[ (Author's Note: Danzo's death is inevitable at this point. His current strength isn't sufficient to drive the plot forward, and he can't provide the necessary tension. Keeping him alive would just be annoying. I'm notifying you all in advance to avoid upsetting any readers.) ]
One eye...
Minato sidestepped the kunai thrust toward his chest and watched the severed head soar through the air.
From the moment he first saw Danzo, he'd noticed the bandage wrapped around his right eye.
However, his right hand still bore its normal skin tone, suggesting he hadn't yet implanted Hashirama's cells.
"Dan...zo..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the scene unfold, his lips trembling slightly.
The beheading of a companion he'd known for decades struck him with overwhelming emotional force.
"Minato, you..."
"Wait, Lord Hokage."
Before Hiruzen could finish speaking, Minato raised his hand, interrupting him.
He glanced down at Danzo's corpse, then created a Wood Clone. His original body instantly teleported dozens of meters away.
The crowd stared in confusion at Minato's actions.
In the arena, the Wood Clone stepped forward and raised its hand to tear off the bandages wrapped around Danzo's head.
But before it could touch him, Danzo's corpse slowly dissolved like a phantom in water.
Danzo, who had been beheaded by Minato just seconds earlier, now stood unharmed in the arena!
No, not entirely unharmed.
Minato's gaze swept across the bloodstains on Danzo's face. It seemed Izanagi couldn't rewrite injuries sustained before its activation—a piece of good news.
"Huff... huff..."
Danzo stared at Minato, dozens of meters away, his heart pounding with terror.
He couldn't fathom how Minato had discovered he was still alive.
"This is impossible... How did you know?" Danzo gasped.
"What's going on here?" Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned deeply, studying Danzo with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
The moment he saw Danzo revive, Hiruzen instinctively disrupted the flow of chakra within his body, only to find no signs of a genjutsu.
"This must be... the Uchiha Clan's Izanagi, right? I remember reading about it in our ancient texts."
Tsunade's expression darkened. "This guy... he's likely transplanted an Uchiha Sharingan."
"I see. So it's one of the Uchiha's forbidden techniques..." Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly understood.
Although Izanagi was considered a forbidden technique of the Uchiha Clan, it wasn't particularly secret. During the Warring States period, the Uchiha Clan had boasted of this technique for quite some time.
As a ninja clan that survived the Warring States period, the Sarutobi Clan naturally had records of this technique as well.
Danzo shot Tsunade a cold glare, surprised that his trump card had been recognized at a glance. But considering her status, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
He himself had only learned of this technique by chance, tracing back to the final battle between the First Hokage and Madara in the Valley of the End.
In that battle, the First Hokage emerged victorious, while Madara, the loser, met his demise. His body fell into the hands of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
Being the body of a Mangekyō user, the Second Hokage naturally wouldn't pass up such valuable research material. However, out of friendship for his comrade, the First Hokage had always forbidden him from studying it.
After the First Hokage's death, before the Second Hokage could begin his research, the First Shinobi World War erupted.
Later, the Second Hokage sacrificed himself to cover the retreat of the others and appointed Sarutobi Hiruzen as the Third Hokage.
But... they were all too young at the time.
Hiruzen, newly appointed as Hokage, lacked both the strength and prestige to command respect. He had no choice but to rely on the support of his friends.
It was then that he discovered the Second Hokage's abandoned research facility.
And he made a chilling discovery: Uchiha Madara's corpse had vanished!
Having just been promoted to Anbu captain, Hiruzen dared not conceal this and immediately informed the newly appointed Third Hokage.
The two initially suspected the Uchiha Clan had stolen Madara's body and intensified their surveillance of the clan. But then Hiruzen learned of the existence of the Izanagi technique...
He broke out in a cold sweat, his scalp tingling with unease!
Years passed without any news of Madara, leading Hiruzen to suspect the man might have died of old age. This shift in focus brought his attention back to the Uchiha Clan.
Ultimately, he obtained those eyes—eyes that could grant a person a second life—from his former friend.
"But how did that child figure it out?"
Utatane Koharu was puzzled. It wasn't just Danzo who wanted to know; she was equally curious.
"Minato is a perception-type ninja," Tsunade remarked casually, offering an explanation. "My family has some records about the Uchiha. Given his intelligence, he likely guessed."
In truth, she didn't know how Minato had figured it out either, but she didn't care.
The resentment in Danzo's eyes was almost tangible.
Almost forgot... This brat lives with Tsunade. He has virtually unlimited access to the ancient ninjutsu texts left by the Senju Clan.
Such talent, such resources... Why wasn't it me?!
"That's enough, Danzo," Hiruzen said sternly. "Attacking your fellow villagers is unforgivable. I warned you not to repeat your mistakes!"
"Hmph, even now, Hiruzen, you still don't see it?" Danzo sneered. "That 'genius' you've pinned your hopes on is a wolf in sheep's clothing, pretending to be innocent and naive, fooling everyone around him!"
He gestured at the corpses littering the ground and the handful of surviving Root ninja.
"See these corpses? In the minute before you arrived, he slaughtered nearly all of Root by himself! He's been concealing his true strength all along!"
"If you've got screws loose, go get them fixed!" Tsunade scoffed. "Which ninja doesn't hide their true strength? The ones who don't are already dead!"
Utatane Koharu sighed. "Indeed, there's no need to twist the truth like that."
Danzo ignored them, his gaze fixed intently on Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Minato remained silent, quietly observing the scene, curious about Hiruzen's reaction.
With his overwhelming power, not even Danzo, let alone the Third Hokage and his allies, could stop him.
Moreover, the Wood Clone he had just dispatched continued to release spores relentlessly.
With perception enhanced by spore tracking, Danzo had no chance of escape.
Minato's gaze settled on Hiruzen, his resolve firm. If Hiruzen dared to shield Danzo, Minato would immediately declare: "A naturally evil spy from Kumogakure, daring to bewitch the Lord Hokage? I will..."
Fortunately, Hiruzen still possessed reason.
"So what?" After a brief silence, Hiruzen sighed imperceptibly, his heart filled with disappointment.
He had never considered Minato naive.
Whether it was his wariness of the higher-ups, the deliberate trap that sent his classmates to the hospital, or this recent attempt at a coup, all proved that the boy was far from the innocent he appeared.
But... so what?
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