Chapter 49: The Cornered Danzo
"This is impossible!"
The words burst from Danzo's throat before he could stop them.For a moment, he even forgot his pain and the situation he was in.
No wonder.
After all, the two people standing before him were supposed to be dead—the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina.
"...Transformation Technique?"
Danzo frowned, grasping for logic. That had to be the explanation.
Yet no matter how closely he looked, he couldn't find a single trace of illusion or disguise.And a second later, his doubt vanished entirely—
Because Kushina raised a hand.
From the empty air burst several golden chains, snaking toward him like living serpents.They coiled around him in an instant, binding him tight.
Adamantine Sealing Chains—the unmistakable signature of the Uzumaki bloodline.
There was no longer any need to guess.She really was Uzumaki Kushina.
"H-how can this be? You... you were dead!"
Danzo coughed blood as the chains constricted.They crushed his ribs with the sound of splintering bone.
"Oh? You're not dead yet, old man," Kushina said coldly."Why the hell should we be?"
Her hatred burned through every word.
Her grudge against Danzo ran deep—all the way back to when she first arrived in Konoha as the new Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
Root had monitored her constantly.They never allowed her to go on missions, barely even to leave her quarters—as if she were nothing but a weapon that might go off at any moment.
She'd endured that suffocating life for years.
And now, thanks to Su Li, she knew even more—that when the Uzumaki clan was wiped out, Danzo and the Third Hokage had likely been complicit.
Otherwise, how could Konoha—an ally of the Uzumaki—stand by and do nothing while they were annihilated?
Where had the Uzumaki sealing techniques and treasures gone afterward?Straight into Konoha's vaults.
And on top of that...what Danzo had done to Naruto.
Every thought of her son's lonely, miserable childhood made her blood boil.If she could, she would crush Danzo's skull with her bare hands.
"I'll ask you one thing, Danzo," Kushina hissed."When my clan was destroyed—was it you and the Third who gave the order?"
Danzo remained silent.
Her eyes narrowed. The golden chains tightened.He screamed as blood spattered the floor.
"I'll ask again! Were you and the Third the ones who ordered Itachi to massacre the Uchiha clan?!"
Kushina's rage flared even hotter.
Back in the day, she and Uchiha Mikoto had been close friends—their families had been almost like relatives.
The Uchiha had even supported Minato's election as Hokage,hoping he could change the clan's mistreatment once in power.
But Minato's death after only a year on the throne had crushed that hope.
Without his protection, the Uchiha were pushed into a corner,driven to a coup, and ultimately destroyed.
If Minato had lived, none of that might have happened.
Danzo finally spoke, forcing the words out through clenched teeth."Where did you hear all this? Did that Su Li tell you?"
"Congratulations, correct answer."
Su Li smiled faintly, clapping his hands."I was the one who resurrected them—and I told them all about the 'good deeds' you and the Third performed."
The three of them didn't rush to finish him off.After all, Izanagi still protected Danzo for a few more minutes.
"A technique like Impure World Reincarnation..." Danzo's expression darkened."I truly underestimated you, Su Li."
"Brother Su Li, enough talking!" Kushina barked, her crimson hair flaring."If I don't beat this old dog to death at least ten times tonight, I'll explode!"
Danzo's thoughts raced.He activated Izanagi again—rewriting reality so that the chains binding him vanished like a dream.
When he reappeared, he was already across the chamber.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
He launched a massive gust—not at his enemies,but upward, blowing a hole through the ceiling and sending rubble raining down.
He was trying to escape.
He wasn't a fool.
Even with ten minutes of Izanagi, he knew he couldn't defeat Su Li, Minato, and Kushina together.The only hope was to flee and regroup.
But faster than his retreat—was light itself.
A flash of gold split the darkness.A figure materialized before him, unharmed by the falling debris.
Namikaze Minato.
"I can't let you run, Lord Danzo."
Though he still used the formal title, there was no respect in his voice—only calm determination.
Gentle as he was, Minato was no saint.He would not show mercy to a man like this.
"Flying Thunder God..." Danzo muttered bitterly, his heart sinking.
At that moment, Su Li and Kushina landed behind him, bursting through the falling rock.
Su Li didn't bother to join the fight.He simply sat atop a boulder, watching the couple work together in silent harmony.
"What a pity," he mused with a smirk."No camera. Otherwise, I'd share this beautiful scene of love and justice with the whole world."
Danzo had made countless enemies across the shinobi world.There were plenty of people who'd love to watch him die.
Minutes passed.
One by one, the Sharingan embedded in Danzo's arm closed,each marking the end of another borrowed life.
At last, with his body beginning to rebel—the Hashirama cells in his arm erupting violently—Danzo had no choice but to cut the limb off.
Panting heavily, he tore away the last of his bandages,revealing the final Mangekyō Sharingan—Uchiha Shisui's eye, the one holding the ultimate genjutsu: Kotoamatsukami.
His last card. His last hope.
"...Hah... hah..."
Chest heaving, blood trickling from his mouth, Danzo stared at his enemies.
This was it.
He had one shot left.
The question was—who should he cast Kotoamatsukami on?
Minato?
Or... Su Li?