Late at night.
A one-eyed old man, wearing a bandage over his head, left the Hokage's Office. This person was none other than Shimura Danzo.
"Hiruzen, that stubborn old fool."
Danzo muttered to himself, shaking his head.
Before long, he returned to his residence.
However, as soon as he stepped inside, he abruptly halted and squinted his eye, "Hmm? Some petty thief dares to trespass here? Show yourself!"
"Hmph! I've been waiting for you!"
A figure emerged from the shadows.
In the moonlight, a pair of blood-red eyes stood out, eerie and glaring.
"Uchiha Sasuke? It's you!"
Danzo sneered coldly, "You, who defected from the village, dare to show up here? You're just asking to die!"
"Who's going to die is yet to be seen!" Sasuke snorted.
Knowing that the black-robed figure could extract memories, Sasuke wasn't worried about killing Danzo and not getting any useful information.
On the contrary, his goal from the very beginning was simple: to kill Danzo. Only by killing Danzo could he obtain the correct information through memory extraction, without worrying about Danzo's scheming.
Although Sasuke had no personal grudge against Danzo, he was willing to disregard anyone's life in pursuit of his revenge.
"Three-tomoe Sharingan, huh?"
Danzo looked at Sasuke's Sharingan with interest and said, "No wonder you dared to come here alone. It seems you have something to rely on."
As he spoke, Danzo extended his right hand, which was wrapped in bandages, and used his left hand to unravel the bandages.
'What kind of Ninjutsu does Danzo use?' Sasuke narrowed his eyes, a question rising in his mind.
He couldn't afford to be careless, after all, Itachi had once worked under Danzo. And as the leader of Root, Danzo surely had some unique abilities.
Getting into a prepared stance, Sasuke observed Danzo's movements closely.
Finally, the bandages around Danzo's right hand began to unravel, revealing his right hand.
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, disbelief filling his gaze.
Danzo's right hand was grayish, covered with numerous cracks. As the cracks opened, each one revealed a Sharingan!
Sasuke quickly recovered from his shock, narrowing his eyes as he asked, "What's going on with your right hand?"
Danzo pondered for a moment before responding, "Well, this is a long story."
"Even if I hear your explanation, it will only increase my anger!"
Sasuke snorted.
Originally, Sasuke had come to find Danzo, hoping for a chance to learn of Itachi's whereabouts. But what he saw now exceeded all his expectations.
The Sharingan was exclusive to the Uchiha clan. Each pair of Sharingan represented an Uchiha's elite. Now, seeing so many Sharingan in Danzo's possession, it was clear that Danzo had something to do with the Uchiha Clan's massacre.
In fact, it was highly likely that Danzo had been one of the main conspirators.
Otherwise, how could the Sharingan be explained?
The more Sasuke thought about it, the angrier he became, so he decided not to think about it anymore, "Forget it, I've already made up my mind to kill you anyway!"
Danzo didn't speak but placed his grayish right hand, filled with Sharingan, onto his flesh-colored left hand, formed a strange hand seal.
At the next moment, Danzo shot toward Sasuke like a bullet, landing a powerful punch aimed directly at Sasuke's stomach.
But Danzo's eye widened in surprise when his punch didn't hit Sasuke's body. Instead, it struck a skull-like barrier emitting purple mist.
"This is…"
Danzo's pupils contracted. He looked up at Sasuke and then suddenly realized that inside Sasuke's eyes were no longer the three-tomoe, but a unique pattern.
He gritted his teeth and immediately retreated.
Although his movements were swift, as soon as his feet hit the ground, he was struck by the purple bone, sending him flying backward.
Before he could fly far, he was firmly grasped by the large purple skeletal hand, which squeezed him tightly.
Danzo struggled desperately and asked, "Is this Susanoo?"
Indeed, what Sasuke had summoned was his purple-colored Susanoo!
Sasuke looked down, his face shrouded in darkness. His purple Susanoo's hand didn't show any signs of letting go, instead, it tightened its grip further, the sound of bone grinding against bone producing an ear-piercing 'creaking' sound.
"Let me ask you… Was it the Konoha'shigher-ups, including you, who issued the order for Uchiha Itachi to annihilate my clan?"
Sasuke questioned.
He glared at Danzo's arm, which is covered with Sharingan, and memories of his slaughtered clan flooded his mind. The anger within him could no longer be suppressed.
'If it weren't for his orders, how could these Sharingan be in his possession?'
"I'm asking you!"
Seeing that Danzo didn't answer, Sasuke's voice became more intense as he controlled Susanoo to squeeze even harder.
"Ugh…!"
Danzo coughed violently, spitting out a large mouthful of blood. He then said with a weak look, "Did Itachi tell you that? I never thought he would leak information. But it seems that you were special to him. Had I known this, I should have killed you myself back then!"
'Leak information?'
'Could it be that Uchiha Itachi didn't intend to destroy the Uchiha clan? Was it really the higher-ups in Konoha who forced him to do it?'
This possibility appeared in Sasuke's mind.
"What do you mean by 'leak information'? Was the massacre really an order from you higher-ups? Tell me clearly!"
Sasuke pressed.
At this moment, it wasn't just about revenge for him anymore. He needed to know the full truth.
But Danzo didn't answer.
"Answer me!"
Sasuke shouted, exerting more pupil power onto Susanoo.
The originally skeletal Susanoo now began to show veins and flesh, evolving towards a semi-complete form.
"Self-sacrifice, that's what it means to be a Shinobi. Hidden in the dark, those who contribute without seeking the light, that has always been the true nature of a Shinobi. Not just Itachi, many Shinobi are like this. The world can't be all glory, and it's because of people like them that the world is kept in peace. Greenhouse flowers like you will never understand."
There was blood at the corners of Danzo's mouth, but his eye was unwavering.
Boom!
Sasuke glared and with a forceful grip, the giant hand of Susanoo crushed Danzo's body in an instant, leaving only his head behind.
"Enough with the nonsense!"
Sasuke was tired of listening to Danzo's ramblings. The moment he saw the Sharingan on Danzo's arm, he had already made up his mind to kill him.
Now, after Danzo's repeated delays, he decided to end it quickly. As long as he had the head, he could extract Danzo's memories.
After that, the debt would be paid. Sasuke wouldn't just seek revenge on Itachi, as he would also take revenge on the Konoha's higher-ups who gave Itachi the orders.
That's right. He could never forgive Itachi.
'Even if Uchiha Itachi had been forced into it, there was no excuse for him to kill his own family. A monster like that would never be forgiven, no matter what!'
However, before Sasuke could retrieve Danzo's head and analyze his memories, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Enough with the nonsense? Fine. Then let's let our eyes speak in the next battle!"
Upon hearing this, Sasuke was stunned. The voice wasn't anyone else's… it was Danzo's.
'But Danzo had already been crushed to death. How could he still be speaking...'