Chapter 76: I Hope You’re Worth My Trust, Fugaku
The Root Ninja was shocked speechless because Lord Danzo had once again been instantly engulfed by Heavenly Punishment Fire. And this Root Ninja also knew the consequences after using the Reaper Death Seal.
Whether successful or failed… it all required the life of the caster oneself as the price to summon the arrival of the Shinigami!
This was one of the most dangerous S-rank Forbidden Jutsu recorded in Konoha’s Book of Seals!
In the hesitation of the Root Ninja…
He suddenly discovered that the two companions around him were staring at him with predatory gazes.
The Root Ninja “Gen” gritted his teeth fiercely.
After taking a deep breath.
His hands rapidly formed seals.
Snake-Hai-Weaver-Rabbit-Dog… Snake! After completing a full nine seals, just as Danzo’s Izanagi was activated once again, “Gen” slammed his hands together desperately, instantly draining over half of the chakra in his body, his cheeks visibly sunken.
“Ninja Art…”
“Reaper Death Seal!!!”
Danzo noticed no abnormality, but “Gen” instantly froze all over.
He clearly felt a bone-chilling cold coming from behind him.
When his gaze faintly turned backward, a massive eerie Shinigami phantom was reflected in his eyes.
This…
Is…
The Shinigami?!
The Root Ninja’s eyes suddenly widened wide, only to see the Shinigami’s Curse Mark-covered weird arm instantly piercing through his body! The arm extended forward, grabbing hold of Danzo.
The power from the Shinigami penetrated Danzo’s flesh.
Slowly pulling out the soul within his body.
“Wait…” Danzo arduously squeezed out a sentence: “Wait four seconds… wait… until Izanagi effect ends…”
Four seconds of time.
Passed in the blink of an eye.
Under the Root Ninja’s sweat-drenched extreme willpower control, the Shinigami phantom behind spat out the tanto contained in its mouth.
The Shinigami’s other arm caught the tanto, its massive illusory body leaning forward, decisively slashing the tanto toward Danzo’s leg souls.
But this slash was positioned too high up.
Nearly bisecting Danzo’s soul at the waist!
The pain from the soul made Danzo’s eyes bulge wider than anyone’s.
“Seal…”
“Seal!!!”
At the instant the Root Ninja “Gen” shouted the two words in his final moment of life, Danzo’s leg souls held in the Shinigami’s hand suddenly burst into a mass of crimson Heavenly Punishment Fire.
The moment the flames rose, a trace of astonishment visibly appeared on the terrifying face of the Shinigami phantom.
That hollow gaze seemed to flash with a humanized confusion.
At the same time.
Another Root Ninja acted swiftly, instantly severing Danzo’s physical legs with a ninja sword in hand, then quickly dragging away Danzo’s upper body, separating Danzo from his legs.
Danzo’s physical legs also simultaneously burst into Heavenly Punishment Fire!
“Lord Danzo, it succeeded!” The Root Ninja holding the bloodstained ninja sword sighed in relief while immediately lowering his head to report to Danzo.
But before Danzo could even catch his breath, the intense pain of the blazing flames assaulted again, continuously stimulating his mind and will.
Leaving him completely dazed.
“Hiss! How… how is it still hissing aaaaah!!!”
Clearly, both his leg souls and physical body had been completely severed.
Yet that bone-deep pain seemed forever connected to him.
Like a malignancy clinging to the bone, impossible to eradicate completely!
Even though the Heavenly Punishment Fire and leg souls were sealed within the Shinigami, the connected sensation of the souls seemed not severed! Or rather, the power of the Heavenly Punishment Fire surpassed the Shinigami’s power!
The Shinigami’s seal could not block that soul-burning pain!
The scorching flames of Absolute Justice incessantly burned away the countless evils on Danzo’s body!
Not giving Danzo a moment to breathe every minute and second.
The Root Ninja holding the bloodstained ninja sword was stunned; he realized Lord Danzo had celebrated too early. And Lord Danzo’s flash of inspiration seemed to have brought him even more miserable torment.
Uchiha Ikeizumi’s dojutsu…
Is it truly unsolvable?!
…
Not long after.
The Anbu Ninjas dispatched by Sarutobi Hiruzen finally arrived.
Several Anbu Ninjas were stunned to discover that what entered their eyes was not Shimura Danzo who had luckily escaped death, but half of Danzo with his lower body missing.
Moreover, this half of Danzo seemed to be enduring unimaginable extreme agony, his shrill wails comparable to a demon’s howl.
They also heard interspersed in the screams words like “why”, “how is this possible”, “this old man can’t take it”, “kill this old man quickly”, filled with despairing words of negative emotion.
This made the several Anbu Ninjas shudder with fear, hairs standing on end.
This leader of Konoha’s Root…
Is he really okay?
“…Danzo, leave him to us.” One Anbu Ninja glanced at the two Root Ninja corpses on the ground and said to the other two Root Ninjas who were somewhat at a loss.
He immediately crouched down to perform medical ninjutsu on the half-remaining Danzo.
Though it wouldn’t fully heal Danzo.
But at least it could reduce the blood loss a bit.
One of the remaining two Root Ninjas vigilantly interjected coldly: “What are you going to do to Lord Danzo?”
The Anbu Ninja replied expressionlessly: “This is the Hokage’s order. Moreover… Shimura Danzo is no longer the Root Leader; he is no longer your direct superior. In this situation, are you two still going to block us?”
Root Ninja: “…”
…
Outside the Yamanaka Clan Headquarters.
The nearly thousand Konoha Ninjas attracted and gathered by the commotion dispersed one after another upon realizing the conflict had finally ended.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Fugaku, sighing meaningfully: “Fugaku, thank you for standing by this old man’s side tonight.”
Fugaku’s eyes had returned to their original state.
He spoke with a complex expression: “Hokage, this is what the Uchiha Clan should do. I have never hoped for civil strife in Konoha Village. Once Ikeizumi acts out of line, I will do everything in my power to stop his behavior.”
“After all… Ikeizumi’s justice is ultimately his self-perceived Absolute Justice, not Konoha’s justice. That child often does not put Konoha first.”
Fugaku paused, then continued: “As the Uchiha Clan Head, I failed to discipline the clan members; this is my fault.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head, indicating Fugaku need not apologize.
Not to mention Fugaku; could he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, control Ikeizumi?
Sarutobi Hiruzen knew better than anyone how difficult it was to control Ikeizumi.
He reached out and patted Fugaku’s shoulder.
“I hope you are worth this old man’s trust, Fugaku.” After saying this, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn’t help but cast a rather complex gaze toward Uchiha Ikeizumi not far ahead.
Tonight…
Was destined to be another sleepless night!
…
Yamanaka Inoichi finally emerged from the ruins of the Yamanaka Clan.
Behind him followed a crowd of Yamanaka Clan elders and young.
He picked up his frightened daughter Yamanaka Ino.
This usually extremely stern Konoha Jonin now wore a face full of lingering fear. Clearly afraid that his clan members had been affected by Danzo in this conflict.
After setting down Ino, Yamanaka Inoichi held Ino’s small hand and quickly walked up behind Uchiha Ikeizumi.
“…Ikeizumi!”
Uchiha Ikeizumi paused his steps slightly and turned to look at Yamanaka Inoichi.
“Thank you.” From the devastated scene, Yamanaka Inoichi knew Uchiha Ikeizumi must have held back when using Lava Release.
Because the greatest damage to the surrounding buildings was from Wind Release; at least Ikeizumi didn’t let the lava affect the Yamanaka Clan Headquarters.
“In the future, no matter in what method you enforce your「Absolute Justice」 in Konoha. The Yamanaka Clan will support you.”
Yamanaka Inoichi said earnestly.
…
…
