Although the door to the Hokage's office had been blown apart, the tension inside was far thicker than the smoke outside.
"Uchiha Tobirama!"
Danzo Shimura was trembling with rage. His lone eye was bloodshot, so red it looked as though it might awaken the Sharingan at any moment.
Tobirama's actions had completely pushed him past his limit.
He was a disciple of the Second Hokage, the shadow that upheld Konoha from the darkness. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi had always given him respect. When had he ever been kicked in the door and publicly humiliated by a brat barely twelve years old?
"Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"
Danzo slammed his cane against the floor, pointing at Tobirama as he roared,
"This is rebellion! Treason against the Village!"
"Root—respond! This man disrespects his elders and intends to harm Konoha. Kill him! Execute him immediately!"
However—
Silence.
An awkward, suffocating silence filled the room.
Not a single Root operative appeared.
"Stop yelling."
Tobirama casually dug a finger into his ear, his expression full of disdain.
"Those filthy subordinates of yours are all sealed in that scroll."
"Danzo, are you senile?"
"Since that trash couldn't kill me, do you really think an old dog with one foot in the grave can?"
"You're asking to die!"
Danzo was hit squarely in his weakest spot and completely lost control. He abruptly began forming hand seals.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
"Want to fight?"
A cruel smile curved Tobirama's lips. He didn't retreat a single step.
His scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan locked directly onto Danzo's eye.
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish."
"I'll show you what real hell looks like."
"Tsukuyomi."
The world shattered.
The office vanished. Light disappeared.
A blood-red sky replaced everything, a black sun hanging ominously overhead.
Before Danzo could even react, he found himself bound to a massive cross, completely immobilized. His chakra refused to respond, as if it no longer belonged to him.
"W-where is this?! Genjutsu?!"
His voice trembled with fear.
"Welcome to my world."
Tobirama's voice echoed from all directions.
Figures emerged from the crimson mist—countless Tobiramas, each holding a long blade, surrounding him from every side.
"In this space, time, distance, and perception are all under my control."
"When you sent people to assassinate me, did you ever imagine this outcome?"
"You enjoy breaking people with torture, don't you?"
"Today, you get to experience it yourself."
One Tobirama stepped forward and drove his blade down.
Danzo screamed.
The pain was terrifyingly real, striking directly at his consciousness and magnified many times over.
"This is only the beginning," Tobirama's voice said calmly.
"For the next seventy-two hours, you'll remain here."
"Enjoy it."
Screams echoed endlessly through the blood-red world.
—
In reality, less than a second had passed.
"Aaaahhh—!"
Danzo, who had just been forming hand seals, suddenly convulsed violently. His eyes rolled back as his body spasmed, and he collapsed to the floor, clutching his head and screaming uncontrollably, foam spilling from his mouth.
The sound was so inhuman it sent chills down the spine.
Konan, standing behind Tobirama, went pale and instinctively grabbed the hem of his cloak.
Hiruzen was just as shaken.
"Danzo!"
He rushed forward, pressing his hands against Danzo's head and pouring chakra into him.
"Release it!"
But it was useless.
That terrifying ocular power was like an iron wall. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake it in the slightest.
"How… how is this possible?"
Hiruzen's face drained of color.
He was known as the Professor, a shinobi who had mastered countless jutsu—yet he couldn't break a single glance of a twelve-year-old's Genjutsu.
If that gaze had been turned on him…
He wouldn't be standing either.
"Don't waste your chakra, Hokage-sama."
Tobirama pulled over a chair and sat down leisurely, watching with icy calm.
"This is a Mangekyō Sharingan technique."
"Other than me, no one can undo it."
"You—!"
Hiruzen looked up sharply, his killing intent no longer concealed.
"Tobirama, you've gone too far!"
"Danzo is a Konoha advisor—your elder! How dare you use such a jutsu on him?!"
"Do you realize what this means? Are you trying to betray the Village?!"
Facing the Hokage's fury, Tobirama merely smiled in contempt, tapping the armrest lazily.
"Too far?"
"When he sent people to ambush and kill me, why didn't you say that?"
"When he tried to turn me into his puppet, why didn't you say that?"
"And now you want to lecture me with the Will of Fire?"
He leaned forward, scarlet eyes boring straight into Hiruzen.
"Old man, don't use that to pressure me."
"I'll make this very clear."
"This was just a warning."
"If you move… or even think about moving…"
"I don't mind letting you join him in there."
A naked threat.
An open threat to the Hokage's face.
Hiruzen trembled with rage—but he didn't dare act.
Danzo's miserable state on the floor made him feel true helplessness for the first time.
—
Three minutes later.
In the Tsukuyomi world, three days and three nights had passed.
Danzo finally went limp, soaked in sweat, his eyes unfocused and filled with terror.
He muttered incoherently, his pride completely crushed.
"M-monster… Uchiha monster…"
"Awake?" Tobirama kicked him lightly.
"If you're not dead, get up."
"It's time to settle accounts."
Danzo shuddered instinctively, hatred barely restoring his sanity.
"Hiruzen… kill him…"
"No matter the cost… kill him…"
"He's a disaster."
Hiruzen stepped forward, standing protectively in front of Danzo.
"That's enough, Tobirama."
"He's been punished. End it here."
"End it?"
Tobirama sneered, drawing his blade and pointing it straight at Danzo's throat.
"He wanted my life."
"A life for a life."
"Today, he should die."
"No!"
Hiruzen erupted with chakra, shielding Danzo.
"You can't kill him!"
"He controls Konoha's intelligence network! If he dies, the Village will be crippled!"
"And—"
Hiruzen took a deep breath.
"You want to become Hokage, don't you?"
"If you kill a high-ranking official here, in this office, your future will be ruined."
"How will the villagers see you? The clans?"
"It's not worth destroying your future for one Danzo."
Tobirama paused, blade hovering.
He appeared to consider it.
In truth, he was amused.
Killing Danzo now would only create chaos.
Keeping him alive—and squeezing him dry—was far more profitable.
"…You make a point."
Tobirama withdrew his blade.
Hiruzen exhaled in relief.
"However—"
Tobirama stepped down hard on Danzo's chest.
"Avoiding death doesn't mean avoiding payment."
"My mind was harmed. My disciple was terrified."
"Someone has to pay."
Hiruzen's expression darkened.
"What do you want?"
Tobirama raised three fingers, smiling like a merchant.
"First. Root is disbanded."
"All members, records, and bases transfer to Anbu—under my control."
"Konoha doesn't need garbage in the shadows. The Uchiha Military Police Force is enough."
Danzo coughed up blood in fury.
"Impossible—!"
Tobirama's eyes chilled. Danzo instantly shut up.
"Second."
"Half of the Shimura clan's shops in Konoha."
"And half of its liquid assets, as compensation."
Hiruzen's face twitched violently.
"Third."
Tobirama pointed out the window.
"Tomorrow morning, this old thing apologizes publicly at the Hokage Building."
"To the Uchiha Clan."
"And reads a three-thousand-word apology."
"If you refuse—"
His killing intent surged once more.
"Then we fight now."
"Let's see who dies first."