Chapter 118: Capturing Danzo Alive
The village streets had been thoroughly ravaged beyond recognition. The brick-paved roads were shattered to pieces, dozens of surrounding houses had collapsed, and a massive wind blade swept across, slicing a building clean in half at the waist.
Danzo Shimura's figure immediately shot backward.
But Hyuga Ritsu followed like a shadow. No matter how Danzo struggled, he couldn't shake off Ritsu's relentless pursuit. In this high-intensity combat, chakra was consuming at an alarming rate, and his aging body issued waves of exhausted protests.
He truly wasn't Ritsu's match.
The confidence he'd had before engaging was completely crushed in these few short minutes.
"Danzo, surrender!"
Ritsu issued his ultimatum with unhurried composure.
The village's entire situation remained under observation by his Byakugan. Not only were all of Danzo's struggles laid bare before these eyes, but even Sarutobi Hiruzen's every move was captured in full view.
Everything was under control.
No variables detected, nothing uncontrollable had occurred.
So there was no need for impatience or panic—simply advance step by step, imposing his will to the very end.
"In your dreams!"
Danzo roared.
His appearance was somewhat disheveled, the bandages on his head coming loose to reveal the injured right eye beneath.
At this point, Danzo clearly hadn't yet transplanted Uchiha Sharingan—or rather, he likely only transplanted them after the Uchiha Clan's annihilation, with Orochimaru's assistance. And to balance the Sharingan's burden on his body, he'd simultaneously transplanted cells from the First Hokage containing Wood Release.
The bandages currently on Danzo's body were actual bandages, meant to conceal injured eyes and arms so he wouldn't look too frightening—not disguises hiding an entire arm full of Sharingan.
Actually, if Danzo had already transplanted Sharingan, it would be even easier for Ritsu. He'd only need to capture him alive and expose that pile of Sharingan—then both Danzo and the Uchiha Clan would definitely be finished.
Unfortunately, the world didn't have so many "what ifs." After capturing Danzo now, he'd still have to expend effort extracting intelligence from his brain through interrogation.
Ritsu strode forward in quick steps, closing in on Danzo.
Being approached this closely by a Hyuga skilled in Gentle Fist—defeat was already a foreseeable outcome.
But Danzo remained tenacious, still unwilling to give up. He hadn't yet received rescue from his subordinates.
How could he willingly accept defeat?
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade.
In his haste, with no time for hand seals, he employed a technique requiring no seals. He infused Wind Release chakra into the kunai in his hand, forming a wind blade that could slice through iron like mud. The instant this blade formed, he slashed it toward Ritsu, who had closed in.
This wind blade was indeed sharp.
Just grazing Ritsu's arm, it cut a wound deep enough to expose bone.
But the problem was—the wind blade ended there, a sharp white bone harder than steel blocking the wind blade's further advance. Hiruko also rushed over to support.
Danzo's expression changed. Sensing trouble, he immediately mobilized chakra, preparing to self-destruct while taking Ritsu down with him—he'd embedded the Reverse Four Symbols Seal within his body, a forbidden technique that activated upon the caster's death, dragging surrounding enemies into hell together.
But—
"As if I'd let you succeed!"
Ritsu not only knew Danzo was ruthless toward enemies, comrades, and himself alike, but his Byakugan had long since glimpsed the abnormality within Danzo's body. That's why he hadn't immediately crushed Danzo with absolute power, but instead wore down his stamina, attention, and chakra, making his reactions slow and sluggish.
Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
Ritsu ignored the pain in his arm, seizing the opportunity. He delivered the complete Gentle Fist combination toward Danzo, injecting his own chakra strike after strike into Danzo's chakra pathway points.
In the blink of an eye, Danzo's chakra was sealed. His self-destruction was forcibly terminated. Even his body lost control—only his consciousness remained clear.
The wind blade vanished without chakra support.
Clang!
Powerless hands couldn't grip the kunai, which fell along with Danzo's collapsing body to the ground.
"In my dreams? Not only did I dream it—I've already done it."
Ritsu looked down at Danzo lying at his feet, laughing softly. "Hokage Advisor Danzo, your struggles are meaningless. Shouldn't an old man like you understand most clearly how powerless the weak's struggles are before the strong?"
"Arrogant! How dare you compare yourself to the First?"
Danzo, lying on the ground, twisted his head to glare at Ritsu.
"What's there not to dare? I was simply born at the wrong time. If I'd been born decades earlier, it wouldn't be the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha standing side by side."
"Arrogant! You Hyuga brat—you won't have a good end! You think you can be forgiven for such actions? The village won't tolerate a rebel like you who acts against superiors!"
Though only his mouth could move, Danzo kept outputting curses.
Ritsu paid no mind.
A bit of foul language went in one ear and out the other. Besides, a loser's curses and abuse were tantamount to praise for the victor. He simply looked up. "Danzo, your subordinates have arrived."
Danzo's cursing stopped abruptly.
The next instant, two Root members appeared at the street's far end. The difference between Root and ANBU lay in their masks—ANBU members wore uniform animal masks, while Root's masks abandoned animal shapes, leaving only thick face paint outlining different patterns.
"Horse Head, Whip! Quickly—"
Danzo's order commanding his subordinates to flee quickly was cut short when Ritsu knocked him unconscious with a kick.
Simultaneously, Horse Head and Whip's expressions changed. The two coordinated an assault toward Ritsu. Horse Head, charging in front, had all his exposed skin turn black, while Whip, one position behind, formed hand seals identical to Danzo's earlier technique. Opening his mouth, he fired densely packed small wind bullets like a Maxim machine gun.
Ritsu took all this in.
Horse Head in front was using high-level Earth Release Hardening Technique, his body surface covered in high-intensity Earth Release chakra. Without testing, one could imagine how high that defense was—once he closed in, he'd definitely be difficult to handle.
Whip behind was using Wind Release, clearly having received Danzo's true teachings.
However, these two were only providing cover.
The real killing move came from the ground—that pitch-black shadow circling around from beside a broken house and rapidly approaching.
"Could you please show some respect for these eyes of mine?"
Ritsu sighed helplessly.
Sending people openly to attract attention while comrades attacked from shadows was a very old but very practical tactic, especially in many-versus-one situations. This move succeeded repeatedly.
But the problem was—their Hyuga Clan's Byakugan had no blind spots.
Such tricks simply didn't work against the Hyuga.
Bang!
The wind bullets struck a wooden log, shattering it to pieces.
Having prepared, Ritsu had used Substitution Technique.
The shadow extending rapidly across the ground lost its target and naturally returned empty-handed. But with a sudden lunge, it connected with Hiruko's shadow.
"A Nara, is it?"
Feeling the restraining force transmitted through his own shadow, Hiruko remained calm, even observing with interest this sensation of being forcibly controlled.
But his observation time was extremely brief.
Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.
Ritsu fired off a Vacuum Palm. The lightning-fast shockwave demolished the already-crumbling broken house, and along with it, the Root organization ninja codenamed Nightingale hiding behind the house was struck hard enough to cough up blood. Blood dripped down from beneath his mask. His entire body lay prone on the ground like a boneless insect, unable to move.
Not being killed outright was thanks to the broken house absorbing some of the force.
Nightingale, reduced to this miserable state, naturally had no strength to maintain their Nara Clan's secret Shadow Jutsu. Hiruko, who'd been restrained for only a few seconds, regained freedom.
At this moment, Horse Head had also closed in.
"You might not know this, but my specialty is Lightning Release!"
Hiruko murmured softly.
His body shot backward. His hands completed seals in an instant. Watching Horse Head pursue him, attempting to kill him with fists harder than steel—
Lightning Release: False Darkness.
This was the highest-level Lightning Release technique Hiruko had mastered, with first-rate destructive power.
He opened his mouth and spat out a supremely sharp lightning spear from within. In one breath, it defeated the high-level Earth Release technique Horse Head employed, effortlessly penetrating that impenetrable body, instantly claiming Horse Head's life.
Only a corpse with a charred large hole in its chest collapsed to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, two of these three top-tier Shinobi within Root had died, leaving only Whip alone facing Ritsu and Hiruko, this ferocious master-disciple pair.
Whip showed no fear.
To rescue the captured Lord Danzo, he fought hard, launching attacks. But Ritsu easily defeated him. Honestly, Ritsu's combat awareness didn't possess overwhelming superiority over Danzo or Root's excellent personnel. He had considerable talent, but Danzo was also a ruthless man who'd clawed his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood—his experience exceeded Ritsu's many times over.
However, the essence of ninjutsu was bloodline!
Bloodline strength and weakness determined chakra strength and quantity. After using the Chimera Technique to seize the Kaguya and Senju bloodlines, Ritsu's bloodline level had drastically elevated. Among all normal ninja in the entire shinobi world, none could surpass him.
In other words, though combat awareness and technique differences might be small or nonexistent, chakra intensity and quantity were simply not on the same level. This gave Ritsu enormous advantages in battle.
Simply put, any ninjutsu in his hands multiplied in power!
Offensive techniques' destructive force was extraordinarily exaggerated. Defensive techniques' strength left opponents helpless.
Without much effort, in less than half a minute, he'd dealt with Danzo's three subordinates. Ritsu reached out and lifted up the unconscious Danzo—the wound on his arm had completely healed.
He looked toward Hiruko. "Sensei, let's go! We're going to find Kakashi and our shadow clones!"
"Ritsu, what about these people?"
Hiruko turned his gaze to survey the surroundings.
Over a dozen Konoha ninja appeared nearby. They observed the surroundings, looking at the corpses on the ground and traces of intense combat, examining Ritsu with vigilant, hostile gazes. Each assumed a posture ready to attack at any moment.
Among them, a jonin shouted loudly: "Hiruko, Hyuga Ritsu—you two bastards, quickly release Hokage Advisor Danzo! Otherwise don't blame us for what comes next!"
But Ritsu paid no attention.
He simply smiled and said to Hiruko: "Sensei, just leave a clone to play with them. No need to waste time on them. Once we've dealt with the Hokage, everything will naturally resolve itself."
As he spoke, a wood clone grew from his body, step by step approaching the Konoha ninja who'd rushed over following the sounds.
Combat erupted in an instant.
But even with over a dozen people coordinating, they were completely helpless against Ritsu's wood clone.
Ritsu and Hiruko retraced their route back toward the Hokage building district. En route, they rendezvoused with over a dozen clansmen brought by Elders Hyuga Isamu and Hyuga Karin.
"Clan Head."
The clansmen greeted loudly.
"Perfect timing. Elder Isamu, help carry this."
Ritsu tossed Danzo over. Isamu jumped in fright, catching Danzo in a fluster. Somewhat at a loss, he asked: "Clan Head, this—this... how should we handle this? Should we destroy the body?"
"Don't do anything rash. I specifically captured him alive. When we get to the Hokage building, don't worry about anything else. Take Danzo to find Kakashi Hatake and tell him—the truth he seeks is in Danzo's brain."
"Yes, Clan Head."
Though still somewhat confused—
Isamu didn't insist on getting to the bottom of it. He only needed to know what to do next. With the clan head strategizing, all he had to do was firmly and unwaveringly carry out the clan head's orders.
Their group encountered quite a few more people along this brief journey. The village's ninja were gathering.
Moreover, news that Ritsu and his teacher Hiruko had rebelled had clearly spread by now. All the Konoha ninja they encountered attacked Ritsu even when clearly outmatched.
Regarding this, Ritsu wasn't polite.
He beat them all down.
The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist was well-suited to subduing targets without harming them.
Chunin and genin fell with a single exchange. Even jonin couldn't last more than two moves before being knocked down. This was because they'd only encountered mediocre civilian ninja—even the jonin were at the bottom tier among jonin, posing absolutely no threat to Ritsu.
Not to mention Ritsu currently had Hiruko's assistance plus over a dozen Hyuga Clan jonin and special jonin.
He swept his way back to the Hokage building like this.
Then he came face-to-face with Kakashi rushing over.
Looking at the longing in the youth's mismatched eyes, and the ninja dog at his feet with a face full of worry—
The corners of Ritsu's mouth curved upward. He smiled and said: "I was about to have someone bring Danzo to you. Didn't expect you'd find your way here yourself. That works perfectly—you can try to see if you can find the truth you seek in our Hokage Advisor Danzo's brain."
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