Under the influence of Madara's chakra, the Hashirama cells finally began to fuse with Danzō's body. Thanks to the immense vitality of the cells, the half-bodied Danzō slowly regained consciousness.
The first thing Danzo saw upon opening his eyes was the aged Madara, and in those eyes — the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Even though he was left with only half a body, the instant he saw the Sharingan in the old man's eyes, an uncontrollable greed erupted within him.
His current state was unbearable, yet the Sharingan before him seemed like an opportunity. If he could transplant the old man's eyes and then use Izanagi, perhaps he could rid himself of this half-bodied torment.
Thinking this, Danzō couldn't resist stretching out his hand, trying to gouge the Sharingan from the old man's eye.
Madara laughed in cold fury at his audacity. He grabbed Danzō's right hand and twisted it. With a sickening crack, Danzō's right hand went completely limp like a noodle:
"You truly are like a dog that can't stop eating filth," Madara sneered. "I just saved your miserable life, and you dare scheme against me."
Danzō was in so much pain that cold sweat poured down his face. He stared at the old man, seemingly shocked that someone of his age could possess such strength:
"Y-you… who are you really?"
Madara let out a disdainful snort.
"My name is Uchiha Madara."
"Impossible! Madara has been dead for decades. How could you still be alive?"
Madara dismissed his words with another snort.
"You are not worthy of knowing such things. All you need to know is that from today onward, you will become my tool."
At first, Madara had considered taking a more measured approach. But after seeing Danzō's brazen attempt, he abandoned any pretense of mercy.
"I intended to spare you some suffering, but clearly you're too worthless for that."
With that, Madara's hand pierced straight into Danzo's chest, clutching his heart.
The agony of having his chest pierced and his heart squeezed nearly made Danzō faint, but perhaps because of the Hashirama cells sustaining him, he remained conscious—left writhing in pain on the ground.
"What… what are you doing?!"
Holding his heart firmly, Madara began inscribing seals upon it, speaking with deliberate calm:
"Being my tool isn't so easy. Just like how you used the Reverse Four Symbols Seal on that brat over there, I must also use certain measures to keep you in check."
At that moment, Danzo wished he could die. To become someone else's tool while suffering such torment — for an ambitious man like him, death would be far preferable.
But in despair, he realized that as soon as the cursed seals were completed, even suicide was no longer an option.
Listening to Danzo's endless screams, Madara's face twisted with disgust.
"With this cursed seal, suicide will be impossible for you. Any petty schemes of yours, I will see through instantly… But even so, it's not enough. You're far too noisy."
As he spoke, the three-tomoe Sharingan in Madara's eyes spun, directly casting a genjutsu on Danzō, trapping Danzō's own consciousness within a genjutsu world.
After securing Danzō's mind, Madara pulled out a dormant White Zetsu clone and grafted its body onto Danzō's missing half.
When the process was complete, Madara shook the blood from his hand and turned to the green-haired Zetsu.
"Hand this guy and that… whatever-hu to Tobi. From now on, let Tobi possess him to handle things. That Hiruko will also be handed over to Tobi. Didn't you say he knew something about cell research? Then let him study whether Hashirama's cells can be used to further strengthen the White Zetsu."
Hearing Madara's order, the green-haired White Zetsu couldn't help but shudder. This was truly terrifying. Danzō already had a curse seal implanted in his heart, making it impossible to escape Madara's control.
Now, his consciousness was also imprisoned in a genjutsu world by Lord Madara, and his body was to be controlled by Tobi.
In other words, even if Tobi foolishly released the genjutsu, Danzo would still be condemned to share his body with another for the rest of his life.
And because half of his body was now made up of White Zetsu — or rather, Hashirama's cells — even if he tried to fight for control of his body, he could never win against Tobi.
This was the true definition of a "living dead." He would remain fully conscious, watching his own body serve another man's will, utterly powerless. All he could do was suffer in the eternal prison of the genjutsu world.
———
Konoha, Root Base.
After a night of cleanup and control, everything had finally settled.
Upon learning of Danzō's death, many of his loyal subordinates chose to commit suicide. The rest were taken into custody by the ANBU. Their cursed seals would be removed, and only after regular interrogation by the intelligence division would it be decided whether they could be released.
The Root organization, which had been quietly spreading its influence deep within Konoha, became history overnight. By the time Hoshiyomi arrived, the Root base was already surrounded and sealed off by a large number of ANBU.
The surviving test subjects had all been freed, and the children who had been floating in glass containers were transferred to Konoha Hospital for observation. If they managed to survive, Konoha intended to take responsibility and raise them to adulthood.
When Hoshiyomi approached, the Anbu let him through without hesitation.
Inside the base, only three people remained: Hiruzen, Tsunade, and Nawaki.
Nawaki's condition was dire. Half of his body was already beginning to wither, and his shoulder had split open, exposing a sapling slowly growing within.
Tsunade wept as she desperately tried to hold back Nawaki's death with medical ninjutsu.
When she saw Hoshiyomi enter, she finally broke down, her voice trembling with tears:
"Hoshiyomi… you're always the one with ideas. Hurry—look at Nawaki, he's…"
After greeting the Third Hokage, Hoshiyomi patted Tsunade on the shoulder, then bent down to examine Nawaki's condition. His brows furrowed deeply.
Though not a medical ninja, his sensory abilities were extremely sharp.
What he felt within Nawaki's body was utter chaos. Unlike the test subjects he and Tsunade had dealt with earlier — whose bodies were completely ravaged by rampaging Hashirama cells — Nawaki's condition was different.
The Hashirama cells in his body had formed a subtle, fragile symbiosis with Nawaki's own cells.
Instead of violently destroying everything, the cells were rapidly reproducing and transforming, spreading through every part of Nawaki's body in a very short time.
It was as if the Hashirama cells were unruly guests who had found a house to their liking. Regardless of the host's will, they barged in openly, even using the host's flesh and chakra as nourishment to strengthen themselves.
Faced with this near-parasitic behavior, Tsunade was helpless. She had considered using medical ninjutsu to cut out or force out the Hashirama cells, but it was impossible.
At the slightest attempt, the Hashirama cells would react instantly, greedily devouring Nawaki's chakra and converting it into Wood Release, causing the sapling at his shoulder to grow larger each time.
(Author's Note)
Some readers felt Danzō's fate last chapter wasn't miserable enough, so I adjusted the ending and added these details here. For those doubting whether he was truly dead—this is it. He's nothing more than a living corpse, a puppet. He's worse off than Yamato being controlled by Zetsu. Beyond the genjutsu and cursed seal, half of his body is fused with White Zetsu. Even if someone forcibly stripped that away and restored his consciousness, he'd still die piece by piece from losing half his body. Just as the chapter title says (Chapter 308: Danzō the Living Corpse) —he's a living dead man, forever at the mercy of others.