Chapter 273: The Proper Use of Izanagi: Suicide Bombers

"Wind Release: Shuriken!"

Shimura Danzō infused high-density Wind Release chakra into several shuriken and hurled them toward Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.

As the shuriken spun at high speed, transparent wind blades formed around their edges, producing a chilling buzzing sound.

"Be careful!"

Hiruzen shouted a warning and flashed aside, narrowly dodging the two wind-enhanced shuriken flying toward him.

Koharu Utatane  and Homura Mitokado also easily evaded the attack.

Direct attacks like this, without any form of cover or setup, were rarely effective against shinobi of their level. Hiruzen's warning hadn't actually been about the shuriken—it was about Danzō's grotesque right arm.

That arm looked extremely dangerous.

Until they understood its abilities, they had to remain cautious.

"I'll take the lead. Cover me!"

With that, Homura charged forward, wielding the Sword of the Thunder God.

Hiruzen and Koharu responded instantly.

Hiruzen formed hand seals and spat out a blazing dragon of fire toward Danzō.

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Koharu followed behind Homura, keeping a measured distance. She stayed close enough to provide immediate support while ensuring she wouldn't become Danzō's primary target.

As a medical ninja, Koharu's specialty wasn't direct offense—her role was support and emergency treatment.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"

Facing the incoming fire dragon, Danzō released a compressed sphere of wind from his mouth.

The violent wind instantly shattered the fire dragon, sweeping the scattered flames backward in a fiery storm.

Among the five basic nature transformations, Fire Release normally counters Wind Release because wind feeds flames.

But when the wind technique is overwhelmingly stronger, the raging gale can scatter the flames and even carry them along, amplifying the wind's destructive force.

Even so, Danzō's Wind Release was only slightly stronger than Hiruzen's fire technique. After dispersing the fire dragon, most of its power dissipated.

"Swift Thunder Slash!"

At that moment, Homura had already closed the distance.

The Sword of the Thunder God crackled with lightning as it cleaved through the swirling wind and flames, striking down toward Danzō.

Danzō snorted and leapt backward, easily avoiding the strike.

At the same time, he pulled a kunai from his pouch and blew wind chakra onto it, forming a sharp wind blade.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!"

With a weapon now in hand, Danzō stomped the ground and surged forward instead of retreating, meeting Homura head-on.

Wind blade and lightning blade collided, releasing violent bursts of wind and electricity.

Homura's expression changed as the tremendous force knocked him backward.

It wasn't that Danzō's raw strength was overwhelming.

Rather—

It was far stronger than Homura had anticipated, catching him completely off guard.

"Your strength has increased considerably… Is this also the result of your human experiments?"

While retreating, Homura shouted the information aloud.

"Weapon Manipulation Technique — Heavenly Blade Storm!"

He unfurled a summoning scroll.

Gigantic kunai and shuriken burst forth and shot toward Danzō.

These oversized weapons were far heavier and stronger than ordinary ninja tools. With the tremendous momentum imparted to them, their destructive power far exceeded normal projectiles.

Danzō could no longer casually deflect them with simple wind chakra control.

Just as Danzō was about to form hand seals—

The Adamantine Staff suddenly swept toward him with crushing force.

He no longer had time to perform a defensive jutsu or evade completely.

Even if he avoided the staff, the massive ninja tools would strike him immediately afterward.

Danzō's eyes flashed.

He shifted slightly and raised his right arm in front of him.

"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu!"

A large tree suddenly erupted from his arm, blocking the Adamantine Staff and the incoming giant weapons.

At the same time, dozens of sharp branches shot toward Homura.

Homura had no time to be shocked that Danzō could use Wood Release.

Lightning flashed as he swung the Sword of the Thunder God, slicing the incoming branches into fragments.

"Wood Release… Danzō. It seems you've hidden quite a lot from me."

Hiruzen suddenly appeared beside Danzō.

The Adamantine Staff swung heavily toward Danzō's head.

"Heh. Stop pretending, Hiruzen," Danzō sneered.

"If you hadn't allowed it, how could I possibly have accomplished all this?"

With a flick of his wind blade, he knocked aside Hiruzen's staff.

"Hmph. I don't recall ever approving anything like this!"

Hiruzen snorted coldly and pressed the attack.

Yet inwardly he was shocked.

Among their generation, Danzō's taijutsu had always been decent but not exceptional.

During their sparring in the past, Hiruzen had always been able to suppress him steadily using the Adamantine Staff.

But now—

Danzō's physical strength had increased dramatically.

Attacks he once could only evade or redirect could now be met head-on.

The battle between them had become evenly matched.

"You may not have given explicit permission," Danzō said coldly.

"But silent approval is still approval. That's how things have always worked between us."

With a powerful strike, he forced Hiruzen back and quickly formed a hand seal.

He had no intention of dragging this battle out any longer.

Hiruzen breathed heavily.

The "worthless pawns" Danzō had mentioned had already served their purpose—Hiruzen's stamina had been significantly drained.

After all, dozens of chūnin-level shinobi had attacked earlier. Eliminating them quickly had cost him a great deal of chakra.

Even Homura had delayed rejoining the battle earlier in order to recover some stamina.

"You're right," Hiruzen said solemnly.

"As the Third Hokage, I am the one most responsible for the village."

"My excessive tolerance allowed you to commit so many crimes."

"Ending you here today will at least serve as atonement."

"I told you long ago that you gave Danzō too much authority," Homura added coldly as he reappeared beside Hiruzen.

"If you had listened to us earlier, things would never have reached this point."

Danzō's eyes grew icy.

"Heh… your sanctimonious attitude makes me sick."

"Didn't Hiruzen grant me authority precisely so I could do the things he wanted done but couldn't do openly?"

"And now you claim he indulged me too much?"

He sneered.

"Disgusting."

Hiruzen pointed the Adamantine Staff toward him.

"Enough talk, Danzō. Go to the Pure Land and apologize to our teacher."

"That depends on whether you're capable of killing me."

Danzō suddenly tore open his clothes, revealing sealing formulas carved across his chest.

"Today I came prepared to die together with you!"

"Reverse Four Symbols Sealing!"

"Not good! It's a suicide sealing technique—retreat!"

Hiruzen's pupils shrank as he grabbed Homura and jumped back.

"Retreat?" Danzō laughed wildly.

"Within the Four Violet Flames Formation, where can you run?"

"Come with me to the Pure Land! Hahahaha!"

Blood burst from his body as sealing patterns spread outward, swelling into a massive expanding sphere.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu! Koharu, help me!"

Realizing the situation, Hiruzen stopped retreating.

He planted the Adamantine Staff into the ground and created three shadow clones, shouting for Koharu's support.

Koharu immediately understood.

She placed both hands on Hiruzen's back, transferring chakra to him.

With her support, Hiruzen felt a moment of relief.

His three clones positioned themselves to the east, south, and west, forming a triangular formation around them.

Hand seals flashed.

"Sealing Technique — Reverse Three Directions Seal!"

A green translucent pyramid barrier rose around the three of them.

Normally, the Three Directions Seal traps enemies inside a diamond-hard barrier.

Used in reverse—

It became a defensive shield.

But Hiruzen knew that wasn't enough.

The Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, powered by a person's life, was far too destructive.

He pulled out several sealing talismans and threw them around the barrier.

"Adamantine Sealing — Enma's Protection!"

Hiruzen clasped his hands together.

At the same time, the Adamantine Staff connected the sealing talismans on the ground.

Two enormous pink chakra hands appeared, enclosing the three of them.

This technique created a special chakra shield that would not dissipate until the chakra sustaining it was exhausted.

In essence—

It was a form of absolute defense.

But its chakra consumption was enormous.

Without Koharu's chakra support, Hiruzen could not have maintained it for long.

Fortunately—

He didn't need to.

Danzō's Reverse Four Symbols Sealing had already reached them.

A massive black sphere swallowed everything, engulfing the entire Hokage Tower.

Fortunately, the Four Violet Flames Formation covered a large area—otherwise the Root shinobi maintaining it would have been destroyed as well.

Several seconds later—

The darkness vanished.

And with it—

The Hokage Tower itself disappeared.

In its place remained a massive hemispherical crater.

Near the edge of the crater, faint pink chakra slowly dissipated in the wind.

Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura collapsed onto the ground.

"He's insane… completely insane!"

Homura looked at the devastation with lingering fear.

"Shimura Danzō actually tried to kill us all together!"

They had come within a hair's breadth of death.

Koharu collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.

Although Hiruzen had cast the techniques, most of the chakra used had come from her.

She had no strength left to fight.

Hiruzen panted heavily.

Yet his expression remained uneasy.

Something felt wrong.

Was Danzō really dead?

After all, the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing required the user's life as its price.

Danzō had clearly died in front of them—

His body completely gone.

"Watch out!"

Suddenly, Enma, still in staff form, shouted.

A hand suddenly extended from the staff and grabbed toward Hiruzen's back.

Hiruzen felt the incoming attack—

But it was too late to dodge.

A sharp wind blade flashed.

Blood sprayed into the air.

The three scattered apart.

Hiruzen clutched his right shoulder—

His right arm was gone.

If Enma hadn't deflected the strike at the last moment, the wind blade would have split Hiruzen in half from shoulder to waist.

"H-How is that possible?!"

Homura stared in disbelief.

Shimura Danzō stood there completely unharmed.

"Lord Hiruzen!"

Koharu rushed over, squeezing out the last of her chakra to perform the Mystical Palm Technique, treating his wound.

Hiruzen stared at Danzō.

Then his gaze slowly fell upon Danzō's right arm.

Among the five three-tomoe Sharingan, one had already begun to close halfway.

"…An Uchiha forbidden technique?" Hiruzen muttered through clenched teeth.

"Correct," Danzō replied smugly.

"It is an Uchiha secret technique called—"

"Izanagi."

With the battle now completely in his favor, Danzō allowed himself a brief explanation.

Of course, he had no intention of explaining its full effect.

Instead, he slowly stepped forward, pressing toward the exhausted trio.

"At this point, resistance is meaningless."

"To help you give up completely…"

"Let's do it again."

"I wonder if you still have enough chakra left to survive another Reverse Four Symbols Sealing."

As he spoke, Danzō calmly opened his robe again—

Revealing the sealing formula engraved on his chest.

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