Many of the Jōnin present had already moved into action.
Danzo was vaguely surrounded in the center.
As a ninja, someone who sacrifices comrades for personal ambition—especially when dealing with external threats—is undoubtedly the most hated.
The Third Hokage clenched his fists, his face full of inner struggle.
Danzo noticed the hesitation in Hiruzen's expression, sighed, and said:
"Hiruzen, you're still too soft.
If you were truly Sarutobi Hiruzen, then the best choice now would be to order my arrest.
Cut ties with me completely, and avoid being dragged down as well."
"But you're not."
"You're still the indecisive Third Hokage."
Danzo stood firm, looked directly at Rei (Simu), and said calmly:
"The unification of the Rain Shinobi... that was indeed my doing."
Danzo's cloudy eyes suddenly shone with a sharp light.
"If Hanyu Simu isn't eliminated, Konoha will be destroyed."
"If not for you, why would the daimyo of the Land of Fire turn against Konoha?"
"You are the source of Konoha's instability—the betrayer of the Will of Fire!"
Facing Danzo's accusation, Rei gave a mocking smile.
"If handing over your comrades to die is what you call the Will of Fire, then Elder Danzo, you can inherit that spirit yourself."
Without another word, Rei turned into a flash of light and appeared in front of Danzo.
The moment Rei moved—
The wall behind Danzo exploded.
Thick smoke filled the entire meeting room.
"Light-Speed Kick!"
A golden flash struck forward, and Rei's foot connected—but it wasn't Danzo who took the hit.
It was a masked Root ninja.
"Tch. Those Root guys really are loyal to the end."
Every time Rei dealt with the Root, he couldn't help but admire how deeply Danzo had brainwashed them.
After blowing apart the meeting room—
A dozen Root ninjas, led by one known as 103, began retreating along a pre-planned escape route.
Seeing this, the Third Hokage's expression changed.
Not only was Orochimaru planning to leave Konoha…
Even Danzo—who held the authority of the Root—had made his preparations?
Standing behind the Third, the Uchiha patrol team was the first to react, leading the Konoha Military Police Force out to pursue.
Now that Danzo had admitted to his crimes—
Capturing him had become the duty of every Konoha Shinobi.
Following the Uchiha's lead, the other Jōnin quickly followed.
But faster than all of them was Rei.
A flash of light appeared above Danzo and his fleeing subordinates.
Several Root ninjas lunged to intercept him.
"Earth Style: Earth Spike Technique!"
Sharp spikes of earth erupted from the ground, heading straight for Rei.
"Don't bother with these weak tricks."
Rei stepped lightly, a glimmer of light beneath his feet.
The massive spikes were shattered into rubble under his glowing kick.
Another Root ninja raised his hand and formed a three-fingered seal.
Wind Style chakra surged around his palm, condensing into a high-pressure blade of wind.
"Wind Style: Wind Blade!"
Rei fell from the sky, expressionless.
Blue dragon-scale patterns emerged across his arms, now coated with Armament Haki even tougher than steel.
He punched forward.
The wind blade sparked against his fist, scattering in all directions.
But Rei's strike landed like a ten-thousand-ton hammer, shattering the wind blade as if it were glass.
He stomped hard in midair.
His descent accelerated instantly—appearing before a Root ninja in the blink of an eye.
With his other hand raised, he struck the ninja square in the face.
The mask with strange patterns shattered.
The man crashed into the ground, half-buried on impact.
Just as Rei landed, the ground beneath his feet turned into a swamp.
"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Another Root ninja had formed a seal, manipulating the terrain.
A different Root ninja drew his sword.
A torrent of lightning gathered along the blade, enhancing its cutting power.
With the force of Lightning Style, the ninja slashed toward Rei.
In a flash, Rei's body expanded into a hybrid beast-human form.
He pulled a massive iron mace from a scroll.
Muddy hands stretched out from the swamp beneath him, trying to bind him.
But Rei's power was monstrous—such bindings were useless.
With a swing, his mace tore through the air and collided with the lightning-coated blade.
How could a regular ninja sword withstand such terrifying force?
It shattered on contact into fragments.
The Lightning chakra dissipated instantly—completely ineffective against Rei, whose body also held the power of thunder.
The mace, still packed with momentum, smashed the broken sword's wielder into the ground like a cannonball.
The ninja's body was sent flying, crashing into another Root ninja beside Danzo.
Rei turned again and crushed the Earth Style user beneath his mace.
By the time the Uchiha team and the other Jōnin arrived—
Only a corpse was left.
And Rei had already launched into the sky using Moonwalk, chasing after Danzo.
"This kid's strength… it's terrifying."
One of the Uchiha muttered, watching Rei's figure disappear into the distance.
By now, Danzo had broken through Konoha's perimeter defenses.
As a long-time elder of Konoha, he had mapped every secret of the village.
Even the outer barrier that protected Konoha had been secretly sabotaged by him—leaving behind several hidden escape routes.
Under Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders, the Anbu did not kill Danzo.
Instead, they deliberately allowed him to escape Konoha quickly.
"Oh, these old foxes..."
A look of disdain flashed across Rei's face.
He flipped mid-air, locking onto Danzo's direction.
Gripping the Eight-Fanged Mace in both hands, raging Conqueror's Haki exploded into crackling lightning that coursed along the weapon's barbs.
His powerful legs bent slightly—then suddenly stamped on the air.
"Immortal Art: Jiang III Yin Naraku!"
In the next instant, the entire village of Konoha was shaken by a terrifying roar.
It was as if ten thousand explosive tags had detonated at the same time.
The sky trembled beneath the immense pressure.
Startled, the villagers looked up in panic.
They saw the entire sky darken—then a bolt of dark red lightning split the heavens with a deafening crack!
At that moment, Danzo had just stepped into the forest outside Konoha.
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.
The root ninjas around him reacted quickly, launching Earth Style techniques.
Chunks of hardened soil were hurled up from the ground in front of Rei.
But it was all useless.
The lightning tore through the sky.
When the Eight-Fanged Mace descended, all defenses crumbled like sand.
Like divine retribution, Rei struck with overwhelming thunder!
The earthen barricade in front of him was shredded like paper.
Then came a thunderous explosion.
Like a meteor crashing into the earth.
A massive shockwave spread through the ground, shaking the very foundations of Konoha.
The earth trembled and roared.
A massive surge of lightning energy shot into the sky, forming a jagged, thunderous column.
Everything in the blast radius—ground, dust, root ninjas... even Danzo—was obliterated by the crimson lightning.
But from within the thick smoke, Rei's surprised voice echoed:
"As expected of Elder Danzo... you're still alive."
A current of wind swirled in his palm, sweeping away the dust and smoke.
Danzo stood at the edge of the massive crater, gasping for breath.
Panting, he tore away the bandages on his right arm.
Scarlet Sharingan eyes emerged from his flesh—several of them.
One eye slowly closed.
"I didn't expect you to use the Uchiha clan so quickly..."
Rei said, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise.
It seemed his presence had caused the timeline to shift.
In the original story, Danzo only acquired the Sharingan arm after Orochimaru defected.
Danzo coughed, and the remaining eye in his socket gleamed with a dangerous light.
"This is the trump card I prepared for you... in advance."
Originally, Danzo had planned to take his time with the experiment.
But Rei's sudden emergence had forced him to act.
He had Orochimaru complete the implantation ahead of schedule.
It wasn't perfect—but it would have to do.
His face hardened. He rapidly formed hand seals.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"
Compressed air bullets launched from Danzo's mouth, firing toward Rei with incredible speed.
Rei calmly hardened his chest with Armament Haki and didn't move.
The air bullets struck him head-on, sparking harmlessly off his body.
Danzo's expression twisted in disbelief.
"Why?! Why were you born with such a powerful body?"
"Why do you get to bask in the sunlight and grow stronger while I'm forced to hide in the shadows?!"
His obsession erupted in that moment.
Leaping forward, he appeared in front of Rei in a blink.
Refined Wind Style Chakra spiraled around his kunai as he lunged at Rei's face.
A sharp sting tingled on Rei's skin.
He had to admit—Danzo lived up to his reputation as one of Konoha's elder powerhouses.
His Wind Style was refined to a terrifying degree.
It could actually threaten Rei's normally impenetrable body.
That alone earned Rei's acknowledgment.
But...
"If you want to land a killing blow—
Too bad I'm faster than you!"
The Eight-Fanged Mace swung forward, slamming into Danzo's kunai mid-thrust.
Dark red lightning surged out like a living beast, transformed from Rei's overflowing Conqueror's Haki.
"Overlord!"
The massive energy wave swallowed Danzo whole in an instant.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
There are 60+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
Check out my new Marvel fanfic!
[Marvel: Starting as a Time Criminal, Stealing Powers]