Chapter 18
After Danzo's bold proposal, Naruto rubbed his chin and muttered, "Sounds like a pretty good offer…"
Danzo's face lit up slightly. "Exactly! If we join forces, there's no doubt—Konoha will rise above every other village and rule the entire ninja world!"
Naruto slowly lowered his hand and looked at him deeply. "You think having Konoha rule the ninja world is enough?"
Danzo blinked. "What…? Are you saying you've got an even bigger vision than that?"
"Of course I do," Naruto said calmly. "But someone like you wouldn't understand it. Your eyes can't see that far. Your mind can't reach that high."
Danzo's tone dropped. "Setting ability aside, how is my vision lacking?"
Naruto's gaze sharpened. "Let me ask you something. When Pain attacked the Hidden Leaf… where were you? Where was Root?"
Danzo stiffened but replied without guilt. "For the sake of the ninja world's future, temporary withdrawal and patience are necessary. Root was waiting for the right moment to step into the light. With Lady Tsunade's Slug Technique, the village wasn't going to be completely destroyed. The casualties were a necessary sacrifice. Once I became Hokage, the village would've entered a new golden age."
He changed the subject. "Besides, why did Pain attack? Because of Jiraiya's naïveté and Tsunade's leniency! If I had been in charge, Pain never would've risen. The Akatsuki wouldn't have gained ground!"
He stepped forward, voice harder now. "Eliminating threats before they grow—that is the way of Root! And you dare say my vision isn't enough?!"
Naruto's voice dropped, low and cold. "When you kill every threat, you kill hope too."
Danzo scoffed. "Hope? You want to risk everything on some vague, feel-good fantasy?"
"That's why you'll never understand," Naruto said. "Without hope, nothing grows. A flower in soil with no hope will wilt—or worse, survive only by growing thorns."
He took a step forward, eyes unwavering. "You keep saying Pain wouldn't have risen under your rule. That Akatsuki would've never existed. But the truth is—Akatsuki was once a symbol of peace and justice. You were the one who sabotaged Nagato in secret. You turned him into Pain. You were the one who shattered his hope."
"The destruction of the village… wasn't Jiraiya's fault. It wasn't Tsunade's. It was yours."
"Root," Naruto said, spitting the word out, "is nothing but a cloak to hide your ambition. You don't protect Konoha. You just want to own it."
"You're not worthy of being Hokage."
Danzo clenched his fists tightly. His old face trembled with rage, lips pressed into a thin line. "So… you refuse to join me."
Naruto smiled. "Baka. With a road this wide in front of me… why would I choose a dead end?"
Danzo's eyes darkened. "Then keep your Nine-Tails and Rinnegan. I'll take them both—and use them as stepping stones to my future!"
As they spoke, Danzo had been quietly gathering a tremendous amount of chakra. Now, he clasped his hands tightly in front of his chest and unleashed a trump card he'd never used even against Sasuke.
— Wood Style: Tree World Birth!
Boom. Boom. Boom.
From the snow-covered ground, countless saplings erupted like spears, growing into massive trees in seconds.
"The First Hokage's power," Danzo roared. "The Wood Style that brought peace to an era of war—even the Nine-Tails couldn't resist it! Bow down, Naruto Uzumaki!"
Veins popped across Danzo's forehead. His entire body trembled as he pumped every last drop of chakra into the technique. The forest surged toward Naruto, aiming to bury him alive.
Orochimaru, observing from a distance, murmured to himself, "He's using Wood Style and Izanagi simultaneously… that chakra drain is immense. Danzo's not holding back anymore. He knows basic ninjutsu won't work. Now that Naruto rejected his offer, he's going all in."
The forest roared forward.
But Naruto only smirked. "Perfect. There's a technique I've been meaning to try…"
He took a deep breath, hands flashing into a seal.
— Sage Art: Fire Style: Blazing Furnace!
A thin stream of flame poured from his mouth, then detonated into a roaring inferno that swallowed the trees whole. The snow around him evaporated in the heat. The tree advance halted, incinerated before it could reach him.
Danzo's eyes widened in disbelief. "He—he used a Fire Style jutsu to burn through Wood Style?!"
Naruto shrugged. "I've seen much stronger Wood Style than this. If you wanted to impress me, you should've tried 'Flower Tree World.'"
With a burst of smoke, Naruto's shadow clone jumped into position, standing over the clash of flame and wood. The clone's hand spun with a ferocious wind.
— Sage Art: Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!
He threw it down.
Boom!
Wind and flame fused, creating a massive explosion that flattened trees and scorched the land. The sheer force sent Danzo stumbling backward.
"He had the strength to summon a clone and maintain that fire jutsu?!" Danzo gritted his teeth. "But… his Sage Mode should be nearly over after that!"
As if on cue, the orange pigmentation around Naruto's eyes faded.
Danzo quickly checked his right arm—three Sharingan still open.
"Still enough time," he muttered. "This is it…"
He pulled out a bottle filled with his own blood, dipped his finger in, and began forming signs.
Bang!
In a puff of white smoke, Danzo's personal summon appeared—then threw itself into the remaining flames and disappeared, taking the heat with it in a suicide defense.
Danzo used the opening to hurl a barrage of wind-infused shuriken, each one a blur of lethal precision. But it was just a distraction—he followed behind them, sprinting straight toward Naruto.
Naruto's Rinnegan saw everything. His movements were calm and measured. He dodged effortlessly, never once using Shinra Tensei. He knew better than to waste it.
Danzo scowled. "He's saving the repulsion technique. He's not letting me get close."
He quickly formed another hand seal.
— Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!
A violent blade of wind shot from his mouth.
Naruto leapt into the air, twisting mid-flight. The wind swept just beneath him.
Danzo smirked. "Got you."
He slammed his palm on the ground.
— Wood Style: Great Spear Technique!
Boom!
A sharp wooden spike shot up right where Naruto was about to land.
Naruto's eyes widened—but he vanished in a puff of smoke.
The spike stabbed through a log.
He had used the Substitution Jutsu and reappeared five meters away, unharmed.
And then—boom! A second chakra-storing shadow clone dispersed.
Sage Mode returned.
Danzo gritted his teeth. "What a troublesome brat… Still, if I'm right, my right eye's jutsu cooldown should be over."
[In this timeline, Danzo only used Kotoamatsukami once—against Mifune. He didn't use it on the Fire Daimyo, so it recovered earlier.]
Danzo double-checked his right arm.
Still three Sharingan open.
His breath hitched.
"Wait… Still three? That's not possible!"
He staggered.
Could it be…
Izanagi hadn't activated?
In all his reckless chakra use—the excessive Wood Style, the relentless casting—he had unknowingly dropped below the chakra threshold for Izanagi.
And it hadn't triggered.
Naruto's eyes locked on.
He smirked.
Danzo's gut dropped. "No!"
Swish!
In the next instant, Naruto teleported directly in front of him via Flying Raijin. His left hand swung in a clean arc.
Crack!
Blood sprayed into the snow.
Danzo's right eye—ripped from its socket.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Danzo screamed, clutching his face, staggering backward.
But it wasn't over.
Snap!
His arm—implanted with Hashirama's cells—started spasming. The Sharingan eyes closed one after another.
He had lost control.
Orochimaru, watching with a tinge of sympathy, sighed.
"Danzo has fallen. The difference in strength is crystal clear. This Naruto… he's already surpassed the level of Hokage."
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