Sasuke took out the porcelain vial he had prepared, placing Shisui's right eye into the nutrient solution before sealing it away.
Zzzzt!
The snake's cornea receded. The six-pointed stars in Sasuke's eyes blazed brightly!
Danzō knelt on the ground, clutching his right eye which gushed blood like a fountain. His left eye fixed on the youth before him—vibrant, energetic, showing not a single trace of battle damage. "You… you deliberately left an opening! You let me charge in without any guard…!!!"
"Danzō," Sasuke stated coldly. "All your underhanded tricks are child's play in my eyes."
"Damn you!! DAMN YOU…!!!"
—Wood Release: Raging Tree Spear!!—
Danzō roared. A vicious, twisted tree erupted from his right shoulder, lashing out to ensnare Sasuke!!
Sasuke sidestepped it with casual ease. His left eye focused lightly.
—Amaterasu!!—
WHOOSH!!
Black flames raced up the writhing wood, engulfing Danzō's body.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH…!!!"
He howled, rolling on the ground in agony. The terror of never becoming Hokage finally stripped away his last shreds of stubborn pride.
"I-I've handed over Shisui's right eye, as agreed before the fight! Itachi, s-stop your brother, hurry!!!"
Itachi stepped forward slowly, his expression somber, his voice deep. "Danzō, it's best not to judge someone by their appearance and assumptions. You thought I was kind-faced and indecisive. That I would plead for you, again and again, for the village's sake. You were gravely mistaken."
"It is precisely because you misjudged your own capabilities and underestimated Sasuke's caliber that you now writhe in the dirt like this. You were given chances. You did not cherish them. Now, no one can save you."
"AARRRGGHHH…!!"
CRACK!!!
With a furious roar, Danzō snapped the wooden branch on his right arm and lunged towards the person who looked the weakest among them—Karin.
His plan was the same as before: take Karin hostage to threaten Sasuke and Orochimaru.
But he didn't know. Karin wasn't the same Karin anymore.
—Dōjutsu: Death Controlling Possessed Blood!—
Zzzip!
The horizontal pattern of the Ketsuryūgan flashed in Karin's eyes. The red spike that had dropped from her sleeve into her hand was already plunging into her own chest.
STAB!
THUD!
A sudden, searing pain erupted in Danzō's own chest. His features twisted grotesquely as he crashed face-first into the dirt, blood soaking his robes and the earth beneath him.
—Healing Bite!—
Shhk! Karin yanked the spike out, bit her own wrist, and the wound on her chest closed rapidly.
"..." Sasuke's hand clenched into a tight fist.
The agony of a spike through the heart, the torment of flames scouring his flesh—it shattered Danzō's last will.
"To think… a man of my stature… would fall in a place like this… Damn it!! I was the man who would one day become Hokage! Who would change the shinobi world!!"
It was then Orochimaru spoke. "Sasuke-kun. Extinguish the black flames. I have something to ask Danzō."
Sasuke nodded. His right eye focused, and with Kagutsuchi, he snuffed out the Amaterasu.
Danzō lay there, body charred and bloody, clinging to the faintest thread of life.
Orochimaru walked over.
"Danzō. Uchiha Shisui's ancestor, Uchiha Kagami, served as the Uchiha Clan Head and Captain of the Military Police Force during the Second Great Shinobi War. He was your contemporary, wasn't he?"
"..."
In the face of Danzō's silence, Orochimaru continued. "In that era, Kagami was hailed as a once-in-a-century genius for the Uchiha since Madara's time. His brilliance was no less than his descendant Shisui's. And he possessed the ocular power of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Yet such a man… was assassinated by an enemy nation during the Second War. Frankly, I don't believe that. What do you think?"
Danzō coughed weakly. "Sp… speak plainly. What do you want?"
Orochimaru stopped before him. "You had your Root agents do it, didn't you? Kagami saw you as his closest friend. He would have let his guard down around you. Your goal was to obtain Kagami's eyes. Not only to spare your own Mangekyō from blindness… but to restore sight to those eyes whose power had been sealed away. Theoretically, it could allow for the infinite continuation of Izanagi. The ultimate supporting ocular technique—'Amaterasu's Light'."
Danzō let out a weak, raspy chuckle. "Heh… Impressive you know of such a secret…"
"Kagami didn't die directly from Root's assassination," Orochimaru went on. "When Lord Third's personal ANBU found him, he succumbed to his wounds. But Kagami's eyes… they vanished. Danzō. Though it's unlikely… I still wish to know. Are those eyes in your possession?"
Danzō sneered. "Heh heh… If I had obtained those eyes… I would have used them myself long ago… How could I die… in a place like this…"
Orochimaru smiled. "That is true. Your obsession with Izanagi… it bordered on madness."
"And even if I knew… I would never tell you…"
With immense effort, Danzō pushed himself up. His fading gaze swept over everyone present.
"You… and Akatsuki… you are all blights upon the shinobi world. Detrimental elements to Konoha. I am already done for. But at the very least… let me do one last… righteous act…"
RIIIP!!
Danzō violently tore open the front of his robe. The sealing formula for the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing appeared on his chest!
"For the shinobi world… For Konoha… I will take you all here…"
SLAM—!!!
Sasuke's foot snapped Danzō's incantation short!
Danzō flew back like a broken puppet, slamming into the corpse of the Baku.
BOOM…!!
From the sealing formula, black tendrils erupted, engulfing the Baku's body behind him, shrinking it into a dark sphere!!
"Damn it… In the end… I never became Hokage… How utterly frustrating… Hiruzen… open your eyes and see… This Uchiha you coddled… he has personally strangled the hope for the shinobi world's future… Me! Shimura Danzō!!!"
SHOOOOOM!
The black sphere contracted… The Baku's corpse was gone.
In the bowl-shaped crater in the earth, Danzō's life force had vanished.
The five of them gathered at the crater's edge.
"And so," Orochimaru murmured, "the man known as the darkness of the shinobi world, Shimura Danzō, takes his final bow."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, lost in thought. "I wonder… did Danzō truly know the whereabouts of Kagami's eyes?"
Orochimaru's voice was low. "The answer no longer matters. Izanagi breeds blind overconfidence. Excessive dependence. It can even degrade combat instinct. Once Izanagi is lost… one becomes nothing but a lamb for slaughter. This has been most thoroughly proven in Danzō's case. In essence… Izanagi is, after all, an 'illusion technique.' And illusion… is nothing but self-deception. And the deception of others."
Orochimaru descended into the crater. He took out a vial and poured its contents over Danzō's remains.
HISSSSSSS…!
Acrid smoke billowed up. Danzō's corpse dissolved into nothingness.
Orochimaru straightened. "Now… Shisui's eyes are in our hands. Itachi's path to the Eternal Mangekyō is secured. Sasuke-kun… you can now focus entirely on preparing for your Fifth Bout."
Sasuke's eyes gleamed. "I was thinking the same."
Orochimaru turned, a knowing smile playing on his lips. "This time… I suppose there's no harm in telling you your opponent for the Fifth Bout in advance. It's a man both familiar and strange to you. That would be… 'The Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya.'"
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