In the grove.
Amid the blinding mist, Mumei charged straight into the enemy ranks!
She despised the Uchiha clan, but seeing Danzo's arm covered in Sharingan eyes, the fury in her heart became impossible to suppress.
So, the moment Shinji gave the order, she rushed forward without hesitation.
Clang, clang, clang.
In an instant, Mumei clashed with several of Danzo's subordinates.
Though she had recently transferred a large amount of chakra to Shinji, severely draining her dojutsu power and temporarily rendering her Sharingan unusable, as an Uchiha clan "war machine" with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, her combat prowess still reached the level of a jonin.
Swoosh.
At that moment, accompanied by a faint sound of cutting wind, a figure darted through the mist, slashing a blade toward Danzo.
Sensing the disturbance in the air, the subordinates guarding Danzo immediately moved to intercept, but they clearly underestimated their opponent's speed.
A flash of cold light pierced through the mist, and in a single exchange, one of Danzo's subordinates was cut down.
"Be careful!"
"They're a swordsmanship expert!"
"No sound—they've mastered Hidden Mist's silent assassination technique!"
Seeing their comrade instantly killed, the others began issuing warnings to each other.
Haku, having landed a successful strike, concealed his form in the mist once more.
In truth, he didn't know Hidden Mist's "Silent Killing Technique." However, the current misty environment was perfectly suited for someone who had mastered the Breath of Water and possessed the Ice Release Bloodline Limit. By slightly suppressing his presence, he achieved the same effect as Hidden Mist's silent assassination technique.
Elsewhere.
As one of Danzo's subordinates stood on guard, a figure suddenly appeared behind him. With a single heavy punch, the figure sent him flying, half his body embedded into the ground.
The attacker was Karin.
Though she no longer had the Rinnegan and couldn't use Wood Release, her immense Sage Body, inherited from both the Uzumaki and Senju clans, granted her terrifying physical strength.
Coupled with her Kagura Mind's Eye, she could perceive everything in the mist with perfect clarity, even without vision. Her one-sided sneak attacks were precise and deadly.
Standing in the mist, Danzo's expression was grim.
The sounds of fighting, shouts of alarm, and even screams of pain echoed around him, all unmistakably coming from his own subordinates.
This clearly indicated that the moment the two sides clashed, his side had already suffered heavy casualties.
"I underestimated this brat…"
Sensing things were going south, Danzo began to scheme.
Unlike the reckless Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Shinji had attacked him under the pretext of "assisting with an investigation." Even if the situation escalated, Shinji had room to maneuver, making it hard for Danzo to pin the crime of insubordination on him.
For now, Danzo's only option was to provoke Shinji into revealing his Mangekyo Sharingan, then accuse him of concealing his strength and harboring ill intentions to take him down.
At that moment, a vague figure appeared in the mist ahead, slowly approaching.
"Who's there!?"
Only four of Danzo's subordinates remained by his side. Seeing the figure in the mist drawing closer, they instantly went on high alert.
But the figure showed no intention of stopping, continuing to approach slowly.
Two of the four subordinates took the initiative, lunging forward.
Thud, thud. In an instant, two muffled sounds came from the mist. The two subordinates who had charged forward fell silently to the ground, while the figure in the mist continued its steady approach.
"!?"
Danzo's expression tightened.
The two remaining subordinates exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and rushed forward!
Thud, thud.
Two more muffled sounds, and the attacking subordinates fell silently as well, while the figure in the mist kept closing in!
Danzo didn't dare take chances. He quickly formed hand seals and unleashed a Wind Release technique, dispersing the mist around them.
Whoosh.
As the mist cleared, Shinji's form came into view.
Danzo looked closely and saw his subordinates lying scattered across the ground, while the members of Shinji's squad stood dispersed, staring at him coldly.
Shinji continued walking slowly toward Danzo, saying nothing.
Both sides knew the other intended to kill, so meaningless words were pointless—action was far more direct!
In the distance.
Tsunade, leading a large group of Hidden Leaf shinobi, was rushing toward the Hidden Leaf Hospital!
Initially, when she received word that Danzo had gone to the hospital on his own to issue orders to Sasuke, Tsunade was furious.
She was all too familiar with Danzo's tricks, so without needing further reports, she could guess how things would unfold.
But just as she prepared to head to the hospital herself, the intelligence division offered a suggestion.
They proposed using Danzo's actions to test whether Sasuke was colluding with the Akatsuki.
The reasoning was simple: Danzo's move was a personal action, catching even the Hokage's office off guard, let alone the Akatsuki.
So, if the Akatsuki intervened when Danzo moved against Sasuke, it would confirm Sasuke's collusion with them.
It was well-known that Danzo had a deep grudge against the Uchiha clan, so his bold attack could very well threaten Sasuke's life. In such a critical moment, any Akatsuki members lurking near Sasuke would likely act.
This approach could both verify Sasuke's status and draw out any Akatsuki members potentially hiding in the village.
With this in mind, Tsunade abandoned her plan to intervene immediately and didn't rush to the hospital right away.
However, the situation's development far exceeded her and the intelligence division's expectations.
Sasuke's capture by Danzo failed to draw out any hidden Akatsuki members but instead provoked Shinji.
No one expected Uchiha Shinji to turn the tables, accusing Danzo, an advisor elder, of colluding with Orochimaru and plotting against the Third Hokage, and preparing to arrest him publicly.
If the situation continued to escalate, the consequences could be catastrophic, so Tsunade had no choice but to lead her forces and hurry to the scene.
Swish.
At that moment, an Anbu landed beside Tsunade and reported, "Lady Hokage, Uchiha Shinji's squad has launched an attack on Leader Danzo. The scene is in chaos!"
"This kid's got some serious guts!" Tsunade muttered, quickening her pace.
Danzo had come prepared, with plenty of subordinates, while Shinji's squad was newly formed, its members just twelve- or thirteen-year-old graduates fresh from the academy. If a real fight broke out, Shinji's side was sure to be at a disadvantage.