The ceremony continued.
Shin's voice remained calm as it rippled across the blood-soaked square below.
On the ground, Yamano—the chief officiant—shivered violently. He scrambled to his feet, his legs trembling so badly he could barely stand. Fear had frozen him in place.
Continue the coronation ceremony in this situation? With bodies still warm on the ground?
But when he looked up and met Shin's gaze from the high platform, all his hesitation and fear melted away. Those eyes held an authority that could not be questioned.
With trembling hands, Yamano picked up the ceremonial scroll containing the congratulatory proclamation. He forced himself not to look at the carnage around him and raised his voice as high as he could manage.
His sharp voice cut through the deathly silence of the square, clear and piercing.
"By the mandate of heaven, in accordance with the will of the people!"
The moment those words left his mouth, everything changed.
Hundreds of shadow guards transformed into death itself. They moved like reapers harvesting souls, swift and merciless.
There was no shouted command. No battle cry or roar.
Aono, who led them, simply made a single gesture—a casual wave of his hand.
The slaughter began.
Pfft!
A black blade sliced cleanly across a ronin's throat. Blood gushed out like a spring, hot and bright red. The man clutched at his neck desperately, trying to stop the flow, but he couldn't even manage a scream. His eyes went wide with shock, then empty as he crumpled to the ground.
"Lord Shin Kurogane possesses both benevolence and virtue! His prestige extends across the four seas!" Yamano's voice trembled as he continued reading.
On the other side of the square, a Root shinobi had just finished forming hand seals when a poisoned black blade pierced straight through his chest from behind. He looked down slowly at the blade tip protruding from his body. His lips moved as if to speak, but no words came out. Then he fell forward, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
"He has rectified the imperial court and eradicated all corrupt practices!"
Two shadow guards attacked from opposite sides, their movements perfectly synchronized. Their long blades crossed in an X-pattern, meeting at a single point.
A head separated from its shoulders and flew into the air, spinning. The expression of madness was still frozen on the face. The headless body swayed twice before crashing to the ground with a wet sound.
Yamano squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't dare look anymore. He just mechanically recited the proclamation, word by word, keeping his voice steady through sheer willpower.
The sounds of slaughter behind him made him want to cover his ears, but he couldn't stop reading.
"He has allowed all people to live in peace, and the nation to prosper forever!"
The wet sound of blades entering flesh. The crisp snap of breaking bones. The dying screams of men who had run out of luck.
All of this mingled grotesquely with the solemn proclamation flowing from Yamano's mouth.
On one side was the praise of the new daimyo's virtues and achievements. On the other was a scene straight from hell—severed limbs flying through the air, blood pooling on the stone ground.
This jarring contradiction left everyone on the viewing platform speechless. Some looked away. Others couldn't tear their eyes from the spectacle.
When the last rebel was beheaded, only wails of pain and heavy, ragged breathing remained in the square. The surviving criminals who had been forced to their knees looked like they might faint from terror.
Just then, something else drew everyone's attention.
In the Konoha viewing area, the shadow guard leader who had blocked the Konoha shinobi from interfering slowly turned around.
His gaze was sharp and focused, like a burning torch. It passed over Minato Namikaze without stopping. It bypassed Hiruzen Sarutobi entirely. And finally, it locked onto one specific man—the man with the ashen face and single visible eye.
Danzo Shimura stood there, his one eye bloodshot with a mixture of fury and barely concealed terror.
"Fourth Hokage," the shadow guard leader said. His voice was cold and completely devoid of emotion. "The rebellion has been revealed. It is up to you, Konoha, to cleanse your own house."
The words hit like a thunderbolt.
Shock rippled through every Konoha shinobi present. Their heads turned in unison, and every single gaze pierced straight toward Danzo Shimura.
"Danzo!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice rang out—a roar filled with grief and rage that seemed torn from deep within his chest.
The moment Danzo heard his name called out like that, he knew it was over. Everything he'd worked for, everything he'd sacrificed for—all of it was finished.
Without a single moment of hesitation, he spun on his heel and bolted for the exit.
"Stop him!"
"For Konoha!"
Several quick-thinking Konoha shinobi roared and immediately gave chase. Among them were members of the Hyuga clan, the Uchiha clan, the Yamanaka clan, and the Aburame clan. There were also shinobi from smaller clans and even some unaffiliated jonin who had long harbored resentment toward Danzo and his methods.
This was the perfect opportunity to prove their loyalty to the new daimyo.
"Protect Lord Danzo!"
Around Danzo, the few remaining Root operatives screamed out their orders. They turned to face their pursuers head-on, their expressions showing no hesitation whatsoever. They would die for their commander without question.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
"Secret Technique: Mind Body Switch Technique!"
But they were hopelessly outnumbered. They faced dozens of furious Konoha comrades, many of them elite shinobi from powerful clans.
One Root shinobi had barely finished spewing razor-sharp wind blades from his mouth when a Hyuga clan member closed the distance in an instant. With lightning-fast strikes, the Hyuga's Gentle Fist hit every vital chakra point on the Root operative's body. His chakra flow instantly stopped, leaving him defenseless.
The next second, three or four kunai pierced his throat from different angles. He fell without another sound.
Another Root shinobi from the Yamanaka clan desperately attempted to use his mind-transfer technique to take control of an opponent's body. But before he could complete the jutsu, someone kicked him viciously in the head. The force was tremendous.
His skull caved in with a sickening crunch. Brain matter splattered onto the ground. His body dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.
The battle started quickly and ended even faster.
In just over a dozen breaths—less than a minute—every single Root operative lay dead in expanding pools of blood.
Danzo Shimura stood alone, surrounded in the center of the square.
He clutched his right arm, which was bleeding continuously through the bandages. His breathing came in heavy gasps. His single eye swept venomously over everyone who had formed a circle around him—former comrades, fellow Konoha shinobi, people he had worked alongside for decades.
"Danzo! You bastard! What exactly were you trying to accomplish?" Elder Utatane Koharu's voice shook with rage. She pointed an accusing finger at him, her face twisted with anger. "Answer me!"
"You have shamed Konoha completely! You've disgraced us all! Why don't you just surrender?" Homura Mitokado's aged face had turned bright red, flushed with pain and indignation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi walked forward slowly, step by measured step.
He looked at his old comrade—the man who had been both enemy and friend, rival and ally, someone he'd fought alongside and against for his entire life. Seeing Danzo in such a pitiful state filled Hiruzen's heart with conflicting emotions that threatened to tear him apart.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. His throat had closed up.
Should he strike? Could he really do it?
His mind flashed back unbidden to those war-torn years of their youth. Two young men fighting back-to-back, sharing their last soldier pill when supplies ran out.
"Hiruzen, keep going. You must survive."
"Danzo, we will protect this village together, no matter what. Until death!"
Those old vows still echoed in his ears as clearly as if they'd been spoken yesterday. Yet now he had to personally kill this close friend who had grown up with him? Who had stood beside him through countless battles?
He couldn't do it. His hand wouldn't move to draw a weapon.
Meanwhile, the massacre in the square had finally ended.
Yamano's congratulatory proclamation had reached its final lines.
"Now ascending the great throne to rule the world! May the Will of Fire illuminate the eight directions!"
The moment he finished reciting those last words, Yamano's legs gave out completely. He collapsed to the ground, exhausted and traumatized.
The entire square fell into an eerie, heavy silence once more.
Shin accepted the proclamation scroll from an attendant.
He held the national seal stone in one hand and the proclamation scroll in the other. Slowly, deliberately, he walked to the very edge of the high platform where everyone could see him clearly.
"So," he said casually, "is it over yet?"
In an instant, every eye in the square turned toward him. Then, as if guided by an invisible force, they shifted back to focus on Danzo—surrounded and trapped—and on Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was walking toward his old friend step by agonizing step.
At this moment of universal attention, when all eyes watched, the shadow guard leader appeared beside Hiruzen Sarutobi like a ghost materializing from thin air.
"Third Hokage," he said. His voice wasn't loud, but it pierced straight into Hiruzen's heart like a blade. "This is an internal affair of your Konoha. This is a disaster you have personally indulged and allowed to fester."
He raised one hand and pointed deliberately.
First, he pointed toward the innocent civilians who had been trampled to death during the chaos and commotion. Then his finger moved to indicate the four nations' delegations seated in their viewing areas.
The faces of those foreign delegates wore expressions of barely concealed amusement. They were enjoying this spectacle immensely—watching Konoha tear itself apart.
"Everyone is watching you right now," the shadow guard continued.
"It must be you who personally cuts out this cancerous tumor from your village. You must prove to the entire world that Konoha can still be saved and redeemed."
His voice took on a hint of mockery. "Or are you saying you want to force your lord to personally take action? To force the daimyo himself to cleanse Konoha's house for you?"
"To declare to the entire shinobi world that Konoha's shinobi cannot even deal with your own traitors properly?"
These words were truly devastating. Each one struck like a hammer blow.
Hiruzen's body trembled violently. His vision blurred with unshed tears.
He understood perfectly what the shadow guard meant.
If he didn't act now, the daimyo would have to act instead.
When that happened, Konoha would become the laughingstock of every nation. They would never be able to hold their heads high again in the shinobi world. Never be taken seriously.
For the daimyo to personally clean up and execute a Hokage advisor—what immense humiliation that would bring!
Hiruzen could already feel the gazes from the various national delegations burning into him. He didn't need to look to know what expressions they wore.
Those gazes held pity for the fallen. Schadenfreude at Konoha's misfortune. Disdain for their weakness.
Konoha's glory and the Hokage's dignity were being shattered piece by piece at this very moment.
The shadow guard leader's voice rang out once more. It still wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to every ear in the silent square.
"Show everyone your true strength as the Professor, as the God of Shinobi's successor! Show them the spirit of Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
"Let everyone see whether your fangs have truly been worn down by time and compromise."
He paused, then delivered the final blow.
"Do this for Konoha."
For Konoha.
Those three simple words completely shattered Hiruzen Sarutobi's mental defenses like a hammer striking glass.
For those three words, he had compromised his entire life. He had endured insults, made concessions, swallowed his pride, and betrayed his own principles.
Now, for those same three words, he had to personally kill his oldest friend with his own hands.
The Konoha shinobi surrounding Danzo remained silent. They didn't speak or offer opinions. But the killing intent radiating from some of them was already completely undisguised. They were ready.
"Do it, Hiruzen." Danzo, who had reached the absolute end of his road and could see no way out, suddenly let out a laugh. It was a strange sound—part resignation, part relief.
The laugh held so many emotions mixed together. Relief that it was finally over. Unwillingness to accept this ending. Self-mockery at how it had all fallen apart.
Danzo straightened his hunched back slowly. For a moment, he looked like his younger self—like he had returned to those war-torn years when he stood shoulder to shoulder with his closest friend.
"To die by your hand instead of a stranger's blade... it's not a loss. Not a bad way to go."
Something exploded inside Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind like a thunderclap. Countless fragments of memories burst before his eyes in rapid succession.
The vows they'd made as young boys. Sharing rice balls while sitting back-to-back during a mission. Training together under the Second Hokage. Fighting side by side in the First Shinobi World War.
All of it was being crushed by the cruel weight of reality.
Hiruzen suddenly looked up sharply.
In his cloudy old eyes, all the tenderness and hesitation vanished in a single instant. What remained was only endless sorrow mixed with cold fury.
The powerful aura of a Kage-level shinobi erupted from him with a roar that seemed to shake the very air.
Shinobi who were standing too close actually lost their footing. They were forced to stumble backward, pushed away by the sheer immensity of his chakra and presence!
A suppressed wail escaped from deep within Hiruzen's chest. It was mixed with anger, with grief, with decades of regret. The sound echoed across the square and up into the sky.
"DANZO!"