"Tsunade... we leave everything here entirely in your capable hands. Since the Second Hokage trusted you, we will naturally provide our full support and assist you in stabilizing the Land of Fire."
After saying this to Tsunade with perfectly stoic expressions, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane turned around and led the others away.
It was as if they hadn't just come here to support Danzo's coup or to denounce Tsunade as a traitor five minutes ago.
From an observer's perspective, these two old fossils were quite annoying—like two immortal cockroaches.
Moreover, they perfectly illustrated the saying "The good die young, while the bastards live forever."
These two managed to survive from the First Hokage's era all the way to the Boruto era.
Even the stubborn Onoki eventually kicked the bucket, yet these two were still alive, probably sipping tea and complaining about "the youth."
But their ability to live this long was truly due to their slippery maneuvering.
To put it nicely, they knew how to adapt and maintained "political flexibility."
To put it bluntly, they were shameless opportunists who sided with whoever had the bigger stick.
Neither of them clung to power when the tide turned, nor did they engage in pointless resistance, which naturally allowed them to maintain their high-ranking positions indefinitely.
Like this time—they supported Danzo because the Daimyo's assassination was a massive scandal, and Danzo claimed to have proof.
But the moment Tobirama showed up and chopped off Danzo's arm?
'Danzo who? Never heard of him.'
They remained silent throughout, letting Danzo "charge forward" alone to catch the bullets.
Truly a wise, if cowardly, choice!
"Those two old geezers..."
Tsunade looked speechlessly at their departing backs.
But their lives really weren't worth weighing—they carried less than four ounces of significance combined.
Right now, there were more important things to attend to.
Tsunade signaled Shizune to summon the interns.
"Ino, Sakura! Get in here!"
"You two, treat Danzo's injuries. Try not to let him die just yet."
Tsunade remembered her students complaining about not having any live patients to practice their Medical Ninjutsu on—well, here was a perfect guinea pig.
"Yes, Shishou!"
Sakura and Ino began attempting to use Medical Ninjutsu on the unconscious Danzo.
Meanwhile, Kushina suddenly noticed something familiar on Danzo's body.
She stepped forward and brushed aside his torn clothing.
There was nothing visible on the surface, but when she placed her hand on his chest and channeled chakra, black ink patterns began glowing under Danzo's skin.
"The Four Symbols Seal? No... this is..." Kushina's eyes widened in surprise.
Danzo could be said to have the worst luck imaginable today.
He only had a few trump cards:
Sharingan's & Hashirama Cells: Discovered and stolen by Tobirama, the literal inventor of the Police Force, who had max-level sensory abilities for those specific chakras.
Reverse Four Symbols Seal: Detected by Kushina, who had just returned from the Uzumaki Shrine specifically studying how to break advanced sealing techniques.
The Four Symbols Seal was originally a specialty of the Uzumaki Clan.
"What did he put a Sealing Technique on himself for? To suppress the Sharingan and Grandfather's cells?" Tsunade stepped forward and asked.
"No, this isn't an ordinary Four Symbols Seal. It's an inactive Reverse Four Symbols Seal. He isn't trying to suppress anything..." Kushina shook her head.
She was all too familiar with this family of jutsu.
The seal on Naruto was the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, which was essentially two Four Symbols Seals layered together by Minato.
And who taught Minato that? Kushina.
"Not suppression? Then what the hell is it for?"
"I'm not sure. If I had to say... it seems designed for taking someone down with you. A suicide bomb."
Kushina didn't know Danzo's specific plan, but the mechanics were clear: If I die, everything within a 50-meter radius dies with me.
"Taking someone down with you?"
Hearing this, Tsunade's expression immediately darkened.
Given Danzo's current miserable state, it was clear he had reached the end of his rope.
A cornered rat will bite the cat.
If Danzo were to wake up and, in a fit of madness, activate this so called bomb, it would be a massive loss for Konoha.
"Sakura, Ino, never mind. Stop the treatment, step away from the dumbass."
Tsunade quickly made a decision.
At this moment, she somewhat understood why her Second Grandfather had exterminated the Daimyo's entire family without hesitation.
Some threats just need to be deleted.
Sakura and Ino stood up and moved aside nervously.
Tsunade walked up to Danzo, clenched her fist, and recalled a line from a letter Makoto had written to her earlier.
"Danzo... it's not me who ruined you—it's this chaotic world that ruined you."
After saying this cool one-liner, she raised her fist, preparing to smash his skull into paste.
"Wait!"
"Hold on!"
Kushina and Shizune called out to Tsunade at the same time.
"Huh?"
Tsunade, fist raised mid-air, turned her head in confusion. "What?"
"Lady Tsunade, if you throw that punch inside the office, the entire building will collapse! Please spare the architecture!" Shizune cried out first.
"Lady Tsunade, I can modify the Reverse Four Symbols Seal! That way, it won't be a problem!" Kushina added urgently.
"Modify the seal? There's no need to trouble you with that, Kushina. I can just kill him now." Tsunade shook her head.
"Actually... I want to take this opportunity to lift the Reaper Death Seal."
Kushina had no choice but to reveal the truth.
The Dead Demon Consuming Seal required a living sacrifice to be released.
But who would be willing to sacrifice their life?
If it were an enemy, teaching them the hand seals could backfire—they might just use the Reaper to take you down with them.
If it were an ally, wouldn't that mean sacrificing a comrade's life for nothing?
It wasn't until Kushina saw the battered body of Danzo that she realized she had found the Perfect Candidate!
The triggered Reverse Four Symbols Seal, which activates upon death, could be modified by her to channel that release energy into summoning the Reaper...
"Oh? Then you must ensure that if Danzo makes any sudden moves, he won't harm anyone else."
This reason gave Tsunade something to consider.
A disposal method that solved two problems at once? Efficient.
"Of course! I'm an Uzumaki after all!" Kushina assured her.
In fact, Tsunade's worries were unnecessary.
For a long time, Kushina cared more about the village and the lives of the innocent than Tsunade did.
She wouldn't risk a containment breach.
Thus, under the expert manipulation of Kushina, the circuitry of the Reverse Four Symbols Seal on Danzo's chest was forcibly rewired.
"Alright, girls. Continue."
Ino and Sakura resumed their synchronized treatment of Danzo, preventing him from kicking the bucket prematurely.
He needed to be alive for the sacrifice, after all.
However, to spare Danzo from excessive pain during the treatment by the two novices (which might cause him to wake up and scream), Tsunade thoughtfully had Shizune continuously pump him full of high-grade anesthesia.
...
Hours later.
Danzo awoke in a high-security Konoha prison cell.
He found his chakra points completely sealed. His eyes were covered by a heavy blindfold, and he was straitjacketed.
A classic Konoha prisoner outfit, similar to the BDSM gear Sasuke wore after the Valley of the End in the original story.
Danzo didn't sense anything unusual about his chest seal and merely pondered inwardly about his escape plan.
'Fools.'
'As long as I draw breath, I can still turn this around...'
(Little did he know, he was already just a walking battery for the Reaper.)
...
Meanwhile: Amegakure Laboratory.
Tobirama Senju returned to the laboratory with the loot.
Thump.
He tossed the severed arm out of the Sealing Scroll onto a metal tray and threw Shisui's eye into a preservation jar.
"So you brought back Danzo's arm, Second Hokage? That's fine too."
Orochimaru wasn't particularly surprised when he saw the pale, mutated arm.
After all, he was the one who cultivated it from Shin Uchiha's body and gifted it to Danzo in the first place.
"Let's continue. Where were we?" Tobirama Senju looked at Makoto and asked, wiping blood off his hands.
"You hadn't said anything yet. You just showed me the glass and ran off to who knows where." Makoto curled his lips.
"…Right."
Tobirama picked up the iron tray holding Danzo's arm with clinical detachment.
"This arm is a perfect example to demonstrate the various connections and mutations between Elder Brother's cells and the Sharingan. It's disgusting, but scientifically fascinating."