Chapter 73: Killing Danzo
Uchiha Madara's own history made the path clear.
The Uchiha bloodline descended from Indra, while the Senju bloodline descended from Asura.
Both ultimately came from the same source. By gathering both bloodlines in one body, they could gradually fuse. Once that fusion reached its limit, a shinobi could awaken the Rinnegan and grasp the mysteries of Yin-Yang Release.
After that came raising the level of one's energy, essentially reclaiming the chakra scattered throughout the world. Once that process was complete, one would truly reach the Six Paths level and approach the realm once held by the Sage of Six Paths and Otsutsuki Kaguya.
The problem was time. If the fusion proceeded naturally, even someone with Uchiha Madara's talent needed decades.
Makoto was confident he could accelerate the process. If he found the right opportunity, directly manifesting the final result might even be possible.
But almost nobody here understood secrets at that level. Even Orochimaru was no exception.
Makoto therefore turned his attention back to Shimura Danzo.
'It's time to deal with this bastard.'
If Danzo remained alive and in command, Konoha might truly face destruction next.
Shock flickered through Danzo's eye as he stared at Makoto. Ordinary Space-Time Ninjutsu would have been an enormous threat, but not one that truly terrified him.
At worst, Danzo could keep more than ten elite shinobi beside him at all times and live inside heavily protected barriers. For someone accustomed to hiding beneath Root, that lifestyle would hardly inconvenience him.
Makoto's power was different.
It might not yet possess the overwhelming scale once displayed by Uchiha Madara or the First Hokage, but it had seemingly reached a level no one currently present could reliably oppose.
'What am I supposed to do about him?'
Danzo's gaze suddenly shifted toward Orochimaru, who stood leisurely atop a distant building and watched the chaos unfold.
Under normal circumstances, Danzo would never willingly cooperate with Orochimaru again. But with the situation turning against him, he immediately changed course.
"Orochimaru, kill this traitor. If you can do it, I will personally authorize your return to Konoha."
Danzo continued without hesitation, "Those human experiments you carried out in the past were ultimately caused by Sarutobi Hiruzen's poor judgment. The blame cannot rest entirely on you."
Countless shinobi stared at Danzo and Orochimaru in shock.
They were stunned by Danzo's audacity, but even more shocked by the implication that Sarutobi Hiruzen had once been involved in such experiments.
Makoto nearly laughed again.
Danzo's decisions always looked like careful calculations of profit and loss, yet somehow he consistently chose the worst possible option.
The reason was simple.
Danzo was ruthless and untrustworthy, so he assumed Orochimaru must think the same way.
Unfortunately for him, he'd stepped directly on one of Orochimaru's sore spots.
Orochimaru was far too proud to deny what he'd done or shift responsibility onto someone else. He certainly had no interest in being "pardoned," especially by an old bastard trying to rise by trampling on Sarutobi Hiruzen's dignity.
Orochimaru didn't reject the offer immediately. He merely stared at Danzo with a sinister expression, his thoughts impossible to read.
Before Danzo could continue, Makoto spoke first.
"Orochimaru, why don't we just kill this idiot together? As long as he's around, Konoha will never escape its decay."
The surviving Root shinobi attacked Makoto again.
This time, he stopped holding back.
More than a dozen Spatial Gates opened behind them, and finger-length Spatial Slashes shot through each opening.
Blood sprayed almost simultaneously.
The killing intent directed at Makoto from Konoha's shinobi immediately weakened.
Nobody wanted to die, especially not for Shimura Danzo. The only reason no one openly opposed him was that he'd temporarily seized the moral high ground and positioned himself as Konoha's commander.
Danzo's face darkened when nearly all of his remaining subordinates fell.
He snarled at Orochimaru, "What are you still waiting for? And where is Jiraiya?!"
Orochimaru finally answered.
"I've been wondering the same thing. I told that foolish toad to prepare his strength for the enemy, yet now that the opportunity has arrived, he's nowhere to be seen."
Then Orochimaru looked toward Makoto.
"Since you're inviting me to cooperate, what exactly are you offering?"
"As the leader of a third-party hidden village, I naturally require suitable compensation before I intervene."
Orochimaru's gaze was filled with curiosity.
He had told Jiraiya to prepare Sage Mode specifically to deal with the black-robed man, whom Orochimaru believed to be Uchiha Madara.
Yet this newly appeared stranger also claimed to possess power comparable to Uchiha Madara.
'Is that merely a lie?'
'Or did Madara secretly build another force after leaving Konoha?'
If the latter was true, then the shinobi world concealed far more secrets beneath its surface than Orochimaru had ever imagined.
And Orochimaru wasn't the only one confused.
The real Uchiha Obito was equally bewildered.
He had been listening expressionlessly as White Zetsu and Black Zetsu delivered their reports.
But when they mentioned that two separate people connected to the name Uchiha Madara had appeared in Konoha, Obito finally lost patience.
He activated Kamui and prepared to investigate personally.
The first thing he found inside the Kamui Dimension was a green-clad beast running around the vast space like a madman.
Obito naturally recognized the man who constantly called himself Kakashi's eternal rival.
His first instinct was to kill Might Guy immediately.
In the end, he held back.
Obito still didn't know how much damage Konoha had suffered, and eliminating one of its strongest remaining fighters too soon might interfere with his plans.
He wanted Konoha weakened enough to attract the attention of the other great nations.
Ideally, another Shinobi World War would erupt.
Then Obito could use the chaos to capture every Tailed Beast and complete his ultimate plan.
After several transfers, Obito entered Konoha and appeared atop a distant building, silently observing the battlefield below.
What he didn't know was that Makoto noticed him the instant he arrived.
Makoto's heart jumped.
'Now that's the real big fish.'
He had just been thinking that almost no one present understood the deeper secrets surrounding the Sage of Six Paths.
Uchiha Obito was one of the few exceptions.
Much of what Obito believed was built upon lies, but his understanding of the power involved was real enough.
Makoto immediately addressed Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, you should know that members of the Sage of Six Paths' clan possess extraordinarily long lifespans. Some can even reincarnate through special means."
"I already possess the powers of both the Uchiha and Senju clans."
Makoto continued calmly, "Three years from now, once those powers fully fuse and awaken, I'll be able to grant others similarly long lives."
"That's exactly what you've always pursued."
"So, does that offer interest you?"
[Ding! Making Fake Become Real has activated successfully...]
[Manifestation Points have reached 100.]
[Manifestation Result: According to the Naruto world's timeline, three years from now you will complete the fusion and awaken the Six Paths Bloodline.]
[You will also gain the ability to grant another person one hundred years of lifespan.]
[Using this ability will consume 100% of your chakra at once. The consumed chakra can recover naturally.]
Makoto's heart surged with excitement as he read the notification.
He had just been thinking about using Making Fake Become Real to shorten the time required for his bloodline to awaken.
Then the real Uchiha Obito had conveniently appeared and helped push the manifestation through.
Obito alone probably wouldn't have provided enough Manifestation Points for a complete result.
After all, even Uchiha Madara had needed decades before awakening the Rinnegan.
But there were countless witnesses here.
They only needed to understand one basic idea: Makoto would fuse the two bloodlines, become extraordinarily powerful, and eventually gain the ability to extend another person's life.
That didn't require everyone to understand the deeper mechanics.
As for why Makoto chose three years, the reason was equally simple.
Claiming he would awaken in the next second would probably have caused the manifestation to fail and ruined his chance to cooperate with Orochimaru.
Three years was also likely to overlap with another major period of conflict in the shinobi world.
If Makoto returned then, reaching the Six Paths level would practically be inevitable.
Of course, Makoto knew his statement would also create enemies.
Uchiha Obito was already staring at him from the distance with intense hostility.
If there weren't so many people nearby, Obito would probably have attacked immediately.
'There can only be one Uchiha Madara.'
'And there can only be one successor to Uchiha Madara.'
Unfortunately, Obito only thought that way because he hadn't witnessed Makoto's battles with the black-robed Player.
Otherwise, he would never have been so confident.
What Obito really needed to do was retrieve the Rinnegan first.
Without it, his only clear advantages over the black-robed Player were greater endurance, Wood Release, and Susanoo.
None of those gave him a meaningful advantage against Makoto.
"Interesting..."
Orochimaru slowly licked his lips, his unnaturally long tongue sending a chill through anyone watching.
He didn't actually believe Makoto very much. His Trust had only been around 10%.
But Orochimaru could clearly see that Makoto wanted Danzo dead.
Coincidentally, Orochimaru wanted exactly the same thing.
If Makoto was starting the fight, Orochimaru saw no reason not to join him.
"I hope you're not a liar. Three years from now, I'll come find you again."
Cold sweat immediately appeared on Danzo's forehead.
"Orochimaru, have you gone insane? You actually believe nonsense like that?!"
"If immortality is what you want, I can support even more human experimentation!"
The statement was practically a public confession.
Danzo simply had no other options left.
All he still possessed in combat were Wind Release, his summon, and sealing techniques.
He couldn't defeat Orochimaru, and Makoto alone was already beyond him.
Worse, Orochimaru still controlled the First and Second Hokage.
"Enough, Shimura Danzo."
Orochimaru's voice turned cold.
"If I want to conduct human experiments, why would I need to do them inside Konoha?"
"Back then, you assigned me a mission to research Wood Release using our fellow villagers. Only one subject survived, Tenzo."
"I was never particularly interested in that power anyway."
Orochimaru's smile widened.
"So I'll use your head to secure funding for my research instead."
The next instant, the Second Hokage used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared behind Danzo.
His kunai drove straight toward Danzo's back.
Hatake Kakashi hurriedly intercepted it with his own kunai, but the overwhelming force behind the Second Hokage's strike blasted him away.
Dizzy from the impact, Kakashi stared at Senju Tobirama in disbelief.
'Did the Second Hokage possess that kind of monstrous strength too?'
'I'm still far behind these predecessors.'
And that was despite both Hokage being reduced to nearly mindless puppets with less than a tenth of their original strength.
"Kakashi, are you really going to keep fighting for Shimura Danzo?"
A voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Kakashi turned instinctively and was stunned to find Makoto already standing there.
Before Kakashi could react, the air around him twisted and transformed into spatial chains that bound his entire body.
Makoto had no intention of harming him.
Once Danzo died, Kakashi would likely become one of the people responsible for stabilizing Konoha.
Of course, Kakashi was still too inexperienced at this point. The village would probably summon Tsunade back to take command instead.
With Kakashi glaring at him, Makoto reached out and touched his Sharingan.
"Can you feel it? The true owner of that eye has arrived."
"And I possess a Space-Time ability similar to yours."
[Ding! Making Fake Become Real has activated successfully...]
[Hatake Kakashi: Fate Value 40. Trust: 20. Manifestation Points: 8.]
[Manifestation Result: You have gained an initial grasp of intangibility.]
[You can shift up to 8% of your body into another space.]
[Maintaining intangibility continuously consumes cursed energy. Maximum duration: 8 seconds.]
Before Kakashi could understand what Makoto meant, Makoto cast Genjutsu: Sharingan on him.
In an instant, Kakashi returned to the night when Rin had been forced to die by his hand.
Overwhelming negative emotions and intense pain crashed through him.
Kakashi's Sharingan trembled violently.
Its Three-Tomoe pattern gradually blurred and began faintly shifting toward the pinwheel shape of a Mangekyo Sharingan.
At the same time, Uchiha Obito watched from the distance and suddenly felt pain stab through his own eye.
Kakashi's Kamui Sharingan had been stimulated.
Obito instinctively assumed Makoto was trying to tamper with his missing eye and immediately used Kamui to appear beside him.
Makoto didn't move.
Kakashi did.
He suddenly turned directly toward Obito.
Makoto's illusion had shown Kakashi that the person possessing Obito's other eye was standing exactly where Uchiha Obito had appeared.
After thoughtfully positioning the two so they were staring directly at each other, Makoto released the genjutsu.
Normally, Makoto and Kakashi both possessed Three-Tomoe Sharingan, so his illusion could never hold Kakashi for long.
But that was exactly what Makoto wanted.
He only needed Kakashi to understand that everything pointed toward Uchiha Obito.
Now the two former friends could confront each other themselves.
With Obito occupied, nothing remained to interfere with Makoto killing Shimura Danzo.
Makoto moved decisively and appeared behind Danzo.
Without the slightest hesitation, he brought his hands together and invoked power that didn't belong to this world.
"Domain Expansion: Mustard Seed Killing Array!"
Danzo, still surrounded by chaos, tried to summon Baku to shield himself.
But Makoto's Domain took only 0.1 seconds to activate.
Danzo barely had time to react before he was dragged into the separate space.
This time, Makoto made no effort to hide.
He stood high above Danzo atop a spatial barrier and calmly moved one finger.
A lattice of Spatial Slashes converged from every direction and carved directly into Shimura Danzo's body.
…