"It's not about going back and fixing something. It's about moving forward and burning everything that stands in your way."
— Shigaraki Tomura, My Hero Academia
--
All he had to do was destroy the tube from fifty meters away. Clean. Efficient. Nothing more. He executed without hesitation, his strike precise as the tube shattered. For a brief instant, it seemed done.
But then she appeared.
The figure cut through the air like a vengeful blade, and he never even had time to raise his guard. Pain carved through his body—first his eye, a flash of white-hot agony before darkness swallowed half his vision. His scream barely left his throat before another slash came, severing his hand in a spray of blood. The pain wasn't finished with him yet.
The attacker's cruelty didn't stop at flesh. With terrifying precision, she reached deeper, twisting into the core of his chakra network with her unstable, destructive chakra. Since he could be healed, she instead targeted the part of his chakra network that could not be cured. The flow shattered like glass, leaving him crippled and powerless, unable to even gather strength.
He could only watch, trembling, as his body failed him.
And then came the judgment the next day, when he demanded justice from the leader of the village. But that man's voice—cold and unyielding—echoed like a hammer on stone, declaring that his organization was disbanded. Not because of weakness, not because of failure, but because he had dared to strike, dared to "harm the hero of the village." In a single decree, everything he had served, everything he had sacrificed for, was cast aside as if it had never existed.
The darkness pressed in.
Danzo jolted awake. His breath came shallow, his single eye glinting with cold fire in the dimness. The dream clung to him, heavy with loss and betrayal. The nightmare looped endlessly, unstoppable, until only one truth remained in his mind
Weakness was never forgiven, only the strong have the right to decide what is wrong and what is right.
***
[Danzo's POV]
Danzo lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, the weight of failure pressing down on him like a suffocating hand. It wasn't supposed to go like this. No, no… this was her fault. Hikari. That cursed woman.
My mouth tastes like bile. I press my good hand to my face, feel the ridge of my bandage where the eye should be wrapped. I see the ghost of that night in every shadow. I hear her laugh when I close my eyes. Hikari.
Everything had been smooth during the Third Great Ninja War. The village was mine to mold. I could walk freely, unseen but in control, and Hiruzen—old fool—would cover for me, excuse every shadow I carved, every sin I committed for the "sake" of Konoha. Back then, he understood. Back then, he looked the other way.
But then she appeared. Hikari.
She walked into the village and wrapped herself around everything I had set in motion. She tore it like a moth through silk. I thought I could control it — I told myself I could bend even this curse, but she broke the order.
Hikari
The name itself twisted in his mind like poison. She ruined it all. She twisted Hiruzen into something he was never meant to be. The man who once obsessed over strength, over control, had changed. He grew soft. He started speaking of goodness, of ideals, of restraint. My friend, my rival—no longer existed. He had changed into a man who would not cover my mistakes, and whatever battles we had shared in years past frayed into contempt. All because of her.
Since she came to this village, every plan of mine has collapsed. Hiruzen blocked me at every turn, clipping my wings, watching me with suspicion. He wouldn't even allow me to train Root in the open. He denied me access to clan heirs, forbade me from shaping them into weapons. He forced me to slither in shadows, to build my Root beneath the soil like a weed instead of letting it flourish in daylight. And the village… my village… suddenly reeks of weakness.
Danzo clenched his fist against the sheets. Curse her. Curse them both. Curse them all
That was when he realized he needed more than Konoha's fragile council. If the village refused to be shaped into the knife I needed, I would make allies who could wield that blade with me. That was when I extended my hand elsewhere—beyond Hiruzen, beyond the Hokage's suffocating grip.
That was when I met the new Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
He was young, hot-blooded, yet shrewd and dark, with a fire in his eyes that matched his ambition. When he spoke of his dream, I listened closely. Every word dripped with exhaustion and contempt for the endless wars, the politics, the people—but beneath it all, the truth was unmistakable, he cared for no one. Not his family, not the civilians, not anyone. All he wanted was to rule. To dominate every nation.
The Land of Fire was already powerful enough to govern the other nations, yet the hidden villages stood in the way. He couldn't simply cut Konoha's funding—he couldn't weaken his own land without risking disaster. So he built his own private force of ninjas, loyal only to him.
He underestimated the hidden villages.He can't do anything, I told myself. But I chose to cooperate… for now.
And then he made me an offer that set the pieces of my plan into motion, he wanted me—Danzo to become Hokage of Konoha. Together, we began removing obstacles. Hiruzen's circle of strongest ninjas, Sakumo, Minato, Duy, anyone unwilling to bend to our will.
But I hadn't counted on the cost. Hikari.
I wanted her gone. So I sent her location to the enemy village. The Mist attacked her with over a thousand shinobi. I expected blood. I expected victory. I expected her to fall.
She didn't. She emerged unscathed, and not just that—she slaughtered more than half of them.
When I tried to complain to Hiruzen, demanding respect, demanding recognition, she didn't care. And when I dared speak against her arrogance, I felt it—her killing intent. A pressure so immense, so heavy, it knocked me out cold. Humiliation burned deeper than any wound, and even now, I cannot get over it. I cannot forgive Hiruzen.
I cannot forgive her
But first, I decided to dig into her history. Hiruzen had tried to erase everything, but how could anything stay hidden when Root wanted to know? Secrets were never safe from me. I found records buried deep in the archives—fragments of knowledge Hiruzen had tried to bury.
When I got the scroll containing their secrets, I found more than just a path to revenge, I found a path to the top. It spoke of the "Giants": miracle bodies capable of incredible regeneration, healing, and strength. Most dangerous of all were their hearts—a wellspring of destructive, unstable chakra. Everything Hikari had unleashed on me, all that power she wielded—it could perhaps be controlled with enough practice. Their bodies even held the potential to extend the lifespan of ordinary humans.
I knew I was aging. I was growing weaker. This… this was an opportunity, I could not waste this opportunity.
Since I could neither kill her nor defeat her, I turned to Orochimaru. I demanded something that could subdue even Kage-level shinobi. He gave me a tube with blue liquid inside it—a single, simple thing. And now all I had to do was destroy the tube from fifty meters away.
And I did just that.
But perhaps I underestimated her—or perhaps I overestimated myself. That bitch took my eye and my hand. She reached inside me and destroyed the chakra flowing through my remaining hand, crippling me from within. And Hiruzen disbanded Root after my attack, claiming I had harmed the hero of Konoha.
Even in pain and ruin, life offered… lessons. I discovered something else
Akatsuki. The organization was moving like a storm behind the world's back. They invited me. They invited me. Invited me to join them as if they knew what I was doing, as if they understood the currents I tried to bend.
At first, I laughed. Brats. Children playing at godhood. Nothing more. I looked at them with disdain.
Then I saw their power.
I saw their jutsu, their will that bent mountains and swallowed men. And I… I was humbled.
The world was changing. And I knew, I had to change with it.
So I decided to join them. But before I left this village, I had one final task.
Erase Hikari's legacy. Claim the heart of Otis, claim her power, and finally stand shoulder to shoulder with the true manipulators of the world. Every piece seemed in place, every contingency accounted for…
And yet… something went wrong.
Otis. That child, that anomaly… he tore everything from me. Both legs, my strength, my advantage—all gone.
Helpless and broken, I now lay in agony in this godforsaken place. I will—
Click.
The door creaked open.
And then Orochimaru arrived. The pale, serpentine figure, curious and clinical, brought a serum, his eyes glittering with anticipation. "Danzo, let's begin," he said, voice smooth and cold.
As the serum entered my veins, I howled. Pain, fury, humiliation—they coursed through me, mingling with the venomous hatred I had held for Hikari all these years. And yet, even as Orochimaru experimented on me, part of me still clung to a single, burning thought,
I will rise again.
--
Orochimaru's grin as he studied Danzō.
(Pic)
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(A/N)
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