At the same time, Tsunade leaped across the battlefield and appeared before Danzo in an instant.
Danzo's heart lurched in shock, and he instinctively raised his hands to block.
Tsunade's heavy fist came smashing down.
With a sickening crack, both of Danzo's arms shattered on impact. The tremendous force sent him flying back, slamming him into the head of the Wood Golem.
The entire golem sank several more meters into the ground from the blow.
The immense impact shattered Danzo's sternum, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. The searing pain shocked him back to a state of hazy consciousness.
What happened to me?
Why am I not running? What am I still doing here?
Seeing Tsunade's second punch about to land, Danzo desperately shouted, "Tsunade, do you know how your little brother died?"
Boom!
The words struck Tsunade like a bolt of lightning.
Her punch veered off course, grazing past Danzo's head and slamming into the Wood Golem.
The golem's massive face cracked apart.
Tsunade glared at Danzo, her eyes filled with hatred. "What did you say?"
Danzo coughed up another spray of blood. "Your brother's death was no accident. Someone secretly arranged for him to be killed."
"If you let me go, I'll tell you who the real murderer is."
Tsunade froze, her mind reeling in shock. She failed to notice Danzo was secretly forming hand seals.
Just as Tsunade was about to speak, a black staff shot past her and struck Danzo squarely in the head.
Danzo's head exploded like a watermelon, splattering blood all over Tsunade's face.
The blow had clearly been delivered with immense force.
An enraged Tsunade spun around to see Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had used Monkey King Enma's Adamantine Staff form to extend it and kill Danzo.
"You old bastard, what do you think you're doing?!" Tsunade roared.
She had long held suspicions, but her lack of evidence was what drove her from Konoha in the first place. Now, just as Danzo was about to reveal the truth, Hiruzen had silenced him.
Hiruzen's voice was cold. "I know Danzo very well. He excels at manipulating people's hearts. I killed him to prevent you from being deceived, Tsunade."
Tsunade's face was ashen. "You old bastard, do you take me for a fool?"
Just then, Danzo's form flickered between illusion and reality before his body vanished. He reappeared several meters away, fully restored and accompanied by fifteen White Zetsu.
Orochimaru's eyes widened at the sight. Isn't that Izanagi?
Seeing Danzo alive again, the Third Hokage was both shocked and furious. He yelled to Jiraiya and Orochimaru before charging forward.
Jiraiya paused for a moment before following Hiruzen into the fray.
But Orochimaru remained where he stood, unmoving.
Tsunade was both astonished and relieved to see Danzo alive. As Hiruzen closed in, she didn't hesitate to throw a punch at him.
Hiruzen, not expecting her to attack him, hastily brought up the Adamantine Staff to defend himself.
With a deafening clang, the Adamantine Staff bent and warped before being sent flying. Both of Hiruzen's hands went numb.
"Jiraiya, get back! No one touches Danzo until he's explained everything!" Tsunade bellowed.
Jiraiya's advance slowed. He had always trusted Hiruzen implicitly, but recent events had made him reconsider. His master was not the man he thought he was. And this blatant attempt to silence Danzo was a clear sign of guilt.
Danzo, now recovered, glared at Hiruzen. Seeing the Third Hokage sent flying, he let out a cold laugh. "Hahaha, Hiruzen Sarutobi, you deserve this. To think you'd actually try to silence me."
"Tsunade, it was Hiruzen who arranged for the deaths of both Nawaki and Dan Kato."
"Nonsense! They died in accidents..." the Third Hokage immediately retorted, but Tsunade paid him no mind.
Instead, she stared intently at Danzo. "Danzo, are you telling the truth?"
Hiruzen was flustered, trying to stop Danzo, only to be blocked by Orochimaru.
Danzo looked at Hiruzen with a triumphant smirk. "That's right. Hiruzen didn't want the Senju clan to have a permanent, hereditary hold on the Hokage seat, so I arranged for Nawaki's death under his orders."
"When Dan Kato found clues, it was Hiruzen who had me expose his movements, leading to his demise."
Tsunade was incandescent with rage. She turned to look at Hiruzen, whose face was a shifting mask of emotions.
"You stubborn old fool!" she snarled through gritted teeth.
Seeing the situation unravel, Hiruzen scrambled to defend himself. "This is all just Danzo's word against mine! He has no proof!"
But Danzo just laughed aloud. "Orochimaru's specialty is the Reanimation Jutsu. If you want to know if the dead can be revived, why not just ask Dan Kato himself?"
Tsunade looked at Orochimaru, who gave a slight nod.
With things having reached this point, it was clear these accusations were not baseless.
"To hell with you!" Tsunade roared, her fury boiling over. She launched herself at Hiruzen like a raging lioness, her fist swinging with terrifying power.
Sage Art: Earth Style: Stone Wall!
With a great rumble, a solid wall of rock erupted from the ground in front of Tsunade.
She furiously smashed her fist into the wall, blasting a massive hole clean through it. She then charged to where Hiruzen had been standing and punched the ground, creating a deep crater.
But by then, Jiraiya had already pulled Hiruzen back to safety.
Tsunade glared daggers at Jiraiya. "Are you trying to stop me?"
In this tense situation, even the two toad sages on Jiraiya's back were uncharacteristically silent. They exchanged a look but said nothing.
Jiraiya stood protectively in front of Hiruzen. "Tsunade, even if he's done wrong, we should at least question him first instead of attacking him outright. He was once your teacher, after all."
"Right now, we should be focusing our strength on Danzo."
Tsunade scoffed. "What a joke! With my power, I could find any teacher I wanted. If it wasn't for my great-uncle's insistence, do you think I would have ever accepted this old fossil as my master?"
While Tsunade was unleashing her fury on Hiruzen, Danzo finally found his reprieve from the brink of death.
He had been hiding nearby, knowing that the slightest misstep could get him crushed by Tsunade again. Seeing them all turn on each other, he was secretly delighted.
Fight, go on and fight. It would be best if you all killed each other.
Hidden within Danzo's body, Tobi watched everything unfold with keen interest.
Once Tsunade's attention was no longer on him, Danzo brought his hands together in a seal. The White Zetsu quickly converged on him, fusing into his body to provide him with additional energy. These were the spare resources he had just restored through Izanagi.
He had already used the Sharingan under his left collarbone, leaving only the ones under his right collarbone and in his right eye socket. These were organs he had implanted during his deep integration of Hashirama's cells. Thanks to Tobi's presence, they hadn't been taken by Obito.
At this moment, Danzo activated his Wood Style once more.
More White Zetsu meant a more abundant supply of chakra, allowing him to unleash a far more powerful technique.
Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!
The earth began to tremble violently. Massive roots, gorging on energy, burst from the ground as more White Zetsu swarmed from behind to support him.
Compared to the small-scale version he had used before, this World of Flowering Trees covered a much larger area and possessed far greater power.
Countless trees surged upward like giant whips, lashing out violently at everyone in the vicinity.