"You must be Nara Shikamaru?"
Danzo narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the young man entering the room. Shikamaru no longer appeared to be the twelve-year-old child he should have been. Ever since merging with the power of the "Star." his body had been undergoing continuous changes. Outwardly, he now looked more like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old.
"That's right. And you must be the despicable Danzo who operates in the shadows?"
Shikamaru sneered the moment he laid eyes on Danzo, particularly his bandaged right arm.
"Hmph."
Danzo snorted coldly, his gaze turning icy. "Do you know why I summoned you here?"
"Not interested, and I don't care. I'll ask you this once: Are you handing her over or not?"
Shikamaru wasted no time on pleasantries, cutting straight to the chase.
"The girl you speak of was originally an accomplice of Zabuza Momochi, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. She infiltrated Konoha without authorization and must undergo our interrogation before being released." Danzo replied nonchalantly, a hint of malice in his gaze.
"Of course, if she refuses to cooperate, we'll use every method at our disposal to make her talk."
Bang!
Hearing this, Shikamaru's rage exploded. The shadow energy within him surged uncontrollably, radiating immense power that filled the room. Locking his furious eyes on Danzo, he growled through clenched teeth, "You're asking for death!"
Thud!
Shikamaru disappeared in an instant. Typically calm and collected, he was now driven by uncharacteristic impulsiveness. Danzo had dared to touch one of his own, Haku, who had been by his side since the beginning. To Shikamaru, there was only one response: "Anyone who harms what's mine will die!"
"Hmph! I've been waiting for this!"
Danzo smirked darkly, slamming his hand on the desk. Instantly, over a hundred masked Anbu operatives emerged from the shadows, encircling Shikamaru.
"Nara Shikamaru is suspected of colluding with enemy ninjas. Take him down, dead or alive!" Danzo barked.
"Yes, sir!"
The Anbu immediately leapt into action.
"Hmph!"
Shikamaru sneered as a shadowy Taijutsu barrier materialized around him.
The small room limited the use of larger-scale ninjutsu, forcing the Anbu into close combat. But as they charged toward him, they were ensnared by Shikamaru's shadow techniques. One by one, they fell, their movements hindered just long enough for Shikamaru's kunai to slice their throats.
Danzo watched indifferently as his subordinates fell. To him, sacrificing a few pawns to deal with Shikamaru was inevitable. However, as the casualties mounted, thirty, forty, then fifty, Danzo began to grow uneasy. Shikamaru hadn't moved a single step, yet no one who approached him survived.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet!"
Unable to bear it any longer, Danzo launched a jutsu at Shikamaru. But with a simple gesture, Shikamaru redirected the attack into a nearby Anbu operative, who was immediately struck down.
"Don't engage him up close! Use Earth Release attacks!" Danzo ordered.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"
"Earth Release: Earthquake Slam!"
Shikamaru chuckled coldly, dispersing the Taijutsu barrier. His eyes glowed with an eerie shadowy hue as he summoned shadow-enhanced techniques to each hand: Chidori in one, Rasengan in the other.
"Danzo, today you'll witness the technique that killed Orochimaru!"
"Shadow Ninja Art: Shadow Spiral Chidori Sphere!"
"Everyone, retreat!" Danzo shouted in alarm, realizing the danger of the two techniques merging in Shikamaru's hands.
But it was too late.
The fusion formed a massive sphere of volatile shadow energy, spinning with intense speed and crackling like a thousand birds. Shikamaru hurled it to the ground, creating a massive explosion that swallowed everything in darkness. The Anbu caught in its wake vanished without a trace, consumed entirely by the shadow energy.
"Damn it!"
Danzo gritted his teeth as he stared at the wreckage. In one blow, a hundred of his operatives had been wiped out. Torn between retreating and escalating the fight, he hesitated for a moment before making his decision.
Silver hair flying, he sped off toward another location.
"Hmph."
Shikamaru followed without hesitation. He had already decided, if blood had been shed, it wouldn't end until Danzo and his forces were eradicated.
The two arrived in an open field, where Danzo turned to face Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, I originally intended to force you into exile. But now, I've changed my mind! Come out, Root squad!"
With his command, a dozen elite shinobi appeared, their expressions cold and unyielding, each at least as powerful as a Jonin.
"Danzo, today I'll show you the price of crossing me!"
Shikamaru laughed darkly, weaving hand signs. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The battlefield erupted into chaos as Shikamaru unleashed a flurry of shadow-based techniques, overwhelming the Root operatives before they could react. Bound by his shadows, they fell one by one, unable to resist.
"You bastard!" Danzo roared in fury as his squad fell. Unwrapping the bandages on his right arm and eye, he revealed his Sharingan.
But Shikamaru's shadow-enhanced Chidori rained down from all directions, leaving Danzo no time to evade. His body shattered under the assault, disintegrating into fragments.
Just as Shikamaru began to relax, he found himself immobilized. "Genjutsu…" he muttered, his face darkening.
"Hahaha…"
Danzo's voice echoed as his form reappeared. "Surprised? This is Izanagi, a technique even greater than Tsukuyomi. It lets me rewrite reality itself!"
Though powerful, Izanagi came at a cost, it consumed one Sharingan with each use. But Danzo, his arm lined with eyes, showed no hesitation.
"You've seen my secret. No one who learns of it will leave here alive!"
Danzo lunged at the immobilized Shikamaru with a kunai.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!"
At the critical moment, Shikaku, Shikamaru's father, appeared, accompanied by the fathers of Ino and Choji.
"Nara Shikaku! Why are you here?" Danzo shouted in fury.
"Dad! Get out of here!" Shikamaru yelled, helpless as shadow energy within him surged uncontrollably.
Danzo's Sharingan glinted as he activated a forbidden jutsu. Moments later, Shikaku and his companions lay lifeless in pools of blood.
"Danzo, I'll kill you!"
Fueled by grief and rage, Shikamaru's shadow energy erupted, his Sharingan transforming into a Mangekyo form.
"Shadow Ninja Art: Shadow Realm!"
The battlefield was swallowed in darkness, leaving Danzo trapped in an inescapable void. When the shadows receded, Danzo was no more. Yet Shikamaru's victory came at a heavy cost, his father and comrades lay dead, and his Shadow Realm would be unusable for half a year.
⚔────
A/N: You can read up to Chapter 68 (30+ chapters ahead of the current one) on my Patreon: patreon.com/vynthor