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Danzo's face turned ashen. He hastily severed the Amaterasu-ignited vines, about to regroup, when Kisame slammed his hand to the ground. Four massive water sharks erupted around him, leaping into the air and hurtling toward Danzo.
The vines tried to block the sharks, but on impact, they splintered into a thousand smaller shark projectiles.
Vines from Danzo's right arm grew rapidly, forming a colossal tree that enveloped him completely.
The mini-sharks bombarded the tree trunk.
The tree expanded swiftly. Sasori, who had just broken free from the vines, saw the frenzied growth closing in again and, dignity be damned, had the Kazekage puppet whisk him away from the battlefield.
Konan, hovering mid-air on paper wings, watched in stunned silence as the encroaching trees swallowed everything below.
"This... this is..."
"Wood Release!"
On a nearby rooftop, not far from Konan, a masked figure was fixated on the battlefield—nothing but a mass of trees remained.
Sasori had narrowly escaped, but Kisame had been engulfed.
"I didn't expect Danzo to be this troublesome—he implanted the First Hokage's cells into himself." The masked man said.
"Madara, why are you here? What about Nagato?" Konan asked.
"He's safe—with Zetsu. And he sent me here to prevent things from spiraling out of control. Both Orochimaru and Danzo are high-risk threats—more dangerous than even Jiraiya."
"How is that possible? Jiraiya's one of the Sannin too."
"True, but he's a normal person. Orochimaru and Danzo? They're madmen."
'And I'm even crazier than them.'
Obito added that last bit in his mind.
"What now?" Konan said.
"Don't worry—Itachi can handle it. And I absolutely cannot step in." Obito said.
"Why?"
"Did you catch Jiraiya?" Obito countered. "If he learns I exist, Konoha will come after me. And when that happens, you lot won't escape implication."
Konan glanced at Obito. She could never fully trust this man who called himself "Uchiha Madara."
"Just watch him keep wrecking Amegakure?"
"Some sacrifices are inevitable." Obito paused, then continued, "Itachi should be able to take Danzo—using his 'Mangekyo Sharingan.'"
"Can we rely on him?" Konan asked uneasily.
"Not yet. But once I meet him face-to-face, he'll become utterly reliable. More loyal than Sasori or Kisame."
"You're that sure?"
"Yes. Because I'm Uchiha Madara."
Konan half-believed him, her gaze returning below. Black flames burned from various points on the trees, spreading rapidly.
Kisame, fused once more with Samehada, tore free from the wood and poised to counterattack—only for Itachi to block him.
"Amaterasu doesn't go out once it touches you. You don't want to burn to death, do you?"
Kisame paused, then eyed the black flames. "This... that strong?"
"Yeah. But even so, it won't kill him... Don't forget, he's been buying time for Orochimaru this whole while!" Itachi glanced at Pain. "You gonna help?"
"I'll send the Asura Path." Pain said.
Itachi immediately turned to the burly-looking ninja nearby.
The ninja's head split open down the middle like a blooming flower, with what looked like a "laser cannon" at its core.
After charging energy, it fired a beam straight at the Amaterasu-engulfed tree.
The tree, already riddled with holes from the black flames, was struck by the "laser"—in an instant, chunks of wood flew as a massive cavity blasted through its center.
At the same time, Kisame unleashed "Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave," a gigantic shark bursting from the hole and slamming into the tree's interior.
Susanoo followed up with the "Sword of Totsuka," syncing with the "Great Shark Bullet Technique" to pulverize the tree.
The massive tree shattered to pieces, flames instantly swallowing Danzo.
Konan watched below, faintly spotting a figure writhing wildly in the blaze—a slight smile tugged at her lips.
"This time, we'll take out Orochimaru too." Konan said.
The successive chakra blasts drew Midorima's attention.
When he noticed the trees, he guessed Danzo had tapped into Wood Release.
In the manga, Wood Release was a highly unique "kekkei genkai"—in terms of power, it outstripped most ninjutsu.
But whether Yamato or Danzo, limited by their chakra reserves, they couldn't unleash its full potential. It often gave the impression that this wasn't some ultra-offensive technique—instead, it seemed better suited for "civil engineering." Yamato, proficient in water and earth release, came off more like an "infrastructure guy."
Midorima wanted the "First Hokage cells" too, but prying them from Danzo would be a nightmare.
Because Danzo could use "Izanagi"—what Itachi called the "perfect genjutsu," and Midorima dubbed S/L (Save/Load), or a straight-up reload function.
As long as Danzo had Sharingan left to burn, taking him down was near impossible.
Now, with "head lasers," "Great Shark Bullet," and "Sword of Totsuka," "Akatsuki" was clearly aiming to finish Danzo off in one go.
But it was a classic case of "all that flash and fury, then nothing to show for it."
In the manga, Itachi knew about this technique, yet here he was, dead set on killing a Sharingan-wielder like Danzo—totally out of character.
Midorima mulled it over briefly, landing on two possibilities.
One: Itachi had left Konoha earlier, before fully grasping Sharingan capabilities.
Two: He hadn't anticipated Danzo knowing "Izanagi."
Either way, this assault would yield nothing—which sparked some ideas for Midorima.
Danzo had a ton of "treasures" on him. If luck broke his way, Midorima might "scavenge" something good.
Forgetting everything else, Midorima ducked for cover first to heal up.
If he could snag those "First's cells," even blowing his cover would be a win.
Itachi, Konan, Sasori, and the others all stared at the inferno's heart. Barring a miracle, no one could survive that barrage of indiscriminate strikes.
Kisame formed seals to douse the flames when suddenly, a shadow emerged from the blaze—and it grew larger, shattering the fire and bursting into view.
Konan swallowed hard, at a loss for words.
'What... what the hell is that!?'
An eight-headed white serpent materialized in Amegakure, its body dwarfing even Manda's—and the aura of majesty it exuded filled Konan with dread.
Atop one of its heads stood a man: Danzo, who had just endured the onslaught.
"Danzo, you... you're not dead!?" Konan exclaimed in shock.
Danzo raised his arm; one eye had closed permanently.
"Looks like you don't understand the Sharingan. Izanagi... as long as I can use this technique, I'm absolutely unkillable!" Danzo cackled madly. "You can't kill me!"