Chapter 257: The Price of “Justice”

Standing atop the Hokage Rock, the entire battlefield could be seen clearly. Shimura Danzo stood there, watching. He watched Konoha being swallowed by a forest of devastation. He watched the massive crater at the village’s center, still burning from Shinra Tensei.

Sasuke Uchiha stood beside him. In the distance, Uzumaki Naruto and Nagato were locked in intense combat. Naruto’s movements were sharp and refined now, Flying Raijin in constant rotation, Rasengan forming instinctively in his hand. At this point, he looked only one step away from becoming a true Hokage.

Danzo spoke. “Any openings?”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. “No. He’s overwhelmingly strong. He isn’t even using his full power.” He analyzed Nagato’s movements through his Mangekyo Sharingan. The conclusion was simple. Unbeatable.

“After all, he destroyed the Otsutsuki,” Danzo said calmly. “At this point, he might even surpass the Sage of Six Paths.”

Sasuke frowned. “Destroyed the Otsutsuki? How can you be so sure? He could’ve simply lost and retreated.”

Danzo shook his head. “Uzumaki Nagato and Uzumaki Naruto have fundamentally the same existence. If they are here, then the Otsutsuki are no longer a future threat.” He paused. “I only didn’t expect them to break through the Five Elements Sealing Formation.”

At that phrase, Sasuke glanced at him coldly. “Scum.”

Danzo didn’t react. “Eliminating threats at the root is my duty.” He looked toward the battlefield again. “Unfortunately, this time the enemy is too strong. Sasuke, until Konoha regains true strength, do not provoke Akatsuki lightly.”

“You’re afraid?”

“I am not,” Danzo replied. “Konoha is.”

“Excuses.”

“Perhaps.”

Below them, the battle intensified. Flying Raijin and Rasengan, mirroring the Fourth Hokage’s legacy. Sasuke watched Naruto closely, but his attention kept drifting back to Danzo.

“Danzo.”

“Speak.”

“In the end, even if you do this, Akatsuki won’t stop. This is pointless.”

“Precisely because they won’t stop, that is why it must be done.”

“Why?”

Danzo chuckled. “You’re still a child.”

That word, child, triggered something in Sasuke. His grip tightened on his sword. But before he could respond, Danzo’s voice, quieter now, echoed beside him. “Konoha must preserve its face.”

Sasuke didn’t understand. Face? At this level of destruction? What face is left to preserve? He no longer felt sympathy for Danzo. Danzo deserved death a thousand times over. But even so, this death felt wrong. Too hollow. Too meaningless. Even if Danzo died fighting, even if he died protecting someone, it would have been more dignified than this.

“Enough. The battle is over.”

Naruto was pinned down, just like during Hinata’s sacrifice. And just like that moment, Hinata Hyuga once again stepped forward, trying to shield him. At the last second, BOOM! A massive purple Susanoo erupted, covering Naruto, Hinata, and Neji. The black rods struck it instead of their bodies.

“Clack.” Danzo was thrown out. He landed like discarded trash. Like a broken doll. Like something no longer needed.

“It’s over.” Sasuke said it quietly. Then he finally understood. Konoha must preserve its face. Before him now were familiar and unfamiliar faces alike. And all of them wore the same expression. Disgust. Coldness. Hate. And something deeper. Shame.

Sasuke recalled Shimura Danzo’s entire existence. And for a brief moment, even he felt it. Pathetic.

Nagato frowned. “What does he mean, ‘it’s over’?”

Then Sasuke spoke again. “Akatsuki.” His voice carried across the battlefield. “Before you begin your revenge, there are things you need to understand. We understand why you came to Konoha. But the truth is, we are also victims. The Fourth Shinobi War, and the Fifth Shinobi War, were all orchestrated by one man.”

Silence. Then a confession began. From the Second Hokage’s era, to Danzo’s rise to power, to secret operations, to the Nine-Tails incident, to the Uchiha massacre, to the destruction plan of Konoha, to internal coups, to the Hyuga tragedy, to the Five Kage Summit, to the Allied Shinobi Forces, to the Fourth War, to the Fifth War.

Shimura Danzo’s life was laid bare, a long scroll of sin, a record of destruction, a single name beneath it all. The root of all evil.

The expressions of Konoha’s survivors shifted. Regret. Pain. Shame. Even disbelief.

“He used survivors of Amegakure to threaten Kakashi.”

“He manipulated Naruto and Sasuke for his own goals.”

“And when he knew Akatsuki would return, he fled with stolen wealth.”

“We only recently discovered everything.”

“Even the Uchiha massacre was orchestrated solely by him.”

“In truth, we are all victims. Just like you. Just like the Five Great Nations now at war.”

A small vial was thrown. It landed in Nagato’s hand. Cold. Smooth. Like human skin.

“This is the antidote for your village’s poison. I found it on him.”