Chapter 46: Danzo's Disgrace
Rubik casually raised a hand toward Tsunade in greeting.
"Yo, Tsunade-sama. Long time no see."
Back when he was traveling with Jiraiya, he'd once run into Tsunade at a gambling den. She'd been so furious after losing that she'd rattled off a string of colorful curses—and little Rubik, who'd been lugging a dead-drunk Jiraiya by the door at the time, had been absolutely stunned by the show.
Tsunade's gaze swept over Rubik, a flicker of complicated gratitude in her eyes. Her voice was clear as she said:
"I got your message. And... about Momonoki—thank you. I owe you one."
She was referring, of course, to Rubik saving Momonoki and passing along the intel on Danzo's crimes and location.
"EH?!"
Beside him, Jiraiya whipped his head around so fast his panda eyes went wide as saucers. He stared at Rubik in disbelief:
"Hold on! When did you even contact Tsunade?! How come you didn't tell me about something this big?!"
Rubik rolled his eyes, wearing an expression that screamed, "You really have the nerve to ask that?"
"I did tell you, old pervert. That night we were soaking together in the bath. I mentioned, 'We should probably bring in someone with real weight to hold things down.' And you?"
He mimicked Jiraiya's distracted, shifty-eyed look from that night.
"Mm-hmm, uh-huh—with your eyes practically glued to the crack in the women's bathhouse door. You heard nothing I said. My fault, I guess?"
"Uh... ahahaha! D-Did that happen? What lovely weather we're having today!"
Jiraiya's weathered face flushed red as he scratched his head awkwardly, trying to laugh his way out of it.
"We're underground," Rubik added, twisting the knife.
Danzo watched Tsunade step forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Rubik and Jiraiya at the front line, and his already grim expression grew even darker.
Dealing with the people already in front of him was troublesome enough—and now they'd added Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin! He knew she suffered from hemophobia, a weakness he could exploit, but she was still an unpredictable wild card! Pushing down his irritation, he spoke in that hoarse, gloomy voice:
"Heh... it's been a long time, Tsunade-hime..."
"Shut up!"
Tsunade's voice cracked like thunder, cutting him off. She stepped forward, her overwhelming presence pressing down on Danzo like a physical weight:
"You have no right to speak my name! And even less right to utter the Senju name! I came here today to demand payment for the blood debts of the Senju clan!"
Fire burned in her eyes as she continued, each word dripping with anguish:
"Those clan members who gave their lives—their entire lives—for this village! Their sacrifices, their honor, were never meant to be stepping stones for your selfish ambitions, you old fiend!"
"Nonsense!"
Danzo's single eye flashed with menace, still stubbornly clinging to his excuses.
"Everything I do is for the prosperity of Konoha! For this village to stand above all others! Where is the selfishness?! You, who have been blinded by weakness, simply don't understand what true—"
"Bullshit!"
Tsunade laughed in fury—a laugh laced with bitter irony. She couldn't believe that even now, Danzo still had the audacity to hide his rotting, stinking ambition and greed behind the fig leaf of "for Konoha." It was sickeningly hypocritical!
"Paving your path to the Hokage's seat with your comrades' bones—that's what you call 'for Konoha'?! Feeding the endless maw of Orochimaru's experiments with Senju lives—that's what you call 'prosperity'?! Danzo! Spare me your nauseating rhetoric!"
"I'll make you—pay with your life!!!"
Before the words had even faded, Tsunade's figure blurred into a faint afterimage! The ground beneath her exploded on launch! No hand seals, no flashy jutsu—just the concentrated fury of her monstrous strength, enough to shatter mountains and crack the earth! With a piercing shriek of displaced air, she hurtled toward Shimura Danzo's face in the most direct, most savage assault imaginable!
The battle was kicked off by the furious Princess of the Senju!
Her form streaked forward as a blur, closing the distance in an instant! Her right leg arced high, terrifying power condensed at her foot, the air screaming in protest—her signature technique—
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
If that kick landed, it would pulverize the ground to dust!
Facing this mountain-splitting, earth-cracking blow, Danzo's eyes showed no panic whatsoever—only absolute cold calculation! He didn't even shift his feet, just tilted his head slightly and gave a silent signal!
"Stop her!"
The two nearest Root elites behind him moved like puppets receiving commands, without an instant's hesitation. They burst with chakra and threw themselves fearlessly into a cross-block in front of Danzo! One used Earth Style Hardening, the other raised a kunai to parry, trying to weather that apocalyptic kick!
BOOM—!!!
The Heavenly Foot of Pain came crashing down!
The Earth Style defense shattered like paper! The reinforced kunai snapped on impact! The two Root elites didn't even have time to scream before they were hurled away by that overwhelming force!
But that momentary block bought Danzo the split-second he needed to form his technique!
He made a one-handed seal, his chest swelling as he drew breath, his eyes filled with nothing but cold killing intent—utterly indifferent to the subordinates who'd taken the hit for him and were now flying through the air!
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
The raging hurricane wasn't aimed solely at Tsunade—it engulfed her and those two gravely wounded Root ninja still airborne together! He'd tear them all apart!
"Gah—!!"
Just as that blood-tinged, flesh-streaked gale was about to swallow Tsunade, she caught a glimpse of the dazzling crimson spraying through the air! The nauseating stench of blood flooded her senses!
BZZ—!
Tsunade's formidable aura collapsed in an instant! Fear washed over her like icy floodwaters! Her entire body trembled uncontrollably, her face turning deathly pale, pupils dilating in sheer terror!
Her hemophobia had struck! She stood frozen like a lamb to the slaughter, watching helplessly as that world-ripping hurricane bore down on her!
"TSUNADE—!!!"
At that critical moment, a frantic roar cut through the air!
Jiraiya's white hair shot out, stretching dozens of meters in an instant! Every strand was infused with powerful chakra, hardened like steel!
"Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
The silver-white cascade of hair moved faster than the wind, wrapping around and weaving layer upon layer of thick, resilient barriers in front of Tsunade—like the most loyal shield imaginable!
CRASH—!!!
The savage Wind Style slammed into the hair barrier with a deafening impact! The strands trembled violently but held firm, protecting the fear-paralyzed Tsunade behind them!
As the hurricane dissipated, the hair slowly parted, revealing Tsunade—shaken but out of danger.
"Y-You bastard!!"
Tsunade gasped for breath, forcing down the terror, though her body still quivered. She raised her head, her beautiful eyes blazing with unprecedented fury, fixed on the cold figure at the heart of the storm. Her voice came out hoarse with rage:
"Danzo! You despicable, shameless old dog!! You'd sacrifice your own subordinates without hesitation—use them as shields, as weapons, as offerings!! You're worse than... worse than an animal!!"
Danzo snorted coldly, completely ignoring Tsunade, whom he now deemed a non-threat. His murky single eye swept sharply toward the master-disciple duo of Jiraiya and Rubik—they were his real obstacles!
After only a moment's hesitation, he barked a command to his Root operatives:
"Hold them off! Buy me time!"
At the same time, he began unwrapping the heavily bandaged and sealed arm!
Rubik instantly saw through Danzo's intent.
"Don't even think about it!"
He barked.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Flash!"
Rubik's form turned into a blinding arc of electricity, teleporting to Danzo's flank with his arm shooting out to strike!
"Hmph! Naive!"
Danzo's eye flashed dangerously. Instead of dodging, he flicked his sleeve and thrust out a kunai coated in a sinister gleam, aiming a vicious stab at Rubik's heart!
"I was planning to keep you alive to serve Konoha... what a shame!"
His hoarse voice dripped with killing intent.
"RUBIK—!!"
Kakashi, watching from afar, cried out in shock.
But Jiraiya remained utterly calm, a faint, knowing smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Shnk!
The kunai pierced "Rubik's" chest without resistance! Yet no blood sprayed as expected. The struck "Rubik" twisted and swelled, transforming into a massive clump of jet-black hair—tough as steel wire—writhing and coiling like a living thing, ensnaring Danzo!
"Hair Clone?!"
Danzo's eyes widened as he realized he'd been tricked.
The Root elites who'd caught on quickly struck out to fend off the hair clone's assault.
"Where's the real one?!"
Danzo's mind raced.
"Behind!"
Years of combat experience made his body react before his thoughts could catch up! Without turning around, he slashed backward with a sharp horizontal stroke, the kunai precisely cutting across the attacker's midsection!
Poof—! Smoke burst out!
The struck figure dissolved into white smoke.
"A Shadow Clone?!"
Alarms blared in Danzo's head—neither was the real one. Where was the main body hiding?!
"Could it be..."
"AAAH—!!"
Just as that thought flashed through his mind, a searing, piercing pain exploded from his right eye—the one wrapped in layers upon layers of bandages!
"Toad Flat Shadow Control?!"
The agony made it all click in an instant. He nearly screamed the words.
"That damned brat! He was hiding in the shadow of the hair clone...!"
"Bingo."
An icy voice sounded right next to Danzo's ear. The real Rubik emerged like a specter crawling out of hell—just as Danzo's mind reeled from the attack on his eye, he'd revealed himself!
Rubik raised his right hand high.
"Wind Style: Rasengan!"
With savage force, without a shred of hesitation, he slammed it straight into Danzo's back!
BOOM—!!!
Danzo was hurled like a broken kite by the explosive wind pressure, crashing hard into the distant wall. Rubble and dust billowed everywhere.
As the dust began to settle, Danzo forced himself up from the debris, blood trickling from his mouth, battered and humiliated.
His remaining left eye locked onto Rubik with murderous intensity, his voice twisted and trembling with agony and fury:
"How... how did you know about that eye?! Was it Itachi... did Uchiha Itachi tell you?!"