That's right... he should meet that traitor from Konoha.
Danzo's chest rose and fell heavily, his face twisted with grim resolve. He would make that so-called "traitor" regret ever turning against the village even if it cost him his life. He would die purging one last threat for Konoha.
Still, Danzo was no fool. He could sense that his enemies weren't trying to kill him immediately, they wanted to capture him alive, to pry Konoha's darkest secrets from his mind.
Though he'd stopped moving, his hands hovered close to the seals for the Reverse Four Symbols Seal, ready to trigger it at a moment's notice.
"It seems Elder Danzo's curiosity has gotten the better of him," Kisame said with a shark-toothed grin. "Don't be nervous, this is just a signal."
Despite being enemies, he addressed Danzo with a strange politeness, the kind that came from confidence.
The three of them clasped their hands together. A column of water shot high into the air, piercing the mist before falling back down as a rain of glimmering droplets that pattered softly across the barrier above.
High above that barrier, Uchiha Gen waited. The signal reached him instantly. His form shimmered as he used a Transformation Technique and in the next instant, he vanished with the crack of Flying Thunder God Technique.
A gust of displaced air swept across the battlefield.
A figure appeared before Kisame and the others, cloaked in the red-and-white robes of the Hokage, the hat tilted low over his brow. His face was lined with age, his beard grizzled, his smile warm and familiar.
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Danzo froze, his one visible eye widening in disbelief. "Hiruzen?!" His voice cracked, raw and trembling. "Impossible!"
He had briefly suspected Hiruzen before; that his old friend might be leaking intelligence. But he'd dismissed the thought immediately. What could the Third Hokage gain by betraying the very village he built?
Unless… unless Hiruzen had been a spy for the Hidden Mist since childhood.
But that was absurd. Danzo knew Hiruzen's past — his lineage, his training, his character. No one in Konoha's history was more rooted in its ideals.
Then it hit him. The way the figure appeared — the flicker of movement — that wasn't teleportation by speed. That was…
"The Flying Thunder God Technique… You—"
Before Danzo could finish, a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan flared before his eyes. His words faltered, his thoughts froze. The world collapsed into a haze of red light.
When awareness returned, the illusionary Hokage form had vanished, replaced by Uchiha Gen, standing calmly where "Hiruzen" had been.
"Bring him here," Gen said lightly.
Kisame moved first, hauling Danzo up like a broken doll and dropping him before his lord.
Gen pressed one palm against Danzo's chest. Black sealing marks spread across the man's skin as the chakra of the Reverse Four Symbols Seal unraveled and dissipated.
With a few more quick seals, Gen bound him completely. Only Danzo's head was left free. Then Gen stepped back and released the genjutsu that clouded his mind.
Danzo's eyes snapped open, fury and humiliation blazing.
"You… Uchiha Gen!" he roared, saliva flying with every word. "You traitor! You ambitious, ungrateful wretch! You dare turn against Konoha?!"
Gen tilted his head, smirking. "Betray Konoha? Me?" He spread his arms theatrically and looked to his allies. "Do I look like a traitor to you?"
"Of course not, Lord Gen," said Biwa Jūzō smoothly.
"We betrayed the Mist, not the Leaf," said Suikazan Fuguki. "We followed our lord for a better purpose."
Kisame chuckled. "You could even say we left the darkness for the light, working toward true peace in the shinobi world."
Danzo faltered for a heartbeat, confusion cutting through his anger but only briefly. Then the rage surged back, red-hot.
"You sent assassins after Konoha's elders! If that's not betrayal, what is?!"
Gen's smirk widened. "From your perspective, maybe. From mine?" He shrugged. "It's just pruning the rot."
He leaned closer. "Besides, it's funny to hear you talk about betrayal, Danzo. You once tried to assassinate the Hokage and still managed to keep your seat at the table."
Danzo's blood ran cold. His voice trembled. "How do you know about that? Was it Kakashi? Did he tell you?"
Gen chuckled softly. "I know far more than you think — about you, your operations, your secrets. But why should I explain?" His eyes hardened. "You don't deserve to die understanding."
Danzo glared at him, veins bulging in his forehead. "You… petty, arrogant—"
"I am petty," Gen interrupted with a smile. "What can you do about it?" He bent down, voice mockingly gentle. "Hit me, old man. Go on."
Danzo lunged to bite him, but the seals held him still. His teeth clacked shut on empty air.
He gathered chakra to break the bindings, but they didn't budge. All he could do was glare, trembling with rage.
"Tsk, tsk," Gen sighed. "That look, who are you trying to scare?"
"Are you scared?" Gen asked over his shoulder.
"No," Jūzō said flatly.
"What's there to fear from a crippled dog?" Fuguki sneered.
"It's just the powerless rage of the weak," Kisame added. "His eyes can't kill."
"Did you hear that?" Gen said cheerfully, turning back to Danzo. "Let me show you how real eyes kill."
Genjutsu: Ignis Fatuus.
Danzo's world burst into flame. Fire engulfed everything — his skin, his lungs, his nerves. He screamed as if burning alive, the illusion feeding his brain real agony.
His shrieks tore through the mist, echoing off the water until they didn't.
He fell silent, trembling violently, forcing himself to endure through sheer pride.
When Gen finally dispelled the genjutsu, Danzo collapsed forward, gasping like a fish dragged onto land, his breathing ragged and broken.
Gen clapped mockingly. "See the difference? My eyes can kill. Yours can't."
He crouched, meeting Danzo's glare. "Did you think I didn't know about your little dealings with Shisui and Itachi? Did you think I didn't notice your schemes?"
"I've studied you, Danzo. Your every move, your paranoia, your ambition. I learned from you and that's why I struck first."
His hand whipped out and slapped Danzo hard across the face not enough to hurt, just enough to humiliate.
Danzo's face twisted with rage. "A shinobi can be killed, but never humiliated!"
"Sorry," Gen said with a smile. "You're not a shinobi before me, just a thief with delusions of grandeur."
He tilted his head. "Speaking of theft… that Sharingan in your eye doesn't belong to you, does it?"
Before Danzo could react, Gen's fingers moved. There was a wet sound, schlk, and Gen held the stolen Sharingan between his fingers.
Danzo screamed, blood and tears mingling down his face.
"You… monster," he gasped. "Hiruzen will avenge me… Konoha will never forgive—"
Gen laughed quietly. "Hiruzen? Them? Please. When my time comes, if they still don't understand what's coming, they'll die too."
He straightened, his eyes cold. "You, though, I dislike you most of all. I won't even give you the dignity of understanding why."
"Don't ask about my plans. You won't live to hear them."
He raised his hand. "Farewell, Danzo."
Danzo tried to curse him one last time, but no sound came. His body froze as Gen's Mangekyō flared again.
Under that blood-red gaze, his consciousness shattered.
Gen extended his palm, drawing out Danzo's soul, pale and flickering, and the remaining threads of his lifespan with it.
The sealing marks vanished as life left the old war hawk's body.
When it was done, Danzo's head drooped forward, the once-feared Root leader falling face-first into the water with a quiet splash.
The surface rippled once… then stilled.
Shimura Danzo — dead at last.