After accepting the Hyuga clan's surrender, Lucas turned his attention to the rest of the ninja clans in Konoha. One by one, he greeted them—the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans.
Their leaders had arrived, just as Lucas had expected.
At this point, they all understood the reality of the situation.
If they didn't surrender, their entire clans would be wiped out.
Faced with this overwhelming threat, the heads of Konoha's major clans had no choice but to submit to Lucas.
It wasn't that they hadn't considered fighting back—they had. But no matter what they tried, it was useless.
If you couldn't beat him, then the only option left was to join him.
And besides, it wasn't like Lucas was making any unreasonable demands. In the end, wasn't working for one person the same as working for another? The Hokage title was never going to be in their hands anyway.
After securing the loyalty of the major clans, Lucas turned to Uchiha Fugaku, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"The other clans have surrendered. What about the Uchiha?" Lucas asked. "Of course, your situation is different. Even if you refuse, I won't kill you. I'll simply exile your clan from Konoha."
Uchiha Fugaku remained silent for a moment, deep in thought. Then, he spoke.
"The Uchiha clan will pledge our loyalty to you," he said. "But you must promise not to oppress us like Sarutobi Hiruzen did."
Lucas scoffed, his expression full of disdain. "Why would I bother suppressing you? Sarutobi Hiruzen was afraid of your clan's power—that's why he kept you under control. But me?" He smirked. "I'm not afraid of you at all. No matter how much you grow, I can crush you in an instant."
Fugaku froze.
That logic was… unarguable.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen had possessed the strength of Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara, he wouldn't have needed to oppress the Uchiha clan in the first place. Because no matter how much noise they made, they would still be beneath his grasp.
Fugaku sighed. There was no further argument to be made.
Lucas then shifted his gaze to the remaining civilian ninjas and Anbu members.
"Now, it's your turn," he said, his voice calm yet commanding. "Make your choice. Your life—or your loyalty."
At that moment, Hatake Kakashi stepped forward.
"Is it true?" Kakashi asked, his voice steady. "Did the First and Second Hokage really entrust this to you?"
Lucas looked at him with interest.
"Are you wondering if there's a spirit out there who left something for you as well?" Lucas mused.
Kakashi didn't answer, but his silence spoke volumes.
[Chat Group for the Dead]
Senju Tobirama: "Poor kid… He must be thinking about his father and teammates."
Namikaze Minato: "…"
Senju Hashirama: "Don't be sad, Minato. Maybe what Kakashi really wants is to hear something from you!"
Namikaze Minato: "Really?"
Lucas: "Do you even need to ask? Of course not! In the Ninja World, the most important people are: bros first, then close friends. Everything else—teachers, mentors—are ranked way lower!"
Namikaze Minato: "…"
Gengetsu Hozuki: "Since he doesn't have his teammates or father here, let's at least give him some encouragement! Maybe the group leader can take care of this rising star of Konoha!"
Lucas: "Fine, fine."
Back in the real world, Lucas chuckled and relayed the encouraging words from the chat group to Kakashi.
Although Kakashi seemed a little disappointed, he still nodded, visibly moved by the acknowledgment of the three Hokages.
Under Kakashi's lead, the remaining Konoha shinobi—both civilians and Anbu—cast their votes of loyalty.
Of course, there were a few die-hard Sarutobi loyalists who refused to submit.
Lucas dealt with them swiftly, showing no mercy.
Once order was restored, Lucas turned to Kakashi.
"You'll handle the rebuilding and restructuring of Konoha," Lucas ordered casually. "Meanwhile, I'll deal with the real darkness that still lingers in this village."
With that, Lucas vanished in a blur, reappearing deep beneath Konoha—at the Root Base.
The Root Base
In the underground headquarters of Root, Shimura Danzo sat in his dimly lit room, surrounded by his elite guards.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A violent explosion shook the entire base.
Danzo's lone visible eye snapped open.
"What's happening?!" he demanded. "Didn't I tell you to monitor the situation outside?!"
He glared at his subordinates, irritation flashing across his face. Had the lookout team completely failed in their duties?!
A cold, mocking voice echoed through the chamber.
"Don't blame them," Lucas said as he stepped into view. "They saw everything just fine. They just didn't get the chance to report it before I arrived."
The surrounding Root ninjas immediately tensed, raising their weapons—kunai, shuriken—ready to attack.
Danzo, however, was more focused on Lucas himself.
"You've invaded this base… where is Sarutobi Hiruzen?" Danzo asked, his voice sharp.
Lucas smirked. "Hiruzen? He's dead."
Danzo's expression remained unreadable, but something flickered in his eye.
Lucas continued, his tone almost mocking. "Your greatest obstacle to becoming Hokage is gone. But unfortunately, you won't get to enjoy that victory… because from now on, I am in control of Konoha."
Danzo's eye darkened.
"Kill him," he ordered.
At once, a storm of kunai and shuriken rained down upon Lucas.
SHING!
A massive green aura erupted around him. A translucent warrior formed, its massive arms shielding him from the onslaught.
Susanoo.
The Root members froze in shock.
"No… that's Uchiha Shisui's Susanoo! How do you have it?!" Danzo's voice was laced with disbelief.
Lucas smirked. "Oh, didn't you hear? I have the abilities to talk to the spirit, Shisui himself give me this… to send you straight to hell."
Danzo's face twisted in fury.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"
Without hesitation, he unleashed a powerful blast of compressed air, aiming straight for Lucas's Susanoo.
Lucas scoffed. The green warrior at his side lifted its arm, summoning a series of glowing tomoe-like projectiles.
With a flick of its wrist, it punched forward—sending the attack crashing into Danzo and his men.
At the same time, giant vines erupted from the ground, coiling like steel cables and trapping the Root ninjas.
"Wood Style?!" Danzo growled. "Damn it!"
Seeing his forces pinned down, Danzo made his move.
With a sharp motion, he tore off the bindings on his right arm—revealing a grotesque pale limb embedded with multiple Sharingan eyes.
[Chat Group for the Dead]
Pirate King Roger: "What the hell is wrong with this guy's arm?! That's disgusting!"
Uchiha Shisui: "Those are Uchiha Sharingan! You can implant them like that?!"
Lucas: "I'm not sure if he can use their abilities properly, but I do know he's planning to use them as disposable tools for Izanagi."
Uchiha Madara: "Izanagi? Now that's a useful skill."
Roger: "What's Izanagi?"
Lucas: "It's a Forbidden Technique that rewrites reality itself—turning any fatal injury into an illusion. But the effect only lasts for a short time."
Whitebeard: "Rewriting reality, huh? Even if it only works briefly, that's a terrifying ability in battle."
Whitebeard, a seasoned warrior, immediately saw its potential. If he'd had this ability back at Marineford… could he have saved Ace?
Gold Thief Woonan: "With that power, this guy might be trouble."
Lucas: "Hard to deal with? You're overthinking it. That ability only works when both sides are evenly matched."
Izanagi was, without a doubt, a powerful ability.
If two equally strong opponents fought, the one who mastered Izanagi would have a massive advantage—being able to rewrite reality itself.
But if the gap in strength was too large, then Izanagi was nothing more than a tool to let the weak delay their inevitable death. It would simply allow the stronger fighter to kill their opponent multiple times.
And Lucas… was far stronger than Danzo.
Shimura Danzo pulled out a kunai from his robes. With a deep breath, he infused it with Wind Style Chakra, sharpening it into a deadly air blade.
Then—he charged.
With his enhanced kunai, Danzo aimed a precise strike at Lucas's Susanoo.
CLANG!
A muffled sound echoed as the attack landed.
But Lucas's Susanoo remained completely intact.
Instead, Danzo's kunai shattered into pieces.
Danzo's expression tightened. "So this is Susanoo… Truly the ultimate defense." His voice carried a trace of admiration.
Lucas looked at him, expression deadpan.
"Are you here to be funny?"
Before Danzo could react, Susanoo's massive fist came crashing down.
BOOM!
Danzo was crushed into the ground—reduced to nothing but a pile of bloodied flesh.
But then—
Izanagi.
The forbidden technique activated.
Danzo's broken body vanished, and a second later, he reappeared, standing in the same spot as before—completely unharmed.
Danzo smirked, as if he was the one in control.
"Your Susanoo may be strong," he said, brushing the dust off his cloak, "but I can still break it."
He took a deep breath.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
A powerful blast of compressed wind shot from Danzo's mouth, slamming directly into Lucas's Susanoo.
Lucas didn't even blink.
"You seriously think this is enough to break my Susanoo?" His voice was filled with amusement. "How ignorant."
His Mangekyō Sharingan gleamed, and his Susanoo's form solidified further, effortlessly blocking the attack.
Danzo's eyes widened.
And before he could react—
SWOOSH!
Lucas vanished from Susanoo's protection.
The next moment, he reappeared behind Danzo, a long wooden spike in his hand.
THWACK!
The wooden spike impaled Danzo's chest, sprouting multiple thorn-like branches inside his body—piercing him from the inside out.
Danzo's body trembled. His breath hitched.
Then, he collapsed.
But Lucas only smirked.
"That's twice now."
And just as before—Izanagi activated.
Danzo reappeared once again.
He looked down at his arm.
Only three Sharingan remained embedded in his skin.
If he had more Uchiha eyes, he could've kept going.
Danzo sighed. "I have to admit… you're strong."
His expression grew solemn. "I'm sorry, Hiruzen."
Lucas frowned. "What?"
Danzo ignored him, muttering to himself.
"I wanted to kill him to avenge you, Hiruzen… but it seems I can't."
Lucas raised an eyebrow.
"Are you an idiot?"
Danzo's expression suddenly twisted into something almost maniacal.
"But that's fine. I will make him atone for what he's done."
Lucas's frown deepened.
Danzo ripped off the bandages covering his face—
Revealing a single red eye burning with power.
Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan.
A Sharingan that held Kotoamatsukami—the most powerful illusion in the ninja world.
Danzo grinned wickedly.
"Be my loyal servant!"
The illusion technique activated—targeting Lucas's mind.
[Chat Group for the Dead]
Uchiha Shisui: "…This guy stole my eye and now he's using it against Lucas? Unbelievable."
Uchiha Madara: "Kotoamatsukami, huh? That's troublesome. If it lands, even Lucas won't be able to resist."
Whitebeard: "Can it actually control him?"
Lucas: "Pfft, not a chance."
[End of Chat]
Lucas smirked.
"This was your plan? How naive."
His own Mangekyō Sharingan glowed—
And in an instant, Danzo's Kotoamatsukami was neutralized.
Danzo's expression froze.
His shock was evident.
"Impossible!"
Before he could process what happened—
SWOOSH!
Lucas impaled him again with Wood Style.
Danzo died once more.
And for the third time, Izanagi activated.
Danzo revived.
But this time…
Lucas was already in front of him.
"You're out of eyes."
Danzo's heart sank.
Lucas reached out and plucked Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan from Danzo's socket.
He examined it with interest.
"This eye is far too valuable to be wasted on Izanagi," Lucas mused. "At least you had the sense not to burn it as a disposable tool."
Danzo trembled. His breath came in short, uneven gasps.
"Damn it…" he muttered.
"Why…?" His voice cracked. "Why can't I… become Hokage?"
His face contorted in madness.
With one last act of desperation, he ripped open his robe—revealing his chest, covered in black sealing marks.
Lucas immediately recognized the technique.
Four Symbols Seal.
Danzo gritted his teeth. "For Konoha… for the ninja world… I will take you down with me!"
Dark liquid poured from his body, expanding outward—
The seal began forming a massive black sphere, pulling everything into it.
Lucas simply raised a hand.
A single wooden tendril shot forward—
SLAM!
Danzo was sent flying into the stone wall—twice.
Lucas leapt back, distancing himself more than ten meters away.
The Four Symbols Seal fully activated.
The black sphere expanded, swallowing Danzo whole—sealing his body into nothingness.
"Pathetic."
He flicked away a piece of wood that had been caught in the sealing technique's radius.
With that, the Root Base fell silent.
And Danzo Shimura was no more.
At this moment, the Chat Group for the Dead was in complete shock.
Not because of how powerful Lucas was.
But because of how utterly pathetic Shimura Danzo had been.
Uchiha Madara: "Wait… is Danzo actually brain-damaged? Did he seriously think he could break Susanoo's defense with just a kunai and Wind Style? What does he think Susanoo is—paper?"
Senju Tobirama: "Sigh… I remember when he was younger, he was actually a pretty clever guy. How did he get this stupid as he got older?"
Uchiha Madara: "This isn't just stupidity—it's outright foolishness. If Kunai and Wind Style could break Susanoo, then wouldn't the ultimate power of the Mangekyō Sharingan be nothing more than a joke?"
Gold Thief Woonan: "I was wrong! I admit it! I thought this guy, who mastered Izanagi, would be hard to deal with. But it turns out he's just an idiot!"
Pirate King Roger: "I swear this guy must've lost his mind. Otherwise, why would he stand there in a daze while facing Lucas?"
Golden Lion Shiki: "Shihahaha! He basically ran up to Lucas, poked him lightly, and then got smashed like a bug! Was he trying to play some kind of 'you hit me, I hit you' game?"
Uchiha Madara: "Who knows what he was thinking? But standing still in front of Susanoo is dumb. And using Izanagi like a cheap Body Replacement Technique? That's even dumber."
Senju Tobirama: "Group Leader, are you sure he's even a half-Kage-level ninja? He doesn't seem to know basic survival instincts—like dodging. Does he even know Body Flicker or Body Replacement Technique?"
Lucas: "Oh, he can dodge. He just… doesn't bother."
Senju Hashirama: "What do you mean? Is he just acting recklessly because he has Izanagi? But Izanagi runs out eventually."
Lucas: "Danzo's Izanagi has a flaw—he can't activate it at will. The moment he removes the seal on his arm, Izanagi runs on a timer. He uses it continuously, whether he needs it or not."
Uchiha Shisui: "So he can't turn it off freely? That explains a lot."
Uchiha Madara: "Hah! Did this fool really think he could master the Uchiha's power? Even if an outsider steals Sharingan, controlling it properly is an entirely different matter."
Senju Tobirama: "No wonder he kept his arm sealed… what a ridiculous weakness."
Golden Lion Shiki: "This is what happens when you overcomplicate things for no reason. All those 'forbidden techniques' and yet he's still trash!"
Lucas: "I wouldn't say that. Danzo did pull off one successful move in his lifetime—he tricked Shisui and stole his eye using Izanagi."
Uchiha Shisui : "I… let my guard down. I had already placed him under genjutsu, so I thought I was safe. I didn't expect him to use Izanagi to rewrite reality."
Whitebeard: "At least Sarutobi Hiruzen put up a decent fight—he controlled multiple elements and even held his own against a Wood Dragon. But this Danzo guy… is he really supposed to be half-Kage-level?"
Lucas: "Technically, yeah. His tactics are strange, but he's definitely above Elite Jōnin. He's got one foot in Kage-level. If nothing else, he's worthy of possessing Kotoamatsukami, even if he wasted it."
Senju Tobirama: "Kotoamatsukami… what a waste. Too bad you countered him with the same ability. It's like you knew every move he was going to make."
Uchiha Shisui: "Intelligence is crucial in ninja battles. Lucas knew everything about Danzo's abilities—but Danzo knew nothing about Lucas. That's why he didn't even fight like a proper half-Kage."
Pirate King Roger: "Honestly? I was expecting some kind of last-minute secret technique. He was screaming all dramatically—I thought he was about to unleash some insane final attack!"
Golden Lion Shiki : "And yet, Lucas just shoved him away with a wooden stick. What kind of 'ultimate technique' only works if your opponent stands still and lets it hit them?"
Senju Tobirama: "Hiruzen wasn't exactly great, but at least he was competent. Danzo? He's just pathetic."
Lucas: "Speaking of which, Tobirama… if Danzo had been the one to step up first when you were escaping from the Cloud Shinobi, would you have chosen him as Hokage?"
Senju Tobirama: "No! Absolutely not! Both Sarutobi and Danzo were my students, but they each only learned half of what I taught them. Hiruzen learned my light, while Danzo only absorbed my darkness."
Uchiha Madara : "Hiruzen represents 'light'? Hah! Don't make me laugh!"
Senju Tobirama: "Shut up and listen! Sarutobi was naive back then—just like I was when Konoha was first founded. I believed that, over time, reality would force him to mature, making him similar to me."
Lucas: "Really? Because for decades, Danzo believed he lost his chance to be Hokage simply because he hesitated that day and let Hiruzen take the lead."
Senju Tobirama : "If he actually thought that, then he's even more pathetic than I imagined. Hesitation wasn't his flaw— It was his cowardice. Back then, he hesitated and failed to take risks for the village—so he lost his chance at Hokage. And even now, when Konoha was in crisis, he still hesitated and refused to take risks. He deserved to lose."
Lucas: "Exactly. No amount of regret, bitterness, or resentment can change the fact that Danzo never had what it took to be Hokage."
The country may change—but a person's true nature never does.
Danzo had spent his entire life obsessed with what he could have been.
And now?
He was dead.
Once Danzo was gone, Lucas restrained all remaining Root ninjas with Wood Style vines, leaving them for others to deal with.
Then, he casually wandered through the Root base.
It didn't take long to find Danzo's hidden vault—and inside, there were plenty of interesting things.
[Chat Group for the Dead]
Senju Tobirama: "Wait… the Root division still hasn't given up on Wood Style experimentation?! Are these guys seriously still trying? Didn't they already prove it was a failure years ago?"
Lucas: "What can I say? The power of Wood Style is too tempting. Not only does it dominate battlefields, but it also controls tailed beasts. Of course Konoha wants to replicate it. And besides… they actually did succeed once."
Senju Hashirama : "Wait, Konoha has a Wood Style user?"
Lucas: "Yup. One lucky kid managed to survive the experiments and integrate your cells successfully."
Senju Hashirama: "Then why haven't I heard of him?"
Lucas: "Because his Wood Style is completely different from yours. He's basically a glorified carpenter."
Senju Hashirama: "…A carpenter?"
Lucas: "Yeah! Your Wood Style conquered the world. His Wood Style builds houses."
Senju Hashirama: "…"
For a long moment, he was speechless.
To think that his once-invincible power had been reduced to landscaping and construction work…
Senju Tobirama: "Don't be too disappointed, brother. At least Lucas is here to prove what Wood Style is really capable of."
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