Li Shang raised his sword, Yuan Qi flowing through the blade in complex patterns that seemed alive. He began to move the weapon in a graceful circle before him, tracing a luminous mandala in the air.
"Sword Technique: Bloom of the Celestial Lotus."
A glimpse of a lotus appeared in the center of the shining circle, its petals slowly opening as if blooming for the first time under the morning sun. Each petal radiated a blue-silver light that pulsed in harmony with Li Shang's heartbeat.
Then he advanced.
Each cut with the sword was as if it came from one of the lotus petals. The first blow came from bottom to top, following the natural curve of the first petal. The second cut horizontally from the left, flowing from the second. The third descended diagonally, born from the third.
It was a deadly dance, each movement connected to the previous one in a sequence that could not be broken or interrupted. The sword did not stop, did not hesitate. It was a river of death flowing in perfect forms.
Danzou tried to retreat, but the technique pursued him. He blocked the first blow with a kunai, but the impact made him recoil. The second cut his cloak, tearing the fabric and leaving a red line on his chest. The third he dodged by inches, feeling the cutting wind pass by his face.
'Go, use it.' Li Shang thought as he continued his relentless sequence.
He noticed the injuries accumulating on Danzou's body. A cut on the arm, another on the leg, a third on the shoulder. None were individually fatal, but together they were draining the old warrior's resistance.
And then Li Shang noticed the chakra accumulating in one of the Sharingans on his arm.
'There!'
The chakra pattern was different, denser, more concentrated. Danzou was preparing another Izanagi, trying to reverse all the damage he had suffered.
When Li Shang felt the distortion begin with his divine consciousness, he acted.
His Steps Between the Void took him through space instantly. He appeared at the exact spot where Danzou was about to activate the forbidden technique. His sword was already in motion, cutting in a perfect horizontal arc.
Metal met flesh.
An arm fell.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!"
Danzou screamed, clutching the bloody stump where his right arm used to be. Blood gushed between his fingers in rhythmic pulses, staining the ground below him dark red.
Li Shang calmly bent down and picked up the severed arm. Six Sharingans were still open, their red eyes spinning frantically even separated from the original body. The sight was grotesque, unnatural.
He made the arm disappear from everyone's sight, putting it in his spatial ring with a casual flick of his hand.
"NO! IT'S MINE!"
Danzou, as if he had lost his rationality, screamed as he staggered towards Li Shang. His face was contorted in a mask of despair and fury that made him look more like a wounded animal than a human.
"YOU KNOW EVERYTHING I WENT THROUGH TO GET THIS POWER! THE DECADES OF PLANNING! THE SACRIFICES! HIRUZEN NEVER UNDERSTOOD! NO ONE UNDERSTOOD! I DID EVERYTHING FOR THE VILLAGE!"
His voice was hoarse from screaming, saliva flying from his mouth. He stumbled, almost falling, but stayed on his feet through sheer willpower and denial of reality.
"GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK NOW!"
"Still missing this one, hehehe..."
Li Shang appeared behind him, smiling. His finger glowed with concentrated Yuan Qi, the energy forming a sharp point like a surgical needle.
Without any care or hesitation, he plunged his finger into Danzou's face and ripped the Sharingan from his right eye. The movement was brutal, efficient, completely devoid of pity.
Tissue tore. Nerves ruptured. Blood spurted.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Danzou fell to the ground, thrashing like a fish out of water. His hands went to his face, covering the empty cavity where his eye used to be. He rolled from side to side, inhuman screams escaping his throat.
Li Shang examined the Sharingan in his hand for a moment before putting it away as well. Then something caught his attention.
The pale skin on Danzou's shoulder was changing. The part of his body that had been modified with Hashirama's cells began to spiral out of control. Branches began to sprout from the flesh, growing at an unnatural speed. Roots stretched from his chest, piercing through the skin.
'It seems the power of the Uchiha eyes was balancing the chaotic energy coming from Hashirama's cells.'
Li Shang understood immediately. The Sharingans were not just weapons or tools of power. They were actively suppressing the destructive nature of the Senju cells, keeping them under control. Without them, the cells were consuming Danzou from the inside out.
The old warrior screamed as trees literally grew through his body. It was a horrible death, transforming into a living forest.
"Seigai Tensei!"
Li Shang raised his hand, and a core of gravitational force formed in the air above Danzou. The pressure was immense, overwhelming. Rocks and tree debris were torn from the ground, flying towards the central point.
But first, Li Shang used Hoshikami Shinsei, the repulsion wave throwing Danzou's convulsing body away.
The body flew through the air like a projectile, and then the Seigai Tensei activated completely. Rocks, earth, tree trunks, everything converged to the point where Danzou had been thrown. In seconds, a massive sphere of debris formed, sealing the old warrior inside a gravitational prison.
The screams ceased.
Silence fell over the forest.
Li Shang lowered his hand, his breathing only slightly accelerated. He turned to face Tsunade, Kakashi, Guy, and the ANBUs who had witnessed everything.
"It's done." He said simply.
And in the shadows of the forest, two still-conscious ROOT subordinates watched in absolute horror, having been defeated by Li Shang's summons. The era of Danzou Shimura had ended. Not with glory, but with blood and betrayal exposed to the light of day.
Tsunade approached slowly, her steps cautious and measured. Kakashi and Guy flanked her, both visibly apprehensive.
Their reasons were obvious.
Fenrir and Alduin remained as gigantic sentinels behind Li Shang. The nearly thirty-meter black wolf watched every movement with its penetrating red eyes, a low growl reverberating in its massive chest. Alduin had his wings semi-open, partially blocking the sun and casting huge shadows over the group. His golden eyes tracked every person present, assessing threats with predatory intelligence.
"Those creatures..." Guy murmured, his hand unconsciously going to the hilt of his nunchaku. "The power I feel from them is... absurd."
"Stay calm." Kakashi warned softly, his Sharingan already uncovered and analyzing the beasts. "Any hostile movement and I don't know if we would survive."
The ANBUs kept a respectful distance, forming a loose perimeter but not approaching. Their postures were tense, ready to retreat at any sign of aggression from the colossal summons.
Tsunade stopped a few meters from Li Shang, her eyes alternating between the young Hyuuga and the beasts behind him. She swallowed hard before speaking.
"Neji, about the arm and the..."
She didn't even finish.
Li Shang smiled, a genuinely amused expression crossing his face. "Hehehehe... No need to speak with such apprehension, it's here."
He raised his hand and Danzou's severed arm appeared out of nowhere, materializing in a flash of light. The six still-open Sharingans occasionally blinked, sending shivers down the spines of all who watched them. Then, Li Shang produced the seventh eye, the one he had ripped from Danzou's face.
He extended both to Tsunade without hesitation.
Tsunade took the items, but her surprise was obvious. 'He didn't even hesitate to hand this over to me.'
The surprise was not unfounded. What shinobi in the ninja world would not be tempted by a doujutsu like the Uchiha Sharingan? It was one of the most coveted powers, capable of copying techniques, predicting movements, and casting devastating genjutsus. Men had killed entire families for less.
And yet, Li Shang handed them over as if they were worthless objects.
Kakashi watched everything with his own Sharingan, processing the implications. Guy remained silent, but his expression was one of deep respect.
"Tsunade, I think this eye is responsible for the power that controls people."
Li Shang pointed to the eye Tsunade held, the one he had removed from Danzou's face. There was something different about it, a pattern in the tomoe that seemed more complex than the others.
Tsunade's eyes widened as she examined it more closely. "Would that be... Kotoamatsukami? Shisui Uchiha's ultimate genjutsu?"
The revelation dropped like a bomb. If Danzou possessed that eye, then he had been involved in Shisui's disappearance. And if he had used that technique on the Hokage herself...
Tsunade worked quickly, carefully removing the six eyes from the severed arm. Each was placed in a separate tube, filled with preservative medicinal liquid. When finished, she stored them in her spatial ring.
The items simply disappeared, without seals, without smoke.
This surprised everyone who watched, especially those who had been present in the Hokage's office earlier.
'The same method the young Hyuuga used to summon and store his sword.' Many thought simultaneously, connecting the dots.
Spatial rings were not known in the shinobi world. Sealing scrolls were, but not artifacts that made objects simply cease to exist in visible space.
"Where did you get these artifacts?" Kakashi couldn't contain the question, his single eye fixed on Li Shang's finger where a simple ring shone discreetly.
Li Shang merely smiled mysteriously. "Trade secrets, Kakashi-san."
Tsunade put the arm away last, feeling the weight of that evidence in more ways than one. That was concrete proof of crimes that would have Danzou executed multiple times. Forbidden experiments, desecration of bodies, conspiracy against the Hokage.
"We need to go back." She finally said, her voice regaining its usual authority. "There's much to discuss."
Her gaze went to the sphere of debris where Danzou was sealed. "And we need to decide what to do with him."