"Naruto, why are you doing this?!" Danzo roared, staring at the gentle, yet utterly alien, face of his student.
He couldn't accept it. He simply couldn't.
Naruto was the perfect inheritor of the Will of Fire!
Wasn't he a ninja who wanted to protect Konoha?
Didn't he say, There is no such thing as peaceful times, only people who carry the burden for others?
How could someone who spoke with such conviction be a traitor?
A profound sense of betrayal washed over Danzo. He staggered back several steps, his head spinning. In that moment, the old man was so struck by reality that he nearly fainted.
"Impossible," he stammered, swallowing hard. Looking at Naruto's serene smile, a sudden realization dawned on him.
He cried out, his voice cracking, "I see now. It's Tsunade, isn't it? You've conspired with them to eliminate Root so they can have complete control over Konoha."
Convinced he had grasped the truth, Danzo's heart filled with rage. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?!" he snarled. "They are the parasites eating away at Konoha! Without Root, the village's dark missions can't be carried out! Do you truly believe Konoha can survive without us?"
"We are the very core of this village!" he shrieked, his eyes filled with disappointment.
He was disappointed that the student he had held in such high regard had betrayed him.
He was disappointed that his student was so shortsighted, so easily deceived by villains.
But most of all, he was disappointed that the next leader of Root, the one in whom he had placed all his hopes, had turned his blade on his own people.
Naruto met Danzo's self-assured analysis with a soft chuckle. The blade of Kyoka Suigetsu swept lightly across the necks of several researchers.
Squelch.
A spray of blood blossomed, adding another splash of crimson to the already blood-stained floor.
Danzo watched Naruto's actions in disbelief, his anger warring with a sharp pang of heartache.
"Answer me, Naruto! Why are you doing this?!" he bellowed, desperate to see a flicker of regret in his student's eyes.
If Naruto showed remorse, he would choose to spare him!
But to his dismay, Naruto's face was a blank mask, his eyes as calm and still as a frozen lake.
Danzo's hope shattered once more.
"It seems the old monkey has influenced you too deeply, Naruto."
"I admit, Root has done many inhumane things. But, setting the facts aside, without Root, Konoha would have likely been trampled by other villages by now."
"You understand me, Naruto. I love Konoha deeply. Everything I have ever done was for the good of this village."
Hearing Danzo's words, a mocking smile touched Naruto's lips. Kyoka Suigetsu flashed out again.
In the next instant, blood erupted from the remaining researchers as they collapsed, their lives extinguished.
Naruto's blade moved so fast that Danzo barely had time to react.
A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The death of the researchers was a painful loss, but as long as he could stall for time, it was acceptable. Once the Jonin outside arrived, death would be the only thing awaiting Naruto.
"Lord Danzo! Are you finished?" Naruto asked with a smile, gently wiping the blood from Kyoka Suigetsu's blade.
Seeing that his words had no effect on Naruto, Danzo's expression darkened.
"I never realized how deeply you had been poisoned." It was only then that Danzo noticed the terrifying silence from outside.
He immediately guessed the truth: the Root shinobi outside had likely been neutralized by the ANBU.
The realization struck him with a mix of shock, rage, and a sliver of desolation.
"It seems Hiruzen and the others have been planning this for a long time, and you were their most important pawn. To think that in the end, the only one I can trust is myself." He let out a miserable laugh, his gaze fixed on Naruto as chakra began to surge within him.
In that moment, he finally thought he understood everything.
"Hiruzen is truly ruthless. No, I should say, Tsunade has completely seized control of the ANBU. Hiruzen's power was stripped away in just a few short months. With Jiraiya's help, Tsunade can control all of Konoha, and I… Root… we are their greatest obstacle."
"To turn your blade on your own comrades for the sake of power… Naruto, do you see the truth now?" Even at the end, Danzo was still trying to sway him.
But Naruto just laughed, a scornful, dismissive sound, a mocking curve to his lips.
"Lord Danzo, let me tell you a secret."
"Actually…" Naruto's figure vanished before Danzo's eyes, reappearing behind him with a speed he couldn't possibly track. He whispered into the old man's ear.
"I was never the Uzumaki Naruto you thought I was."
"Not to you, not to the Hokage, not to any other ninja."
Naruto's eyes turned to ice as he gently crushed Danzo's shoulder bone.
"Aargh!!" Danzo cried out in pain, leaping back, his mind reeling with shock.
How is this possible?
Since when did Uzumaki Naruto possess this kind of speed?
Naruto could have run him through just now, but he hadn't. Instead, he was toying with him, like a cat with a mouse, merely crushing his shoulder.
The sheer confidence of it!
He stared, shaken, at the composed figure of Naruto, who was even offering him a warm smile.
It was utterly chilling.
"Let me reintroduce myself." Naruto gently caressed the blade of Kyoka Suigetsu.
"All this time, everything I have shown you has been a lie."
"I let you believe I loved Konoha. I let you believe I was the inheritor of the Will of Fire."
"I became everyone's sun. But… I am a sun that burns everything to ash." Naruto watched Danzo with a playful, magnetic voice.
Hearing this, the last of Danzo's composure crumbled, replaced by a boiling rage born of betrayal. He glared at Naruto, wishing he could tear him limb from limb.
"So that is your reason for betraying the village. You truly are a Jinchuriki consumed by hatred. I suspected it before," he said coldly, his tone laced with self-mockery. "To think you managed to deceive even me. Well done. Well done, Uzumaki Naruto!!"
Killing intent radiated from Danzo. The depth of Naruto's deception terrified him. If a ninja like this sought revenge on Konoha, the village would be peeled back three layers, even if it wasn't completely destroyed.
But Naruto remained elegant and calm, continuing as if he hadn't noticed.
"I think you've misunderstood something. From the very beginning, it was never hatred that drove me to betray the village."
"Not hatred?" The answer confused even Danzo.
"For the longest time, Konoha has been called the number one village in the ninja world," Naruto said, his pace unhurried. "Countless geniuses have been born here. But no matter what, their ambitions have always been confined within the borders of a single village."
"My goal has only ever been one thing: to break through all limits and glimpse the ultimate power."
"For this purpose, I will trample over the entire ninja world, establish the one and only rule, and grant everyone the right to become stronger."
"That way, there will be enough geniuses to serve as the stepping stones for my ascent." Naruto's voice was filled with absolute confidence in himself.
Danzo could never have imagined that Naruto's true goal was so simple… yet so impossibly difficult.
Simple, in that it was merely a quest for power.
Difficult, in that it meant making an enemy of the entire world.
Danzo's breath hitched.
He realized.
Everyone had misjudged Naruto.
His ambition was beyond comparison.
A Naruto like this was far too dangerous!
"You will never succeed," Danzo said gravely. "How can you possibly stand against the entire ninja world?"
To him, such an idea was utterly naive. It was the childish fantasy of an immature boy.
"That is because your perspective is too narrow." Naruto just smiled, unconcerned.
"Well, we've chatted long enough. It's time for you to be on your way, Lord Danzo. And don't you worry," Naruto said, a terrifying smile spreading across his face. "You won't be lonely on your trip to the afterlife."
"Your dear friend, the old monkey, will be joining you very soon."