Chapter 562: Shimura Danzo's Death (8.2k)

"How is this possible?" Hanzo looked at Danzo Shimura with surprise.

After Sosuke's super combination jutsu, all that happened was losing a mask—was Sosuke's Twin Dragon Annihilation just a flashy move with no real power?

Noticing the devastated ground, Hanzo shook his head. This was clearly a combination jutsu of extraordinary power.

The correct answer was that Danzo Shimura had used some special secret technique to evade this attack.

"Sosuke, he cannot die." Hanzo looked at Sosuke and shook his head as he spoke.

Sosuke could defeat Danzo Shimura, even cripple him, but he could not kill him.

If Danzo Shimura was killed, Konoha would surely seek revenge for him. Even if the Ninja Sect and Amegakure merged, it might not make Konoha hesitate.

If it were Hanzo before the Second Shinobi World War, he would have killed Danzo Shimura without hesitation.

But Hanzo, having experienced the Second Shinobi World War, knew the power of the Five Great Hidden Villages.

Even if Sosuke could surpass the Yellow Flash, surpass Retsuyo Mugetsu, or even surpass Hiruzen Sarutobi, in the end, Konoha would still emerge victorious.

The gap in their foundations was too great. Amegakure was not only inferior to Konoha in ninja quality but also in numbers.

Under these circumstances, even if Sosuke kept winning alone, he could not win the entire war; it would only cause Konoha to suffer more losses.

"He can die." Mugetsu shook his head.

In Hanzo's eyes, Danzo Shimura represented Konoha in the Land of Rain, and at this moment, Konoha was at the peak of the Five Great Villages, winning successive victories against other major villages and enjoying unprecedented glory.

But Mugetsu knew that Konoha's glory would not last much longer. Soon, the other great villages would make Konoha feel the pain of being ganged up on.

At that time, Konoha would not only be unable to attack the Land of Rain, but even defending the Land of Fire would be difficult.

By the time Konoha survived the Third Shinobi World War and regained its strength, Mugetsu would likely already have the power to influence a shinobi world war.

By then, Konoha would naturally make peace with Amegakure, since they were in the wrong anyway.

"You're being a bit too aggressive." Hanzo looked at Sosuke with a headache.

In his plan, Sosuke should have quietly consolidated Amegakure's strength and developed in the shadows, waiting for the next war to make a stunning debut.

Now it seemed Sosuke was thinking of intervening in the shinobi world's affairs immediately.

Their conversation made Danzo Shimura, who was gathering chakra, look extremely grim.

They were treating his life like what—vegetables at a market stall?

"Hanzo, if you don't act now, it'll be too late!" Danzo Shimura shouted, suppressing his anger.

Hanzo's stance of not taking sides made Danzo think Hanzo was still hesitating and hadn't made up his mind.

So, even though he wanted to get rid of both of them, he still acted like Hanzo's ally.

Sosuke's strength exceeded his imagination, and their side's forces had been greatly reduced due to various accidents.

Hanzo was indecisive and didn't help, "Uchiha Madara's" power had disappeared without a trace, and Mugetsu, who should have arrived last night, was still nowhere to be seen.

Danzo Shimura felt he was surrounded by useless teammates; no one but him could get anything done.

Hanzo ignored Danzo's shouts and instead showed a thoughtful expression on the spot.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

Nagato quickly formed hand seals and spat a sharp lightning spear at Danzo Shimura.

The Root ninja Danzo brought had already been taken out by Mugetsu with a single Fire Style, so Nagato could focus on dealing with Danzo Shimura.

"Damn it!" Danzo Shimura cursed inwardly upon seeing Hanzo do nothing, then burst chakra and dodged swiftly.

Boom!!

The lightning struck the ground where Danzo Shimura had just stood, leaving a charred crater.

"Uchiha Madara, what are you waiting for? I know you're here!" Danzo Shimura called out to empty space while fighting alone.

He looked around at the Amegakure ninja, believing there must be some of Uchiha Madara's men here.

If not, Uchiha Madara couldn't have known so much about his actions.

No one responded to Danzo Shimura, except for a few ninja who knew about Uchiha Madara and looked at him with strange expressions.

Madara Uchiha died long ago, killed by the First Hokage of Konoha, Hashirama Senju. Doesn't Shimura Danzo, a Konoha higher-up, even know that?

White Zetsu, spying from the shadows, sneered disdainfully. His mission was to help Shimura Danzo kill Sōsuke when the two sides reached a stalemate, or to wipe out both sides.

Now that Shimura Danzo was completely at a disadvantage, there was no need for him to come out.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

Facing the approaching Nagato, Shimura Danzo retreated while rapidly exhaling Wind Style that could easily cut through boulders.

Nagato expressionlessly raised his hand, generating an invisible shield around himself.

The Wind Style that Shimura Danzo exhaled struck Nagato's shield and vanished without a trace, like a clay cow entering the sea.

"So this is the power of the Rinnegan." Shimura Danzo felt some resentment in his heart.

If the plan hadn't gone awry, this power would have been his!

Shimura Danzo continuously flickered and shifted positions. He didn't want to kill anyone now; he only wanted to stall for time until Moyue arrived.

Hanzo and Madara Uchiha might betray him, but Moyue absolutely would not.

As long as Moyue came, even if they couldn't seize the Ninshū inheritance and the Rinnegan, the two of them together could still make a clean getaway.

"Wood Style: Great Forest Technique!"

Shimura Danzo rapidly formed hand seals, gathering Wood Style chakra to create a large number of wooden vines around him that surged outward.

Wood Style: Birth of Dense Woodland consumed a lot of chakra. To conserve power, Shimura Danzo could only use a slightly weaker Wood Style to maintain his condition.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Nagato didn't maintain the Preta Path; instead, he used the Rinnegan to unleash repulsive force and deflect the incoming wooden vines.

The Preta Path could absorb Wood Style chakra, but it couldn't absorb the wood that was created from Wood Style chakra.

At this moment, Moyue also stopped refining chakra and made his move again.

It wasn't that he had run out of chakra; rather, Moyue had just been fishing, seeing if he could get an unexpected gain. Since he had nothing better to do, he refined chakra.

Given the current situation, Madara Uchiha probably wouldn't make a move, so Moyue stopped wasting time.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Wild Dance!"

Blazing dark flames were continuously exhaled by Moyue, rapidly forming an ever-spreading sea of fire.

The hard wooden vines created by Wood Style instantly turned to black ash upon contact with the sea of fire.

The terrifying wave of heat that again rushed toward him left Shimura Danzo with no thought of a head-on clash.

His previous use of Izanagi had already made Shimura Danzo understand the terror of this Fire Style.

In terms of Fire Style alone, Sōsuke was far more terrifying than Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Shimura Danzo erupted with all his chakra, generating a powerful Wind Style air current.

He had to escape the technique's attack range before the fire dragons split apart; otherwise, he would lose even his last Sharingan.

Losing a Sharingan was a minor matter for Shimura Danzo; he could still obtain one if he wanted.

But now, on the battlefield, he was no match for Sōsuke even with both eyes; his fate after losing both eyes was predictable.

"Banshō Ten'in!"

Nagato flashed forward, his right hand unleashing a terrifying gravitational pull on Shimura Danzo, trapping him just as he was about to escape.

Although Shimura Danzo resisted with all his might, he still couldn't break free from the control of Banshō Ten'in.

At that moment, the sea of fire rapidly split into several enormous fire dragons, completely sealing off Shimura Danzo's position.

Nagato quickly withdrew his power and retreated backward.

Boom! Boom!!

Blinding flames shot up to the sky again, and everything within fifty meters around Shimura Danzo was engulfed by dark flames.

Just as Nagato thought that Shimura Danzo would surely die without a trace under this attack, his excellent perception immediately noticed something: Shimura Danzo's chakra had not disappeared.

Nagato looked towards the direction of the chakra he sensed, and Shimura Danzo appeared near the ground engulfed by flames, his body without any signs of burning.

"Both pupils have turned white—is that the reason?" Nagato noticed the change in Shimura Danzo's eyes.

The blood-red color of Shimura Danzo's Sharingan was gone, replaced by a dull, lusterless white.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

Nagato transformed the chakra he had already gathered into lightning and spat it out.

This Lightning Release was originally prepared to guard against the Rain Ninja, but since Shimura Danzo wasn't dead, he would gift it to him instead.

At this moment, although Shimura Danzo was blind, he was after all a battle-hardened ninja. He noticed Nagato's attack immediately, but instead of dodging right away, he began to gather chakra.

In the end, under Nagato's astonished gaze, the sharp great spear of lightning directly struck Shimura Danzo, but did not cause him any harm.

Izanagi can erase unfavorable events that occur within a certain period; it is not limited to canceling a single attack.

However, Shimura Danzo, who had endured False Darkness without injury, still had a dark expression. His Izanagi's activation time was not long enough to support his escape from here.

What was even more deadly was that Shimura Danzo was now blind. In a battle between equals, losing one's eyes was a major disadvantage.

Based on his field of vision before using Izanagi, Shimura Danzo used the Body Flicker Technique to flash towards the direction of Konoha in his memory.

Because his vision had returned to nothingness, Shimura Danzo was especially nervous now, but his mind remained clear: he just had to wait for Muyue to arrive.

Muyue had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique; it wouldn't be difficult for him to rescue just one person.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!

"Shinra Tensei!"

Nagato flung out several kunai, and then erupted with a powerful repulsive force that accelerated the kunai, blocking Shimura Danzo's path forward.

Shimura Danzo heard the sound of kunai cutting through the air, and since he couldn't guarantee the trajectory of all the kunai, he had no choice but to use a defensive jutsu.

"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"

Rows of wooden pillars bent from the ground to form arched wooden walls, protecting Shimura Danzo within.

Just as Nagato was about to move closer and use Bansho Ten'in, Muyue spoke up.

"Nagato, leave the rest to me. You handle the lookout."

That old schemer Shimura Danzo truly knew quite a few secret techniques; if he was really forced into a corner and fought desperately, Nagato might end up taking a big loss.

Muyue had prepared extensively to ensure he could eliminate Shimura Danzo today. Already knowing all of Shimura Danzo's information, he had rehearsed various scenarios, making it absolutely impossible to fail.

Nagato immediately stopped in his tracks and did not approach Shimura Danzo any further.

Muyue would not harm him; following Muyue's words would ensure no problems.

"Wood Release: Birth of Dense Woodland!"

Knowing that without his eyes he could not escape from Sōsuke, Shimura Danzo gritted his teeth, gathered a large amount of Wood Release chakra again, and activated Birth of Dense Woodland.

Boom rumble!!

One by one, saplings rapidly sprouted from the ground and grew into huge thick trees. Soon, a small forest had formed again around Shimura Danzo.

All the trees in the small forest flailed their branches menacingly, as if warning Sōsuke not to come closer.

If it were Hashirama Senju casting Birth of Dense Woodland, Muyue would naturally tactfully withdraw, but its caster was Shimura Danzo.

Muyue casually used various jutsu, easily shattering all the incoming vines and wooden stakes.

Shimura Danzo continued to output Wood Release chakra without stint, twisting dozens of trees together into an enormous massive log that charged toward Sōsuke.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Hurricane Dragon!"

With a calm expression, Muyue switched to Wind Breathing and quickly formed the Dragon hand seal.

Hoo hoo hoo!!

Muyue spat out powerful gusts of Wind Release airflow, slicing apart the surrounding trees.

The airflow soon formed a white giant dragon, and a terrifying hurricane instantly swept the entire area.

The massive log created by Shimura Danzo was instantly shattered into wooden blocks of uneven sizes under the impact of the white giant dragon, and a large number of tree branches were also cut at this moment.

Even the distant Shimura Danzo was cut by the scattered airflow when the giant dragon dissipated, leaving many small bleeding wounds on his body.

"Am I really going to die in the Rain Country?" Shimura Danzo felt the chill of death.

Sōsuke was just too strong; his Wood Style ninjutsu had no advantage before Sōsuke.

"If only I had a few more months of training time…"

Shimura Danzo was extremely unwilling. If he had a bit more training time, the result definitely would not have been like this.

But the constantly approaching Sōsuke made Shimura Danzo know that there are no ifs in this world.

"Summoning Technique!"

Shimura Danzo quickly formed hand seals and slammed his palm onto the ground.

This was his last means to buy time. He had a summoning beast named Baku, huge in size, but quite ordinary in strength.

A dense white flash of smoke passed, and a somewhat oddly featured summoning beast appeared in front of Shimura Danzo.

Baku opened its large mouth, inhaling and devouring everything in front, then from a trunk-like part it spewed out air currents.

"Wind Blade!"

Muyue extended his right hand, straightening and joining his thumb, index, and middle fingers, while bending the other two fingers downward.

Whoosh!!

A blast of strong wind erupted from Muyue's fingertips, blowing away the broken wood chips around.

The next moment, a thin red line appeared on Baku's massive body.

Pfft!

A huge amount of blood burst out, staining the ground around Baku red.

White smoke flashed, and Baku disappeared directly.

It was like a hammer blow; although its intelligence was average, it knew that Shimura Danzo summoning it now was sending it to its death.

"Why hasn't Muyue arrived yet!"

Feeling that his summoning beast couldn't hold out even for a minute, Shimura Danzo was extremely anxious.

He really didn't want to die. If he died, what would happen to Konoha? Who would compensate for Sarutobi Hiruzen's indecisiveness? Who would become the new God of Shinobi? Who would make Konoha great again?

Shimura Danzo struggled to make his last resistance. He controlled the remaining trees to extend branches to block Sōsuke, wanting to stop Sōsuke from advancing further.

The merciless high-temperature flames devoured Shimura Danzo's hope of survival.

Crackle! Pop!

The trees and vines controlled by Shimura Danzo acted like fuel in front of the flames spat by Muyue, helping the fire burn more fiercely.

With the help of the plentiful trees, the flames continuously spread and grew, eventually turning the forest into a sea of fire.

Although everywhere was high-temperature flames and the temperature was incredibly high, at this moment Shimura Danzo only felt his hands and feet turn cold.

Because he might really die, and not at the hands of a Kage from one of the five great ninja villages, but just the leader of a small country's ninja organization.

"Fire Style: Flame Vortex!"

Muyue used the flames in the sea of fire to quickly create several rings of fire, trapping Shimura Danzo, and controlled the rings to shrink continuously.

"Wood Style: Wood Locking Wall!"

Shimura Danzo used Wood Style to defend, but the fire rings were extremely hot; after burning through the wooden wall, a considerable amount of flame remained.

Along with a faint, barely noticeable pale blue flame hitting Shimura Danzo together with the residual flames, a scream rang out in the sea of fire.

Shimura Danzo only felt as if his very soul had been ignited; an unprecedented burning pain spread throughout his body.

He was in so much pain that he couldn't even straighten his body to face the approaching Sōsuke.

As if to make him suffer more, Sōsuke did not directly use the Body Flicker Technique to close in and kill him, but instead walked toward him unhurriedly step by step, his footsteps piercingly clear.

Slap! Slap!

Those powerful footsteps seemed to be pounding on Shimura Danzo's heart, almost making him unable to breathe.

Shimura Danzo clenched his fists and, using every ounce of strength left in his body, dragged his severely wounded form toward Konoha.

Even though Muyue wasn't using the almost exaggerated speed of a ninja, Danzo was too heavily injured; the distance between them was closing rapidly.

No matter how much Danzo didn't want to die, facing the footsteps growing closer, he had to admit one thing: he was going to die, and even if he tried to escape, it was useless.

At that moment, countless fragments of memory flashed through Danzo's mind.

There were carefree days of childhood studying and training with friends like Sarutobi Hiruzen, and memories of his struggles as the leader of Root, becoming the Darkness of Konoha.

In the end, only two memories remained before Danzo's eyes.

The first was the memory of when Senju Tobirama took them to sign a treaty with the Land of Lightning and they encountered the rebellion of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

They were hunted by the elite forces of Kumogakure. When the team needed a decoy to lure out the enemy, Sarutobi Hiruzen was the first to volunteer to act as the decoy, reasoning that he was the strongest besides Senju Tobirama.

"So... at that moment, I actually felt relieved..." Danzo closed his dim eyes.

Before, he only remembered that he had also volunteered to be the decoy, but was just one step behind Hiruzen.

On the verge of death, Danzo finally recalled everything clearly.

When Hiruzen offered himself as the decoy, a sense of relief surged in Danzo's heart. It was only to avoid being looked down upon by others, and to compete with Hiruzen, that he also followed and said he would be the decoy.

The real him did not have the courage to step forward first. Sarutobi Hiruzen was truly worthy of being the Third Hokage.

The second memory fragment was the dinner with Hiruzen before leaving Konoha.

Danzo had once been only one step away from becoming Hokage, and had fought many of the most renowned ninja world powerhouses. His life was not perfect, but it could certainly be described as turbulent and grand.

At this moment of death, the last thing Danzo thought of was not some glory of his, but the image of him treating Hiruzen to a meal for the first and last time.

The relationship between Hiruzen and Danzo was extremely complicated. In childhood, they were like-minded good partners.

After becoming ninja, they were good friends who trained together and competed for the position of Hokage.

When Hiruzen became Hokage, their relationship changed. Due to differing political views, they often opposed each other, and Danzo sometimes even considered staging a coup to force Hiruzen out of office.

"We shouldn't have discussed politics then," Danzo sighed inwardly.

If they hadn't discussed politics, they wouldn't have argued, and the last impression he left on Hiruzen wouldn't have been so terrible.

Setting work aside, Hiruzen was indeed the best friend he had in this life, and now his only friend.

Slap! Slap!

The footsteps gradually drew near. Danzo silently gathered his chakra.

He knew a ninjutsu called the Four Symbols Seal Technique, a suicide technique that could seal away everything in the area around him.

Since the range was small, Danzo had to wait until Sōsuke was close enough before using it.

"Let me protect Konoha one last time," Danzo thought silently.

In this moment before death, he thought of many things.

He boldly guessed that Sōsuke was in league with "Uchiha Madara"!

Otherwise, why would "Uchiha Madara" have vanished at this critical moment?

As for why "Uchiha Madara" used Wood Style as bait to make him kill Sōsuke and seize Nagato's Rinnegan, Danzo believed it was a plot aimed at Konoha.

If "Uchiha Madara" really wanted to kill Sōsuke, he would have done so long ago. Clearly, "Uchiha Madara" was scheming to drain Konoha's strength, and possibly even to use him as an experiment for Hashirama's cells.

Danzo even considered that "Uchiha Madara" and Sōsuke might be the same person.

There weren't that many unknown strong people in the ninja world, and on top of that, "Uchiha Madara" always wrapped himself tightly in robes whenever they met—obviously a huge red flag.

"Whoever you are, you won't have another chance to harm Konoha."

Danzo was very confident in his suicide sealing technique. Unless Sōsuke had prior information, there was no way he could avoid this move.

But few people even in Konoha knew about this technique, let alone Sōsuke.

Just as Danzo was about to perform the Four Symbols Seal Technique, a yellow-haired figure rushed in like lightning.

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"

A massive torrent of water extinguished most of the sea of fire, and part of the water flow pushed back the approaching Muyue, who was Danzo's main body.

Shimura Danzo's despairing heart kindled a final glimmer of hope.

Muyue had arrived. Muyue, who under his and Hiruzen Sarutobi's joint training had become the strongest ninja of Konoha's younger generation, had finally arrived.

"Retsuyo Muyue has come too?" Hanzō, who was about to make a move to save Shimura Danzo, frowned.

He recognized at a glance that this was the most prominent young ninja of Konoha in the past year.

Retsuyo Muyue's recent great victory was fought in the Land of Grass, neighboring the Land of Rain. Hanzō knew that although Muyue was young, his strength was not inferior to the Sannin.

Nagato, who was about to act, froze after seeing the newcomer clearly.

As the only one who knew about Muyue's dual identity, Nagato was a bit stunned.

He never dreamed that Retsuyo Muyue would also be facing Ninja Master Sōsuke.

"Lord Danzo, I'm sorry I'm late." Shadow Clone Muyue said apologetically, looking at Shimura Danzo.

"Take me away quickly!" Shimura Danzo shouted with a weak voice.

Although he had previously entertained the thought of reining in Muyue, now Shimura Danzo only wanted to survive.

Muyue had the Flying Thunder God Technique and also mastered medical ninjutsu — he was an impeccable reinforcement.

Without further ado, the moment Shadow Clone Muyue finished speaking, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The figures of Shimura Danzo and Shadow Clone Muyue vanished from the charred, wet ground, causing Muyue's original body's technique to miss.

"Sōsuke, it's time to settle our affairs." Hanzō stepped forward and said in a low voice.

Just now, when Shimura Danzo used Izanagi for the second time, Hanzō had also wanted to intervene, but Nagato and Sōsuke coordinated too well, and Hanzō's Water Release couldn't cancel out the Fire Dragon Wild Dance — he simply had no chance.

Now that Shimura Danzo had been rescued by Hanyu Muyue, Hanzō felt a weight lifted from his heart.

As annoying as Shimura Danzo was, it would indeed be troublesome if he died.

"After witnessing that battle, hasn't your resolve changed at all?" Muyue patted off the black ash on him and asked, looking at Hanzō.

Previously, he didn't even need to go all out against Hanzō; now his strength had improved considerably.

It wasn't that he looked down on Hanzō — if Hanzō and Shimura Danzo had switched places, when Muyue used Twin Dragon Annihilation, Hanzō would have died without even leaving a complete corpse.

Hanzō took out his chain-and-sickle weapon. "Sōsuke, underestimating me will get you killed."

As soon as Shimura Danzo finished speaking, he felt his body shift, and the surrounding temperature dropped rapidly — clearly he had been taken to another place.

Shimura Danzo felt gratified — this was the strongest Root he had cultivated; truly reliable.

"First take me farther away, then treat me." Shimura Danzo said, enduring the searing pain.

Perhaps because Sōsuke's Fire Release was too powerful, Shimura Danzo could still feel that scorching pain that seemed to pierce his very soul.

Muyue nodded without speaking, flashed several times in succession, laid Shimura Danzo on the ground, and then aimed his green-glowing palm at Shimura Danzo.

After half a minute passed, Shimura Danzo frowned deeply — the burning sensation of flames at his chest and heart showed no sign of receding.

Muyue read Shimura Danzo's thoughts from his expression.

The answer was simple — at the very end, Muyue had secretly hit Shimura Danzo with a Blue Flame.

Even though Muyue had controlled the power of the Blue Flame, it was still more than Shimura Danzo's severely injured body could withstand.

Now Shimura Danzo's injuries were exceptionally severe; unless a medical master like Tsunade came to treat him, he was heading for certain death.

Under the stimulation of Muyue's Yang-natured chakra, some of the minor wounds on Shimura Danzo's body gradually healed, but to Shimura Danzo's despair, he did not feel any sign of recovery — only that he was growing weaker.

The glimmer of hope that had flared in his despair shattered. Shimura Danzo burned with rage, clenching his fists tightly.

He wanted to demand — demand whether Muyue had treated him with full effort, demand whether Muyue had seriously studied medical ninjutsu.

The more elated Shimura Danzo had been when Muyue appeared, the more desperate and pained he was now.

He had thought he could continue striving for Konoha to become great again, but reality was so cruel.

But in the end, Shimura Danzo did not speak it out.

He wouldn't live much longer; Muyue's medical ninjutsu couldn't save him.

The final moments of his life should not be spent scolding his subordinates, but making one last contribution to Konoha.

At this moment, Shimura Danzō was unusually calm.

"Stop the treatment. Conserve more chakra in case of an emergency," Shimura Danzō ordered.

Since it couldn't be cured, there was no need to waste Muyue's chakra.

If Muyue encountered danger and couldn't bring back his intelligence, then his death would truly be meaningless.

Muyue decisively stopped the medical ninjutsu, his decisiveness somewhat displeasing Shimura Danzō.

There was no help for it; a Shadow Clone's chakra was limited. Even if Shimura Danzō hadn't said it, Muyue would have silently reduced the output.

He had to at least hold out until Shimura Danzō died. If Shimura Danzō discovered that the one who came to save him was only a Shadow Clone, he would most likely die with regret.

"Be sure to take my body back to Konoha. My body holds the secret of Hashirama Cell transplantation. Have Hiruzen restart the Hashirama Cell experiment using my body," Shimura Danzō continued.

Shimura Danzō was well aware of his body's value. Compared to the lucky Yamato, the Hashirama Cell technology from "Uchiha Madara" was clearly superior. This might be the opportunity for Konoha to have a Wood Release squad.

"Also, tell Hiruzen not to let Orochimaru study me. Additionally, in Room No. 6 of the Root base, there is some information about my collaboration with Orochimaru. You must keep it in your hands. Once Orochimaru has any thoughts or actions detrimental to Konoha, hand those materials over to Hiruzen."

As Orochimaru's collaborator, Shimura Danzō knew Orochimaru all too well. He was a man as cold-blooded as a snake.

When he himself was alive, Shimura Danzō was confident he could suppress Orochimaru. Now that he was gone, Shimura Danzō worried that Orochimaru acting alone would go out of control.

Muyue nodded. Getting a hold over Orochimaru was a decent gain.

"Beware of Sōsuke and a ninja who calls himself Uchiha Madara. They might be the same person, or might not. Regardless, if you get the chance, you must eliminate them and the forces behind them!" Shimura Danzō said through gritted teeth.

Sōsuke and "Uchiha Madara" were both closely related to his death; they were the two people Shimura Danzō most wanted to kill at this moment.

Muyue continued nodding. The man was about to die; he might as well let him go happily.

"You... after you return, have Hiruzen hand over Root to you. Tell him it's my order. You must shoulder the darkness of Konoha just like I did."

Shimura Danzō had become extremely weak. Even a keen-eared and sharp-eyed ninja like Muyue had to concentrate to hear clearly.

"Be sure to be wary of the Uchiha. They are all inherently evil..."

At this point, Shimura Danzō's voice had become nearly imperceptible. Muyue could only judge from Shimura Danzō's faintly moving lips that he had not yet completely died.

"Muyue, protect Konoha!"

Shimura Danzō exerted all his strength to utter this last sentence. At that moment, his mind was full of Tobirama Senju's instructions to Hiruzen Sarutobi when he held the rear.

After giving his final words, the taut string in Shimura Danzō relaxed. His mouth closed, and his breathing became extremely faint.

"If I had been the first to step forward back then, what would the outcome have been..."

"Hiruzen, I'll go ahead." With this last thought flashing through his mind, Shimura Danzō's consciousness sank into infinite darkness.

Muyue quietly watched Shimura Danzō die. After carefully checking and confirming that Shimura Danzō was truly dead, he sealed his body into a scroll.