Boom!
The thunderous crash caused by the descent of the Toad Trio echoed like a mountain collapsing. Before the dust could settle, before Danzo could even recover from the shock Naruto had just delivered, his entire body was instantly crushed beneath the overwhelming weight of the three giant toads, smashed into a mess of shattered bone and pulp!
Even though Izanagi once again worked its miracle and pulled him back from the edge of death, it couldn't change the fact that the fifth Sharingan, the last Three-Tomoe Sharingan embedded in Danzo's arm, slowly closed—losing its light forever.
With all his Sharingan spent, Danzo's already crippled ocular power took another massive hit. More importantly, it meant he now had only one life left—the one he had just regained! In other words, if Danzo were to suffer another fatal blow now, he would truly depart this world, perhaps to seek forgiveness from his teacher, the Second Hokage, in the next life. And considering Naruto's firm resolve to eliminate all threats at the root, even Edo Tensei wouldn't bring him back this time!
At the same time, as the saying goes—when it rains, it pours… Danzo, now unable to use Izanagi to save himself, was also paying the bloody price for his reckless ambition—trying to monopolize the powers of both the Senju and Uchiha Clans.
The moment he used his last Sharingan to activate Izanagi, his chakra plummeted due to repeated use of forbidden techniques. Even with the implanted cells of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, enhancing and supporting his control over the Sharingan, it was impossible to withstand the gaping consumption! The intense rejection reaction between Hashirama's cells and Danzo's own genes, always present from the beginning, became uncontrollable due to the chakra shortage. His pale arm twitched and contorted unnaturally—vivid green branches rapidly sprouting from his skin, visible to the naked eye! In mere seconds, half of Danzo's body was overtaken, turning him into a grotesque half-man, half-tree monster from afar!
These flaws in Danzo's modified body, long present since his operation, meant that even with the nearly invincible life-saving power of Izanagi, he had now exhausted his options. Forget about counterattacking Naruto or Jiraiya—the depletion of chakra and the backlash of repeated Izanagi usage rendered him utterly powerless! One misstep, and he would likely be consumed from within by the rampaging Hashirama cells and explode, dying without even needing Naruto or Jiraiya to lift a finger!
And all of this—was part of Naruto's calculation.
Just as he expected, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world… Although implanting the Sharingan and Hashirama's cells had indeed boosted Danzo's survivability, every gain came with loss. Relying too much on forcibly integrated foreign power led to fierce rejection from his own body, drastically reducing the combat ability he should've had! A man who once stood shoulder to shoulder with the Third Hokage—now reduced to such a pitiful state, slain effortlessly by a younger generation. As Naruto would've put it in his previous life: "The thing that made you was also the thing that destroyed you."
"Hiss… Urgh—A brat still wet behind the ears… how… how dare you go against my will! Unforgivable… unforgivable!"
Danzo's whole arm, overwhelmed and overtaken by Hashirama's cells, transformed into a thriving tree. The agony flooding his nerves, after having just experienced death five times in quick succession, drove him nearly mad. Sweat poured like rain as he roared hoarsely like a beast.
His expression was wild and vicious, seemingly dangerous and ready to strike—but to Naruto, who had endured three years of constant ridicule and learned to read people like books, the flickering fear, shame, and desperate will to survive behind Danzo's eyes couldn't be hidden. In Naruto's view, Danzo was no different from a pathetic wild beast caught in a trap—struggling pointlessly in panic. The only difference was that Naruto might feel sympathy for an animal and let it go. But for this vile old man, already doomed and still mouthing off? Naruto had no other thought but to finish it—cleanly and completely.
"Aiyaa, how interesting… So this is what one of Konoha's mighty Elders, one of the Three Advisors, looks like when he's facing death. Not much different from the beasts I used to hunt in Training Ground Three…" Naruto chuckled, watching Danzo turn his hateful gaze toward him. His smile only grew more mocking as he clapped his hands together, observing Danzo like a predator toying with prey. "Just as I thought… Without those five Sharingan to fuel Izanagi, you're nothing but a hollow shell. What's that look? Not convinced? Go ahead, take a good look at yourself, old man. You can't even control Hashirama's cells anymore—let alone unleash the Sharingan."
Trying to intimidate Naruto with a glare? What a joke.
That glare didn't hold a candle to the tsundere rage of Kurama, let alone the scary disapproving look Uchiha Itachi gave when getting jealous—this old fool was on another level of pathetic!
"Huff… Huff… Huff… Ha… Ha… HAHAHA!"
Danzo suddenly let out a crazed laugh. "Who would've thought… After all my schemes and planning, I'd fall to the very trump card I relied on most!"
Naruto's calm composure, so far beyond his age, made Danzo realize he had been the fool all along—not Naruto. Not the innocent, gullible outcast he thought he could manipulate, but a cunning mind far sharper than his own. The realization struck hard. Laughing with bitter fury, Danzo raised his head and shouted, "Fine! You win this time, brat! Victory and defeat—that's all that matters! But don't get cocky! If I die, I'll take you down with me!"
"A dangerous little monster like you… a Jinchūriki with this much cunning… is a ticking time bomb for Konoha! This will be my final service to the village!"
As he spoke, Danzo's pale face flushed red with unnatural heat. Tearing his clothes open, he revealed his frail upper body covered in black sealing marks—the dreaded trump card known as the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing!
"Ptuh—what the hell?! Reverse Four Symbols Sealing?! This old geezer's going all in?!"
Off to the side, Jiraiya, who had been overseeing the Toad Trio's suppression of Root and leisurely chewing on ration pills, spat them out in shock. His jaw dropped like someone who'd just realized the cute girl he was flirting with was actually a cross-dressing trap. Pale-faced, Jiraiya shouted,
"Naruto, stop playing around! Either kill that bastard now or RUN! If he finishes that seal, it'll be too late!"
"Oh? Reverse Four Symbols Sealing? Sounds scary. I'm trembling~"
To Jiraiya's horror, Naruto did neither. He simply sat cross-legged on the ground and gestured lazily with his hand.
"Go ahead. If that seal so much as scratches me, I'll count it as my loss."
"What?! You little brat! Now is NOT the time for jokes!"
Jiraiya's face turned blue. He was ready to haul Naruto over his knee for a spanking. Gritting his teeth, he gave a command to the Toads:
"Gamabunta! Use your Water Cannon—no, too late to charge up! Forget those Root grunts. They're all going with Danzo anyway if the seal goes off. Just get Naruto and teleport him back to Mount Myoboku, now!"
"Hahahaha! Getting nervous now, Jiraiya?! Too late!"
Seeing Naruto just sitting there like an idiot, Danzo felt overjoyed. Afraid the boy might change his mind, Danzo executed the fastest hand signs of his life. Laughing maniacally, he bellowed,
"I, Shimura Danzo, have fought for this village my entire life! I am the Root that supports Konoha from the shadows! Everything I've done—has been for the village! For the sake of Konoha's safety, I will not allow a threat like you to live!"
"Activate—Reverse Four Symbols Sealing!"
With Danzo's final roar, the black sealing marks on his body began to spread...
"Damn it! We were too slow! Why the hell did I waste time talking? Should've blasted him with a Water Cannon from the start!"
Jiraiya slammed his fist in frustration. Just as he braced for the worst—expecting the dreaded explosion—the most bizarre thing happened: nothing.
The Reverse Four Symbols Sealing… didn't activate.
Instead, the marks transformed into a regular Four Symbols Sealing, cutting off the last of Danzo's chakra!
"What the—what?! That was supposed to be the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing! I saw the marks, the hand signs, the intent!"
Jiraiya nearly yanked his cheeks off, trying to confirm he wasn't dreaming. His gaze instinctively turned to Naruto, still smiling as if nothing had happened.
'Wait… could it be… this was Naruto's doing again?!'
"No… no way… Why did it turn into the Four Symbols Sealing?!"
Danzo, who had shut his eyes waiting for death, was instead greeted by waves of burning exhaustion and weakness. Opening his eyes, he roared in despair,
"It's you… it's YOU! Uzumaki Naruto! What did you do to me?!"
"Eh? You figured it out already? Not bad for an old fart," Naruto said, standing up and casually dusting himself off. He wagged his finger and grinned,
"You didn't think I let you hug me all those times for nothing, right~?"
"Maybe you forgot, but under the glow of my hero dad, the Fourth Hokage, there's also my mom—a master of sealing arts who was just as incredible. In fact… some would say she was even stronger."
Just then, Naruto sensed the arrival of the Third Hokage and his main force. The mission to wipe out Root was basically complete. He no longer felt like wasting time. With a sharp push from his legs, Naruto shot forward using the power boost from his Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak, raised his right hand—and in the blink of an eye, the Rasengan bloomed in his palm and pierced through Danzo's chest, shredding his heart.
"You tried to show off those third-rate sealing techniques in front of someone from the Uzumaki Clan? What a joke. Truly pathetic."
Stepping onto Danzo's now half-tree corpse, Naruto scoffed, staring into the man's bulging, furious eyes. He spoke slowly, clearly, and mockingly:
"For the village? Please. From beginning to end, all you ever did was hold it back for your own selfish gain."
With a dull thud, Danzo collapsed, utterly lifeless.
Shimura Danzo—the man who lurked in the shadows under the guise of righteousness—finally met his end due to his ever-swelling ambition.
In the dark, forgotten underworld of Konoha…
He died with his eyes wide open.