Danzo's pupils constricted.
Uchiha Kaede's speed was blinding. The heat radiating from his molten chakra scorched Danzo's face, drying his eyes and causing the skin on his cheek to sting with the threat of incineration. The sulfuric stench was overwhelming, and the stifling sense of imminent death grew heavier.
If that hits me... I'm dead.
Abandoning all pretense of dignity, Danzo hurled himself backward, stumbling and rolling to escape. But he wasn't fast enough.
"Danzo-sama!!" one Root operative cried out as a sizzling crack filled the air. Danzo clutched the side of his head in agony. His left ear had been seared off.
He looked up in horror. High above the street, Kaede hovered, his molten right arm expanding grotesquely, bubbling like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
"Newbie, evacuate!" shouted the masked ANBU assigned to monitor Naruto. Without hesitation, he grabbed the boy and sprinted for cover.
Izumi, eyes wide in panic, activated her Sharingan. The three tomoe spun wildly, draining her chakra, but she placed her faith in Kaede and leapt clear.
The two remaining Root operatives unleashed jutsu in tandem.
"Water Style: Water Wave Technique!"
Twin torrents of water surged upward. But Kaede was already in motion.
"scorch Release... Great Eruption Fist!"
His enlarged magma-laced arm slammed downward.
—BOOM!
The Water Style evaporated on impact, releasing a toxic plume of steam. Kaede's jutsu shattered the jutsu and rained lava over the Root guards. One leapt aside and saved Danzo. The other wasn't so lucky.
The molten blast consumed half his body, leaving only charred screams and bubbling gore. The street cracked under the pressure, transforming into a burning crater.
"That's him... the dual Kekkei Genkai monster from the war. The Molten Beast," whispered the ANBU agent carrying Naruto.
Danzo cursed under his breath. He glared at Kaede standing in a pool of lava, completely unfazed. The magma slid off his form like sweat.
This power... it surpasses anything the Uchiha have ever shown.
Far away in the Hokage Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen flinched as a ninja pigeon burst through the window.
"Hokage-sama! Emergency! Kaede and Danzo are fighting. Naruto has been caught in the crossfire!"
Sarutobi stood up, face pale.
"Danzo... I told him to leave Kaede alone...!"
He hesitated. Kaede's justice... his eyes that see all crimes...
He shook off the thought and bellowed, "Kakashi! Get three ANBU squads! We move now!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Back at the scene, Kaede tore through the second Root ninja. His lava-infused arm pierced clean through the man's chest, vaporizing the blood before it touched him. But even as he moved, a blast of Wind Release tore across his body, carving a searing ten-centimeter gash in his chest.
The wound oozed magma.
Danzo's hands trembled.
"This isn't just scorch Release... it's something else... like the Hozuki Clan's liquefaction, but instead of water its liquid fire."
And Kaede was still advancing.