Chapter 96: Another Mangekyo Destroyed
Vacuum Blade had killed countless in Danzo’s hands, but today it cut open his own windpipe, blood vessels, and cervical vertebrae.
His head and neck were connected only by the flesh at the edges.
Kato Dan’s soul returned to his own body.
His expression suddenly relaxed.
Facing a Konoha high-ranking official like Danzo, the pressure on Kato Dan was too great.
The battle had just been too tense; now relaxing, Kato Dan realized a problem—Danzo had been killed by him, and it absolutely could not be known by anyone in the village.
Kato Dan looked at the two Anbu and began to form hand seals.
This was not the time to confront the village head-on; the two Anbu had to die!
Seeing Kato Dan’s ferocious gaze, Yoru’s heart tightened.
He immediately raised his hand, preparing to use the Karma Seal of Retribution to reveal his identity as an Uzumaki Clan spy.
Yoru’s seal was only halfway formed when he immediately stopped.
The situation changed abruptly, reversing once again.
Kato Dan grunted, “Ugh!”
The Spiritualization Technique came to an abrupt halt!
The Vacuum Blade pierced into Kato Dan’s back from behind, emerging from his front chest, then slowly cutting downward.
Heart, lungs, spleen, intestines, kidneys—all the way down.
On the left side of Kato Dan’s torso, a terrifying piercing wound appeared.
Danzo’s ferocious face appeared beside Kato Dan’s ear!
This time, Danzo had none of his usual calm assurance of having everything under control—only ferocity remained!
Uchiha Kagami’s precious Mangekyo Sharingan—one eye destroyed in Uchiha Madara’s hand, the other actually destroyed in Kato Dan’s hand just hours later!
Unforgivable!
“Kato Dan! You dare to attack me!”
Blood surged from Kato Dan’s long wound like a gushing spring, flowing steadily.
Danzo’s neck had been cut down to just flesh and blood—why had he come back to life?
Even Tsunade didn’t have such self-healing ability.
Kato Dan persisted in trying to complete his final hand seal, at least to transmit the intelligence.
However, battle-experienced Danzo would not give him this opportunity.
The Vacuum Blade suddenly jerked upward from below, severing Kato Dan’s left hand.
The severed hand fell, landing in the blood-mud on the ground.
“Dan!”
A Senju guard cried out in agony, then immediately began forming hand seals.
Yi saw that it was a Summoning Jutsu and, fearing some troublesome summon would create an accident, raised his hand and formed a seal.
The Senju guard’s hand froze mid-air.
Parasitic Insects bit through his hand tendons, preventing him from completing the hand seals.
Yoru took advantage of the Senju guard opposite him being distracted and rushed forward, slashing him to death with one strike.
The battle instantly shifted from disadvantage to advantage, then ended in an instant; all three on Kato Dan’s side died in the heavy rain.
Without waiting for Danzo’s order, Yi immediately said, “Lord Danzo! We’ll handle the scene right away!”
Yoru glanced at Danzo’s ferocious expression, quickly lowered his head, and rushed over to busy himself with Yi.
Yi and Yoru stacked the two Senju guard corpses together.
As for Kato Dan’s corpse, it was still at Danzo’s feet.
Kato Dan’s corpse would be very useful and would be secretly dissected to study the secrets of the Spiritualization Technique.
Yoru glanced at the corpse; the First Hokage’s Necklace was still around its neck.
Yoru didn’t move because Yi beside him didn’t move.
Yi didn’t move because Danzo was standing motionless in the downpour.
Yoru remained vigilant at all times, fearing Danzo would kill to silence them.
The possibility shouldn’t be high—Root didn’t have the Tongue-Cutting Curse at this time, and wasn’t fully under control.
Root was his subordinate—did that mean Anbu was like a stepmother’s child?
Even if it was a stepmother’s child, could he just kill them to silence them at will?
After waiting a long time, Danzo still didn’t make a move to kill.
The heavy rain poured down, as if weeping for a young talent like Kato Dan.
Kato Dan would live on in the memories of many ninja, growing stronger in their recollections.
Years later, some Senju ninja would think of Kato Dan and say that if he were still alive, he would surely have done this or that.
That’s called the memory filter.
Kato Dan’s forbidden jutsu was extremely powerful, but the problem was that it left him half-paralyzed; once someone got close, all his forbidden jutsu had no room to be used.
Yoru calculated his own gains and losses.
Ensuring the Senju Clan’s influence to check the high command—that was Yoru’s plan, and it had basically succeeded now.
Kato Dan had destroyed one of Danzo’s eyes, so Yoru’s scheme had worked.
As for confessing his identity to the Senju Clan, or even informing on them, Yoru glanced at Danzo, recalled that the Kiiroinu Captain had already begun suspecting him, and dismissed the idea.
Sympathy was sympathy, but his own safety was more important.
Yoru carefully observed Danzo with his peripheral vision.
Orochimaru had provided Danzo with superb transplant technology, yet Danzo had died repeatedly.
These two deaths and resurrections were just like in the original story, where Danzo died at Sasuke’s hands multiple times, using Sharingan like Substitution Jutsu.
Yi moved.
Yoru hurriedly followed.
Yi came to Danzo’s side and said softly:
“Lord Danzo, it’s too dangerous for you to personally engage in battle. In the future, let us handle it.
Bring more Root Ninja and a few Anbu Squads, and we can avoid many dangers.”
Yoru cursed Yi inwardly—you sycophant, licking on your own is one thing, but dragging others into it, and when they all get killed off, you reap all the benefits.
Danzo closed his dead-fish-like gray-white eyes, his expression grave:
“I’m not unhappy because of the life-threatening danger, but because these two eyes were my friend Kagami’s dying entrustment.
For Konoha, I have long been resolved to die at any moment, but like Teacher the Second Hokage, my death must have value.
I absolutely cannot die worthless; I must die at Konoha’s most perilous moment, becoming the final guardian of Konoha.
What a pity for Uchiha Kagami—my friend’s entrustment wasted in a single night.”
Yoru thought to himself, Danzo wanted to be the final guardian of Konoha?
Did that mean as long as one person in Konoha was still alive, Danzo couldn’t die?
Every time they encountered battle, Anbu fought to draw out the intelligence, and Danzo reaped the final harvest.
The logic looped closed—turns out Danzo didn’t see himself as cowardly, but truly believed he would be the last to die for Konoha.
Yi hurriedly said, “I think Lord Kagami would be gratified to see his eyes help you through two crises.”
Yoru was a professional Anbu; no matter what he heard, he wouldn’t feel nauseous.
Danzo finally said, “Let’s go to the Front Line Camp and find Orochimaru.”
He didn’t know if Danzo would transplant a new Sharingan or switch back to his own eyes.
Yi asked, “Lord Danzo, should we hand Kato Dan’s corpse to Mu for dissection by Mu?”
Danzo shook his head and said:
“Kato Dan’s death must be kept absolutely secret; we cannot let Orochimaru know. Orochimaru and Kato Dan were classmates, and he has deep feelings for Tsunade as well.
If it leaks out, with Tsunade’s temperament, she will surely break ties with the village.
Now is not the time for the Senju Clan to break ties; at least wait until the Second Ninja War ends before considering how to eliminate the Senju Clan’s future troubles.”
Yi subtly shifted his eyes, glancing toward the fox, signaling that such a huge secret as Kato Dan’s death—did the fox have the right to know?
Danzo looked toward the fox.
Yoru’s heart tightened, and he immediately tried to save himself: “Lord Danzo, I have a plan that can forever eliminate the aftermath of Kato Dan’s death!”
Surviving in the cracks was too difficult.
He had to buy time, delay until the next full moon, so he would have more room to maneuver.
Danzo sized up the fox and asked, “Let’s hear it.”
