Hashirama Senju had passed away decades ago, yet his legend still circulated throughout the Ninja World.
Since the Sage of Six Paths established the foundation of ninja arts, only one individual had ever been universally acknowledged as the strongest ninja in history—Hashirama Senju.
His strength surpassed human imagination, earning him the title "God of the Ninja World."
Some revered him, worshiped him, and followed him devotedly.
Others imitated him, studied him, even dissected his legacy in hopes of gaining immense power.
Danzo and Orochimaru belonged to the latter category.
As self-proclaimed worthy successors of the First Hokage, these two went as far as grave robbing to retrieve the corpse of the First and extract the still-living cells from his body.
During this process, Danzo supplied the funds while Orochimaru provided the technical expertise, working together seamlessly.
This right arm was one of Orochimaru's research achievements.
Because he was the creator, Orochimaru knew that Danzo's right arm alone didn't possess such powerful resurrection abilities. And every time Danzo "died," one of his Sharingan eyes would close permanently, so Orochimaru immediately suspected the powerful and mysterious Sharingan dojutsu.
Although he already possessed many secret jutsu for survival, a strong curiosity surged within Orochimaru—he longed to become an immortal serpent.
He fixed Tsunade with an inscrutable look, then crouched beside her with a sly grin. "Shizune isn't dead—yet."
Upon hearing this, Tsunade's tearful eyes finally flickered with a glimmer of hope, and she turned her gaze toward Shizune, who lay motionless on the ground.
Shizune lay there, eyes closed, a kunai lodged in her chest, gently trembling with each shallow breath. Poisoned blood trickled slowly from her wound.
"The kunai missed her heart," Orochimaru whispered into Tsunade's ear, his voice low and sinister. "But if not treated soon, she'll bleed to death! What a fitting end… I'm sure Dan would find great irony in Shizune dying the same way as him!"
"Bastard!"
Hearing this, rage flashed in Tsunade's eyes as she threw a punch straight at Orochimaru.
*Crash!*
Orochimaru was sent flying backward, tumbling across the ground several times before getting back to his feet.
Licking the blood from the corner of his mouth, he stopped paying attention to Tsunade and turned to face Danzo, who reappeared.
Now it was up to Tsunade to decide; he would no longer interfere with her choice.
Truth be told, whether Tsunade wallowed in sorrow or finally gathered the courage to face her deepest fears mattered little to Orochimaru anymore.
Still, deep down, he secretly hoped to see the fearless, courageous Princess Tsunade—the one who once took responsibility without hesitation.
Yet, if she couldn't face reality, he could understand.
After all, people change.
Danzo reappeared, standing before a giant wooden tree created by Wood Release.
He stared furiously at Aozora. "Who are you?! How dare you attack me?!"
"Bounty hunter, Lunfa!" Aozora replied calmly. "You probably don't realize just how valuable your head is on the Black Market! It's not just eight million—it's a staggering one hundred million ryo for the bounty hunter Lunfa!"
While answering Danzo, Aozora asked someone behind him, "How are you doing, Shisui?"
The green chakra and black cursed seal marks on his skin kept pulling against each other. Shisui Uchiha's body remained paralyzed, though he could now speak: "I can't move—at least one minute!"
Without hesitation, Shisui Uchiha directly revealed his condition.
"Just one minute?!"
Aozora's eyes turned serious, but his tone stayed calm: "Understood."
Protecting someone paralyzed while facing Danzo would be extremely difficult, yet he had no choice.
"Bounty hunter?"
Danzo repeated coldly before growling in anger: "Those stray dogs from the dark dare strike me? They're asking for death!"
Hearing that, Aozora couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Noticing this, Danzo paused his hand seals and asked sharply: "What are you laughing at?"
Aozora sneered, "You call yourself the village's shadow yet have the nerve to insult us bounty hunters? You're just another rat hiding in the dark yourself!"
Aozora wasn't trying to argue with Danzo.
Compared to a grueling battle, he thought stalling time with verbal sparring was a great option.
True to being a typical villain, Danzo retorted, "I'm nothing like you people! I do this not for money, but to protect Konoha and maintain peace across the Ninja World—I bear the village's darkness.
A ninja is someone who endures everything, sacrifices themselves, and works secretly in silence. That is what a true ninja should be.
This world isn't all sunshine and beauty. Peace only lasts because people like me are willing to do the dirty work."
After hearing Danzo's shameless speech, Aozora felt as if he'd fallen into a genjutsu.
With how thick-skinned Danzo was, how could his earlier throwing knife possibly pierce through his skull?
Aozora felt utterly disgusted by Danzo—so much so that even his sharp wit failed to find a response.
"What am I even talking to you for? How could a mere bounty hunter ever understand my magnitude?"
As he said this, Danzo began forming hand seals for a ninjutsu, but Aozora threw a kunai first.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Kunai flew continuously from Aozora like machine-gun fire.
They lacked chakra infusion, so although they were fast, Danzo could still react. Still, they forced him to keep dodging nonstop.
"His throwing skills are insane!"
This was the first time Danzo faced such a kunai storm. Each kunai wasn't fatal, but if he didn't dodge, he would be injured.
While leaping aside, Danzo caught sight of Shisui trembling slightly behind Aozora.
In an instant, he understood Aozora's plan.
"He wants Uchiha Shisui to release the seal? Fat chance!"
Another kunai came flying. This time, he gave up dodging. His right arm swelled as he thrust his right hand into the ground.
Instantly, a tree sprouted upward, blocking the attack from the front.
Then Danzo jumped onto the tree, quickly forming hand seals.
[Wind Release – Vacuum Serial Waves!]
Suddenly, fierce winds erupted, whipping up stones and broken wood in their path, rushing toward Aozora.
Aozora knew the real danger wasn't the wind itself, but the countless Sickle Weasel Technique blades hidden within it.
Though transparent as air, those blades could slice through metal and stone alike. Even with Aozora's Stone Embryo body, he couldn't withstand them.
But he could not dodge either, because right behind him was his own older brother.
Letting out a long breath, Aozora enveloped the kunai with refined chakra. Underneath his sunglasses, Three Tomoe spun rapidly, continuously tracking the invisible blades hidden within the stormy wind.
In an instant, the violent wind struck, sending Aozora's clothes flapping wildly.
This time, he chose not to evade the sharp air blades within the wind.
Clang! Clang! Clink! Clink! ——
The chakra-wrapped kunai clashed against the invisible blades in the storm, producing metallic clashing sounds.
However, there were too many hidden blades within the wind. The powerful ones were visible to the naked eye, while the weaker ones required careful observation through Sharingan.
But when did Aozora have time for careful observation?
Before long, numerous small wounds had appeared across his body.
Fortunately, [Lightning-Fire Golden Body] had reached a minor stage of mastery. Those blades were simply too tiny, causing only superficial injuries.
Seeing Aozora intercept all the blades, Danzo frowned.
He drew a shuriken, spun it in his palm, infused it with Wind-Natured Chakra, and hurled it at Aozora.
The shuriken spun rapidly, generating a massive air blade as it charged toward Aozora.
Clang! Clang! Crack! Crack! ——
The relentless impacts overwhelmed the two kunai in his hands, causing visible cracks to form.
The air blades came too quickly—Aozora couldn't even find a gap to switch out his two kunai.
At that moment, two whirling shuriken shot straight at him.
Crack! Crack!
The kunai in Aozora's hands shattered instantly!
And already, another seven or eight wind-enhanced shuriken were barreling straight for him.
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