Shimura Danzō gritted his teeth, his heart filled not only with hatred toward Sarutobi Hiruzen, but also with an indescribable fury.
But given the current situation, Danzō had no intention of throwing his life away against these two right here.
"Secret Technique: Poison Dust Jutsu!"
Aburame Torune immediately understood his intent. Toxic insects swarmed between his palms, and with a sharp breath, he blew them forward in a dense cloud.
This was a secret jutsu passed down through the Aburame clan for generations—capable of contaminating a wide area in an instant. Once the enemy inhaled the poisonous dust, death was inevitable.
Given the distance between himself, Senju Haruto, and Uchiha Itachi, the poisonous mist would engulf them almost instantly.
Haruto and Itachi might be highly skilled shinobi, but battles between ninja were ultimately contests of information.
Many exceptional shinobi had fallen simply because they underestimated the Aburame clan.
Torune, however, could never have imagined that Haruto had already mastered every detail about him long ago.
"Don't breathe."
The moment Haruto saw Torune move, he spoke in a low, firm voice to Itachi, sealing his own breath to prevent any poison from entering his body.
Itachi immediately leapt back, retreating beyond the poison cloud's reach.
No matter how powerful a technique was, it always had a weakness.
And once you found it, there was nothing to fear.
"Fire Style…"
Through his Sharingan, Itachi calculated the spread of the poison cloud. His hands blurred through hand seals.
"Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A roaring blaze surged skyward. The massive fireball erupted from Itachi's mouth, soaring forward and blasting through the poisonous haze, scattering it apart.
Danzō seized the opening, spinning toward the doorway.
But Haruto had no intention of letting him escape.
Seeing Danzō's long strides toward the exit, Haruto's own hands moved rapidly into seals before slamming both palms to the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A reliable mid-tier Doton technique in the world of shinobi, this jutsu was easily learned by Haruto thanks to his mastery of all five basic nature transformations—he only needed to see it once to replicate it.
And though he was merely a Wood Release clone with far less chakra than his true body, his reserves still dwarfed Kakashi's by several times over.
Boom!
A rumbling thunder echoed behind Danzō as a towering wall of stone surged from the ground, rising nearly ten meters high, blocking his escape route completely.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!"
Seeing his way barred, Danzō quickly launched his favored Wind Release in an attempt to blast through the wall.
Thud!
But the two jutsu were of the same rank, and Danzō's chakra reserves were far inferior to Haruto's.
The razor-sharp wind blades bit deep into the stone like sharp knives, but could not break through.
At that moment, Itachi drew eight shuriken, aiming for Danzō's limbs to immobilize him.
But they weren't ordinary throws—
In the instant he released them, Itachi invoked another Fire Release technique, perfectly controlling the flames to coat each spinning shuriken.
Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!
He chose this because he knew Danzō favored Wind Release, and fire naturally countered it.
Even if Danzō infused his kunai with wind chakra, it wouldn't repel the flaming shuriken—it would only fuel the flames further.
Itachi's Sharingan sharpened, reading every twitch of Danzō's muscles, every flicker in his eyes.
All or nothing—once they had committed to killing Danzō, there was no turning back.
Hesitation would only give him the chance to recover.
Haruto understood this as well.
With Danzō's retreat cut off, he too began forming seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Haruto inhaled deeply, compressing chakra into his throat before unleashing it in a roaring torrent.
With sheer, overwhelming chakra output, he expanded the fireball's diameter to several dozen meters in an instant.
Even Itachi was forced to retreat to avoid being consumed by the flames.
That chakra…
Watching Haruto unleash the jutsu, Itachi couldn't help but be astonished.
For the Uchiha clan, the Great Fireball Jutsu was often the first technique mastered—its rank only C-level, mostly used for testing an opponent.
Yet Haruto had turned it into a killing move, swelling its diameter to fifty meters without effort.
And this was only his Wood Release clone. If it were his true body… Itachi could already envision it—dozens of elite Water Release shinobi would need to combine their efforts just to block it.
"Lord Danzō!"
Torune's voice rose in panic as he felt the oppressive heat, even from a distance.
Not even the Aburame clan's secret techniques could carve a path through such a blaze.
The other Root operatives quickly abandoned any thought of breaking through the fire, instead charging straight toward Haruto in an attempt to stop the jutsu by force.
"Leave them to me!" Itachi called out, his Sharingan spinning into Mangekyō form as he prepared to strike down the approaching Root.
But before he could move, Haruto's chakra flared violently, erupting in a shockwave.
Boom!
A deafening blast exploded around him, sending the charging Root shinobi flying like cut kites.
A layer of deep violet chakra now enveloped Haruto like an armor cloak.
Itachi's eyes widened—he had never seen chakra manifest in such a form before.
But in the brief moment of distraction, a blackened figure burst out from within the sea of flames.
Itachi's gaze snapped to it—it was Danzō, his skin charred, clutching a sharp kunai infused with Wind Release chakra, shaping it into a lethal blade.
"Die!"
Danzō's roar was feral, his strike sweeping for Haruto's neck with reckless abandon.
To come charging out of the Great Fireball head-on… Itachi sucked in a sharp breath. At this range, Haruto can't dodge!
Torune's fists clenched tight—he knew this was Danzō's do-or-die assault.
If Haruto fell, Itachi alone wouldn't be enough to change the outcome.
But in truth, as Danzō's attack came in, Haruto's lips curled slightly upward.
Through the clarity of his activated Byakugan, he had already seen every motion of Danzō's strike.
Rotation!
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