Danzo's form appeared once again behind them without a sound. He was completely irritated and angry now.
That last attack, he hadn't even anticipated it. He couldn't even so much as touch that masked brat before getting cut into pieces.
'What kind of technique is that brat using?' Danzo's years of experience and knowledge hadn't prepared him for something like this.
He could hardly sense any chakra fluctuation when that masked boy attacked him, so he only had a very small window to dodge after seeing only a flicker of black shadow from those cutting attacks.
What kind of Jutsu that was, was beyond him. He could do something similar with Wind Style; however, as a master of wind release, he could tell this wasn't a wind-based technique at all.
How was one supposed to counter something like that? He could only see it thanks to this stolen Sharingan, otherwise, what about normal people? Would they have no other option but to die?
"Was that a Kekkei Genkai, or Kekkei Mora…" Danzo was extremely unwilling at this moment. Why did someone like this have to target him? What had he, Danzo, done to deserve this?
'No, I'm in no way inferior to anyone now. I too hold the legendary power in my possession.' He roared.
This time, his expression was sharper, more determined. He weaved hand seals faster than they could blink.
"Wood Release: Tree Bind Flourish."
Thick roots burst from the ground, wrapping around Sukuna's legs and lashing toward Izumi.
"What?" Izumi was once again baffled. Now this man was using Wood Style, before it was her clan's Sharingan.
How was this person even an elder at this point? Rotten bastard.
Izumi's Mangekyo flared, a black hole manifesting in front of her to swallow the incoming roots, but the strain showed on her face—large-scale use of her ability took a toll.
Sukuna, however, just cleaved through them. As long as something was touching him, he could use Cleave, and Cleave was the stronger technique. Cutting open these roots and vines was a piece of cake for him. However, Danzo was already closing in, his kunai glowing faintly.
Sukuna, with just one flick of his finger, shot out a ranged Dismantle. Danzo was close enough that he couldn't dodge this attack and was cut in half.
However, that's when a loud puff of smoke emitted from his body, revealing that this Danzo was only a shadow clone.
Sukuna already knew. Danzo wasn't such a fool to come close to him again after dying four times by his hands already.
The real Danzo wasn't far away, preparing another jutsu. However, that's when Izumi appeared in front of him.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" She sent the most overrated jutsu of the series at Danzo, which of course he dodged.
Taking out shuriken, he blew on them, warping his wind-nature chakra around them, rotating them faster like a fidget toy.
Sukuna actually remembered this technique from the anime—he thought it was pretty cool.
However, perhaps Izumi wouldn't agree, especially when those spinning discs, sharper than blades, were approaching her fast.
Izumi's Mangekyo calculated their trajectory. She dodged the first two while catching the last one in midair with her kunai.
Sukuna sent a few Dismantle slashes at Danzo, but by now Danzo had learned not to stay in one place for long. Immediately after the hit, he burst into a puff of smoke, revealing this was another clone.
"Wind Bullet Jutsu." Danzo appeared a little further from Sukuna, already firing off a long-distance attack.
With his Mangekyo, tracking the trajectory of those wind bullets was child's play for Sukuna.
He slightly twisted his body to dodge the incoming wind bullets and then sent another few Dismantles at Danzo.
Sukuna's Dismantles were fast, even faster than Ryomen Sukuna's—a tradeoff for his precise nature over Ryomen's destructive one.
Danzo couldn't completely dodge this technique; however, he avoided most of the damage by anticipating a gap between the slashes and moving into it.
Sukuna was a little irritated now. Sharingan really was a cheat. If Danzo had a Byakugan instead, he was sure he couldn't have done that. Sharingan gave excellent prediction in a fight.
'Perhaps…' Sukuna pondered over releasing his 50% binding. The last time he did it was back during the Uchiha Massacre, and he knew if he did so now, his power would be much greater since his control over his cursed energy and refinement of his technique were on another level thanks to that Black Flash he landed on Itachi and the relentless practice afterward.
However, he decided against it. He might have done that if he were fighting Danzo alone, but with Izumi, the pressure was equally divided. In fact, the fight was going quite smoothly; he hadn't even used his Kamui once.
His musings ended when he saw Izumi appear on the other side of Danzo, her hands forming a very familiar seal.
His eyes narrowed. He had seen this before.
Izumi's one closed Mangekyo opened, blood trickling down from it.
'Tsukuyomi.'
Even though Danzo had been on guard against Izumi's genjutsu, he still found himself in the Tsukuyomi space, tied up to a pillar. Around him stood Izumi.
Ready to torture him for three days and three nights.
She had been looking forward to using this technique on Danzo. She wanted answers, and here they had enough time for a long, bloody conversation.
However, that's when the Danzo in front of her vanished.
Sukuna also saw Danzo's body vanish outside the genjutsu.
'Izanagi again… that makes it the sixth time. Only one more left.'
Danzo appeared again a little later, panting and in bad condition. Keeping up Izanagi for this long had taken its toll on the old man. At least this Danzo wasn't as old as he was in Shippuden.
However, a few years weren't going to prevent age from catching up to him. He was slowing down now.
All the Sharingan in his hands were closed. He only had one left in his eye socket. That wasn't a Mangekyo either, just an ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan.
Just as both Sukuna and Izumi were about to move together, they felt chakra erupting out of Danzo.
"No… not now." Danzo gritted his teeth.
It was his hand—roots, branches, vines, and leaves started to grow out of it. The Hashirama cells inside his body were going out of control without the suppression the Sharingan provided.
Danzo didn't delay; he decisively cut open his own right hand.
Izumi's eyes didn't waver, not anymore. She had seen enough not to be surprised by anything.
"I don't have any more time left… I have to do it." Danzo huffed and muttered to himself. Using his only capable hand, he touched the blood from his lost limb and, to Sukuna's surprise, formed single-handed seals before throwing his hand down.
"Summoning Jutsu."
A big smoke cloud appeared, and from it emerged Baku, Danzo's summoning spirit.
'Single hand seals. He even managed to learn this in such a short time. Seems like the last encounter really did put enough pressure on him.' Sukuna honestly hadn't expected Danzo, of all people, to improve himself for the future.
That was more of a main character thing.
Baku was a giant summoning beast, bigger than even Sukuna imagined.
A strange elephantine chimaera who seemed able to eat dreams.
The next second, the beast opened its wide mouth and, like a suction vacuum, started to draw in everything.
Izumi almost got sucked in. However, before that happened, a powerful surge of chakra covered her body.
A skeleton made out of pure chakra formed around her. Her Susanoo came to life, stabilising her.
"That thing even dwarfs the second-stage Susanoo in size." Sukuna was impressed. He wondered if he had Ten Shadows, would his max elephant be equally as big?
As for why he wasn't affected, he had already used his Reverse Cursed Technique to stick himself to the ground. This wasn't just a normal chakra application, like walking on trees and walls.
His Reverse Cursed Technique was much stronger; the binding power was enough to keep his feet attached to the ground even under Baku's relentless suction.
He saw Danzo take out his sword and cover it with wind chakra.
'So that's his plan. He wants to hold one of us back and then use that last Izanagi chance to exchange a death blow.
Most likely not me, since he'll need more Sharingan after that last one to continue the fight.'
Sukuna's thoughts were spot on. He saw Danzo moving toward Izumi. Though he might have gone after him if he knew Sukuna had Sharingan. But since he hadn't used it even once in the fight, Danzo didn't know.
Unfortunately for Danzo, he didn't realise that thanks to his Reverse Technique, Sukuna wasn't as affected by Baku's suction as expected.
Before he could even get near Izumi, Sukuna sent a powerful Dismantle at him.
Danzo froze, blood dripping from his mouth. His body began to fall—he suddenly found his legs missing.
The next moment, he was once again cut in half, his entire lower half detached from his upper body.
Izumi, who was ready to use her Susanoo against Danzo, stopped midway. Looking over at Sukuna, she saw he was still leisurely standing there without any worries.
Izumi lowered her kunai, breathing hard. "At least he's reliable."
Sukuna rolled his shoulders. "Before that old cockroach comes back for the last time, let's take care of you first."
He leapt from his place, accelerating fast under his Kamui. His speed was controlled, unaffected by Baku's suction, and just as he was above Baku, he grabbed the giant elephant chimera by the trunk and snapped it down hard.
Simultaneously, he used his Reverse Cursed Technique to attach the mouth, completely sealing it shut.
The poor summon tried to open its mouth again, only to find it couldn't—the Reverse Cursed Technique was holding it closed.
"Hey big guy… mind stepping out for a bit? Let's talk once this fight's over, okay? I've got an offer you can't refuse." Sukuna grinned.
Baku didn't seem to like it, but unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it. Sukuna had also sealed off his legs with a long-distance attack.
Though Sukuna doubted it could hold the beast for long. To make sure it stayed at least until he dealt with Danzo, he bent down and put his hand on the ground. Using a reverse version of Cleave, he created a web of attaching lines around Baku.
"Few… done. Just stay, I'll be back soon." He grinned, though the grin was hidden behind the mask.
Izumi, watching this, just shook her head. By now, she was used to this boy's antics.
And while all this took place, both Sukuna and Izumi realised that Danzo hadn't come back yet.
"Did that guy run away?"
xxx
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