At that moment, Danzō slowly turned around.
A smug smile spread across his aged face, filled with confidence and contempt.
"It seems," he said calmly, "that I have won."
He stared at Aoki Yoru as if looking at prey already trapped beyond escape.
"I will give you one final chance to live. Kneel before me, swear loyalty, and willingly accept the Cursed Tongue Seal."
His voice lowered into a cold whisper.
"If you obey, you may still remain one of Konoha's geniuses."
Aoki Yoru stood motionless, his expression calm and unreadable despite being restrained.
"Sorry," he replied flatly. "I don't have the habit of becoming someone else's dog."
Danzō's eyes narrowed.
"Hmph. Stubborn fool."
His killing intent surged.
"Then allow this old man to eliminate a threat to Konoha with my own hands—"
Before he could finish speaking, his body suddenly froze.
A sharp pain pierced straight through his chest.
He looked down in disbelief.
Aoki Yoru's blade had already stabbed directly through his heart.
"How… is this possi—"
Before the words could leave his mouth, Danzō's body collapsed to the ground.
His corpse began to dissolve into nothingness.
Aoki Yoru casually shook the blood from his sword.
"To borrow someone else's words," he said coldly, "every ninjutsu has a weakness."
"No technique is invincible."
Then he glanced at the fading remains.
"And villains always die because they talk too much."
The binding technique that had trapped him was troublesome, but not impossible to break.
Aoki Yoru had two methods.
The first was through sealing arts.
His mastery of fuinjutsu had grown tremendously recently, allowing him to dismantle the restraint with ease.
The second was brute force—using overwhelming chakra to shatter the technique directly.
That was how Sasuke had once escaped a similar situation: through rage, desperation, and a sudden explosion of power.
Aoki Yoru could do the same.
But why waste chakra?
Danzō still had many lives remaining.
Efficiency mattered.
A few moments later, Danzō reappeared in the far corner of the basement.
His expression was no longer calm.
Within only minutes, he had already lost four Sharingan.
Each eye embedded in his arm was precious—not only for Izanagi, but also for suppressing the Hashirama cells within his body.
If too many were used, the unstable cells would spiral out of control.
That thought darkened his face even further.
Without hesitation, he bit his thumb, formed hand seals, and slammed his palm onto the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
Poof!
A massive cloud of smoke exploded outward.
From within it emerged a monstrous creature—a gigantic Baku.
Its body nearly filled the narrow underground chamber.
Its face was twisted and savage, and a foul, fishy odor flooded the room.
Danzō pointed upward.
"Baku. Break through to the surface."
The moment he heard that command, Aoki Yoru understood Danzō's plan.
If they burst out into the open, the entire village would notice.
No matter how hated Danzō was, he still held authority in Konoha.
He still had loyal followers.
More importantly, people like Jiraiya would intervene.
Jiraiya believed that shinobi of the same village should settle matters through laws and institutions—not assassination.
Once outside, killing Danzō would become infinitely more difficult.
So Aoki Yoru made his decision.
No more holding back.
Natural energy erupted from his body like a storm.
It wrapped around his sword, condensing into terrifying force.
He raised the blade high.
The energy around him roared like thunder.
Then he swung downward.
"Sage Art: Immortal Might Flow!"
A giant crescent blade of chakra tore across the entire basement.
It carried unstoppable force and freezing, ancient pressure.
Shhh—BOOM!
The Baku had no room to dodge.
The slash tore across its body, carving open a wound so deep that bone became visible.
Black blood sprayed everywhere.
The creature screamed in agony.
The pain was so overwhelming that it instantly broke the summoning contract.
Poof!
The Baku vanished back to its realm.
Danzō's eyes widened.
He leapt upward immediately, trying to escape through the ceiling while forming seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Submarine Technique!"
His body began sinking into the ground.
Aoki Yoru reacted instantly.
He stabbed his sword into the earth.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Defense Barrier!"
Crackling bolts spread outward in every direction.
A giant web of lightning engulfed the entire basement.
Danzō touched it—
"AAAH!"
Electricity blasted through his body.
His flesh blackened.
Smoke rose from his robes as he was thrown back down, crashing to his knees.
Aoki Yoru stepped forward coldly.
"Chidori Sharp Spear."
Lightning condensed into a blade-like spear extending from his palm.
It shot forward straight toward Danzō's heart.
At the critical moment, Danzō's right arm suddenly swelled grotesquely.
A thick tree trunk burst from his flesh.
Wood Release.
The trunk intercepted the lightning spear.
Puchi!
The Chidori pierced through the wood and stabbed into the ground instead, exploding rocks into the air.
Danzō gasped in relief.
"Good… If I hadn't used Wood Release…"
Puchi!
Another Chidori Sharp Spear stabbed through his chest.
Danzō froze.
His eyes slowly lifted in horror.
Aoki Yoru's other hand was also glowing with lightning.
Two-handed ninjutsu.
No hand seals.
"How…"
Darkness swallowed his consciousness.
Once again, the corpse vanished.
And once again, Danzō reappeared elsewhere.
Aoki Yoru glanced at the remaining Sharingan on Danzō's arm.
"Five left on the arm," he muttered.
"One in the right eye."
"He really is hard to kill."
In some sense, Danzō was a type of immortal.
Comparable to Hidan.
But unlike Hidan, Danzō was cunning, calculating, and dangerous.
And Aoki Yoru had not forgotten Danzō's greatest trump card.
Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan.
Kotoamatsukami.
As long as that eye remained unused, the battle was not over.
Danzō slowly straightened himself.
Surprisingly, his expression had calmed.
"I never expected," he said quietly, "to be pushed this far by you."
He stared at Aoki Yoru with icy hatred.
"I had intended to save this move for Hiruzen… or for a far more important moment."
He began unwrapping the bandages covering his face.
Layer by layer, they fell.
"You forced me to waste five Sharingan."
His voice became colder.
"So you will repay me."
The bandages dropped away completely.
His right eye was revealed.
A three-tomoe Sharingan… which twisted and transformed into a four-bladed pinwheel.
Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Stay," Danzō whispered, "and become my slave."
Aoki Yoru's pupils contracted.
The final battle had begun.
He focused completely.
Every muscle.
Every flicker of chakra.
Every breath Danzō took.
At the same time, he used spiritual force to gather natural energy inward.
Layer after layer of sage energy wrapped around his soul like armor.
If Kotoamatsukami controlled the mind—
Then he would protect the soul itself.
Danzō raised his hand to his eye.
All chakra in his body surged toward the Mangekyō.
Blood streamed from the corner of his socket.
The tomoe spun violently.
Then fused into the shape of the pinwheel.
"Kotoamatsukami."
The instant the technique activated, Aoki Yoru felt a strange sensation.
Something subtle.
Something indescribable.
Like invisible fingers brushing across his consciousness.
The natural energy around his soul tightened defensively.
Then the sensation vanished.
Danzō covered his bleeding eye and laughed softly.
According to the feedback of the Sharingan, the genjutsu had succeeded.
Aoki Yoru was his now.
A powerful subordinate.
An obedient weapon.
Every loss suffered in this battle had now been repaid with interest.
"There are no more obstacles on my path to Hokage."
He looked at Aoki Yoru with satisfaction.
With a puppet like this, anyone who opposed him could simply be slaughtered.
He extended a hand.
"Throw me the ninja sword in your hand."
Aoki Yoru's body moved stiffly.
Though part of him resisted, his subconscious seemed to obey.
He tossed the sword forward.
Danzō caught it neatly.
He examined the blade with interest.
Even he was impressed.
"It is truly a fine sword."
He swung it twice, testing its balance.
"The legendary Kusanagi Sword may not even surpass this."
Then he smiled greedily.
"This weapon is wasted on you."
"I'll keep it."
He looked up at Aoki Yoru.
The young shinobi stood still, expression blank.
Danzō was fully satisfied.
After all—
A puppet did not need thoughts.
Only obedience.
But what Danzō could not see…
Deep within Aoki Yoru's mind—
The layers of natural energy surrounding his soul had not broken.
They had only bent.
And behind his lifeless expression…
Aoki Yoru's consciousness remained awake.
Watching.
Waiting.
Calculating.
The old monster believed he had won.
That arrogance would soon cost him everything.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)