fox?"
"Not fun at all. I thought I could scare you a bit longer, but I didn't expect you to rule out your teacher so quickly."
What greeted Danzō was the next use of the Flying Thunder God.
Facing the abruptly appearing enemy, Danzō this time hastily used his strongest defensive measure: Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs.
A large tree sprouted instantly from Danzō's body.
The trunk violently grew, forcing Yōkō back.
Yōkō used Body Flicker to retreat.
However, Cutting Sprigs would eventually stop growing. A tree, no matter how large, couldn't grow indefinitely, right?
While waiting for the Cutting Sprigs to stop, Yōkō wasn't idle. He created a clone, which then vanished using Body Flicker.
—
Late at night in distant Konoha Village, Tsunade was in the Konoha Hospital office, writing up the day's patient records.
A person suddenly appeared before her.
A kunai was hanging on the wall—the one Fox had given her.
"Princess Tsunade, come with me."
Fox placed his hand on Tsunade's shoulder and teleported her away using Body Flicker.
When Tsunade's vision adjusted again, she found herself in a heavy downpour.
In the distance, two people were confronting each other.
One was Danzō; the other was slowly removing a mask.
Tsunade turned her head and asked, "What's going on? Why is Advisor Danzō here?"
Yōkō's Wood Clone said, "Princess Tsunade, listen from here. It's time for you to learn the truth."
Fear flashed in Tsunade's eyes.
There were many truths she wanted to know; there had been too many tragedies around her.
The disaster of the Nine-Tails Transfer Seal, Nawaki, Kato Dan... Her pain was so much that she couldn't guess which truth Fox was referring to now.
—
Danzō saw Tobi remove his mask, revealing a face wearing a face mask.
"Fox! It's you after all!"
Yōkō continued, pulling off the face mask, revealing his true appearance.
Seeing this, Danzō continued, "What? Are you going to face me using your identity as Yōkō now?"
Yōkō said, "If I were to use my mother's surname, you should address me as Senju Yōkō."
Danzō was stunned. Senju Yōkō?
He immediately said, "You're not a Konoha civilian. You're a spy planted in the Anbu by Senju Rinoki?"
Suddenly, many things became clear to Danzō.
If Yōkō was a spy planted by Senju Rinoki, then many things made sense.
"Throughout your rise, all your squad leaders or superiors died except for Black Gorilla. Was that intentional?"
Yōkō said, "Don't slander me. Some of those deaths were related to me, but most of them died gloriously for Konoha."
Danzō asked sharply, "What about Sarutobi Shinnosuke? Was Sarutobi Shinnosuke's death your design, or what you call 'glory'?"
Yōkō said, "Danzō, ever since you and Yellow Dog schemed to kill young clan leader Nawaki, it's been a fight to the death between us."
In the distance, Tsunade's pupils contracted violently. Her arms, her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
She looked at Yōkō in disbelief, then at Danzō, and finally at the Wood Clone of Yōkō beside her.
A clap of thunder illuminated Danzō's gloomy face.
For some reason, Danzō straightened his back, seeming no longer afraid of Yōkō.
"The secret of the Uzumaki clan's destruction must never be known by the Senju clan, must never be known by the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Senju Nawaki might have come into contact with the truth. For the village, for the village's Nine-Tails, for Konoha's greater good, Senju Nawaki had to die."
A clear understanding arose in Danzō's heart.
Senju Yōkō is far too dangerous for Konoha Village.
This person has already become the Anbu Commander, already seized control of Konoha's power in the shadows, and Sarutobi Hiruzen remains completely unaware.
Taking Yōkō down with him was Danzō's final decision.
Danzō removed his upper garment, awaiting the final moment.
He was the root in the darkness. Konoha's darkness, in the end, had to be guarded by him...
***
Dive deeper into the story with 50+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!
(End of Chapter)