"Damn it… it really is similar to the Hydrification Technique of the Hōzuki clan. A kekkei genkai that allows one's body to turn into an element of nature, making it immune to most physical attacks?"
"At the very least, my Wind Release isn't doing much against him!"
Danzō's expression darkened with frustration. His sinister eyes were filled with suspicion and uncertainty. No… there's no such thing as an invincible ability—he must have a weakness...
"Even though that monkey's soft-hearted," Danzō muttered to himself, "he would never tolerate an uncontrollable Uchiha with no exploitable flaws."
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
The only time Uchiha Keizumi had actively defended against a jutsu was against a Water Release technique used by two Root shinobi.
That's it!
Water Release...
Could that be this naturally evil Uchiha brat's weakness?
Danzō wasn't particularly skilled in Water Release, but that didn't mean he couldn't use it.
Suddenly—
He noticed Uchiha Keizumi raising an arm, one finger pointing directly at him.
At the tip of that lava-coated finger, molten energy began to churn, as if it were about to erupt.
"Not good!"
In the blink of an eye, molten blobs shot out from Keizumi's fingertip!
Dense clusters of mini lava bullets traced blazing arcs through the air as they shot toward Danzō.
"Lava Release: Scorching Buckshot."
Danzō's pupils shrank. He formed hand seals and slammed his palms onto the ground.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!!!"
A wall of water surged up in front of him.
The lava bullets smashed into it one after another, generating clouds of steam and an overwhelming stench of sulfur. Danzō broke into a cold sweat.
Had he been even half a second slower, he would've been forced to rely on his Sharingan to escape Keizumi's attack.
Damn it!
Half of his strength lay in Wind Release, the other half in the Sharingan and Wood Release.
But against this naturally evil Uchiha brat, his Wind Release was useless, and the other two couldn't be exposed in public.
The stabbing pain in his left ear kept flaring up, fueling his fury.
He had never felt so humiliated.
So constrained!
If only this battle had taken place elsewhere—if only he'd had more time to prepare, or brought more Root shinobi with him—Danzō was certain he could've killed that wretched little Uchiha!
After all...
That's exactly how he had killed Uchiha Shisui a year ago.
No matter how talented an Uchiha was, they couldn't withstand a swarm of enemies—or the kind of underhanded plots they never saw coming.
But today's confrontation with Keizumi had erupted far too suddenly.
This wasn't like the battle against Shisui at all.
"Hm?" Just then, Danzō noticed a flickering crimson glow through the semi-transparent curtain of water ahead...
"Lava Release: Great Eruption."
A giant molten fist—now the size of a house—crashed forward with unstoppable force toward the Water Formation Wall, incinerating the ground in its path.
The blast, like a volcanic eruption, shattered the water wall in an instant. The scorching heat evaporated every drop of water on contact.
In Danzō's line of sight, the moment the molten fist broke through the wall, it swelled to several times its original size.
A massive tidal wave of lava came surging straight for him.
For a brief moment, Danzō felt as if he were about to be engulfed by a tsunami made entirely of magma.
'Izanagi!!!'
He didn't have time to think—whether for the sake of preserving his old life or to kill this innately malevolent Uchiha brat, he had no choice but to activate the power of the Sharingan.
The roaring torrent of lava swallowed his aged body in an instant. No human flesh could possibly withstand the searing burn.
In less than a second, Danzō's entire body vaporized.
The rolling lava even wiped out nearly half the street's buildings.
Danzō was dead.
And yet, he wasn't.
The forbidden Sharingan technique, Izanagi, allowed the user to rewrite any event unfavorable to themselves—including death.
Once activated, the Sharingan used for the technique would inevitably go blind. The rewriting effect would last for a full minute.
After the transplanted Sharingan beneath his bandages fully closed, the lingering vaporized moisture in the air quickly condensed and reshaped itself into a human figure.
Danzō reconstituted—alive once more—with a dark, murderous expression.
"Danzō!!!"
"Stop right there!!!"
At that moment, several figures suddenly appeared on the street, surrounding the entire area in seconds.
All of them wore the uniforms of Konoha's ANBU Black Ops.
Three full squads had deployed at once.
Led by Sarutobi Hiruzen himself, they had finally arrived.
…
Staring at the devastated street before him, and breathing in the acrid, unnatural stench in the air, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't stop himself from coughing.
His aged face was contorted with visible displeasure.
"Danzō! What the hell are you doing?!" Hiruzen barked, storming into the center of the conflict with his hands clasped behind his back, Kakashi and other ANBU escorts following close behind.
"This is Konoha! Are you trying to destroy the village, Danzō?!"
His shout was sharp and immediate.
"???"
Danzō could understand why the ruckus had drawn Hiruzen here.
But what he couldn't understand was why the old monkey immediately turned on him with such aggression.
"Mono! What's the meaning of this?!"
Danzō didn't even bother calling him Hiruzen—gritting his teeth, he snapped back, "On what grounds are you accusing me of trying to destroy Konoha? On the contrary, had I succeeded in killing this ambitious Uchiha brat today, I would've saved the village!"
He jabbed a finger toward Uchiha Keizumi. "That naturally evil Uchiha brat just tried to use his Sharingan to take control of the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki! He nearly recreated the Nine-Tails' Rampage from years ago!"
"If I hadn't happened to be there and witnessed it with my own eyes, Konoha would already be in ruins!"
"Jinchūriki… Naruto?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was stunned. He hadn't expected the conflict between Danzō and Uchiha Keizumi to somehow involve the boy, Naruto.
Yet even so, he wasn't inclined to fully believe Danzō's version of events.
After all, Danzō had always viewed the Uchiha clan through a prejudiced lens.
"Keizumi, you..." As Hiruzen turned toward Uchiha Keizumi, he suddenly noticed that Keizumi was continuing to walk toward Danzō. The murderous intensity in his Sharingan hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Hiruzen began to feel a headache coming on. Because he remembered—once Uchiha Keizumi locked onto someone as a target and made the decision to act, he would bite down and never let go.
Not until the enemy in his eyes was completely eliminated.
Only a truly overwhelming force could stop him.
"Keizumi! Wait!"
Hiruzen's heart tightened, and he immediately shouted, "There's clearly some misunderstanding here. The village has rules—ninja aren't allowed to engage in excessive internal fighting! You and Danzō are both shinobi of Konoha. How can you wage a civil war between comrades?"
He had no choice but to bring over more than a dozen ANBU and step between Uchiha Keizumi and Danzō.
He used their formation to physically separate the two.
"Keizumi, give this old man some face," Hiruzen said patiently, meeting Keizumi's gaze. "Let's first figure out what exactly happened."
Keizumi gave the Third Hokage a sidelong glance, his eyes briefly narrowing as they landed on the red square frame floating above Hiruzen's head. "So then, Hokage-sama intends to use his power to shield a criminal who stands in the way of justice?"
Hiruzen felt the tone of that statement was harsh, but he kept a calm expression and replied patiently, "Keizumi, this is just a misunderstanding."
The dozen ANBU had already subtly encircled both Uchiha Keizumi and Danzō.
"The Hokage abusing his power to cover for someone who obstructs justice... I'll remember this." Uchiha Keizumi deactivated the Lava Release: Chakra Armored Body, and the magma flowing across his body slowly receded.
His three-tomoe Sharingan also faded, reverting to ordinary black pupils.
Hiruzen: "…"
He had a strange feeling—something told him Keizumi wasn't joking. He meant every word.
But… he was the Hokage of Konoha. Just how exactly did Keizumi plan to remember this debt?
With the tension finally easing, Hiruzen let out a sigh of relief. Then he turned back and glared at Danzō. "Danzō! Put away your kunai! Are you trying to escalate this unnecessary conflict even further?"
Danzō: "???"
Why was this monkey being so courteous to that innately evil Uchiha, yet so harsh with him?
This blatant double standard...
Danzō's fists clenched in frustration.
After casting a dark, sinister glance at Uchiha Keizumi, Danzō finally stowed his kunai and coldly said, "You want to know what happened, Hiruzen? That wicked Uchiha tried to take control of the Nine-Tails. I stopped him. In the process, I lost two trusted subordinates. That's all there is to it."
Then, through gritted teeth, Danzō added furiously, "If you hadn't shown up when you did, I would've needed just one more minute—one more minute, and I could've killed that damned Uchiha brat!"
Damn it. He'd already been forced to sacrifice a Sharingan—
And thanks to Hiruzen's sudden interference, his use of Izanagi, which lasted only one minute, had been completely wasted.
Worse still—
He had exposed one of his trump cards to Uchiha Keizumi.
Hiruzen had no idea what Danzō was thinking. All that caught his attention was the line about 'two subordinates killed'.
"Keizumi, then why did you…" he started, trying to understand the other side—only to be cut off as Keizumi replied in a calm, icy voice: "Anyone who obstructs justice is my enemy, and should be eliminated with absolute force."
"Root tried to take away Uzumaki Naruto, who had committed no crime. In my eyes, their interference was an act that nurtured the growth of evil."
"That is my reason for taking action. If Hokage-sama finds that reason insufficient, you may remove me from the Police Force at any time."
Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent.
Just like always—before he could even voice his question, Keizumi already knew what he was going to ask and gave a direct answer in advance.
That feeling...
It was as if talking to the Hokage was something Keizumi found terribly bothersome.