Habara estimated that Danzo Shimura's number of possible revivals right now was definitely limited. Firstly, this was before the main Uchiha calamity, or rather, it was happening concurrently; even Danzo wouldn't have had the capability yet to acquire an entire armful of Sharingan.
Secondly, limited by Orochimaru's research progress on First Hokage cells, Danzo probably hadn't had the chance yet to perform large-scale modifications on his own body. As for the Foundation's own technical prowess… well, some things couldn't be researched just by wanting to. Projects beyond imagination ultimately required outstanding researchers and extraordinary research materials… Tenzo surely understood this point deeply.
Therefore, considering Danzo Shimura's current strength realistically, he was merely an outstanding Wind Release ninja. Compared to Habara's memories of his later self, this current Danzo lacked Hashirama cells, meaning he didn't have a physical container capable of hosting numerous Sharingan. He also didn't possess Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan.
In contrast, regardless of the violent means Habara used to forcibly enter Sage Mode, the fact remained that Habara, capable of using Sage Art, was stronger than the current Danzo Shimura by more than just a single measure.
Simply put, Danzo's Wind Release was exceptional; he was a Jonin with some strategic sense and considerable skill, perhaps capable of competing neck-and-neck with Tenzo. However, he still fell short of Kakashi, let alone reaching Habara's peerless level.
Returning to the battle, the outcome had never really been in doubt from the start. After summoning his beast, Baku, Danzo utilized the creature's unique abilities, continuously unleashing Wind Release ninjutsu.
Baku roared incessantly. When its breath blew past the wind jutsu Danzo released, it immediately produced a powerful amplification effect. Wind blades that could normally only cause single-target damage were now potent enough to reshape the terrain.
Danzo Shimura's Vacuum Serial Waves became like a storm. Habara dodged one attack, watching it carve deeply into the ground, leaving a long trench in the road…
That's pretty impressive power, Habara noted. No wonder it could slice through Sasuke's second-rate Susanoo.
After dodging that attack, Habara chose not to evade the next wind blade. High-intensity sage chakra gathered in his left arm, and he raised it defensively before him.
BOOM!
He took the hit head-on. Instantly, dust and debris filled the air around him.
With Habara's speed, dodging such an attack wasn't impossible. But if he dodged, what about the melon-eating audience behind him? He couldn't just treat Danzo like a complete pushover, could he?
Although Habara had unleashed wide-area attacks earlier, he had clearly controlled the angle to avoid hitting unrelated personnel. Danzo Shimura, however, was different; at this point, he seemed to be acting recklessly. The lives of other ninja? Please. Never mind avoiding them; if possible, Danzo probably wished he could eliminate everyone here instantly. That way, the nonsense Habara had just spouted wouldn't spread.
The dust settled slightly. Habara flexed his left arm and walked step by step out of a not-so-shallow crater. Clearly, in Sage Mode, he could easily withstand such an attack.
When it came down to it, so-called energy 'shields' were fundamentally inferior to physical ones. From the Hyuga's Rotation to the Uchiha's Susanoo, how could they compare to a solid iron shield? Even raising an earth wall – hell, even carving four dog heads onto it – wasn't that stronger than randomly using chakra for defense?
That was the principle, anyway. However, not everyone could use Earth Release, let alone consider carrying an iron turtle shell around all day. How did he think the Third Kazekage became the "Strongest Kazekage"? Wasn't it precisely because his technique combined offense and defense seamlessly?
Seeing Habara unreasonably tank his attack, Danzo Shimura could only exert his utmost effort, unleashing a saturation barrage of Wind Release. In an instant, countless wind blades descended upon Habara.
Fortunately, the spectating crowd still possessed basic ninja instincts. Realizing they might be caught in Danzo's area attacks, they quickly vacated their previous positions. Thus, Habara no longer needed to stand rooted to the spot.
Lightning flashed around Habara's body. He traced an arc across the ground, Danzo's attacks following far behind him like an advancing curtain of fire.
After circling halfway around, Habara had actually closed the distance between himself and Danzo. Suddenly, he leaped high into the air, instantly arriving beside Baku's ear. As someone who cared for animals, he reiterated his promise:
"Don't be afraid. I guarantee there will be no pain. Just like…"
Habara momentarily struggled for the right comparison. But with a flick of his wrist, a mercury long sword radiating coldness appeared, diagonally pressing upwards against the giant summoned beast's neck from below. Then, Habara pressed his wrist down, causing the sword's tip to angle sharply upwards.
As it angled up, the sword grew larger and larger. After completing half a rotation around the neck, it had truly transformed into a giant blade, a meter wide and over ten meters long.
By this point, Habara had long since let go. The sword's center of gravity was now directly above Baku's neck.
The mercury long sword was incredibly sharp. Thin as a cicada's wing, yet relying solely on its own insignificant weight, it effortlessly completed the final cut.
With a soft squelch, the tip of the massive sword plunged into the ground below.
A few seconds later, Baku's head rolled onto the ground, followed by its body swaying and collapsing.
At this moment, Habara finally found the comparison he was looking for. He said, "Just like those two advisors just now. Able to fall asleep instantly without pain, and permanently enjoy infant-like sleep quality."
This method of killing a giant summoned beast was far too simple. Danzo Shimura turned his head in astonishment, only to meet Habara's calm eyes standing beside the summon's corpse.
"Not good…"
The thought had barely formed in Danzo's mind when an arm crackling with lightning pierced through his heart from behind.
He narrowed his eyes slightly. Where was Habara's figure in front of him now? Forcing his body sideways to look back, the arm impaling him indeed belonged to Habara.
He heard Habara say, "That's the second time."
Danzo's consciousness faded rapidly. His last thought was… Truly unreasonable. How can his speed still be so fast while wearing heavy armor…?
It was rather unreasonable. From a class perspective, classifying Habara as a 'ninja' wasn't quite accurate. Why was an assassin's defense so high? Where was the version balance?
Habara knew Danzo wasn't dead yet. He calmed himself again, continuously enhancing his sensory abilities. To avoid complications from delays, he didn't intend to drag this out. The Third Hokage was missing, the Uchiha were in turmoil, Konoha's morale was unstable – how could he waste time on a single Danzo Shimura?
Danzo had already shouldered the blame he needed to bear. At this point, it could truly be said that only a dead Danzo was a good Danzo.
Danzo revived again on a nearby rooftop. His figure appeared without any warning. Due to the unique nature and effect of Izanagi, Habara absolutely couldn't sense him before he revived. However, the instant after his revival, that undetectable attribute vanished.
So, as Danzo regained his vision, pondering his next attack and how to penetrate Habara's defense, a black spear crackling with lightning instantly filled his view. Realizing what was about to happen, he reacted with speed far exceeding his previous actions – his hands clasped together, completing three seals in the blink of an eye.
Bang!
The black spear pierced through Danzo's head. Then, branches sprouted from the spear shaft, riddling Danzo's entire upper body with holes.
But Habara shook his head; the attack had clearly failed. He still hadn't been fast enough; Danzo had completed the Izanagi seals. It couldn't be helped – who knew such a high-level technique required only three hand seals to activate? In that instant, Danzo's hand speed had definitely been faster than Uchiha Itachi's.
It just goes to show, people's physical limits differ. Under extreme pressure, Danzo was even more impressive than an athlete.
But this was the third time. Habara believed that for Danzo Shimura, born ordinary and unmodified, containing three Sharingan was already the absolute limit. Any more… how could Kakashi face himself? He used to be tormented by a single Sharingan. That Danzo could equal three Kakashis was already quite remarkable.
Any more than that, and Kakashi might as well just die out of shame. Truly disrespectful.
Habara focused his mind further. He needed to be faster next time.
Danzo's figure appeared once more. And coinciding with his appearance, Habara's figure stood beside him. This time, Habara was truly as fast as the Flying Thunder God. Without hesitation, he brought his sword down. Danzo's left arm fell off at the shoulder. Even if Danzo had another Sharingan hidden somewhere, he wouldn't have the chance to activate Izanagi again.
See, seal-less ninjutsu is good. Really, really good.
After severing Danzo's arm, Habara unhurriedly delivered another slice to his head. The process was as simple as a veteran soldier at target practice… The target can only take hits; it has no ability to resist.
"Huuu…" Habara let out a long breath. "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, the third time is enemy action… Revived three times. That should be enough. Reviving again would just be shamelessly persistent."
Saying this, he slit open the sleeve on Danzo's right arm, confirming two things: first, there was no face of the First Hokage on his shoulder; second, there were indeed only three Sharingan embedded in the arm.
Habara deactivated his Sage Mode. However, just as he turned around, preparing to say something to the surrounding onlookers, his body suddenly froze.
Black, bar-like markings rapidly spread across Habara's body, completely immobilizing him.
"Curse Binding Seal…"
Habara knew Danzo could use this advanced binding technique. The problem was, they hadn't made any physical contact throughout the fight. How had Danzo activated it?
Quickly, he understood.
"It was the elephant…"
The only contact Habara had made was with Danzo's summon. Danzo had likely set a trap on Baku beforehand… No wonder Danzo had summoned such an easily targetable creature right in front of Habara.
Using a small animal as bait, exploiting others' affection for animals – Danzo Shimura was truly insidious and despicable.
Danzo Shimura, revived once more, was in extremely poor condition. After all, a technique like Izanagi couldn't be without risks, especially for someone not born Uchiha.
Danzo drew a kunai and stabbed fiercely at the back of Habara's neck. The kunai snapped in two with a sharp clang. He knew it wouldn't be that simple to finish Habara; the stab was merely a desperate gamble. Now, he truly had reached the point of an all-or-nothing move.
Very familiar patterns emerged across Danzo's torso. Further away, Kushina Uzumaki's expression changed drastically: "Reverse Four Symbols Seal! Habara, get away!"
Habara just smiled silently. "Know why my sensory ninjutsu is called Alaya's Nine Strings? Because I can use 9.1 surround sound hearing to pinpoint locations. Sneak attacks aren't that simple against me."
He was, of course, talking nonsense. His sensory ninjutsu had nothing to do with sound; its principle was just ordinary chakra sensing.
Danzo intended a one-for-one trade, or perhaps to take out a large swath of ninja here along with Habara. However, the Reverse Four Symbols Seal required a brief activation time.
Habara suddenly asked, "Honestly, I didn't expect you to revive one more time. Why didn't you just run away? You might have had a chance if you fled."
Danzo didn't answer Habara's question. He only said, somewhat strained, "Everything… for Konoha."
People are like that. Tell enough lies, and you start to believe them yourself. Danzo had brainwashed himself into truly seeing himself as a ninja acting solely for Konoha's sake.
Flee Konoha? Where in the ninja world could Danzo find refuge? Today, his reputation was ruined. Better to throw caution to the wind and perish together with the instigator.
Habara sighed again. This guy really thinks I'm some greenhorn like Sasuke. Knowing he was enemies with Danzo, wouldn't Habara obviously guard against techniques like the Reverse Four Symbols Seal? He knew Danzo's capabilities inside and out. With superior strength and intelligence advantage, how could he possibly lose?
The facial markings signifying Sage Mode reappeared. Massive amounts of iron sand – drawn from Habara's own reserves and the surrounding earth – surged upwards. An iron "giant," looking like an enlarged version of his earlier menacing armor, materialized out of thin air.
"Given that you've shown the courage of a cornered dog leaping the wall, I'll let you witness my personal version of absolute defense—Sage Art: Sexagenary Cycle - Twelve Divine Generals!"
Protect oneself first, then protect others.
After the giant figure appeared, it swung a massive club towards Danzo, who was already beginning to be enveloped in blackness. Danzo's body was struck like a baseball and launched at supersonic speed thousands of meters into the sky.
In the next moment, a curtain of black light flashed and vanished high above. A perfectly spherical hole was punched clean through the low-level cumulonimbus clouds in the sky.
Before dismissing the giant construct, Habara briefly inspected the "club" in its hand, noticing its tip had also been sheared off slightly… Okay, he had talked a bit too much; he almost didn't make it in time. He should have acted faster.
But wait, why did Danzo revive that last time? Habara had checked; there were definitely only three Sharingan on Danzo's arm, and all three were already blind…
Quickly, an absurd certainty occurred to him.
"No way? Impossible. That much of a blunder?"
The reason was likely that the time interval between his second-to-last kill of Danzo and the third-to-last kill had been too short – so short that time was still within the coverage period maintained by the third Sharingan's Izanagi…
In short, Habara had killed him too quickly, leading to an unexpected blunder. Reviving twice from one use of the technique – that was an unexpected bonus for Danzo. He definitely hit the jackpot, won big time.
Rushing really does lead to mistakes. Fortunately, besides Habara, no one else would know the detailed circumstances. So, it wasn't a public embarrassment, just an awkward dark spot in his personal history.
But regardless, the outcome was good.
Habara looked up at the sky, at the hole punched through the clouds. After thinking for a moment, he decided to conclude the event with a famous quote.
Habgeta stated: "Hmph. What dirty fireworks."