Chapter 256: The Death of Danzō, The Curtain Falls
How can I survive?
Shimura Danzō was constantly thinking about this question. The biggest obstacle to his survival was this mysterious guy, Akiyama Makoto, who had risen like a rocket.
As long as he could fight Makoto, none of the remaining people would threaten his life.
This was not to say that Danzō was confident his strength surpassed all of them.
But regardless of status, seniority, or the secrets he held, it was enough to prevent the others from killing him.
Even Orochimaru was no exception.
To survive, Danzō could unhesitatingly trade Sasuke to Orochimaru. For this alone, Orochimaru would spare his life.
So how to fight Makoto?
Danzō thought it over and over, and there were only two ways.
Either Hiruzen Sarutobi released the Reaper Death Seal on Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, letting the two predecessors deal with Makoto as a traitor.
But now, this method obviously wouldn't work. Orochimaru and Makoto had already exposed all his scandalous deeds.
With the First Hokage's personality, he couldn't tolerate a single grain of sand in his eye. Once he regained his freedom, he would definitely attack Danzō first.
So Danzō could only pin his hopes on Orochimaru.
Kill Hiruzen, let Orochimaru control the two Hokage again, and then the four of them could kill or repel Makoto together.
After that, he could re-establish his prestige and regain control of Konoha.
What? You ask why Danzō was confident he could control Konoha after killing Hiruzen?
The answer was simple.
Just kill the remaining disobedient people, right?
If worst came to worst, he could support Orochimaru as the new Hokage of Konoha. He didn't believe Orochimaru wouldn't be moved by this!
This was Danzō's current judgment. It could only be said to be extremely cold-blooded and ruthless, but rational. At this moment, he had completely forgotten the meaning of the "Darkness of Konoha," and would stop at nothing just to survive.
And this moment's Danzō was the truest Danzō, the Danzō who had been consistent for decades.
Seeing this scene, Hiruzen's pupils constricted.
From the moment Danzō spoke, he had even considered for a moment whether to plead for Danzō.
After all, he was his old friend. After he died, Konoha would also need a mature and prudent person to grasp the direction. Although Danzō wasn't the most suitable candidate, he was one of the few left.
But seeing the wind blade coming towards him, Hiruzen realized how wrong he was.
Since the first assassination attempt, Danzō no longer had any affection for him as an old classmate in his heart, only envy and hatred.
Now he had colluded with Orochimaru to launch the Konoha Crush plot. If not for Makoto turning the tide, who knew how many people would have died because of it?
Even at this point, he not only didn't repent, but still tried to resist stubbornly. He was simply trampling Konoha's Will of Fire into the ground!
With so many people watching, was Danzō trying to destroy Konoha?!
"Enma!"
Hiruzen struggled to speak. Enma, who was grappling with Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword, had red eyes. With a roar, he slammed into Danzō, sending him flying. Then he charged up a heavy punch and smashed it into Danzō's face again and again, intending to kill him.
Danzō didn't dodge. He even had a smile on his face, because he had succeeded.
Sure enough, a line of blood appeared on Hiruzen's throat, followed by a spray of blood, causing Hiruzen's eyes to slowly lose focus.
He was really going to die, unable to even complete the final Reaper Death Seal.
Hiruzen couldn't imagine what chaos Konoha would fall into if Orochimaru, the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and Danzō joined forces.
In this moment, Hiruzen's eyes were filled with regret.
Why? Why had he indulged Danzō until now?
Danzō had committed countless crimes worthy of death. Why hadn't he executed Danzō sooner?
Even stripping Danzō of his position and making him reflect behind closed doors would have been better!
Ah... yes. It was all his fault!
It was he who had indulged Danzō. It was he who couldn't bear to part with Danzō. It was he...
Endless darkness began to cover Hiruzen's vision. His lips moved, seeming to want to say something, but unfortunately, he could no longer make a sound.
"I'm sorry, everyone in Konoha. I was wrong."
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke the words, and the sudden sound startled even himself.
He then stared blankly and focused his eyes. A finger appeared in front of him, wiping across his neck, miraculously healing his wound.
Not only that, but Makoto clapped his hands and injected chakra into Hiruzen's body. Yang Release chakra and life force made Hiruzen's stooped body straighten a little.
At this moment, Hiruzen felt as if he were full of strength and could fight Orochimaru for another three hundred rounds.
But Hiruzen understood that the Reaper Death Seal relied on sacrificing one's soul to seal the opponent. The moment he activated this jutsu, he was already dead.
Makoto was just giving him a chance to end all this with dignity. Seeing this, Danzō directly activated Izanagi, and then pounced on Makoto and Hiruzen like an evil ghost.
This was his last chance. He absolutely could not miss it.
But what awaited him was Makoto, who had opened his Yin Seal and was beating him with Chakra Enhanced Strength.
Makoto blasted him into the sky with a single punch, slamming him into the edge of the Four Violet Flames Formation. Then Danzō screamed as he was ignited, turning into a burning gourd rolling on the ground, performing "braised pig's trotter" under everyone's witness.
And this performance didn't stop there. After Danzō reacted and activated Izanagi, what awaited him was Makoto's further beating.
Subsequently, Danzō turned into a ping-pong ball bouncing back and forth inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, flames raging on his body, his screams reaching the ears of everyone outside the barrier.
While this scene was chilling, many people felt a surge of pleasure in their hearts.
That Darkness of Konoha, the executioner who had harmed countless Konoha villagers, actually had this day!
Even Hiruzen, watching all this, felt a sense of pleasure in his heart for the first time. For the first time, he felt that if Danzō had died earlier, the world could have been a better place.
Hiruzen had long been prepared to sacrifice himself for Konoha. In this way, he could use his death to prove the existence of the Will of Fire, and he could continue to influence Konoha in this way.
Danzō had almost turned his final effort into nothing, forcing him to become a sinner of Konoha as well.
Becoming a sinner, Hiruzen was not afraid.
But he was worried that the Will of Fire would be abandoned by Konoha from then on, and Konoha would fall into a state of eternal doom in terms of strength and spirit.
Then how could he face the First and Second Hokage?
"This kid is interesting... Monkey, with a guy like this around, you actually didn't value him. If you don't make him Hokage now, how long are you going to wait?"
Tobirama Senju watched all this with interest. Although he was happy that Danzō had destroyed the Uchiha clan, Danzō almost destroying Konoha was absolutely unacceptable to him.
And in his eyes, Makoto far surpassed Danzō and even Hiruzen in both strength and scheming. Konoha having a successor, wasn't that a good thing?
"Cough cough... To tell you the truth, Teacher, Makoto isn't even a ninja, and he doesn't want to be one. If I rashly do this, it will only make him angry. Konoha cannot afford to offend such a strong person anymore."
"So that's how it is... What a pity."
Tobirama also sighed. Seeing this, he already understood the course of events.
His disciple was too greedy for power, so much so that he hadn't passed on the position of Hokage until today, which had led Konoha into a crisis of near collapse.
But fortunately, the problem was basically solved now. He and his big brother could rest in peace.
"It doesn't matter if he doesn't want to be Hokage. Konoha welcomes him to live here. I believe more Konoha people will strive to improve because of him."
This time, it was Hashirama who spoke. He then looked at Hiruzen and said, "Monkey, it's time for this matter to end. Correct your mistakes and then leave things to the successors."
Hiruzen gave a weak smile. The spirit that had risen in his body due to Makoto's treatment seemed to disappear quickly because of the two predecessors' evaluation.
Clearly, he had not gained the approval of the First and Second Hokage. For Hiruzen, who had lived for so many years and been Hokage for so long, this was undoubtedly a huge mockery.
But who could Hiruzen blame?
"I understand. I just don't know what opinions you two have on how I should wrap this up?"
"I can have my shadow clones release you two now. Do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"
Tobirama looked at the Konoha ninja outside the Four Violet Flames Formation, shook his head, and said, "Forget it. This is their era. Let them solve it themselves."
"As for us, seal me and Big Brother together. Save some ambitious person from using Edo Tensei to disturb our peace again."
Hiruzen opened his mouth, not expecting Tobirama to propose such a solution.
Hashirama also nodded, clearly agreeing with his brother's decision.
"Good... Since that is the case, let the four of us meet in the Shinigami's stomach!"
Then Hiruzen's shadow clones exerted force, dragging the completely unresisting Hashirama and Tobirama into his stomach to seal them.
Finally, facing the terrified Orochimaru, Hiruzen was about to exert force when suddenly, the Four Violet Flames Formation shattered.
The Sound Four entered Level 2 and launched an attack on the Konoha ninja outside the formation.
Most ninja dodged, but people like Jiraiya and Kakashi ignored their attacks and rushed over immediately, trying to suppress Orochimaru.
As a result, Kabuto drilled out from under Orochimaru's feet.
He took Orochimaru's wrist, cut his palm, and formed seals on Orochimaru's behalf to activate the Summoning Jutsu.
The next second, Manda appeared directly under him and Orochimaru, completely interrupting Hiruzen's sealing process. Seeing that Orochimaru was about to break free from the sealing range, Hiruzen quickly cut the sealing formula, finally sealing the souls of Orochimaru's arms into the Shinigami's stomach.
At this point, Hiruzen had completely exhausted all his mental and physical strength.
On the other side, Danzō's roar attracted more people's attention.
"Akiyama Makoto! You traitor! You stole Shisui's Sharingan! I'm taking you to hell with me!"
The desperate Danzō activated the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing again. Although this time he was aiming for Makoto, the huge range of the seal even encompassed many Konoha ninja and Hiruzen's corpse.
This terrifying scene made everyone's hair stand on end. Just as everyone was trying to flee with Hiruzen's body, Makoto's hand pressed on Danzō's shoulder.
The next second, Danzō, along with his Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, arrived above Orochimaru and Kabuto, expanding continuously.
Seeing that he and Orochimaru were about to be swallowed, Kabuto quickly canceled the Summoning Jutsu, barely avoiding Danzō's death rattle ultimate.
As for Orochimaru and Kabuto after landing, with the cover of the Sound Four, they were difficult to capture for a while.
Everyone looked at Makoto and Jiraiya, clearly asking if they should continue the pursuit.
Makoto spread his hands. "I'm not even a ninja. Don't look at me!"
Many people showed awkward smiles and could only look at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya shook his head. "Even without his hands, he has many ninjutsu to protect himself. It's hard to catch him."
"Let's treat the wounded in Konoha first..."
At this moment, Hiruzen's lips trembled, as if he said something last.
Unfortunately, there were only lip movements, no sound.
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